Made New

by Allen Wilson, Director of Student Ministries at Cove

I know that we are right in the middle of an Alabama winter, but as I reflect on the sense of touch, I can’t help but think back to the last summer before I graduated from college. I helped lead a team of students on a cross-cultural mission trip to Thailand. The things I experienced during my nine weeks there changed my perspective in many ways.

One significant experience was a “vision trip” to a leper colony. Some of you may be thinking, “does that even still exist?” or “wouldn’t it be dangerous to go there?”. This was definitely the reaction my mom had when I told her about the trip (after I had already gone, of course). I learned some things about leprosy that you can’t quite pick up when reading about it in the Bible, which is where most people in the West get their ideas about this disease. Lepers who were in the colony had been “cured” so that they would no longer be contagious; however, the physical effects of the disease continued to wreck havoc on their bodies. 

Throughout history those with leprosy and other skin diseases have been called the “untouchables.” Think about what that might be like… to walk out in public and hear people shout out warnings that the untouchables were nearby. Since lepers were considered unclean in the Jewish culture, they were definitely untouchable. If a Jew were to touch an unclean leper, then it was thought to make that Jew unclean as well. Sacrifices and ceremonial washings would be needed to restore such a person to the community. 

But Jesus did not seem to care much about the stigma that went along with leprosy. In Mark’s gospel we read, “A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, ‘If you are willing, you can make me clean.’ Jesus was indignant. He reached out his hand and touched the man. ‘I am willing,’ he said. ‘Be clean!’ Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed” (Mark 1:40-42). 

This is what is amazing. People were afraid to touch lepers because doing so would make them unclean. But when Jesus touched the leper, he took what was unclean and made it clean again. That is what the touch of Jesus does- it makes things new. 

At the colony I was able to follow in the footsteps of Jesus and lay hands on the untouchables in prayer. Although their disease may be easier to see, the reality is that we all need a touch from Jesus. This Christmas we will celebrate again how God came down and literally touched the earth through Jesus. There is no better time than this to reach out and accept the gift of his presence.

Allen Wilson and his wife Dawn have attended Cove for about eight years.  Through much of that time, Allen was a small group leader for high school boys.  Allen is currently the Director of Student Ministries for Cove Church.