Unknown unknowns
Jesus came down the mountain with the cheers of the crowd still ringing in his ears. Then a leper appeared and went to his knees before Jesus, praying, “Master, if you want to, you can heal my body.”
Jesus reached out and touched him, saying, “I want to. Be clean.” Then and there, all signs of the leprosy were gone. (Matthew 8)
I was driving to work today when I smelled something like burnt oil coming from my fans. This was quite troubling to me, as I had recently taken my car for a check-up. But since my car is about 15 years old, it would not surprise me if there are problems despite the auto service.
I started panicking and going through scenarios in my head. What if it’s an oil leak? Could it be just oil spilled during the check-up, and it’s now burning on some hot metal surface? What if my car breaks down — oh, I’ll have to call a tow truck to bring it to Main Street! I guess I can close my car fan’s air intake right now, but that’s ignoring the problem…
As I kept on driving, I noticed that there was a large construction vehicle in front of me. I also noticed that it was emitting a lot of fumes into the air. So I sped up a bit, bypassed the vehicle, and immediately noticed that the smells were gone. The oil smell did not come from my car. It was actually a smell from another vehicle that my car sucked in.
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I had once heard a sermon about sins, saying that sins are like chewed bubble gum. We apply the gum to our bodies, and others also apply theirs on us. Pretty soon all that gum is entangled. Everything is sticky, stretched out, and hardened together.
Let’s say that one day you are moved to get rid of your personal sins, and so you pray for God to address them — but when you try to pull on one piece it pulls another. You can’t tell which piece and which section was from you, and which piece was from someone else. You want someone to pull out the stuff that you inflicted on yourself, but it’s all mixed together now.
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A friend recently came back from working with youths in China. She shared one story about when their group was introducing “Embrace Therapy”. She said that the organizers picked some youths as demonstration, talked about the importance of touch to humans and our emotions, and then asked them to try hugging each other in the context of this understanding. She said that people started crying. Everyone, including those in the circle, other attendees, and even the group leaders started crying.
She said that in China a lot of parents just don’t hug their kids, and that they are very distant with them. She also said that many of those kids have an inexplicable, unexplained rage or yearning in them, and that through this exercise they finally have a glimpse of what they were missing. Those tears and that embrace, unlocked what they were never able to put into words. Before this, they had no idea what type of neglect was done to them, and it is as if a great healing has being done through this simple act. This simple act of touch.
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“Spirit of the Living God fall fresh again Come search our hearts and purify our lives We need your perfect love We need your discipline We’re lost unless you guide us with your light Lord Jesus come lead us We’re desperate for your touch” - (“Reign in Us”, Starfield)
We are desperate for your touch, because even as we want to be cleaned, we do not know what has been done to us. We do not know the breadth and depth of sin on our lives.
But despite all of this, we know and proclaim this truth: Master, if you want to, you can heal our body.
