The text for our meditation on God’s Holy Word is the Gospel lesson appointed for the day. I bring you grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
It’s been a great blessing and just a whole lot of fun watching my daughter Sarah with her own kids—Jessa and Josiah—especially watching her teach them all the things that I can remember Caroline and I teaching her—simple little things like saying please and thank-you.
When Jessa was just learning how to talk, she would point at what she wanted and says “Get it!”—which I thought was hilarious—but then I’m the grandparent not the parent. But before Sarah would get her what she wanted, she would tell her, “Say please, momma” and little Jessa would say “Peas momma”—and Sarah would get what she wanted. And after she handed it to her, Sarah would tell her, “Say, Thank you, momma” and little Jessa would say, “Thank you, momma.” Absolutely precious!
I was thinking about that as I reflected on the Gospel lesson this week and how that little domestic scene of a mother teaching her daughter to be thankful perfectly captures what Jesus wants to teach us today about being thankful in our life with God.
You see, all of us by nature are just like little Jessa—we stand at the center of our worlds and we tell our heavenly Father what we want and say “get it”—and there’s part of that that’s right because we know our heavenly Father loves us and wants to provide for us and we can expect good things from him. But even more importantly, he wants his children to learn gratitude and be thankful for the things that he is glad to give us.
On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance…
Their disease made the distance between them and Jesus. The lepers were in a bad place in life—the requirements of the law demanded that they have no contact with their loved ones and their neighbors—they could not enter the temple or partake in the worship life of their nation—everywhere they went they had to call out “unclean, unclean” so that people would know to stay away.
Their disease made a distance between them and others-- but it had also joined them together—Jew and gentile—into one sad, sorry group—the only thing binding them together was the ugliness of their condition and their great need for healing.
With that description, you can understand why it is that throughout the Bible leprosy is likened to sin. Sin destroys lives—breaks relationships—and ends in death. Sin makes a distance between us and God—a distance that cannot be traversed on our side—but must be bridged by God’s mercy.
The lepers …lifted up their voices, saying,
“Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” Jesus never traveled very far from his home town but the news about him did. Everywhere the people of that day traveled, they took his story with them: how he fed the multitudes with just a few loaves and fish—how he healed the sick and gave sight to the blind and how he raised the dead—how all of those who came to him in need, received help—how he was both merciful and powerful. The lepers heard about it all and they cried out to him in their great need.
Just like those lepers, our sin-sickness has made a distance between us and God. We cannot approach a holy God in this condition—the law’s demands that keep sinners from a holy God are even more severe than those which separated the leprous from the healthy. Our only hope is to cry out for mercy and we can do that with confidence knowing that Jesus helps those who come to him in need.
When Jesus saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. Throughout Jesus’ earthly ministry he healed many, many people. Some he touched, some he spoke to, one time he took earth and mixed with his saliva and gave sight to a blind man by putting it on his eyes—and he healed in a variety of ways because he wanted people to understand that what mattered-- was not the “how” but the “who”. That is where the power was—not in the method but in the man.
You see Jesus was not just merciful—he was also powerful—he was not just sympathetic to the needs of broken humanity but he acted to do something about it--and so he still is today: merciful and powerful. He not only hears our prayers and has mercy on our broken condition, but he is able to change things for us. No prayer for help that is prayed to him in faith is an exercise in futility or last resort—but can be prayed with confidence knowing that he will act in our lives for our good—just like he did that day.
The lepers’ situation was special—their healing had to be recognized by the religious rulers if they were to be allowed back into society-- and so when they prayed for healing and Jesus commanded them to go to the priests—they knew exactly what he meant—what he was promising to them-- and such was the power of his promise that they could already begin that journey to be pronounced “clean”.
Believing his promise--and walking to the priests—they were cleansed. You see, there was cleansing power in his promise. So it still is today--for us.
We suffer from a condition much more serious that leprosy--a condition that- on one hand keeps us from our fellow man- but on the other hand joins us together with them for they suffer from it too—a condition that makes a barrier between us and God—a condition that is ultimately fatal—and that condition is sin.
But Jesus looked with mercy on us and came to us with cleansing that has restored our relationships with God and one another. That cleansing comes through his shed blood on the cross and his powerful promise is that all who believe in him will be saved. That promise is made in Word and Sacrament and all who believe his promise are cleaned form their sin and given a brand new life in his resurrection life—a life of thankfulness and praise for the great things he has done for us.
Then one of the lepers, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. To say that this man was brought back from the dead is not an overstatement—he was given a brand new life in place of the old broken life he had before—there were new opportunities and new directions to live a new life that stretched out before him in what must have seemed like an endless variety. But where did his new life take him? It took him back to God. Giving thanks to Jesus and worshiping at his feet came first.
So it is to be for us! Worshiping Jesus and giving him thanks for the new life we have in his name is not some onerous duty to perform or burdensome law to fulfill---it is the super-natural result that takes place in the heart of someone who has been changed forever by the mercy and power of Jesus.
When we see the truth about our lost condition apart from Jesus and when we see his goodness in saving us—praise and thanksgiving will overflow in our lives and we will gladly offer him our worship as the first and foremost response for what he has done for us in his death and resurrection.
But all of us know about ourselves that even though God has done great things for us—greater than physical healing—we are not always as thankful as we should be—and oftentimes we are forgetful of God’s great mercies.
Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Where were the nine? The nine Jews’ lives had been changed no less than the thankful Samaritan—they too were given a band new lease on life. But where did that lead them? Did it lead them to their families and loved ones? Did it lead them to their friends that they had been separated from for years? Did they just get so caught up in the moment that they forgot to give thanks?
We don’t know—but we do know it didn’t lead them to thanksgiving and worship in the presence of Jesus. I think we can all agree that ingratitude is a particularly ugly kind of thing. That is why we spent countless hours teaching and training our children—just like Sarah does with Jessa—that it is important to be thankful for the good things we receive—and that is especially true for the good things we receive from God.
It has always been a particularly sad thing in my ministry when I see people who have mightily blessed by God and yet cannot bring themselves to come into his presence and give him thanks. The safe delivery of a child after a difficult pregnancy. Financial success after money struggles. A happy marriage after years of being single. Release from the hospital when there wasn’t a lot of hope.
All of them good gifts that come from God’s mercy and power—and yet these folks cannot bring themselves to come into the presence God and give him thanks.
Ingratitude is a heartbreaking thing
for our sake because God does not just want to give us some gift—even a great gift--he wants to give us himself—he wants to have a relationship with us. Jesus said to him,
“Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.” This is one of those places where the King James Version gets it a little bit better than our translation—Jesus says to the thankful Samaritan: thy faith has made thee whole—thy faith has made thee WHOLE.
You see, the thankful Samaritan didn’t just receive a miraculous healing that day (as wonderful as that was!) -he also received Jesus—and in that gift he was made whole. The leprosy—as terrible as it was—was really only a small defect in his life—what he really needed was a life with God—a faith that understood just exactly what Jesus had done for him- and was thankful for it- and worshiped God for it.
C.S. Lewis told a story that illustrates what I’m talking about. He told of a boy with an excruciating toothache and all he could think about was making the pain go away. And so his mother took him to the dentist. The dentist gave him a shot that deadened the pain and the boy was completely satisfied and ready to go home. But the dentist knew that more was needed for him to be truly whole--he had to have the whole cure.
So it is in our life with Jesus. We come to him in need: the pain of a broken marriage—an illness that has us hospitalized—an addiction that has wrecked our lives—and we cry out to him in pain just like the lepers did that day—and in his mercy he hears us and in his power he helps us. And with our pain gone, we are ready to go on our way.
But Jesus knows that those things that made us cry out are just symptoms of the real healing that we need—a wholeness that is accomplished when we have a life with him that is full of worship and thanksgiving. And so dear friends in Christ, knowing the mercy and power of Jesus, receiving his gifts of healing and new life, let us be thankful! Amen.
And now may the peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.
