This morning, we are returning to the Gospel of Luke to visit a story
from Jesus’ lifetime. In today’s reading Jesus was travelling to Jerusalem
along the border between Galilee and Samaria. In order to get to Jerusalem from
Galilee, you had to walk along the edge of Samaria. But, the Jewish people and the Samaritans were
always at odds with each other, and they were prohibited by their religious
rules from mingling. They were
neighbors, but remained separate and apart. Listen now to what happened when
Jesus walked through this border-region on his way to Jerusalem, as it is
recorded in Luke chapter 17, verses 11 through 19:
Proclamation of the Scripture Luke
17:11-19
Now on his way
to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and
Galilee.
As he was
going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a
distance
and called out
in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
When he saw
them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they
went, they were cleansed.
One of them,
when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice.
He threw
himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.
Jesus
asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?
Has no one
returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?”
Then he said
to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”
HERE ENDS THIS READING OF THE WORD OF GOD
FOR THE PEOPLE OF GOD. THANKS BE TO GOD. AMEN.
Prayer: Lord, give us grace this morning that we would be both hearers and doers of the Word. And may our obedience in both listening and living bring glory to You. Amen.
Today’s story takes
place in a boarder land – the land between Samaria and Galilee. It wasn’t
Samaria and it wasn’t Galilee. It was an in-between place, a place where the
people who didn’t fit in the regular places gathered…..sort of a no-mans-land where
people didn’t want to be. So, the people who hung out there were the rejects –
the people who were sick, the people who were very poor, the people born to
un-wed mothers, the people who were born in mixed marriages with a Samaritan
mom and a Jewish dad, the people who weren’t allowed to live anywhere else….like
the people with leprosy who encountered Jesus there.
Jesus walked right
across this no-mans-land, right through the border area that stretched between
Samaria and Galilee. The ten men with leprosy saw Jesus. Leprosy is a
contagious skin disease that can lead to rashes on the body and damage of the
nerves, respiratory tract, skin and eyes. The rules of the Old Testament
command that people with leprosy must be separated from the Jewish community –
they were required to live outside of all walled cities and towns. Ancient
Jewish people believed leprosy was caused by a person being spiritually corrupt
– people in that time period had no understanding of disease and that leprosy
is actually caused by bacteria that infect the skin. Ancient Jewish people also had no
understanding of how disease is spread – so people with leprosy were isolated and
cut off from everyone else even though the disease is difficult to transmit
from person to person.
Jesus walked across
the border region that separated Israel and Samaria, and there he came upon the
group of men with leprosy. The men asked Jesus to have pity on them….and in
response Jesus told them to go show themselves to the priests. They were
cleansed as they went on their way. They walked and were healed at the same
time. A miraculous healing had taken place.
There were ten men
with leprosy – ten men went to the priests. And, only one came back to thank
Jesus. And, the one man who returned to say thank you was a Samaritan…Not one
of Jesus’ people….instead, one of their traditional nemeses.
If Jesus had set this
up as a parable, we would expect this ironic twist at the end of the story. But
this was real life….the person who returned to say thank you was one of the enemies.
This story reminds us
it is easy to take good news for granted. We get sick, we fret and worry, we
overcome the illness after a long struggle, and we move on with our lives. We
lose our job we fret and worry, apply for a million jobs, we get hired by a new
place, and we move on with our lives. Our kid is struggling at school, we fret
and we worry, we help them complete a major project, they get a passing grade,
and we move on with our lives. We rarely look back at what has happened and
practice gratitude. We rarely focus on the time of struggle….instead we just
look ahead and keep moving.
This morning’s event
from Jesus’ life reminds us to be focused on Gratitude. Nothing we accomplish in
our lives is done in a vacuum. We must remember to appreciate our family members
who help us in the midst of our struggles. We must remember to appreciate our
fellow church members who pray for us. We must remember to appreciate the colleagues
and friends who mentor us and who help us gain experience and knowledge that lead
to better things. We must remember to appreciate God and that God’s Holy Spirit
accompanies us throughout our lives, through all of our ups and downs, through
all of our struggles and joys.
The other nine men,
the former lepers, were probably really excited and happy they were healed. After
they saw the priests and were declared clean, they probably rushed to visit
their former friends and relatives and show off their unblemished skin. They
were ready to get back to life – to go back to how things were before they
became outcast. Appreciation for God and Jesus were not at the top of their
to-do lists.
For that one man,
that one Samaritan man, gratitude was essential. He knew his healing came from
God by way of Jesus. He remembered to give thanks to God and to Jesus. And, he got a double blessing from Jesus—he was
both healed of his skin condition and made well inside and out by Jesus. We
need to work to be like that man, full of gratitude and appreciation.
May we do so with love in our hearts. Amen.
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