Clean or Unclean?

Hello Hump Day readers. I had a different devotion for this day until I went to church this morning and there again, God changed up everything!! Mind you, I am pretty good at what I like to put in a devotion but when God pokes me to do something else, what can a person do? Our little Presbyterian church is such an amazing group of people. Our pastors, Kristin and Brandon, are amazing. Along with 4 kids, they are there, calling us in like family. I love it when they ask for our ideas, or what do we think and it invites us into the Scriptures and sharing with one another. This day was about the woman with an issue of blood (along with a dying daughter); Jesus had his hands full on that day and what a day it was and that’s when God changed by devotion!

Have you ever been to a museum? You’ll find a sign everywhere: “Do Not Touch.” Sticky fingers can damage the rare items on display. So you would think we would heed the signs, right? Nope—here is the percentage of how often people touch stuff–adults or kids: 81.37% That’s almost everybody! What is our problem? Do we really want to hurt these incredibly rare items or are we just dumb? I don’t get it. I grew up with “don’t touch that” and I didn’t even though I really wanted to! When our 6th grade class went to Chicago to the Museum of Science and Industry, our teacher told us to not touch anything except in the bathroom. We did pretty good until the science area and two boys got in trouble and they had to sit out the rest of the museum. I’m sure their parents had some wise words when they got home! Years later, when Al and I went to the same museum, I noticed the signs were different; they were much larger with a blaring yellow background and large black letters that said: “Caution: Wash Hands After Touching.” Guess what, folks did NOT touch stuff, mostly because they thought it could be contaminated. The signs worked and the rare items are still OK.

Most of us avoid things that can be contaminated. Who wants to get sick, and we shouldn’t break the rules either. What does contaminated mean to you? If a plate was dirty, would you eat off the clean floor instead? It’s a silly question but it goes to how we think about things. Our minds have been trained when we were young about what we perceive is clean or unclean. So the silly question is almost the opposite; would you would still eat off a dirty plate than a clean floor? Remember the woman with the issue of blood in Jesus’ day? She was labeled “unclean” and isolated from everything. If she broke the rules she could be killed. Here is her story in Mark 5 [NLT]:

“A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding. She had suffered a great deal from many doctors, and over the years she had spent everything she had to pay them, but she had gotten no better. In fact, she had gotten worse. She had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his robe. For she thought to herself, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.” Immediately the bleeding stopped, and she could feel in her body that she had been healed of her terrible condition. Jesus realized at once that healing power had gone out from him, so he turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my robe?” His disciples said to him, “Look at this crowd pressing around you. How can you ask, ‘Who touched me?’” But he kept on looking around to see who had done it. Then the frightened woman, trembling at the realization of what had happened to her, came and fell to her knees in front of him and told him what she had done…He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.”

Imagine this woman being freed and can now be with her family and friends! No “do not touch” sign on her anymore—she was fully restored and cleansed by Jesus. Our story is the same as well. Apart from Christ, everyone falls into the category of “unclean” but in Christ, we are made clean—Christ made us clean—that which was unclean—the righteous for the unrighteous. What a gift for now and eternity! Remember the word Jesus called the woman, “Daughter.” She hadn’t heard that word for years. That word is powerful, it says “you are my child—my daughter—my son—and you will never be unclean!”

Oh Jesus, thank you for loving me in my uncleanliness and cleansing me to be whole and accepted. May I be accepting to others that may feel unclean and unworthy; may I touch them with your touch of love and acceptance so they can have your forgiveness, and your grace, mercy and joy. AMEN.