Dear Friends, 

The bible is full of stories of miracles and specifically miracles that happen to people both spiritually and physically. These stories almost always involve being healed of a physical disease or delivered from some other evil. Both the Hebrew scripture and the gospel this weekend involve the healing of people suffering from leprosy. 

These healings don't end with the person receiving them nor do they only affect the persons afflicted. In fact, stories of healing in the bible are always stories of the healing of an entire community, or the means by which that community may be healed. They always tell us something more about God and how God sees us. Any time we can get an insight into that, we gain more tools for being better Christians, we gain more tools to heal the world.

In God's sight, there is nothing that makes us "other" or "separate" from God. In fact all suffering has its deepest roots in not recognizing just how united we are to God in love. As humans, we can default to any difference in order to separate and divide. Even our own sense of unworthiness can do this. But this is not how God sees. This is such good news. It was good news for Naaman that to be seen as God sees him only required seven dips in the river. 

Physical disease or social dis-ease can leave us desperate. Walls of fear, shame, or condemnation can appear in the face of these trials. Where the healing seems to lie, Jesus actually says in the gospel, is in our faith. Sometimes facing our suffering or our sin is the holy ground where God wants to meet us, to show ourselves, disease and dis-ease included, and be seen by God whose lens is love, patience, wholeness, and full acceptance.

So this weekend, come as you are. It's a real gift to have a place where no matter how you feel or what you are going through, you can be seen and accepted. You really do matter to God and you matter here. See you at church!

In God's healing love, 

Gabe