Sermon Tone Analysis

| "Willing and Able" \\ Mark 1:40-45 \\ February 12, 2006 \\ 6 Epiphany B \\ Good Shepherd Lutheran Church \\ Boise, Idaho \\ Pastor Tim Pauls |

I.

The Leper’s Confession of Faith \\ \\ It is while Jesus is traveling and teaching from town to town in Galilee that the leper comes to him.

He’s a dead man walking: leprosy is a disease as incurable as it is fatal and contagious.

In fact, the law requires that he stay away from everyone—except any other lepers.

But here he is, coming to Jesus.

\\ \\ And what would be the reaction of those gathered around the Lord…?

Is he crazy?

Who does he think he is?

What temerity he possesses to walk up to the Savior!

Who is this man, to waste Jesus’ time?

The Lord certainly has better things to do, like help the helpable who still have life ahead of them.

Furthermore, what does this leper have to offer?

You know how the world works—you’ve got to have something to give if you’re going to get something back.

There’s no such thing as free health care, and someone as gifted as Jesus should charge a hefty price.

So who does this man think that he is?

He has no wealth or possessions that he can use to pay.

His health and strength are failing, so it’s not like he can do some great thing to help out Jesus.

\\ \\ To the eyes of the world, this man has nothing.

This man is nothing.

He should just stay away.

In the eyes of God, though, this man is one for whom Jesus is born to save.

He is not wasting Jesus’ time, because the Savior is there for such as these.

Behold what happens next.

Hear what the leper says, and marvel at his God-given, astounding confession of faith.

\\ \\ Here it is: “If You are willing, You can make me clean.”

\\ \\ That may not, at first hearing, sound like an astounding confession of faith; so let us take a moment or two to unpack what it says—about the leper and about Jesus.

\\ \\ What does the leper say about himself?

Perhaps a better question is, what doesn’t the leper say?

He doesn’t bargain.

He doesn’t bank on the past and say, “Lord, I’ve done enough good that I think I deserve a good break for once.”

He doesn’t make promises about the future, as in, “If you heal me now, I’ll devote my life for you.”

He doesn’t try to buy help or barter for it.

He doesn’t say, “Jesus, You’ve got to heal me because of who I am, what I have or what I can do.”

In fact, all the leper says about himself is that he’s unclean—he’s sick and needs to be healed.

The leper is saying, “If You heal me, it is not because of any merit on my part.”

\\ \\ And what does he say about Jesus?

I think that we naturally focus on, “You can make me clean.”

We’re drawn to the part about the miraculous healing.

This is absolutely true: as part of His saving us from the entire curse of sin, Jesus comes to heal.

He is able to perform miracles.

In this we rejoice, and this is right and proper to do, for Jesus is able.

But don’t miss the first part of that sentence: “If You are willing.”

Even as the leper declares that there is nothing about him that he can trade for healing, he also declares that Jesus may still heal him: not because of who the leper is, but because of who Jesus is.

“Lord, I am nothing,” says the leper, “and I have nothing to give.

But You can still heal me if You desire, because You are the Savior who conquers even leprosy and death.”

\\ \\ That is the leper’s confession: “I am sick and have nothing to give.

You can still heal me anyway, because You are Jesus.

Your will be done.”

\\ \\ Why is this so astounding?

Simply because it is truth—truth that the leper cannot know apart from God’s grace.

His old sinful flesh will always prod him to believe he has something to trade for God’s help, and to resent God for the affliction.

But by God’s grace, the leper says what is true: “I don’t deserve Your help.

But You will still help me according to Your will.”

\\ \\ And so the Savior responds: “I am willing; be cleansed.”

He’s willing and He’s able.

He speaks His powerful Word, and the man is healed.

\\ \\ II.

Willing and Able for You \\ \\ What does this have to do with you and me?

I’m unaware of any lepers in the congregation, but I would point you to a Bible verse that we say all the time in church, and that we’ve said twice already this service.

It’s Psalm 32:5: “I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord,’ and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.” \\ \\ “I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord.’”

To anyone who says such a thing, the world really has only one response: “Are you crazy?”

After all, this isn’t how the world works.

If you want somebody’s help, you’ve got to work for it.

You’ve got to have something to trade.

It might be goods or services, or at least good behavior.

You don’t walk into your employer’s office and say, “I’d like a raise, but first let me tell you how many times I’ve wasted time and the resources of this company.”

If you want the police officer to give you a warning instead of a ticket, you don’t say, “This isn’t the first time!

As long as you’ve pulled me over, here’s a list of all my traffic infractions to date.”

This is how the world works: you do your best to gain the approval of authorities.

And where you mess up, you cover it up.

You don’t put your worst mistakes and proof of incompetence on your resume.

\\ \\ Now, in these examples, we’re only talking about a boss or a police officer.

Being honest with them has consequences that are big enough.

So why—why—would it ever seem like a good idea to go before the Lord of heaven and earth and say, “Here are all the ways I have disobeyed You daily and much, wasted all Your gifts and done my best to put my desires before Your holy will”?

You would have to be crazy.

And if Old Adam can’t convince you that you’re crazy, he’ll work to persuade you that such confession is a crazy waste of time and worship.

\\ \\ But if you are to be crazy, then be “crazy” like the leper.

In other words, tell the truth.

To “confess” is to say the same thing; and when you confess your sins, you say the same thing about you that God says about you.

By His grace, you make the leper’s confession: “Lord, there is nothing about me that deserves help from You.

I am unclean, impure, unholy—I am sinful.

There is nothing I can do to earn Your help—what do You need my help for?”

That’s an honest confession of who you are; and by God’s grace, it goes with a confession of who God is: “But Lord, You have not said that You will help me because of my goodness or works.

You have not said You will help me because I clean up my act or do some great things for You.

No, You declare in Your Word that You will to forgive me—not because of who I am, but because of who You are.

Furthermore, You declare that You are able to forgive me—not because of what I have done, but for the sake of Jesus Christ, who has died on the cross for me.

I in no way deserve Your grace.

But You are willing and able to make me clean.”

That is the confession of a Christian.

That’s an astounding confession of faith.

(If you take some time to read through the confession of sin at the top of [TLH] p. 16, you will find this to be the essence of that confession.)

\\ \\ Why so astounding?

Because Old Adam wars against it so that there is no way you can believe this truth except by God-given faith.

Only by His grace can you say, “I am a sinner, but You are willing and able to make me clean.”

In fact, every other religion in the world teaches that you must prove your worth to God before He will save you.

Every other religion works the same way the world works—not according to the will of God.

\\ \\ And make no mistake: your own sinful flesh doesn’t like this confession one bit.

It will work hard to make you deny it: either deny that you don’t deserve God’s grace, or deny that God is willing and able to forgive you solely for Jesus’ sake.

Even within the visible church today, it is taught that Jesus has forgiveness for you if you earn it by your works—but this denies that you are a sinner who can do nothing to save yourself.