The Joshua Victor Theory

Sermon outline: ·          First glance? Miracle story + reminder to always say “thank-you”? < Scratching surface. Closer look > Dynamics between Jews and Samaritans (who were they?), dynamics between the healthy community and lepers (who were they?) , purity laws and priests verifying cleansing, value of a physical wellness vs. something more received by faith! Different levels of thankfulness/praise. Dynamics between Samaritan and Jesus (who is this man?). ·          Our own semi-recent history with leprosy—Father Damien and the lepers of the Kalaupapa colony on Molokai. Sad and tragic stories—exile who was healed, refused by mother to come home—so great was the fear. 100 years Hansen’s disease sufferers banished there. ·          Biblical times: had to live outside the community and wear torn clothes, cover their face and cry out, “Unclean, Unclean!” to ...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Welcome again to Emmanuel, and thanks to our preschoolers for their memory work and song, and for parents and family supporting your children as they worship God. Today’s sermon is from the story of the ten leprous men who were healed, and the one who returned to give thanks to Jesus. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Although it’s a few thousand years from the time of Jesus, and many thousands of miles from Israel to Hawaii, the circumstances of ten leprous men aren’t so distant and unfamiliar to us here in Hawaii. The leper colony at Kalaupapa is part of the recent memory of Hawaii, although in Bible times the word leprosy included a much broader range of skin diseases and rashes than what we now call Hansen’s disease. For about 100 years, people suffering from Hansen’s were banished to an existence of poverty and isolation. One woman exiled to K...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. The sermon text is from Mark 1, the Gospel reading. Last week we saw how the weight of Jesus presence drew the crowds to Him. Today’s reading has a man cleansed from leprosy spreading the news all around, with the result that Jesus couldn’t openly enter a town to preach anymore, but had to carry on His mission outside in desert places. In any case, we’ll look more closely at the cleansing of the leper, and consider how Christ has made us clean as well. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. How does the case of the man with leprosy apply to us today? None of us have leprosy, and in recent times this debilitating and dreadful disease has been able to be treated with much success. And we don’t live under the formal system of laws of cleanliness and purity that ancient Israel had. There were precise regulations to follow about how long a person had to wait...