The Center

Numbers chapter 2 pictures the order and arrangement of the tribes of Israel encamping around the tabernacle. God is at the very center of their lives, everything emanating from that core, all activity moves out from the very presence of God.

There were three tribes camped on each side of the tabernacle and the Levites scattered around as well.

God's presence was not only the center and heart of the camp, but also the center of the tabernacle. Within the tabernacle there were different levels of access and closeness to God moving from the outer courts to the Holy Place and finally into the Holiest of Holies:

And inside the Holiest of Holies, was the ark. And inside the Ark was the covenant, the tablets given by God to Moses. And on top of the Ark was the mercy seat, where the very presence of God rested.

Mercy was at the heart of the Israelites whole order, resting over the tablets of the covenant, God's very Word. Their whole life was centered on this, literally.

The question is: Shouldn't our lives also be centered on God? With God at the heart of our devotion, our daily lives? Our waking and sleeping? Our thoughts and energies? Life gets busy and we have obligations, but does the Lord get sidelined and the things of this world take center stage, the place of honor, the most sacred space in our lives? What is sacred to us and set apart as special? What do we sacrifice on behalf of that sacred hobby, sacred job, sacred TV show, sacred relationship, sacred obsession?

In the tabernacle everything was bathed with the blood of sacrificed animals as people get closer to the Presence of God, hidden behind a curtain in the most holy place. A sinful people needed almost 100 rules for 1 man once per year to enter the Holiest of Holies to approach the Holy God. Failure to approach God without the protection of the sacrifices was deadly.

But we have been permanently brought near to God by one sacrifice. By even 1 drop of Jesus' blood countless people dwell in the center of God's presence for 100 million years and then some. Do we avail ourselves of the blood of Jesus to boldly approach the throne of grace (Heb 4:16) and find mercy and grace? The veil of the tabernacle has been ripped in two from top to bottom, and we can at any time enter into the center of the throne room, the presence of God.

In the desert some people had to be removed from the camp for various conditions making them unclean: disease, wrong offerings, eating blood of an animal, etc. When they were unclean or disobedient they were moved farther from God's presence, farther from the center.

Some people, like lepers, had to live outside the camp. They were unclean. They were sent away from the center (Num 5:1) so they wouldn't defile the place where God dwells.

And as disgusting as leprosy is, our sin is worse before God. If we were to see our sinful condition in bodily form, it would shock and horrify us. We would seem to be as disfigured as the latest stage leper who is nearly beyond recognition from his intended form.

Jesus healed lepers and touched them. But in a greater miracle, God sees believers through the imputed righteousness of Jesus. He doesn't see a disfigured and corrupted person, but one wholly righteous, clothed in white, and washed by the blood of the lamb. We have been made clean (justified) and are being made clean (sanctified). We are drawn to the center.

But when we sin, we distance ourselves from God. Christians are never assigned to the place of unbelievers but are not always in intimate communion and relationship. We move away from the center.

In the desert some people were aliens, outside of the chosen people, not even within site of the camp. Lost and utterly depraved (Lev 20:1-5 for example). There were whole communities and generations that did not even know that God called a chosen people, that He performed mighty wonders and miracles, that He delivered them from slavery with wondrous powers. How many people lived so far from the center of God's presence that they missed his glory? Never heard His thunder from the mountain? Never knew his name? Never covered their ears from the booming thunder blasts of Sinai, or shielded their eyes from the furious lightning? But instead were sacrificing their children in fire to the demon god Molech? How many? These were the people whose sexual sin was so deplorable that the very land was spoiled and defiled beneath them (Lev 18:25, 27). How bad must one's sin be before the earth that you stand on is corrupted? Like a poison that drips from a cup to the waters of a well, seeping deep, utterly corrupting it. Or, as in the Lev 18:28 text, like a rotten meat in the stomach, so that the stomach will vomit to purge itself clean. These people were very far from the center.

We're tempted to think of sin that bad as belonging to others, in a different time and different place. After all, which of us has sacrificed our child to an idol?

But we often underestimate the revulsion of our own sin to God and its consequences . Consider that the one single sin of Adam (eating fruit) was foul enough to spread death, decay and destruction to all of mankind, infecting billions of souls through thousands of years. That even nature itself and the natural order would be defiled and ruined. So much so that in order to redeem man He would need to destroy his body and give him an entirely new body (corruptible putting on incorruption) and the heavens and earth would need to be reformed.

Yet only by looking through the lens of our sin and its depravity can we fully appreciate the magnitude of the love and grace of God. Where sin abounded, grace super-abounded. We usually look at the arrangement of the camp around the tabernacle from our perspective, teaching us to keep God at the center of our lives. But when you look at it from the perspective of God, sitting on the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies we see that God intentionally surrounded himself with fallen people, those of the would-be redeemed.

Despite the fallen nature of Israel, God the Father placed his majesty in their midst in the Holiest of Holies and surrounded Himself with 12 tribes of sinful men, wrapping them around himself like a dirty tattered cloak after setting aside His royal robes in the heavenly places. A material tabernacle housing God in the center of a sinful but chosen people.

And in the same way God the Son set aside his heavenly glory and wrapped himself in human flesh and lived among the throng of sinful man. Subjecting himself to the weariness, sorrow, pain, temptation in the center of humanity's depravity. A human tabernacle housed God among a sinful world. God the Son dwelling among men.

And then once again, today and in the church age, God the Holy Spirit lives in the hearts of Christian believers whose bodies become the tabernacle (temple) of God, yet still sinful and corrupt though justified and being sanctified. God the Spirit dwelling within a man.

There is a progression of intimacy of the triune God dwelling among man:

1) Father in a Tabernacle in the desert: separation by walls, curtains and ritual; Only one man, once per year could enter the presence of God. God was seen, but only rarely and in limited expression.

2) Son assuming a human body: separation from others by physical distance. Thousands were in the presence of Jesus, the God-man. But most still were not. There was no veil or tabernacle shielding God from sinful man other than his flesh. But people could touch him, crowds pressed in tight. A woman was healed by touching his cloak. For a moment on the mount of transfiguration the veil was pulled back just a smidgeon and the glory of the Son was revealed to Peter an John.

3) Spirit living in the hearts of Christians: millions (billions?) of people have the presence of God inside of them. God dwelling inside the believers in the most intimate arrangement possible. At times we grieve and quench the Holy Spirit by sin in our lives, like covering burning coals with a wet, wool blanket. Not extinguishing the Spirit, but also not fanning into flame.

This whole progression demonstrates the deep loving heart of God, his intense desire to be intimately at the center of humanity. The tabernacle in the desert is a great picture of God dwelling among men. He WANTS DESPERATELY to live among us. How much so? That he would kill His own son that we might be brought ever nearer and closer.

The CS Lewis book "The Great Divorce" has an interesting and relevant image of hell: a community of people that keep moving farther and farther away from each other and from God. Whereas God wanted to draw Israel in tight, the weight and gravity of His love pulling them in, those who reject God drift farther and farther off, severed from the draw of His presence and ever receding into the vanishing distance.

Why should God be the center of our lives? Because He wants to look out and around to see a circle of those He redeemed by Jesus' blood encamped about him.

More in The Center, Part 2.

Jesus Heals a Leper: Touching the Untouchable

Flipside Message 6/23/11

The Point:
A single touch from the outreached hand of Jesus can make us clean.

Opening Prayer.

Begin Message==>

I'm going to read 5 sentences from the Bible about a man whose life was radically changed by a single touch. This passage is so profound that it can change the entire course of your life too.

Text: Luke 5:12-13

While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him.

Background to the story:
1) Lepers were not allowed inside the town. He wasn't allowed in Mallards Ice Cream, or the Bagelry, or Bellis Fair Mall. This man was an outcast, untouchable. An object of scorn, but he battled his way through the crowd to meet Jesus.

2) The man who approaches Jesus is not just some guy with the sniffles, or a tummy ache. He's a leper. And the author of this gospel, Luke, was a medical doctor that includes details the other accounts do not. This man was "covered" by leprosy. He was late stage, far gone.


I'm going to show you a few pictures of lepers in order for you to understand the full meaning of this passage in the Bible. But want to warn you that it is intense and you may want to turn aside if you're squeamish. I'm not trying to shock you, but the better you understand the fullness of the story, the more amazing it is and the meaning for your life becomes more important.

Background info about leprosy:
1) It is a bacteria that gets into every portion of the body but attacks the extremities where the body temperature is lower.

2) The disease attacks and destroys nerve endings such that people loose the ability to feel pain. Because they don't feel pain they would hurt themselves and loose body parts to infection. Back in the day people didn't were crocs, or vans, or Ugg Boots, so when they walked they got blisters.

3) Lepers were highly stigmatized and cast out of society in Biblical times. Partly because of OT commands for purity and cleanliness in the camp (Lev 13, Num 5:1). They were said to defile the camp, so they lived apart from the people of God.

4) Lepers could not have any human contact in the later stages. They had to wear signs and shout "Unclean! Unclean! Unclean! " when they were near people. They were untouchable.


What we learn about the Leper who came to Jesus:

Put yourself in this man's position. Imagine this is your life.


A Low Point

1) He was desperate, at the lowest part of his life. He saw a huge crowd, heard murmurs that Jesus was in town. He probably heard news that this Jesus could heal. He dared to approach Jesus in town. Since lepers often travelled in groups, he told his fellow lepers where he was going. They probably tried to talk him out of it. May have had rocks chucked at him on the way into town like some sick dog. Curses were brought down on him by the townspeople, he was likely spit on. But he pressed in to get close, fought the crowd.
He had to see Jesus!



Faith First

2) The leper had faith in Jesus first, then got healed. "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean." The journey to healing and wholeness starts with faith. Faith is more than belief, it is a deep trust, an investment of all you have into the One who made you all you are. This man trusted in Jesus. The other lepers with him did not approach Jesus. Why? They lacked faith. They didn't think he could do anything. They thought that maybe he was just a good teacher. Or maybe a kook. Maybe they looked at their disfigured hands, their rotting feet, their open sores covering their body and thought, "Jesus can't heal me." Some people today make the same mistakes.


Honest with Himself

3) The Leper understands his unclean, foul condition. He knew he had a serious problem. Some of you don't know the dire condition you're in. Or, perhaps you know, but don't want to change. Sin and leprosy are the same in that they start small but get progressively worse. Leprosy can be in your body for 8 years before it shows up. Sin can be in your life for a while, without the effects being immediately apparent or visible. But it will always eventually take a toll. As leprosy can deaden the body's sensitivity to pain, sin also can make us callus, give us a hard heart insensitive to God's love, or the pain you're causing yourself or others. Sin always grows, gets worse, eats away at our soul unless we come to Jesus for healing, to be made clean.


Humility

4) The leper fell to his knees, fell with his face to the ground in absolute desperation. He was covered in leprosy, had open seeping wounds. Falling face down in the dirt was a big deal. Being touched by God requires humility. Throughout the Bible, when people meet God, they fall to the ground. Sometimes we need to fall on our face in despair before God. In our darkest hour, Jesus is there reaching out to touch you with a hand of comfort.
All of us have times when we are desperate for help. At an absolute low point. Call out to the Lord and fall before him: Psalm 107:4-6.

Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle. They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away.Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.

Spread the News

5) The leper spread the news of his healing. He probably ran back to his family to tell them about his healing! What would your reaction be if you were healed of an incurable, deadly disease? Keep it a secret? Go back to your Xbox game? What about sharing it with the other people who are also lepers? They would need to know this good news too! If you're a Christian, have you told anybody what God's done for you? What would you do with the best news you've ever heard? You know the reason I'm here tonight talking to you? I'm like a leper that was healed.

What we learn about Jesus:

Jesus is God

1) Power to heal reflects his Divinity. Jesus is not just a "good teacher". He is the one who raises people from the dead, gave sight to the blind, read minds, was raised from the dead. He's the same one who flung stars into space at creation. With a touch he could heal. He is the man who is God. He didn't just live thousands of years ago. He's living today. Today he is reaching out.


Jesus is Close to Us

2) He touched the man. An astonishing act that broke all the rules of the religious rulers of the day. While he could have healed without touching, Jesus touched his disgusting, decayed, festering, oozing skin. He could've blinked to heal him, or pointed a finger, or just thought it. Instead he touched the untouchable leper. God taking human form is no less of a stretch. God came to dwell among us, to suffer our conditions, be a man of sorrows. He joined us in the muck and mire.


Loves the Unclean

3) Jesus loved this man before he was clean. He loves the unclean and untouchable. He loves the one who others would spit on. We don't have to "be good" in order for God to love us. The leper didn't need to wash up, put on good clothes to approach Jesus. We don't heal ourselves to go to the doctor. We go to Jesus to get made well. Because he loves us.

What we learn about us?
1) Our sin is like leprosy. The things we do wrong, our disobedience to God, the things we don't do that we should is like leprosy. We are made in God's image but sin works to disfigure and scar that beautiful image. We were't made for war, hate, jealousy, greed, deceit. God didn't create a world where children fear their parents. Or parents abuse their children, but it happens. Too much. This is a scarring of sin, a festering boil on God's humanity. Sin also penetrates deeply to within every cell of our body. It can't be healed or cleaned by soap and water. We are utterly helpless to heal ourselves. It pushes us from the presence of God, alienates us from others. Some people say, "I'm a good person, or at least I'm not as bad as some people." It is meaningless for two lepers to compare their relative conditions, "I'm way better than that other guy, he's lost two feet and a hand. I've just lost 3 toes." So too we can't say, "I'm not a sinner, I'm not as bad as that guy." (Credit Tyler Erikson). Our sin is like leprosy. While there are about 15 million people have the disease today, there are 6 billion people with a sinful condition far worse

2) Like the leper we must acknowledge our condition. If we were to see ourselves in our sin, we'd appear as gross and disfigured as a late stage leper. A leper is separated from people, a sinner is separated from God. But Jesus cleans both! Touches and restored both the leper and the sinner! God wants to bring us back to how He created us: pure, good, whole.

3) To be cleaned we must fall at the feet of Jesus and beg him in repentance.

4) We must approach Jesus in faith and acknowledge Him as Lord. Our personal Lord.

5) Once healed, then talk freely to others about what Jesus has done for you. The leper was cleaned and delivered from his life of suffering and separation from those he loved. When God cleans and forgives us we're delivered from an eternity of suffering and separation from Him.


Making it personal for two groups:

1) You might be the person denying your condition, walking around with oozing wounds but thinking everything is just fine. You can try to cover your condition, but that doesn't help. A leper who puts on a tuxedo is a just a well dressed leper. Some people try to cover their sin with wealth. But a rich sinner is still a sinner. A cool, popular sinner is a sinner. Jesus is nearby but you don't want to fall before him. Perhaps you are like the other lepers traveling with this man who stayed on the outside while the one received healing. Jesus calls you to draw near and be healed. Know that God will receive you with open arms. Today.

2) Your pain is not without purpose. The biggest problem with lepers is that they feel no pain. But that is the very thing that threatens their life. You may be experiencing pain right now. Physical or emotional pain. You might be struggling with mental illness. It might be intense pain and suffering. Some people at this very minute might want to die because of their pain. I want you to know that God has an amazing ability to turn your pain into blessing. Pain can have good purpose, it has been called a gift by Dr. Paul Brand who worked with lepers in India for decades. God can touch our pain and eventually turns it into praise. This is no less miraculous than Jesus healing a leper, but he turns pain into praise, suffering into worship, tears of pain to tears of joy. My co-worker has a son with spina bifida and went through a horrible spell of cancer. Terrible suffering in the family but just today she said that God has turned their pain into pure joy, because she know that God has been with them. Sometimes it takes years, but He is The Healer. He promises to wipe away every tear with the same hand touched and healed the leper.


The Point: There is a loving savior, Jesus, who wants you to be forgiven of a condition that separates you from God. You're utterly helpless to cure yourself. Will you fall at His feet, confess Him as Lord, and be touched by Him? He's reaching out right now. At this very moment, your life can be radically changed, forgiven of sin, with an assurance that you'll be with Jesus forever in heaven.

Concluding prayer.