The theme for this Ordination / Installation Sunday is “A Boldness of Faith”.  The text is from the Gospel of Mark: “A man with leprosy came to Jesus and begged him on this knees, ‘If you are willing, you can make me clean!’  Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. ‘I am willing,’ he said. ‘Be clean!’”

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In our story from Mark this morning we encounter a man who is designated as a leper–but it is unlikely that he was suffering from the horrible disease we call leprosy.  For you see, in first-century Palestine the term “leprosy” covered a wide variety of skin rashes, most of which were not life threatening nor debilitating.   No–you see the suffering experienced by lepers in Jesus’ day was not physically induced–as most of us would think-- but rather their suffering was caused by social,  and more importantly, religious abandonment.  As the Book of Leviticus so clearly specified, people identified by  priests as leprous were  to wear torn clothes and were required to leave their hair disheveled.  They were to cover their upper lip and cry out “Unclean! Unclean!” so that other people could be warned of their presence and could avoid them at any cost.  They were required to live alone–outside of community–and thus they were not only isolated from their family and friends but they were also banished from public worship. Levitical Law also clearly stated that anyone who came in contact with lepers were themselves deemed unclean–a state which could not be altered until the “toucher” followed  extensive, and often exhaustive,  purity rituals.

So with all that said, maybe now you can see how radical this story from Mark would have been for First-Century Jews!  A leprous person dares to physically approach Jesus–violating the stringent law of isolation?  Jesus, moved with pity, reaches out and touches-- PHYSICALLY TOUCHES-- the leper,   making himself ritually  and religiously unclean?  Please don’t miss this-–for these were SOCIALLY  SCANDALOUS and  RELIGIOUSLY REPULSIVE actions–not only on the part of the leper but also on the part of this wayward Galilean known as Jesus–this one who, with a religiously  illegal and socially  stigmatized touch, could restore folk back into whole and healthy community.

Scandalous?  YES!  But most importantly–BOLD!  There is a boldness of faith present and alive in this story–for the man with leprosy is bold enough in his faith to disregard the Levitical laws of isolation so as to come into Jesus’ presence–and Jesus is bold enough to publicly demonstrate that he has no fear of incurring defilement–for his power to restore and renew eclipses the Law’s power to remove and isolate!  There is a boldness of faith present and alive in this story–for the leper is brave enough to ask Jesus for what he truly needs–and Jesus is bold enough to give him the very thing he requests–the chance to be welcomed back into community and  the opportunity to be restored and renewed once more.  There is a boldness of faith present in this story–and it is this boldness–the boldness to defy restrictive social and religious laws, the boldness to renounce public taboos and terror-filled practices–that I yearn for us to embrace in our own lives this day. And most importantly, I think, I hope that this boldness of faith can be embodied and emulated by our new church officers who are soon to be ordained and installed this morning–for they are called to instruct us in the free movement of the Spirit and not in restrictive rules and regulations; they are called to be spokes-people for equity and for justice in places and for people where such notions are seldom experienced or known; and they are called to make this community of faith a place of vibrant hope and unmitigated healing, to make the big “C” church a place of inclusion rather than exclusion, and to make the larger world in which we live a place of humane reconciliation and respect rather than a place of inhuman hurts and hates.

A boldness of faith . . . .Believe it or not our Book of Order speaks to this very notion when it states (and I quote) “following the example of Jesus Christ, faithful disciples today express a boldness of faith by respecting the dignity of those in need, by being open to help even those judged undeserving, by willing to risk their own comfort and safety, by embracing a readiness to receive as well as to give, and to be in constant prayer in the midst of ministering while always being in communion with the renewing and restorative power of community.”

But still there is more . . .for the Book of Order goes on to say we are called to live out the boldness of our faith (and again I quote) “by dealing honestly in personal and public business, by exercising power for the common good, by supporting people who seek the dignity, freedom, and respect they have been denied, by working for fair laws and just administration of the law, by welcoming the stranger in the land, by seeking to overcome the disparity between rich and poor, by bearing witness against political oppression and exploitation, and by redressing wrongs against individuals, groups, and peoples in the church, in this nation, and in the world!”

And finally the Book of Order says this . . .Through the boldness of our faith “the people of God are called to peacemaking–in the Church universal fragmented and separated by histories and cultures, in denominations internally polarized by mutual distrust, and in congregations plagued by dissension and conflict, in the world where nations place national security above all else, where the zealotry of religion, race or ideology explodes in violence, and where the lust for getting and keeping economic or political power erupts in rioting or war, and in communities racked by crime and fear, in schools and workplaces marked by vicious competition and rebellion against order, and in households and families divided against themselves, scarred by violence and paralyzed by fear”

A boldness of faith . . . Rob, Matt, Laurie, Joy, Barbara, John, Siddy, Jim, Sarah, Freya, Fritzie and Becks—as new officers of this church may you be bold in leading us into new ways of ministry and mission, into new ways of learning, and loving, and living together in the context of Christ’s community.  May you be bold in helping us to expand  our voice and our vision as progressive Christians in the midst of a regressive culture.  May you be bold in expanding our influence on the lives of so many outside these doors who think the church is simply an irrelevant joke, who think that their ability to “think” will not be welcomed or cherished here, and who believe that their fervent and faithful questions will be viewed by us as nothing more than heresies. And may you be bold in fully and faithfully teaching the children in our care why we think the way we think, why we read the biblical text the way we do, and why we believe that we must constantly work for peace, and justice, and the healing of all nations—including our own.

 

A boldness of faith . . . that is what we look to you for this day and in the days to come—and may each of you live fully, love wastefully, and dare to be all that God has called you to be—for us and with us in this place!  AMEN