"Messy" Lives

I was reading through a familiar passage of scripture (Matthew 8) and it was one of those times where God met me in a very unique way (probably because I was intentional about slowing down to listen to God and pray. I novel idea I know...maybe I should do this more often). In Matthew 8 there are several short stories and I appreciate what God was speaking to my heart. Here is one thing that resonated with me:

In the first section, there is the story about a leprous man who approached Jesus...begging him (he fell at Jesus's knees) to cure him from his illness. Most of you know the perils of leprosy during this time so I won't labor you with all the details. However, this illness affected the individual's appearance as well as his social status. A leper was forbidden to live with the rest of society.

If you're like me, being sick is miserable...but being sick and alone is torture. I NEED someone to rub my back, assure me I won't die, etc. I cannot overstate how pathetic I am when I am sick....my wife can testify. Therefore, I cannot imagine how miserable a leper was. Even if I didn't have someone to rub my back, whisper encouraging words, etc. I would be ok knowing that in a couple days I would be back to normal. Lepers didn't have this hope...they were in a perpetual cycle of misery.

Can you begin to see why this individual fell at Jesus's feet?

The compassion that Jesus shows is remarkable and is often easily overlooked. Of course Jesus heals the man, but the manner in which he does it is lost to 21st century readers. We aren't told all the details like how long this individual had been affected by this disease, but we can assume that it was a long time considering the desperateness of the plea. Jesus, being the Rabbi that he was, could have passed right by and rebuked him because he was not doing what the Jewish custom required him to do, which is announce to those around him that he was "unclean." This would let others know they needed to avoid him, lest they too become infected with the disease.

Jesus doesn't rebuke him, he doesn't pass by him...he heals him and he does it by touching him! There's no telling how long this individual had gone without human contact. The point I find remarkable is that Jesus is not afraid to involve himself and minister to "messy" people. He doesn't separate himself from the outsiders, but openly loves and welcomes them.

This caused me to reflect on how well I am doing in this area. Am I involving myself in lives that are messy or do I avoid them at all costs? How you doing? Do you only interact with those who are "clean?" If so, how can we see the transforming power of God (like this leperous man) if we are? We can't.

I believe God is calling us (the Church, the body of Christ) to involve ourselves in lives that are unclean and messy....so that we can see lives radically transformed by the power of Jesus.