This weekend I attended a church while on vacation. I enjoyed getting to hear another preacher, and worship with new people.
The pastor shared a story from Jesus' ministry (Luke 17:11-19) that involved ten people who suffered from leprosy. They were shunned from their community because leprosy, today called Hansen's Disease, is highly contagious and devastating to the body. Jesus entered a village, and ten people with this disease approached, asking for healing. Jesus told them to go and show themselves to the priests - and "as they went, they were made clean."
Now, the "go to the priest" part seems strange, but according to the rules of Leviticus, the priests were in charge of the health - physical as well as spiritual - of their community. If someone had a skin problem, they had to show themselves to the priests before joining in worship. The priests were part of the public health system of the community, and used isolation to keep people with skin diseases separated in order to support the health of the community.
So the lepers needed to go see the priests in order to be examined and rejoin their community.
But...
Jesus hadn't healed them yet! At the time the 10 guys took off, they were still sick! If this was me, I would have made sure that I was different, aka healed, before I took off to bother the priests with a request for examination. But in the story, the ten guys immediately take off when Jesus tells them to go.
They went in faith. They figured Jesus knew what he was talking about. And when they took a step in faith, they were healed as they went.
God often seems to want us to engage and take a step before God does what God is going to do. The Israelites had to put a foot in the Jordan River before God stopped the river so they could cross it. The woman suffering from bleeding reached out to touch the tassel on Jesus' prayer shawl before she was healed. The lepers turned and walked to the priests, and were healed on the journey.
What are we waiting for? What healing do we need in our lives, and are we willing to step out in faith, trusting that God will heal us on the way?
This week, take time to consider the healing - physical and spiritual - that we are seeking, and see if there is a faith step God is waiting for us to take. Amen.
