One of the hardest parts of writing a sermon is when it is going on too long, and I have to make a decision to cut something for the sake of time. Sometimes, I get my sermons written early enough that I can include some of those cut things here in the e-blast. I hope you enjoy these ideas from the cutting room floor.

This weekend we’ll hear the story of how Jesus healed ten people with leprosy, and only one returned to give him praise. Stories of healing fill the scriptures. They’re a sign of the power of faith, and they restore people into their place in society, and some people think they are a foretaste of what heaven may be like.

But at the same time, we need to be careful how we think about healings in the Bible. Too often, throughout Christian history, these passages have been used to criticize people who have bodies that aren’t “normal”. Rev. Richard Mahaffy is one of the few deaf Episcopal priests, and he has a lot to say about Mark 7:32-37, where Jesus heals a deaf man:

“...Is this a good thing? Deaf people ask. What does Jesus’ action mean? Does it mean that the healed man is better off than before? Does it mean that he was not okay when he was a Deaf man? Many Deaf people object to these assumptions… By focusing on people with disabilities, healing stories about Jesus can give the false impression that these people would be better off if they could become whole, if they could become ‘normal’…. Does Jesus accept us as we are, or does Jesus want us to become hearing/’normal’? This can be a discouraging message for people who are unable to change their condition.”

Instead, many look at these passages of healing as stories of outcasts being reunited with society. The ten men were legally required to stay away from other people because they were contagious. But even this makes us ask some questions. Are the ten men now going to assimilate into a community that requires them to ostracize those who continue to suffer as they did? What about the people Jesus didn’t heal? What about those of us today with different bodies who don’t fit in? Are we less than whole? Do our “abnormal” bodies make us unfit for Heaven?

Jesus teaches us to look beyond our man-made empires towards God’s kingdom, which has room for all of us, no matter whether our bodies are “normal” or not. Jesus didn’t come for assimilation, he came for liberation! Our faith can allow us to see that greater kingdom and to work to make our world more like it – tearing down systems of inequality and building up accessibility and inclusion. The healing that Jesus did – and that we continue to do – was not just for individuals, but for our total society. Just like the one man who returned to praise Jesus, our faith will make us whole.

I’ll see you on Sunday.

Peace,
Jeff Rockey