Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him. – Luke 5:13
Today’s Scripture Reading (February 7, 2010): Luke 5
This morning I am preaching the second sermon in our “The Love Triangle” series. The subject matter is ‘What I Want’ and the challenge is always that we can feel guilty about the way we have led our lives. It can almost make us believe that we have done too much – gone too far for God to love us. And that is absolutely wrong.
We are human – that fact doesn’t excuse us, but it does mean that we share a common story. We are the same. As we think of maybe the ways that we have blown it – all of us have similar stories.
So this man meets with Jesus – he is unclean. And he looks at Jesus and says – I know you, I know that if you are willing, you can make me clean. And Jesus response was I am willing. Our stories are never the issue – Jesus is He is still willing and we are still the man coming and standing in front of the Rabbi. He is not the one that stands between us and being clean. We are the ones that stand in the way.
So we gather again today – the saints who are really the sinners. Our stories lay open in our minds if nowhere else. We are weak and we feel guilt – and he still stands in front of us saying – I am willing, be clean. Really hear that message this morning and believe that it is true in your life.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Exodus 4
