Mold, Mildew, Sores, and Infectious Diseases - Leviticus 13:1–8

In our house we have a problem with mold on our doors. No matter how often we clean; it keeps come back. It’s frustrating, especially since half our family has breathing issues. Our verses for today are found in a large section in Leviticus focused on what’s unclean and how to deal with it. Mold, mildew, sores and diseases can harm our health, this is where God’s concern over these things becomes clearer, because God also uses these things as images of the pervasiveness and danger of sin in our lives and hearts and how it creates heart and soul sickness. Mold, mildew, diseases are all signs that there’s something wrong; that health and wholeness are at risk and can easily infect others too. Sin brings unhealth too.

During the Old Testament, God shows Israel a way of being that ranges from being unclean, to clean, and finally to holy. These stages are about how close or far from God a person is, how fit something is to be in God’s presence. A person or thing could move back and forth along this line. Something clean could become unclean by touching something unclean, but things or people who were unclean could become clean or holy again through bathing or offering sacrifices.

Using mold and disease as an image for sin points to how the brokenness brought in by sin affects us right down to our DNA, leading to death. This helps us see why John points to healing as a sign of Jesus’ return in Revelation 21:3–4, “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” This is a hope-filled picture of Jesus’ return; death and disease will be no more; disease is not part of creation and the “very good” of God’s creating work, but the result of Adam and Eve’s choice to follow their own desires rather than God’s.

Leviticus is all about cleanliness, purity, and holiness, and about how close to God God’s people could come. Mold, mildew, sores, infectious diseases are signs that something’s, no longer healthy, and can be passed on to others and make them sick and unacceptable; in the same way sin infects us and makes us unclean and impure, making us able to infect others, and making us unable to be in the presence of a holy God.

If you ignore mold, mildew, or infectious diseases, they just keep on growing and digging in their roots, spreading their spores over larger areas. The longer you allow it to grow, the harder it is to get rid of. This is just like sin; give it a little room in your heart or mind and it will slowly but surely spread until it impacts more and more of your thinking and acting. Sin is often hidden, we can act in ways at look holy, but they’re done to hide what’s really going on inside; diseased ways of thinking that slowly reshapes your relationship with God and others. Sin is a spiritual disease because it corrupts our mind, soul, and moral foundation and is rooted in our hearts. Yet it can go unnoticed for a long time before it raises its ugly head. Like a physical illness, it’s seen as a fatal condition causing internal damage and separation from God.

Holiness covers all of life, it’s not something that we keep only for Sunday morning or special occasions, there’s nothing that’s left outside of God’s call to holiness. Jesus gets at this in Mark 7:20–23, “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.” All these things begin quietly inside us until they grow strong and begin to seep out. Sin begins small, maybe it begins as envy, it may then move into fear that maybe you don’t measure up, so you begin to undermine the other person, or make what they have that you want seem somehow wrong, that maybe they don’t deserve it, and slowly your envy and fear turn into hatred and bitterness. Sin begins as gossip, injustice, greed, pride, lust for power, hatred, disdain for others, and any other sin that lives in our hearts. The results of sin, our own or others against us bring hurt, brokenness, rejection, abandonment, mental, emotional, spiritual, and even physical illness. Disease, infection, mold used to describe how sin works in our hearts also points to the fact that it can be healed, it can be cleansed, there is hope.

Living in God’s presence is not an on-again, off-again relationship, it’s all in all the time. “Be holy as I am holy” is not an option, it’s the call for our lives. Unholiness grows by not really caring about holiness, or ignoring it, or by believing that small acts of uncleanness in our hearts and minds aren’t all that bad. One sign of unholiness or disease creeping into your life is when who you are in public becomes different from who you are in private; when your public words are different from your inner thoughts. This creates a disconnect inside that Satan will take advantage of to draw you away from God. God’s calling us to take impurity seriously, taking the necessary steps to remove it. In the end, we also need to realize that holiness isn’t something we earn through our own efforts, ultimately God provides holiness and healing to us, applying it to us through Jesus. Then, out of gratitude for what Jesus has done, out of our love for God and a desire to be close to him, we work at identifying those things in our hearts and minds that are unclean, that need the work of the Spirit to help in our transformation and sanctification, in becoming more like Jesus in every part of our being.

We find healing and cleansing when we turn to Jesus. You need to choose to be healed though, Jesus will not force healing on you, but you are invited to come to him. Jesus healed those who came to him, even physically touching those with leprosy, we see how disease and sin cannot touch Jesus, rather, Jesus’ touch brings healing. Jesus doesn’t fear disease, sin, or brokenness because the entire creation was created through him. He has the power to restore everything to “good” and “very good” again, to make us holy as God is holy. Jesus brings healing through touching lepers, revealing that his holiness is more powerful than our sin and disease. Jesus brings healing through words, showing he is the renewer of all things, including our sicknesses, whether physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual. Jesus brings healing through forgiveness, offering forgiveness with a spirit of grace. In his healings, Jesus brings hope and tears of joy rather than tears of hurt and brokenness. I remember hearing the bell in the hospital rung as a person, healed from cancer, rang it. The joy, the peace that radiated from his face is still with me; this can be you when you experience the healing that only Jesus can bring.

Healing is found in Jesus, Isaiah 53:5 “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” As we’re healed from our sin, choosing Jesus and his way flows out of our gratitude for him, bringing healing to all areas of our lives. Colossians 3:12–17, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly ….”  Forgiveness, grace, love, worshipping together, clothing ourselves in Christian virtues brings healing; healing in our lives, in our relationships, healing brokenness, pointing us to how Jesus forgives us, loves us, offers us grace, and calls us to imitate him in working towards reconciliation and renewal with others.

Healing is found in knowing who you are as a precious, redeemed, renewed child of God, created in the image of God, it’s found in the presence of the Holy Spirit, and in the Scriptures, and in the Body of Christ and the fellowship and encouragement of fellow believers, found in forgiveness and grace, found in prayer and time spent with God, found on the cross, at the foot of the cross, in Jesus’ blood and love and how these make us holy.

The grace of Jesus is given freely; repent and believe, and healing flows from Jesus. There’s nothing that is beyond Jesus’ grace-filled healing. No matter what you’ve done or who you’ve been, the cure is offered to you by grace. Trust in Jesus alone. The healing of sin is found in intimacy with God; drawing close to Jesus makes healing possible. If you're experiencing sickness in your soul, Jesus calls you to come to him, he can bring you healing and wholeness, he wants you to come to him!