The Lutheran Hour
-
"Not Much of a Secret"
- Download MP3 No bonus material MP3
-
Text: Mark 1: 45
-
Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! This day we freely tell the news of salvation which Christ has completed on Calvary’s cross, and is guaranteed by His open grave. Today, let it be no secret, Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world who gave Himself for us, that we might be redeemed from all iniquity.
“Pastor Klaus, Pastor Klaus. My mommy and daddy told me a secret.” That was what a kindergarten student told me years ago. She was fairly bursting with the news of her secret. Then she added, “Do you want to know my secret?” I said, “Honey, if your folks told you a secret, I think you probably ought to keep it.” She looked at me like I was dense as a post. “But do you wanna know my secret?” Then, before I could answer, she said, “Mommy is going to get fat. And do you know why?” Since we had gone that far, I played along, “Well, if you won’t get into trouble for telling me, no, I don’t know why your mommy’s going to get fat.” She giggled and said, “I can’t tell you why mommy’s going to get fat. I can’t tell you for another seven months.” Then she smugly added, “You see, I know how to keep a secret.” Secrets. Some people can keep them, some can’t. Some secrets are worth keeping; others are too good to keep to yourself.
It was a good number of years ago that I found myself grabbing a quick lunch at a New York Deli. Corned beef and Swiss on rye with a dill pickle the size of a submarine’s torpedo. Nobody makes that sandwich like the delis of New York. At any rate, that’s not important. What is important is that the deli was located just a few yards away from an entrance to the subway system. Normally, or so I’ve been told, New York’s subway system is a very reliable way to get around driving the great city’s grid-locked streets. That was not the way it was the day I was watching. From my table I had a great vantage point to observe the constant stream of passengers going down the steps, and an equally constant stream of people coming up the steps.
It took me a while to realize that the people I saw going down the stairs were also, a few minutes later, the same people who were coming up the stairs. That’s right. It was the same group of people. Eavesdropping on the table next to me, something not too hard to do since the individuals were speaking in very loud, and very angry tones, I found out the reason. It seems that this section of the subway had encountered a situation which had called for an immediate, and unannounced, shut down. In short, the trains weren’t running. That’s why I saw people going down the stairs and the same people, now sporting angry looks on their faces, coming up the stairs. Five minutes went by… 10 minutes… 15 minutes. It didn’t change. The people going down the stairs soon were the people coming up the stairs.
It was only the next day that something, something relatively important, occurred to me: I had not seen a single one of the angry, disappointed people coming up the stairs from the subway, give any kind of warning to the people who were going down the stairs to the subway. They kept their news a secret and didn’t let anybody know what was going on.
Secrets. Some people can keep them, others can’t. Some secrets are worth keeping and others are too good to keep. I think a Mercedes Benz company spokesman grasped that idea as good as anyone. When he was asked why his company wasn’t enforcing their patent secrets on the energy-absorbing car body, he replied, “Some things in life are too important not to share.” I agree. So did a leper who once met Jesus.
Leprosy was once a horrible disease. Today is diagnosable and it is curable. But when Jesus was physically among us it was nastiness incarnate. If you contracted leprosy, the first thing you would notice would be white dots on your eyelids and on the palms of hands. Those white dots would slowly spread over your entire body, bleaching your hair and making it white as snow, covering your skin with dry scales and oozing sores. That’s just the beginning. That’s just what other people would see when they looked at you. Internally, things were worse. Leprosy destroys the nerves. Leprosy’s victims slowly lose their sense of touch and the ability to experience pain.
Not having pain sounds great… but it isn’t. Without a sense of touch, the leper can, without knowing anything has happened, bump into something and break a toe; can try to pick something up and scrape his fingers raw; can spill boiling water on himself and not see the bubbling burns, can open up a wound on his head and remain unaware that anything is wrong until he sees the blood dripping down his face. Knowing this, lepers did try to be careful about how they lived and what they did. But, no matter how careful they were, accidents happened. Accidents which wear and whittle an individual down until he, or she, looked like a ghoul from a horror movie. More common than not was the sight of a leper who had lost toes, fingers, ears, nose, eyes.
Still, all of this a leper might have found endurable if he could only have avoided the social stigma of his disease. But that was impossible. The leper was exiled from being part of, and participating in society. He was forbidden to make a sacrifice, to attend a religious festival, to sit in the back pew of a worship service. Repulsive and repugnant to himself and others, the leper could only watch as everyone, desiring to keep themselves from contamination, withdrew from his company. John Donne wrote, “No man is an island,” but John Donne never experienced the life of a leper. From morn till night, from the first day of the calendar to the last, the leper’s life was one of isolation and loneliness. Strangers… then acquaintances… then friends… then family… spouse… children… mother would withdraw from his touch, would steer away from his presence. Adults would avoid him; young children would cry after having seen him; older ones would throw stones at him. And although most lepers didn’t need to be reminded to keep their distance, Old Testament Law commanded that the leper call out a warning to anyone he might meet. Like the tolling of a funeral bell he was continuously commanded to cry: “Unclean! Unclean!”
Unclean. Too unclean to have his hand shaken. Too unclean to enter the marketplace. Too unclean to speak of the Romans in whispered terms with friends. Too unclean to hold a job; to go to a wedding; to celebrate the Sabbath with his children; too unclean to touch his wife; too unclean to have a friend who was not as unclean as he; too unclean to have any hope or home other than the one that he now endured. That was a leper’s life, or what might better be called his living death.
But Scripture records one leper who had a secret. No, his secret was not that he desired to return home, to resume his life where it was before he had been diagnosed with his disease. The desire to be normal was no secret; every leper had such a dream. But this leper, our leper, had a secret plan: he would ask Jesus of Nazareth for help. Since the Bible is silent about the matter, I cannot tell you who had first told the leper about Jesus. Somewhere, somehow, someone had spoken to the leper about the Lord, related Jesus’ exploits, told of His miracles, repeated the message of His love. Somewhere, somehow the leper found himself, perhaps for the first time in a long time, having been given a most precious commodity: hope.
After he heard about Jesus, the leper’s secret plan began to form. I believe his plan had to be secret because his fellow lepers would have tried to talk him out of it; his loved ones would have told him to get real and forget it; the authorities would have forbidden it. The secret plan was a simple plan. He would go to Jesus and ask Him for help. That isn’t as easy as it might sound. Today, all of you who are listening to my voice have the ability to speak freely to the Savior who gave His life so you might have life. You have the ability to pray to the Lord who suffered, died, and rose for you. Indeed, Scripture urges you to come to Him; to call upon Him, any time, day or night, and share with Him the yearnings and joys, the pains, problems, and happiness of your heart. But our leper had no such knowledge or invitation. In order for him to approach Jesus, he would have had to disregard the law which governed his life. So that he might speak to Jesus, he would have to run the risk of being stoned as he made his way through the crowd. There was the possibility that Jesus, having recognized his illness, might turn and walk away. But the leper had been given hope, and his hope was not going to be put off by things which might go wrong.
He proceeded with his secret plan. Scripture says, “Now a leper came to Jesus, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, ‘If You are willing, You can make me clean'” (Mark 1:40). The Bible speaks simply, but in its simplicity it reveals much which of what was thought by the principal players of this story. For example, you will note that Jesus did not run from the leper; nor did He shout, “Keep your distance, fool! You’ve come close enough.” Jesus said, and did, none of those things. Jesus just stood His ground, watching as the leper came; waiting to hear what the man would say. The leper knelt. He had no delusions about this visit. He knew this was not a visit between equals. He knew he was not entering into any kind of negotiation. He had no right to make demands. The leper knew he was a beggar who was going to make a humanly impossible request.
Yes, this beggar knew who he was, and he also had a very good idea of who Jesus was. He knew Jesus was his only hope if he was to be delivered from his malady. That is why, knowing this would be his only opportunity, I believe the leper, in making his secret plan, would have spent some time selecting the exact words that he would speak-if he ever got to see the Savior. If that’s the case, I would like to call your attention to what the man did not ask of Jesus. He did not say, “Jesus, I deserve to be healed.” Indeed, he didn’t ask Jesus for healing at all. He didn’t say, “Jesus, please put back my nose, my fingers, my toes, my home, my job, my children, my family, my friends;” he didn’t ask that everything be returned to the way it had been. From deep within him comes a pathetic, passionate, plea: “Jesus if you are willing, You can make me clean.” He didn’t doubt that Jesus had the power to heal; he only wondered whether Jesus had the willingness to listen to the secret hope that comes from the heart of an untouchable.
Let’s freeze that picture for a second. Let’s make a snapshot of it. Can you see it in your mind’s eye… Jesus standing in front of the leper; the leper, having spoken, kneeling in humble hope for what Jesus will say; what Jesus will do. Do you have that picture? Good. Now, I would like you to substitute your face for that of the leper’s; your hands for his; your feet for his; your future for his. I want you to kneel before the Savior as did this leper. Why? Because his story is your story, my story, the story of every man, woman, and child this sinful earth has produced. Each of us, because of our sin, because of our evil thoughts, words, and actions, is just as condemned to an eternity of hell as was that leper. Like him, left on our own, there is no hope of heaven; there is no chance of escape. That is why you must, in repentant humility, be led to Jesus and say, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Don’t think you deserve to be healed. You don’t. Don’t believe that God owes you, He doesn’t. If your life is going to be changed it will only be because God’s grace wants it to be so.
If you are to find forgiveness, freedom, the chance to be saved, it will only be if you have a plan. Understand, like the leper, you do not need to invent your own secret plan. The plan you need to be delivered is not yours, it is Gods; nor is this plan a secret. This plan is as open and obvious as God can make it. God’s plan for you to be saved, calls for His Son to take your place. God’s plan says that Jesus will be born and live a perfect life, a life fulfilling all the laws you have willingly and unknowingly broken. God’s plan is no secret. It says that Jesus will be publicly arrested, publicly beaten, publicly condemned, and carrying your sins, be publicly crucified, and He will die. God’s plan calls for Jesus to rise from the dead and to show to all who come to Him in faith as their Savior, that their lives can, both now and through eternity, be saved.
Now, let’s look once again at the picture of Jesus and the leper. Look at the picture of Jesus and you. The leper has spoken… now it’s your turn. Go ahead. Ask Him. If Jesus hasn’t run from a leper, He’s not going to run from you. Ask Him, “Jesus, are you willing to help me with my burdens? Are you willing to help me with my troubles? Are you willing to help me when I am distressed, distraught, discouraged, depressed?” Don’t be afraid. Speak of what is in your heart. Are you guilt-wracked and fear-ridden? Kneel before your Savior and say, “Lord, if you want, you can make me clean.” Kneel before your Savior and hear Him say, as only the Savior can say, “I am willing, be clean.” That’s what Jesus said to the leper almost 2,000 years ago. It is what Jesus had said to many millions of others who have come to him with a repentant heart, and a hopeful spirit. Jesus is willing. No mater what troubles you, Jesus is willing. Did you hear that? Jesus is willing. No matter how much the distress of life has worn you down; no matter what sins you’ve done in the past, Jesus is willing to help you, to forgive you, possibly heal you, certainly lift you up and grant you a life better than any you have ever dreamed of living. Jesus is willing. He says so. Be clean.
Let’s go back and see what happened to the leper. Scripture says, “Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.” No skin grafts; no plastic surgeons; no prolonged hospital stays. His leprosy left him. Then, according to the rules, Jesus sent the man to the priests to have his healing verified and make some sacrifices in the temple. That’s what a leper did back then if he thought he was healed; he went to the temple and got a clean bill of health. Then Jesus asked the man to keep secret what had happened. He said, “By the way, don’t tell anybody about this.” Secrets. Some people can keep them, others can’t. Some secrets are worth keeping and others are too good to keep. Well, here you have a marriage between a secret too good to keep and a man who couldn’t bring himself to keeping it. The Bible says, “Instead (the man) went out and he began to talk freely, spreading the news.” Who can blame him? Who can be too angry with a fellow whose life had been totally changed, his future completely reversed.
Years ago, while I was making a hospital call, I saw a fellow, dressed in street clothes, burst out of one of the rooms, shouting. The doctors and a few nurses were right behind him, trying to catch up; trying to call him back; trying to hush him up. But the man couldn’t be caught and he wouldn’t be silenced. He saw me, came running down the hallway… which scared me just a little bit, and would have scared me a whole lot more if he hadn’t been smiling from ear-to-ear. He came up to me and fairly shouted: “The baby is going to live. The doctor said, ‘The baby is going to live.'” And then the man disappeared down the hallway shouting the same wonderful message over and over again. As the doctor passed me, he smiled and said four words, “He got good news.” Well the leper got good news. And, like that man in the hospital hallway, he would have told his friends, his family, his coworkers, his village about what had happened. Goodness, he would have told total strangers. I’ll bet, before the year was out, his children could tell the story as well as he. When he started telling the story at the dinner table, they would have rolled their eyes and said, “Oh, no, dad, not that story again.” And dad would have said, “Yes, that story again. It’s the story that changed my life.”
Which brings me to the end of my message. I’ve got good news. And I can’t keep it a secret. For 75 years The Lutheran Hour has been doing its best to make sure that what Jesus has done for the world is not a secret. We’ve got good news. A story far too good to keep to ourselves. We’ve told that old story again, and done so gladly. Why? Because Jesus’ story is the story that has saved our souls and the souls of all who believe. It’s a wondrous bit of good news that we’ve got here. Jesus, God’s Son is willing to help us. God’s Son, our Savior has lived, died, and risen to save us. I’ve got good news for you. Believe it. And if you want to know more… call us at The Lutheran Hour. Amen.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for FEBRUARY 12, 2006
ANNOUNCER: We’re back with Pastor Ken Klaus. I’m Mark Eischer. And today we’re going to talk about prayer, and this is in the context of the terrible mining disaster that took place in early January in Tallmansville, West Virginia.
KLAUS: Terrible tragedy. We think of the lives that were lost and those who have been turned upside down by the accident and the circumstances surrounding it.
ANNOUNCER: Pastor, we should note that our program is carried over station WHAW in Weston, West Virginia, which is only about 25 miles from Tallmansville. So it’s entirely possible that some of those grieving friends and relatives could be listening to us right now. If so, what would you like to say to them, specifically?
KLAUS: Mark, I’d like to have a prayer with them.
Dear Lord, this day we bring before you those in Tallmansville, and all over the world, whose hearts are hurting. Some of those who have been touched by tragedy are trying to make sense of their loss. They know that their lives will never again be the same. Lord, help us reach out to them and stand by their side. We ask that You will send Your Holy Spirit to bring them the comfort of Your Word; to enable them to look past death and grave so they might see a reunion in heaven which is the certain hope of all who trust in Jesus, His great sacrifice and resurrection. We place these, our brothers and sisters, these Your beloved children into Your care. In the Savior’s Name. Amen.ANNOUNCER: Pastor, there was one individual quoted on the news who, when they first thought the miners were alive, said, “I guess this shows we prayed enough.” What would you say to those who now blame God for this heartbreaking tragedy? And what about those who thought things turned out the way they did because someone didn’t didn’t pray enough?
KLAUS: Two hard questions, and very real questions, Mark. You know whenever I find myself confronted with that kind of hard question, I go back to the basics.
ANNOUNCER: And what are the basics?
KLAUS: When I say back to the basics, I mean this: The prophet Jeremiah was quoting the thoughts of the Lord when he said, “For I know the plans I have for you,” (they are) “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Indeed, through Jesus’ life, suffering, death, and resurrection, God’s people do have hope and a future-even when tragedy and death comes. That’s part of the basics.
But there is more. In the 71st Psalm, the psalmist says, speaking about himself, “Though You have made me see troubles, many and bitter, You will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth You will again bring me up.” That, too, is part of the basics.ANNOUNCER: And, if I understand those passages correctly, they are saying that God has only good intentions for us. And they’re also saying that when trouble comes, the Lord promises to help us.
KLAUS: Exactly. Mark, this world is a sinful, broken place. Because it is, we all will suffer, somehow, someway. Sometimes that suffering can come via a financial disaster, or because of a family situation, or because of some kind of health issue.
ANNOUNCER: Or it might be in the form of an accident like this mining disaster.
KLAUS: It may come in the form of a mine disaster. One of the basics is to remember that the Lord is your friend, your heavenly Father. He is not some distant divinity who relishes hurting His people. Of course, He does know that troubles will come. Christians are not guaranteed a life free from problems and pain. Indeed, the Lord Jesus warned us that these things would come to His followers. But He also told us that He would lift us up; that He would bring us up from the depths.
ANNOUNCER: And that, I take it, is also part of the basics?
KLAUS: It is a very important part of the basics. If I remember right, though, there was another part to this individual’s question.
ANNOUNCER: That’s right. It had to do with that person who, when at first he thought the miners were still alive, said, “I guess this shows we prayed enough.” And when it turned out those men hadn’t survived, does that mean someone didn’t pray enough?
KLAUS: Mark, I’m going to do something I normally don’t like to do. I’m going to give a short answer right now, and, because of our time constraints, I’ll give a more extended answer next week. The short answer is: No. The deaths of those men does not mean, not for a second, that somebody didn’t pray “enough.” Everyone needs to put that idea out of their minds!
ANNOUNCER: And we’ll have more to say on that next week?
KLAUS: Absolutely. It’s too important a question not to, and I hope our listeners will join us then.
ANNOUNCER: Thank you, Pastor Klaus. This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.
Music selections for this program:
“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by John Leavitt. Concordia Publishing House/SESAC
“How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds” by Kenneth Kosche. From Christ Be With Me by the Kammerchor (© 1998 Concordia University-Wisconsin) Coronet
“Prelude on Repton” by John Behnke. From For All Seasons, vol. 2 by John Behnke (© 2001 John A. Behnke) Concordia Publishing House/SESAC
“Son of God, Eternal Savior ” by Michael Burkhardt. From Hymn Improvisations, vol. 1 by Michael Burkhardt (© 1993 MorningStar Music Publishers)