Guided reflection:

“Jesus, if you will, you can make me clean?” A leper was the outcast – closest to us would be maybe an AIDS patient who is contagious with a disease that can destroy and then make you an outcast. The man not only needed to be healed of a disease, he needed a way to reconnect with his community, and to be pronounced no longer a threat to others. I am not sure any of us have needed so much from Jesus… but maybe you have. Jesus said “I WILL!” And then gave him instructions on how to be taken out of exclusion. But Mark goes on to say that the man was so thrilled he began to tell everyone and Jesus began to be seen as a Magic Man and crowds love a show. Jesus was disturbed that folks were coming to the show instead of allowing him to “show them the way”. Do you ever come to worship for the show and miss the point of what God wants to say to you on that day?

Guided Prayer: “Today I pray for those who are caught in circumstances that keep them not only ill, but shunned by others, O Lord. Open my eyes to see where I need Jesus’ touch… and help me to focus on what God’s Word wants to say to me instead of focusing on whether folks are performing well. Amen”