I Do Choose
I must admit
that I love shoes! I mean I really love shoes! I love to go shoe
shopping, shoe looking, and I even enjoy looking at the shoes around
me on friends, family and strangers. I even find myself
complimenting people on shoes. I love shoes! There is something
about shoes that I enjoy. I'm not claiming that I have a shoe
collection that rivals Imelda Marcos', oh no, but there are times
when I wish I could have a large rack of shoes in my closet.
Do you remember when you were young and you got to get a new pair of
shoes for the beginning of school or Easter or your birthday? Well I
hated shopping for clothes, but when it came to shoes ... I was more
than willing. My mom would drop me off at the mall and I would go to
every shoe store and look and wish and dream for that one pair of
shoes. We would meet up in the food court, have a deep-fried corndog
and then choose which pair of shoes where appropriate for the
occasion. Before Becca and I were to be wed, we went shoe shopping
for about two months before the right pair jumped out at me. It was
the reception pair of shoes, because I was not going to wear those
tight, rigid rentals all night. Becca knows that shoes are a passion
I have so much so that for my Birthday she gave me a gift
certificate to DSW, a shoe store with a wide selection. I love
shoes. I love sandals, hiking, formal, tennis, running, dress,
walking, leisure, even the ridiculous. It doesn't matter, I love
shoes. However, I become very systematic when I actually choose to
purchase a pair of shoes.
First, there is the cost. I don't have a lot of money so each style
of shoe has its own price range that I am willing to spend, and even
then, there are more determining factors. Like for tennis or casual
shoes, I don't usually spend more than $40.00, and even then they
had better fulfill the remaining pieces to my three-fold system.
Being I am a big man, I require a shoe that is capable to harness
such a stature. So the Second factor in my choice of purchase is the
fit. I am a size 13; however I could wear a 12. So it depends on the
shoe if it fits or not. I don't want to get home and realize that I
bought a shoe that crimps my toes or rubs my heel the wrong way ...
nobody likes that. Finally, there is the style or the look of the
shoe. Basically, it has to be something that I am actually going to
wear. If not, then I would have a huge rack in my closet filled with
lonely shoes. I love shoes, but when it comes to buying a pair I
have to make choices. And these are the determining factors behind
my choice when buying a pair of shoes.
There are
always determining factors behind the things we choose. For
instances the home you will live in has determining factors like
location or cost. How about the size of the home or if you are
renting, "is it pet friendly, or do I have to mow the lawn?" Our
vocation and jobs have determining factors like, "How much money am
I going to make?" Or, "Is this something I am going to enjoy doing?"
or "How will this job effect the time I spend with my family?" Even
when you decide to go on a vacation there are determining factors.
"Is this something interesting? How am I going to get there? Will I
be entertained?" Regardless of the occasion, there are determining
factors for the choices we make. "Where are we going to eat after
church?" "Do you want to get together this weekend?" "How much am I
willing to give of myself?" "Should I get the New Balance running
shoes or the Croc's sandals?" "Should I heal that man?"
In today's
Gospel lesson we hear a leper, an outcast to society, plead to
Jesus. "If you choose, you can make me clean." And Jesus being moved
with pity touches the man and says, "I do choose. Be made clean!"
Jesus chooses. What are his determining factors? Jesus sees a
desperate man believing that Jesus can cure him of leprosy. The fact
that the man knows that Jesus can do this is a clear sign of faith.
This man believes it can be done. So I pose the question, who healed
the man? I tend to think that it was not the choice Jesus made, but
that of the leper. Jesus recognizes the faith of the leper and is
moved by it. Jesus says "I do choose", but it is the statement that
follows that makes me think it is the leper doing it. "Be made
clean." As in, "go ahead, do it, be made clean." So what stops us
from asking the same question? "If you choose, Lord Jesus, if you
will it be done, you can make us clean."
This same idea
of faith is seen throughout the entire Bible. I would like to take a
brief look at three stories that express this same conviction, and
Jesus cleaning each of these three women with faith. From the 15th
chapter in the Gospel of Matthew we hear about a woman coming to
Jesus pleading for her demon possessed child. The disciples try to
send her away and Jesus says to all of them, "I was sent for the
lost sheep". She falls down at his feet crying out "Lord help me!"
Jesus, knowing she is an outcast, due to poverty and her child's
condition, reminds her that it isn't fair to take the children's
bread and throw it to the dogs. Knowing she has lead a life bearing
rotten fruit. Quickly she responds, "Even the dogs eat the crumbs
that fall from the table." She is showing her faith. She believes in
him, she believes he can heal her child. Jesus sees this and praises
her show of faith in this confrontation. He says, "Great is your
faith! Let it be done as you wish."
From the 7th
chapter in the Gospel of Luke we see a woman bathe the feet of Jesus
with her tears and dry them with her hair. She is an outcast because
of her "profession" and the disciples are quick to point it out.
Jesus reminds Simon that she has not stopped anointed his feet and
kissing him since he arrived and yet these acts were not performed
by Simon the house owner. Jesus looks at this woman and says, "Your
sins are forgiven ... your faith has saved you. Go in peace. Your
faith has saved you."
From the 5th
chapter in Mark we hear of a woman ostracized by society because of
12 years of hemorrhaging. She tried every doctor she could to find a
cure, but it did not work. She makes her way through a crowd and
touches the cloak of Jesus. Immediately she is made clean and Jesus
calls her out from the crowd. "Daughter" he says, "your faith has
made you well. Go in peace ... be healed from your disease." "Be
healed ... you be healed"
In each of
these examples it is faith that is the saving action. Strangely
enough, each of the examples is outcast, and it is their great
amount of faith that heals them. Jesus places the action of healing
back on the leper with "be made clean" again on the woman with a
possessed daughter, "Let it be done as you wish." He tells the
prostitute "Your faith has saved you." And lastly he tells the
hemorrhaging woman, "Your faith has made you well." Each of these is
an example that we can learn from. It is not that we know Jesus has
the ability to clean or heal us; it’s that we believe Jesus does
heal and clean us daily.
Last semester
I was asked to do a project for a class at Seminary. I choose to
write a song and there were determining factors in this. However,
this song was to express the faith of women in the Bible. I felt
that it was fitting for today's lesson. As we have already heard,
three women all marginalized by society and religious norms; all
showing such great faith that Jesus tells each that it is their
faith that has healed or saved them like this leper in today's
gospel. Believe and call on the name of the Lord.
