I am going to reach over and place my hand right on the sore and do it for the whole world to see, confident that not only will I not become sick, but that the sick person would be healed…
When I give something, I should be giving it with all my heart.
When I only give half-heartedly, then the problem is that I am unable to really give in a true Christian sense that God has planned for me.
When a winemaker prepares wine, they do not half fill the bottles. If air is let into the bottles, then the winemaker will ruin the wine and instead of a fragrant wine the winemaker will make vinegar…
“And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every infirmity. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd... And he called to him his twelve disciples and sent them out, charging them, ‘go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And preach as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying, give without pay.’” (Matthew 9:35-10:1.5a.6-8).
The first disciples of Christ were those who were sent out to do God’s work in Christ’s name. And in order to heal the sick, raise the dead and cleanse lepers, the disciples needed to give fully and completely.
They would not be able to achieve any of these things without having complete faith. Their wine casket needed to be full. It could not be half filled or that wine would turn to vinegar. They would not be able to half think that maybe on a good day the leper would be cleansed, instead they would have had to touch the leper with their bare hands and stand close to the leper at a time when people were terrified of leprosy. It was not theoretical. The disciples could not think – well, I will get close to the leper, but I will not actually touch that person because they might contaminate me and make me sick. They could not say, I will heal you from a distance because it would not be very safe for me to stand right next to you. Instead, they had to cast off all their fears (no wonder Christ says so many times in Scripture – be not afraid)! They had to get right in there among the grit and the grime. They had to touch the sores of leprosy, which smelled terrible. They had to face others AFTER doing that. And they had to know – with full confidence – that the leper would be healed.
And I have been thinking about that today – about the level of faith it would take to actually do God’s Will in God’s way. After all, it is one thing to think about it theoretically, and quite another altogether to actually decide that this is the moment and NOW – right now – I am going to reach over and place my hand right on the sore and do it for the whole world to see, confident that not only will I not become sick, but that the sick person would be healed…
And I have been thinking about that today – for it seems to me that I am merely vinegar, when I was created to be wine…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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