Epiphany 6 Mark 1:40-45 "Don't be wishy washy"

You and I live in the era of the wishy washy.  We love people who can’t make up their mind.  The undecided, the unopinionated.  It’s true!  We most value and respect those who have no idea.  Politicians court the vote, not of their constituents – but of those “undecided” voters who occupy that middle territory.  Harvard researchers tell us that women are most interested in men who can’t make up their mind about whether or not they are interested in them.  And when it comes to religion, faith and opinions about God, the agnostic is respected… or those who would call themselves “spiritual but not religious” as thought that were a thing that you could be.  “I don’t know God.  I don’t know if he exists.”  Or “I believe there is a god and he must exist somewhere but there are so many people with so many different ideas – they can’t all be wrong, so instead I’ll just believe all of them.”  We think these people must be smarter than we are, that they must read more, take in more information, consider more points of view so, in spite of a complete lack of coherence in their world view we repsect them.  Our culture respects them.  They get the most hits on YouTube, the most Likes on Facebook and why not, they agree with everybody and disagree with no one.  They are completely wishy washy.

Because we so highly value this wishy washiness in people, we have a bad habit of projecting this same value onto God, onto Jesus.  We think that Jesus doen’t have an opinion – about us, about people, about who we are and what we do.  But he does.  Jesus is far from wishy washy.  Far from murky and undecided.  He knows exactly what is right and what is wrong.  Crystal clear in his thought and opinion and purpose.  And he wants us to be as well.  Spiritual but not religious?  Jesus would have none of it.  He wants crystal clear believers with crystal clear understanding of him and his revealed will in His Word.  And he wants us to pray with a crystal clear focus and bold, believing prayers.  He does.  And it makes him angry when we do not.  Jesus is far from wishy washy.  And he has no respect for wishy washy believers.  In fact, they make him angry.   You can read about it in the Bible.  Here are a few example:

First there is James 1.            

Ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. (James 1:6-8 ESV)

Consider also the passage from Revelation

“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation. “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.  (Revelation 3:14-16 ESV)

And then there is Ahaz, the wishy washy King of Israel.  God told him to ask for a sign as deep as Sheol or as high as heaven, and Ahaz, putting on a false sort of humility said this: “Far be it from me to ask for a sign from God.”  If God tells you to ask for a sign you should not be wishy washy.   God was annoyed.  Isaiah his prophet was annoyed.  Isaiah said, “Is it not enough to wear out men that you also have to wear out God?”  And God went ahead and gave a sign anyway.  (Isaiah 7:10-13)

And then there is our Gospel text that we read for today.  The healing of the leper in Mark 1.  Now, on first glance we can’t quite see it, but it is there.  A wishy washy leper and a far from wishy washy response from Jesus.

The leper comes to Jesus with a request, a prayer.  Not unlike our prayers, and probably not unlike the prayers of Ahaz.  We don’t want to ask too much.  We don’t want to assume too much.  And so, when we come before God we are wishy washy.  “Lord, if you really want to.”  “Lord, if it’s not too much trouble.”  “Lord I really shouldn’t be here praying to you like this, but if you could find it in your heart to help me…  if you could spare just a moment…” Wishy Washy!  Wishy washy, doubting, undecided, and spineless prayers!  We feel pious in our doubting.  But we are not!  We are in fact sinning.  And it makes God angry.

Jesus was angry with the leper for his wishy washy prayer.  He responds to the man in a way that we would find surprising.  Shocking, even. 

Our text reads:

And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once.

Our text says that Jesus was “moved by pity”.  Now this sounds good and it fits with our usual view of Jesus.  But there is a problem; there is an alternate reading.  Most of our Bible translations, the ESV, NIV, RSV and others are translated, not from one manuscript but from a comparison of thousands of manuscripts.  Literally thousands of copies of the text.  Each one hand done, some are partial, some are ancient, some are a bit newer.  They don’t all agree 100%.  There are minor little differences here and there.  And one of those little discrepencies occurs here in these text, and at a pretty crucial point.  Most texts say that Jesus was moved by pity - splagnistheis.  But all the manuscripts don’t say that.  There are some, and those some are generally pretty reliable, that say not that he was moved by pity, splagnistheis, but that he was moved by anger, orgistheis!  So which one do you go with?  Our translation, and most translations opt to go with pity.  But perhaps anger makes more sense.  Especially in light of what follows. 

A few verses later, in verse 43 our translation reads, “And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once.”  Again, there is something lost in translation.  Jesus did “sternly charge”, and he did “send him” away, but there’s more.  Those words have some bite to them in their original.  The word for “sternly charge”(embremaomai) means “to  rebuke, to speak harshly” or maybe  “to give him a good dressing down” kind of like a drill sergeant chewing out a new cadet.   And the word for “send away” (ekballow) might be better translated to say that “he threw him out”!  “Sternly charged and sent away”?  Maybe it was more like this:

“Get out of my sight!  What’s wrong with you coming in here and making some wishy washy request – if you want you can heal me!  Of course I want to heal you! Don’t you know that already!  Here give me your leprosy and get out of here.  Go tell the priest, but don’t tell them you got it here.” 

Maybe that is more along the lines of what Jesus said.

You see, doubt is a sin.  Wishy washy prayer is a sin.  Prayer that is tied to an asterisk is a sin.  “Maybe you will answer, maybe you won’t.  Maybe you are God, maybe you aren’t.  Maybe I am worthy to ask, maybe I am not.”  That’s not faith.  That’s not prayer.  It’s sin.

The Large Catechism says this about our prayer:

So God has briefly placed before us all the distress that may every come upon us so that we might have no excuse whatever for not praying.  But all depends upon this, that we learn also to say, “Amen”.  This means that we do not doubt that our prayer is surely heard and that what we pray shall surely be done (2 Corinthians 1:20)  This is nothing else that the word of undoubting faith, which does not pray on a dare but knows that God does not lie to him. (Titus 1:2)  For he promised to grant it.  Therefore where there is no such faith, there cannot be true prayer either.

It is therefore an evil deception on those who pray as though they could not dare from the heart to say “yes” and positively conclude that God hears them.  Instead they remain in doubt and say, “How can I be so bold as to boast that God hears my prayer?  For I am but a poor sinner.” And other such things.

The reason for this, they do not respect God’s Word of promise, but they rely on their own work and worthiness, by which they despise God and accuse him of lying.  Therefore they receive nothing.

Remember the passage from James!  Ask with faith.  Have no doubts!  Remember the resurrected Jesus and his interaction with Thomas – “see here my hands, place your hand into my side.  Stop doubting and believe.”  That is God’s word to you.  Don’t doubt.  Don’t be wishy washy.  Be confident.  Be sure.  Be bold.  Jesus hears your prayer.  He answers your prayer.  He will listen.  He will hear.  He will grant to you your request.  Stop doubting and believe.

The prayers recorded for us in the psalms are brimming over with confidence.  Here are a few examples:

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. [The LORD is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works.] The LORD upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing. The LORD is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works. (Psalm 145:13-17 ESV)

O LORD, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. (Psalm 139:1-6 ESV)          

When Israel went out from Egypt,  the house of Jacob from a people of strange language, Judah became his sanctuary, Israel his dominion. The sea looked and fled; Jordan turned back. The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs. What ails you, O sea, that you flee? O Jordan, that you turn back? O mountains, that you skip like rams? O hills, like lambs? Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob, who turns the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a spring of water.  (Psalm 114 ESV)

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. (Psalm 46:1-3 ESV)

Don’t you see who God is?  Don’t you see what he has done for you, for his people in the past?  Don’t you see how he has always taken care of you?  Don’t you see how he moved mountains to protect those he loves?  How he has done and is doing things far too wonderful for you to even begin to understand? Don’t you see how he has power even over the wind and the waves, the earth and the sea, the princes and powers of this world?  And he loves you.

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,

            “For your sake we are being killed all the day long;

                        we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:31-39 ESV)

The leper in our text came to Jesus and prayed.  But he prayed a prayer laced with doubt, uncertainty, a prayer that didn’t know God and didn’t believe God.  If you keep reading into the very next section you will quite a contrast.  A paralytic too weak even to walk, who needed to be carried.  So his friend put him on a stretcher and carried him to where Jesus was teaching.  Jesus was in a house and this mans friends couldn’t get the stretcher in to the house to see Jesus so they climbed up on the roof.  And they started to dig.  They dug all the way through that roof until they had an opening large enough to let the man down.  And they did.  They lowered the man gently down through that hole in the roof until he was right before Jesus.  And do you remember what happened next?  Do you remember what the text says?  “When Jesus saw their faith!”  Faith!  One reading filled with doubt and uncertainty.  The very next filled with faith!  This is faith.  This is what faith is and what faith does.  It believes.  It is certain.  It will not be deterred.  It will not be held back!  It keeps coming… keeps digging… keeps pushing… until faith has laid its prayer at the feet of Jesus.  And Jesus hears.  He listens.  “Your sins are forgiven” says Jesus.  “Get up.  Pick up your bed and go home”  says Jesus. 

Jesus says the same to you.  Your sins are forgiven.  You are washed in the blood of the Lamb of God.  You are clean with his righteousness and holiness and you are healed and made whole; not for your sake, but for the sake of Jesus.

Amen.