The Heartbreak of Eczema, Psoriasis, or Seborrhea

By

Reverend Litton Logan

February 5, 2006

Mark 1:35 through Mark 1:45 (NRSV)
³⁵In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. ³⁶And Simon and his companions hunted for him. ³⁷When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.” ³⁸He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.” ³⁹And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.

Jesus Cleanses a Leper

⁴⁰A leper came to him begging him, and kneeling he said to him, “If you choose, you can make me clean.” ⁴¹Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, “I do choose. Be made clean!” ⁴²Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. ⁴³After sternly warning him he sent him away at once, ⁴⁴saying to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” ⁴⁵But he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter.

The New Revised Standard Version of the Bible

First, Parsons Technology, Inc., Cedar Rapids, IA

          As one reads Mark’s Gospel, it becomes apparent that Mark is not too concerned with giving an historical record of the life and times of Jesus.  Mark’s major purpose in writing his Gospel is to put forth in a succinct form the good news of Jesus as the Christ of God.

          It is also apparent from the opening chapter of Mark’s Gospel, that he wants his audiences to view the ministry of Jesus as a contest between the Holy Spirit and the evil spirits.  We see this in the first and second miracles of Jesus.  First, the exorcism of the demoniac, and secondly, in today’s scripture when Jesus cures a leper.  Leprosy was believed by many to be caused by an evil spirit or divine punishment for personal sin where in a person was given over to the influences of an evil spirit.

          Oh, a correction to last Sunday’s sermon.  I said that only the demons and the women seem to know who Jesus really is in Mark’s Gospel.  There was one other person—John the Baptist, who was under the power of the Holy Spirit and recognized Jesus and his divine nature.  From John on, only the women and the demons seemed to understand the divine nature of Jesus.

Back a few years ago there was a commercial on TV advertising some skin ointment; I don’t remember the brand name.  The announcer said something like, “You no longer have to experience the heart break of eczema, psoriasis, or seborrhea if you use XYZ cream.”

          The thing that has stuck with me from that commercial, obviously, even though I cannot remember the product or the exact words of the commercial, was that part about having to endure the heartbreak of eczema, psoriasis, or seborrhea.  Up until I heard this commercial, I had never thought about the heartbreak of a skin disease only the physical discomfort and pain.

According to my research, eczema is an inflammation of the skin, usually causing itching and sometimes accompanied by scaling or blisters.  Some forms of eczema are better known as dermatitis such as seborrhea, contact dermatitis, and photo-dermatitis.  Eczema may be caused by an allergy, but often occurs for no known reason.

          Psoriasis is a common skin disease characterized by thickened patches of inflamed, red skin, often covered by silvery scales.  The affected area may be so extensive that people afflicted experience physical discomfort and social embarrassment.  The exact cause of psoriasis is not known but it tends to run in families.  The underlying abnormality is that new skin cells are produced about 10 times faster than normal, but the rate at which old cells are shed remains unchanged.  As a result, the live cells accumulate and form the characteristic thickened patches covered with dead, flaking, or scaly skin.

There are many other diseases and disorders including psychosomatic disorders, that can cause skin rashes, discolorations, and lesions that would have caused a person in biblical times to be classified as unclean and ostracized.

          Prior to modern medicines, many people that suffered from these conditions often kept to them selves and shied away from social situations.  Among many religious communities including some modern communities such skin disorders are viewed as signs of punishment for sin.

          In the Old Testament, there was a very elaborate system for identifying, curing, and certifying people as cured, who had various skin disorders.  Those skin disorders ranged from eczema, psoriasis, seborrhea to Hansen’s disease or leprosy.  Some forms of skin disorders were caused by molds or bacteria, which may have been the case of the leper in today’s scriptures. 

Leprosy, or Hansen’s disease, is caused by a bacterium that damages nerves, mainly in the limbs and facial area.  The word “leprosy” comes from the French “lepre” from the Greek “lepros” meaning scaly.  Untreated leprosy can have severe complications.  Contrary to popular belief, it is not highly contagious and is easily treated.  However, many of the effects of untreated leprosy cannot be reversed.  Most cases of leprosy occur in more backward countries where medical care and sanitation is not adequate.  Traditionally in these countries isolation and avoidance of lepers is the common treatment.

Interestingly, only humans and the nine-banded armadillos are susceptible to leprosy.  So, don’t play with or eat nine-banded armadillos—more affectionately known as a Texas Turkeys.

          Think of it, the heartbreak of being cut off, isolated, shunned by friends and loved ones, plus carrying the stigma of having committed some awful sin.

          In the biblical world, and in parts of the modern world, to touch a person with such diseases renders one not only religiously unclean but socially unclean and requires a period of isolation, purification, and observation before one can be welcomed back in to society or have contact with family and friends.

          Think of it: The heartbreak of not being able to touch your loved ones or come within more than a few feet of them.  Imagine not being able to touch your kids, grandkids, wife, or husband all because you had some form of non-contagious dermatitis or a genetic condition.  Worse yet, imagine having leprosy, which can be successfully treated with antibiotics today.

          Now, think about this, the joy of being cured after years of isolation and being shunned by others.  Just think about that first touch, that first embrace, that first kiss, that first time around the table with family and friends after years of avoidance.

          Doesn’t it just make your heart beak to imagine such things?  Doesn’t it just tear at you to think of the heartbreak and sorrow that human ignorance and fear can bring into the world?  Doesn’t it break your heart to think of all those millions of people who have had to endure the heartbreak of eczema, psoriasis, seborrhea, and even leprosy needlessly?  Moreover, in our day we could add the hysteria and paranoia of political correctness and the hysteria of sexual impropriety that restricts our touching and showing our caring of for one another.

Ten years or so ago, a widow talked to me about what it meant for her to be a widow and not have people hug her or touch her beyond a handshake.  Men of her age group were reluctant even to talk to her without their wives around.  Married women, life-long friends, were uncomfortable including her in things that were couple oriented.  The men that did talk to her would not dare pat her on the arm or shoulder as they greet her or departed from a conversation.

          Nevertheless, imagine yourself in this man’s predicament in our scriptures today, and you hear of a person who can heal you if he wants to.  I don’t know about you but if it were me, I would move heaven and earth to get to that person.

          The man comes to Jesus, throws himself at Jesus’ feet, and says in a great statement of faith, “You can heal me, if you will.”  “If you will, if you will…”

This man makes a declarative petition and assumes a posture that was only proper for a person when petitioning God.  Jesus says, “I will heal you.”  Jesus then risk contamination, isolation, and social condemnation as he touches and heals the man.  He does this because the Spirit in him was greater that the spirit that was in the leper.

          Think about the power of that touch.  Not only for this man’s body, but imagine the healing of his heart, and his entire life that came from that powerful, compassionate touch and a divine willingness to heal.  The healing of the body, according to the understanding of the day, would also have meant the forgiveness of any underlying sin that might have been associated with the disease.

          Jesus tells the man to go to the priest, as was the law, and to have his healing certified.  Most likely, he would have had another week or so of isolation before he could have resumed full relationship and participation with his family and society.

          Nevertheless, imagine what a joy to touch and be touched again.  What a blessing to sit, talk, and eat with friends and loved ones again.  How glorious to walk the streets without having to scurry away to avoid accidentally touching and contaminating others.  Just think about being able to hold one’s head up in pride and self-worth again.

          Today modern medicine can treat, cure, or arrest most forms of dermatitis and leprosy.  However, my dear friends, only the powerful, caring touch of a compassionate person can cure heartbreak.  Only the powerful, caring touch of a compassionate person of Christ can cure the heartbreak, the isolation, and loneliness of the human soul that is lost in moral despair, moral confusion, and spiritual hopelessness.

          My friends there are millions of people in this world who suffer the heartbreak of isolation and avoidance by others for any number of reasons: physical and mental illness, sexual orientation, racial prejudice, religion, social status, marital status, particular acts of sin deemed unforgivable or for nothing more than one’s gender or age.

          In our culture, we shy away from touching people who society has deem to be untouchable for a variety of reason.  We also shy away from touching those who remind us of our own vulnerabilities and eventualities.

This social and capricious determination of what is “clean” or “unclean” is most likely a part of what makes Jesus give a somewhat angry admonishment to the healed leaper.  We will look at that admonishment later.  The results are that millions of people feel isolated, insecure, unworthy, afflicted, or no longer good enough for people to care for them because people in their ignorance, fear, and pride condemn them or avoid them.

In most, if not all cases, the cures to the heart break of isolation and avoidance, is the touch of another human being.  That touch may be physical, emotional, or spiritual.  A human touch is empathy, identification with another, a form of compassion—intense feeling with and for the other--that moves the recipient beyond the limits of their aloneness and feelings that something is wrong with them because no one will touch them.  A touch is a bridge from aloneness to belonging.  A sense of belonging is one of the most fundamental needs of a healthy, well-adjusted, and hopeful human being.

          Did you know that there is a condition called Marasmus—a wasting away condition— which occurs in children and the elderly that is associated with not only an extreme protein and calorie deficiency but with the lack of meaningful human touch or contact?  This condition often occurs in infants in over crowded and short-staffed orphanages as well as to the elderly in nursing homes.

          I am reminded of two situations in my ministry in Oklahoma of people dieing without the compassionate touch of loved ones.  In both situations, they were young men who had AIDS.  This was at a time when everyone, including medical personal, the so called most enlighten, were scared to touch an AIDS patient with or without gloves. 

One young man died in Texas with medical personnel and several friends attending his death.  The only human touch he had in the last months of his life was from people who wore facemasks and rubber gloves.  His remains were shipped back to his mom.  His mother never viewed her son’s remains and elected not to bury him in the family’s plots in the local cemetery least he desecrate hallowed ground.  In stead, she buried him in an old, and for the most part abandon cemetery, on the outskirts of Enid, some thirty-five miles away.  Every time I pass that cemetery, even to this day when I go back through Enid on highway 412, I remember that family and the heartbreak that young man must have felt.  Not even his own mother would attend him nor touch him in his dying days.

          During the pastoral bereavement visit with the family, no one talked about the boy.  It was if we had gathered to plan something for nobody.  I could do what ever I wanted as long as the family’s involvement was kept to a minimum.

          The other case was of a young man who died overseas of an AIDS related cause.  He was cremated and his remains were shipped back to his family.  His family secretly scattered his ashes in an arroyo—a blasted drainage arroyo, unusable land for planting or grazing--on the family farm.  He too died with doctors, nurses, and a few friends in attendance--all masked and gloved.  Moreover, it was almost a year after his death before anyone in town—including several family members--knew that he had died.

          O, God, the heartbreak of not even a touch or the presence of your mother or father in your hour of death.  Oh, God, the despair of abandonment by those supposed to be the closest to you over something that happened to you out of your ignorance or through forces you were unable to control or understand. 

          Yes, there are some highly contagious diseases that it would be foolish to expose ourselves too needlessly and without proper protection.  Yet, even in these cases, much can be done to show caring and compassion—touching the person with kindness, the power of empathy, and caring. 

          My friends, there are so many people in this world, regardless of the reasons, who need a compassionate human touch to cure not only their bodies but the heart break associated with mental and physical diseases and disorders, social status, marital status, gender or age.  A compassionate human touch can work miracles in conjunction with good medical care.  

We are intelligent and sensitive people who know what is proper and what is not.  Nevertheless, we also know that touching another in physical or emotional pain is healing and affirming.  We know what such physical, emotional, and spiritual touches have meant to our lives at different times.  Furthermore, we know that touching others is more than just a physical touch, although that is important, but rather it is reaching out as Jesus did with compassionate intentions.  It is reaching out with one’s self and into another with empathy, compassion, caring in word and deed.  It is practicing the Christ presence in our world.

          Notice, Jesus did not ask the man about any possible sin that could have caused his disease.  He just wanted to heal him in response to the man’s humanity, his faith, his need, and humility.  You may not be able to heal the body with a touch but you can become a big part of healing heartbreak,”… if you will.”  “If you will, if you will…”

          Jesus in rather stern language tells the man to go and have his healing certified by the priest as was the custom, but don’t tell anyone about Jesus healing the man.  Give me a break!  Give me a break!  You think I’m going to keep my mouth shut, suppress my joy at being healed.  No way.  You gotta be crazy.  I’m going to tell everyone I meet, 24/7, 365.

          Talk about a model for evangelism—people telling the world that we at Sombra Del Monte care and that we touched them with the healing power and presence of the Christ, if you will.