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The lessons for each Sunday in the church year proclaim God’s grace in Jesus Christ. Also derived from a Sunday’s text are lessons for the Christ-inspired and Christ-like life of God’s people. The comments here will help you find hunger related threads—sermon starters—among the themes of this day’s texts. (We’re presuming you have already done your exegetical work on the texts.) God bless your proclamation (and teaching) of what is most certainly true.

The healing theme of this season is continued in the readings of this Sunday’s lectionary. Issues of racism appear in these readings and provide an opportunity for a preacher to preach prophetically to communities divided by race and language. An appropriate choice for Prayer of the Day is as follows:

Almighty and ever-living God, with mercy you look upon our weaknesses. Stretch out your wondrous hand to protect us from danger and restore us to health, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen

The Hebrew Bible passage for this Sunday on the surface tells the story of a man healed from leprosy, prefiguring the healing Jesus performs in the Gospel for this Sunday. One may choose however to explore in this reading other issues of justice, race, and gender that are present under the surface.

“Now the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, ‘If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.’” (vv. 2-3).

First, the young girl, though a captive, responds not with anger or revenge to those who have wronged her. Instead she shows compassion. Second, the prophet of God chooses to reside in Samaria, among a people the Israelites considered unclean. The story of the Good Samaritan can be recalled for this insight. Finally, an Israelite cures an Aramean, a sworn enemy, and refuses any payment.

The words of the psalm are unique in how they distinctly portray the whole range of human emotions. Words appear like “cried” (v. 2), “anger” (v. 5), “weeping” (v. 5), “joy” (v. 5), “mourning” (v. 11) and “dancing” (v. 11). This all consoles us that God is present with us through all human experience, not just happy times.

This continuation of the episodic reading from Corinthians comes to another of Paul’s colorful metaphors, that of athlete in training and competition. Taking the metaphor further can be an interesting lesson in healing. Paul begins with the somewhat discouraging words, “Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize.” Nevertheless, the higher values of athletic competition such as the international Olympic movement stress how athletics can supersede nations and races and genders and war.

In the gospel reading for this Sunday, Jesus heals a man of leprosy. A preacher may use this story as an occasion to teach about the meaning and ramifications of leprosy in the ancient world. Leprosy brought with it a stigma that removed a person from the rest of society and culture. Leprosy is not now understood to be contagious easily through casual touch, and is rather acquired through persistent exposure to certain conditions. In Jesus day however, to touch a leper was seen as an unspeakable and undoable thing. Therefore the words, “Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him” (v. 41) are remarkable.

In our day, HIV/AIDS still brings with it a stigma that marginalizes. Jesus reaches out to touch and embrace all those who are marginalized and discounted because of how they look and who they are. The Thursday after this Sunday’s readings, on February 19^th, 2009, ELCA pastors will receive access to the ELCA’s proposed statement on human sexuality. Preachers may choose to use this Sunday as an occasion to address how this relates to these readings.

Beyond the physical ailment of leprosy, a skin disease, healed in this passage, it may remind us of other needs for healing in the world, such as the spiritual sicknesses of racism, homophobia, and judging people by physical appearance.

Director – Lutheran Disaster Response

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This Sunday is the last Sunday in Epiphany, and the healing stories of the season conclude with passages that show us that the most powerful form of healing is forgiveness. A refashioning of St. Francis’ prayer forms a wonderful Prayer of the Day for today:

O Lord Jesus, make us instruments of your peace, that where there is hatred, we may sow love, where there is injury, pardon, and where there is despair, hope. Grant, O divine master, that we may seek to console, to understand, and to love in your name, for you reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen

The Hebrew Bible reading from Isaiah prefigures the Gospel reading in two ways. It shows how access can be created in surprising ways, “I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” (v. 19). The paralytic in the Gospel story gains access to Jesus in a creative way.

Then, in the reading God proclaims God’s self as the forgiver of sins, “I, I am He who blots out your transgression for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.” (v. 25) In the Gospel, more powerful than the physical healing is Jesus’ forgiving of sins.

The psalm contains rich examples for preaching on issues of justice and healing. “Happy are those who consider the poor; the Lord delivers them in the day of trouble. The Lord protects them and keeps them alive; they are called happy in the land….The Lord sustains them on their sickbed; and in their illness you heal all their infirmities.” (vv. 1-3).

The Psalm is understood to close Book 1 of the psalms, and so closes with the phrases, “Amen and Amen.” (v. 13). The epistle reading following the psalm interestingly picks up a discussion of the word “Amen.”

“As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been ‘yes and no.’…For the Son of God Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus, Timothy and I, was not “yes and no”; but in him it is always ‘yes.’ For in him every one of God’s promises is a ‘Yes.” For this reason it is though him that we say the ‘Amen,” to the glory of God.” (vv. 18-20)

A preacher could choose to teach on the meaning of “Amen.” A good source is Luther’s Small Catechism’s explanation of the meaning of Amen.

That I should be certain that these petitions are acceptable to our Father in heaven and heard; for he himself has commanded us so to pray, and has promised to hear us. “Amen, amen” means, “Yes, yes, it is going to come about just like this.”

The Gospel reading for this Sunday tells the familiar story of the healing of the paralytic. A notable detail of this story is how the paralytic gained access to Jesus. “Then some people came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. And when they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and having dug through it, they let down the mat on which the paralyzed man lay.” (vv. 3-4).

The powerful twist in the story is how the healing demonstrates that Jesus’ greatest power lies in his power to forgive sins. Jesus began by forgiving the man his sins, to which the scribes present had called it blasphemy. Jesus responds, “Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘your sins are forgiven’, or to say ‘Stand up and take your mat and walk?’ (v. 9). Jesus then heals the man of his paralysis and he stands up and takes his mat and goes out.

A challenging question a preacher could ask a congregation is whether the sanctuaries and facilities of the churches today are any more accessible to those living with disabilities. Surely a form of healing the church can improve is how we make our services and activities accessible to all people.

Beyond the physical healing of paralysis in the passage, other needs for healing in our world that could be uplifted include exclusion and despair.