First United Methodist Church

Please join Dr. Will this coming Sunday, January 31, 2021 as he preaches, “For the Healing of the Nation, Part 2. “They had come and He Healed Them” (Psalm 1, Mark 1: 40-45; Luke 6:17-19)

Friends, picture this. 

From miles away and from different directions, people with all kind of needs are flocking to see Jesus.  They came from Jerusalem in the south, in the north from Tyre, and Sidon. Those who couldn’t walk on their own are carried out by friends and family members.  They wanted to touch Jesus, - touch his hands, his cloak, even the fringe of his garment.  Luke is quick to point out that among those who Jesus touched were those excluded from the society, the unclean, the taboo, the outcast, the marginalized, the excluded, the poor and the sick, the homeless, the hobos.
  The gospel of Mark tells the story of a man who had leprosy and came to Jesus. He said to him, ‘ If you choose, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, says Mark, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him and said, “I do choose. Be made clean. (Mark 1:40-45)
  I make the case, in this sermon, that the church is a version of the scene in the text today: people bringing other people to Jesus to be touched by him so that healing and wholeness can begin.The church should be a place of hospitality where brokenness is healed.
  I also argue that healing of a nation comes when all of us united in shared values work together to uplift those they are in the forefront of our economy, the food workers, meatpacking workers, nursing homes assistants, groceries stores clerks, bus drivers, migrant farming workers, and yet are marginalized.They are the one that Covid has hit harder among us.