+If you want to, you can make me clean. If you choose, you can make me clean.
I do want to. I do choose.
Jesus chooses to make the man with the skin disease, the leper, clean. Jesus isn’t happy about this though---the translation we’re most familiar with states that Jesus was filled with compassion, moved with pity—at the leper’s plea. Recent scholarship, however translates Jesus’ affect as “being incensed” being angry. Jesus was furious.
It would be understandable to think Jesus was incensed, angry, ticked off, because he was, once again, being harangued. It would be understandable that he just wanted to take a break, to have some peace, to have uninterrupted time to pray. But nothing suggests that this is why Jesus is angry. Nor does anything suggest that his anger is directed at the leper—that somehow Jesus is disgusted and just wants this unclean interloper to leave.
We don’t know why Jesus is having such an intense emotional reaction to the man with the skin disease, we just know his reaction was intense.
Reams of paper have been dedicated to the translation of Jesus’ emotional response –the tone used---to the man’s request.
Less attention has been paid to Jesus’ actual verbal response—not how he said it, but what he said.
Leper: If you want to, if you choose, you can make me clean.
Jesus: I do want to. I do choose.
The man doesn’t try to convince Jesus of his worthiness, or lack thereof. This man knows it isn’t a question of him earning the healing, it’s all about Jesus making a choice. That all it takes is for Jesus to want to heal him, to choose to make him clean. Somehow this man zeroes in on the choice Jesus can make. You can heal me, sir. I know this. But what I don’t know is if you’ll choose to do so.
Some may contend that “choosing” is part of Jesus’ Divine nature. That God—the Holy and Undivided Trinity, makes choices all the time—healing this person, denying that person. That somehow there is a checklist and the three persons of the Trinity meet over coffee and decide who gets what today.
Of course, that’s not how it works. We don’t have a meddling God. We have a loving God who oversees God’s creation confident that we, humanity, will live how God intended, how God longs for us to live.
I contend that the “choosing” in today’s Gospel speaks more directly to Jesus’ humanity, that “choosing” speaks more to what Jesus has in common with us.
We choose. Each and every day. Many times a day.
You, each and everyone of you (well maybe not the kids Mia…Finn….Aiden and Isabel….) chose to be here today.
Each and every one of you will choose to listen to this sermon. Or not.
When we are dismissed by the deacon [or at 8 when I dismiss us] we can choose to go out into the world seeking and serving Christ in all whom we meet as is our departing charge, or not.
This morning at the 10:30 service we are baptizing (we baptized) Finnegan Matschke. Melissa, Finn’s mom, has chosen to have him baptized. Those gathered will (did) choose whether or not to support Finn in his life in Christ [will you who witness these vows do all in your power to support Finnegan in his life in Christ.
(BCP 303)]
Finn’s mom, grandparents, godparents will choose (chose) to renounce and support all sorts of things as outlined in the “Examination of the Candidate.” They [will] renounce[d] all forces of wickedness which stand in God’s way, they [will] renonunce [d] all who reject the forces of good in the world, they commit to trusting God through Jesus Christ. They, by virtue of having Finn baptized, publicly choose to live as faithful people, supporting Finn all the days of his life. Through the recitation of the Baptismal Covenant (Nicene Creed, Affirmation of Faith) we choose to live our lives as faithful followers of Christ, as faithful lovers of God.
No one is making you say these words, no one is making you love and serve the Lord.
You choose to do so.
I don’t know about you, but that is, all at the same time, liberating and terrifying.
We have a big part, a big say in how all this goes, don’t we?
Each and every day we choose to live as Christ’s light in the world. Or not.
Each and every day we choose to respect the dignity of every human being. Or not.
Each and every day we choose to love our self as much as God loves us. Or not.
Each and every day we choose to accept the love of God as given to us through God’s ultimate gift to us, Jesus Christ. Or not.
What convicts me about all these choices, what terrifies me, is knowing that as I walk out these doors today---even as I chat with you all at coffee hour----I have a responsibility. A responsibility to see each of you. And to choose. To choose to see you as a beloved child of God, as someone who probably needs healing of some sort or another. For we all are broken, aren’t we? We all need repair in areas of our life. The choice I must make is whether or not I will really see the injury, be ready to notice it, be ready to see it for what it is and, moved with pity or incensed with rage over the unfairness of what has befallen you, choose to walk with you through it. Or not.
This is the choice facing us all. We all have a choice to make. How do we see each other? Not only the ones we call friend, but the ones we may not call anything, the ones we may rather avoid? How do we see them?
How do we see the stranger, the foreigner, the visitor?
As we do each and every time we participate in the baptism of a new member; each and every time we say the Peace of God be with you, each and every time we greet one another in the name of God, we are choosing to walk with each other through this new life we all have, in Christ.
If we so choose, we can walk as children of the light, as children of God.
Do you so choose?
Do you?
Do all of us, so choose?
Amen. +
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