Wholeness

On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.”  When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed.  Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan.  Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?  Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”  And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.” – Luke 17:11-19

Wasn’t the tenth leper healed of leprosy?  Isn’t that why he came back to thank Jesus?  It’s understandable that Jesus would commend the healed man for his gratitude.  We should be quick to express our thanks to and praise of the Lord and what He has done.  But the words of Jesus seem to indicate that the man who returned received something that the other nine lepers did not – even though, as Jesus Himself says, all ten were cleansed of their disease.

One thing that Jesus repeats on occasion in the gospel accounts is something like “be it unto you according to your faith.”  He says it in different ways but the idea is that God’s response to an individual is defined to a greater or lesser extent by what that person believes.  If, like the centurion, they believed that Jesus could simply say the word and someone miles away would be healed instantaneously, that is what happened.  If they believed that their sight, hearing, or bodily strength could be restored, it was.  If, in other words, they believed Jesus was a healer, they were healed.

Let me offer a brief aside by stating that much of what Jesus did in healing, raising the dead, and working miracles were signs.  His works were meant to make it clear to people that the Messiah had come, that God was present with them in the flesh.  I say this because I am not fully convinced (perhaps I just lack sufficient faith to say) that healing and miracles are accessible exactly as they were during the Incarnation.  Maybe so.  I don’t know. 

In some cases, the people who saw and heard Jesus in His earthly ministry believed that He was a prophet or a teacher or someone gifted with miraculous powers like Elijah or Elisha.  Others thought He was, perhaps, a charlatan.  However, a few believed that He was more than a great prophet.  This is the difference between the leper who returned and the nine lepers who went on.  They received a gift from the healer.  The tenth man received everlasting life from God. 

He saw the miracle of his healing, and his eyes were opened.  He received not just good skin and deliverance from a horrible disease but a revelation.  As he walked along, he suddenly realized who Jesus HAD to be.  The power of this insight was so transforming that he turned and ran back for the chance to thank the Lord and acknowledge Him.   

No doubt he was grateful and thrilled to be healed, but that is not why he went back.  His faith was of a different kind.  The other nine men were healed.  They were former lepers.  They were also still outside of the kingdom.  They did not see the Messiah, only a powerful prophet.  The tenth man was healed and reconciled to God, made whole.  The others merely had their bodies restored, the ravages of leprosy halted and reversed.  Perhaps later on some or all of them came to understand the significance of what had happened to them. 

Most Christians understand the power of Cross for deliverance from the penalty of sin.  I suppose that preaching how Jesus died for our sins is the most important part of the gospel.  A lot of people seem to think so.  It is where we have to start.  If leprosy is your problem, you need to be made clean from leprosy.  If sin is my problem – and it most certainly is – then I need to be cleansed from sin.  But that is just stepping in the front door, or through the gate.  Life is much more, and God offers us much more.   

I do not know what God wants to do in the lives of different people.  I don't even know what He wants to do in my life.  I do know that I don't want to be the governor.  I don't want my inability to believe in the greatness and goodness of God to be what limits His ability to work in my circumstances.  I don't want to stop God from making me whole.  

Be it unto you according to your faith.

Babble On

Be quiet, and I will speak. Let whatever comes happen to me. Why do I put myself at risk and take my life in my hands? Even if He kills me, I will hope in Him. I will still defend my ways before Him. Yes, this will result in my deliverance, for no godless person can appear before Him. – Job 13:13-16

Every time I get into the Book of Job, I wonder at the sophistication of the God-inspired genius that penned it. The subtleties of the arguments going back and forth are amazing. Depending on the day and the mood I’m in I may find myself agreeing with Job, agreeing with his comforters, or seeing the flaws of both at any given point – sometimes all that simultaneously.

The King James Version of Job 13:15 -- “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him” – is often quoted out of context. It seems to imply an absolute trust without regard to understanding. But Job, at this point, still wants justice, and he still believes that God is the just and righteous judge.

We always want to make God comprehensible. We are willing to use figures of speech and paradoxes because we realize that God is not exactly like us, even that He is far beyond us. But we cling to the notion that, though He may be infinite, He will limit Himself in dealing with the weakness of human existence. We think that He did that explicitly in Christ.

I wonder.

We use language like a transformer, and we have a built-in breaker box in case we get a surge off the main line. In the end we know that, when Job gets the pure, raw feed, he shuts up. It’s something to consider.

If you look closely at the passage above, you will see that Job is defiant. If God kills me, I will still have hope in Him. I hope that He will see where He has wronged me. That is the underlying message Job is stating. “I will still defend my ways before Him,” Job says. He expects deliverance if only he can present his case openly and fairly before the Lord.

This resonates with me. God is a just God. I believe He will do right by me if I have done right. And, in thinking that way, I am no more than a pagan. I’m probably not as good as a pagan. The pagans recognized a certain degree of capriciousness in their gods, and, though they incorrectly attributed it to human motivations such as jealously or envy, it allowed them to accommodate some cruelty or unfairness. If I try to make God finite and understandable, as a Christian, I often try to limit His “justice” to those possibilities on this side of my horizons. But the limits of my vision are not the limits of God. Even within the circle of what I can see I know some things are hidden from me. How much more is there out beyond the curve of this material life? If there be dragons, are they to battle or to ride?

Be still, and know I AM.

Suffer in silence? If we press on, we may well reach a point where silence is our only argument. There is a point where words fail and even the poets lay down the pen and cover the mouth. I’m not so sure it does much good to shut up before we get to edge of the language, though words may get to be fewer, change in meaning and import, and grow more profound. The Bible says that where there are a multitude of words there must be sin. Then we are told to lay aside the sin that does so easily beset us that we may run, unhindered.

Lay aside the excess weight of words. Carry only what you need.

I always dreamed of living in a time when there were great blank spaces on the maps. I do live in such a time, but the map is not of this world, and the blanks stretch to infinity. Right now, I am hanging around in this border country where the trails begin to get a little faint. The maps are already questionable and often in conflict.

If it clanks, clangs, or rings, it’s probably best to drop it. Make sure you have plenty of living water, and if you don’t have a sword, sell your coat and buy one.