Be Made Clean

It happened that there was a man full of leprosy in one of the towns where Jesus was; and when he saw Jesus, he fell prostrate, pleaded with him, and said, “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.” Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, “I do will it.  Be made clean.” And the leprosy left him immediately. Then he ordered him not to tell anyone, but “Go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them.”  The report about him spread all the more, and great crowds assembled to listen to him and to be cured of their ailments, but he would withdraw to deserted places to pray. (Luke 5:12-16)

Have we ever felt “dirty?”   By that I mean our having betrayed our own principles and compromised our integrity for some purpose.  Looking the other way and ignoring that which we know must be addressed makes us “dirty.”   Setting aside Jesus’ commandments to achieve some limited objective we think is best achieved by our closing our eyes and finding some weak-minded rationale for our decisions and behavior contrary to Jesus’ teaching, dirties us.

We need to “fall prostrate” and “plead” with Jesus, our Christ, to make us clean again.   Our “leprosy” – our visible sins those around us clearly see, must leave us through forgiveness we must seek through Jesus.  “Great crowds” supporting non-Christian and anti-Jesus thinking and behavior must listen to him and then be “cured of their ailments;” that is, be made to realize that following Jesus requires our promoting and defending the Kingdom of God, not that of Caesar.

For this we should pray, but not in deserted places.  Rather, in Church where we receive the body and blood of Christ; seek to soften our hearts; and are made clean.

Deacon David Pierce