October 10, 2010
What do you say?
- Luke 17:11-19
- Dr. Teri Thomas
Jesus is traveling to Jerusalem. In Luke that means Jesus is headed toward his arrest, his suffering and his death. He is somewhere between Samaria and Galilee and he and the disciples enter an un-named village.
There is a group of lepers at a distance. They are at a distance because they are not allowed in the city. They are outcast- forbidden from coming near healthy individuals. There is a group because they lived in small colonies or clusters. They could only talk to each other; they could only live with other lepers. No one would care for them except other lepers.
So this little group calls out to Jesus. “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
With no fuss, no to do, no show, Jesus simply said to the ten “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” If the lepers had any hope of being restored to a meaningful life, if they hoped to rejoin their families and communities they had to be declared clean by the priest.
So without question, without argument, without challenge they went off to the priest And as they went, they were made clean. And the Samaritan came back praising God with a loud voice and thanking Jesus. Jesus doesn’t ask the one why he returned. Instead he asks why the other nine did not.
Episcopal priest Martin Bell in his story “Where Are the Nine” reflects: “One of them was frightened – that's all. He didn't understand what had happened, and it frightened him. So he looked for some place to hide. Jesus scared him.
A second was offended because he had not been required to do something difficult before he could be healed. It was all too easy. He had expected months, maybe even years, of prayer and fasting and washing and righteous living before he could be healed. But he had done none of this. His motto was "you get what you pay for." Jesus made it too easy.
The third had realized too late that he had not really wanted to be cleansed. He did not know what to do or how to live without his leprosy. He did not even know who he was as a person without his leprosy. Jesus had taken away his identity.
The fourth leper did not return to give thanks because in his great joy he simply forgot. He forgot. That's all. He was so happy that he forgot.
The fifth leper was unable to say thank you any more to anyone. His life of leprosy and begging had turned his heart hard and callous. He just doesn't didn't say thank you to anyone any more.
The sixth leper was a mother who had been separated from her family for eleven years because of the leprosy. She was hurrying to the priests so she could to rejoin her husband and children. She did not return to give thanks because she was on her way home.
The seventh had doubts that Jesus had anything to do with the cleansing. He knew that healing had taken place, but why and how were his questions. Certainly he did not believe in hocus-pocus, magic, miracles – any of that. There was a perfectly reasonable and rational explanation
of what had happened, and he wondered if it had anything to do with Jesus.
The eighth leper did not return precisely because he did believe that Jesus had healed him – that the Kingdom of God was here and the Messiah had arrived. He didn't return because he was spreading the exciting, wonderful news about the Kingdom.”
As for the ninth leper, Bells says, “we don't know, we just don't know.”
But I think we might have a good idea. We all know a reason or two that people don’t bother to give thanks. We all know why a person might not return in gratitude.
We know where they are. God does, too. God knows where they are and is with them there.
This is a story of gratitude. Gratitude is not always simple.
Gratitude is not so much a behavior as it is a way of life.
Gratitude is not so much an act as an attitude.
It is knowing where we come from and to whom we belong in all things.
It is giving thanks- not just when the leprosy is healed
but also when you discover more chemo is needed.
Not just when you exchange wedding vows
but also when you exchange the damaging words of your first lovers’ quarrel.
Not just when the unexpected promotion comes,
but also when the unexpected layoff occurs.
Not just when the market is strong and investments are good
but when finances are tight and times are uncertain.
All circumstances.
Giving thanks in all circumstances because God knows where we are and is with us there.
God knows how we feel. God knows our next breath.
How extraordinary to be so known, so loved, so healed.
That one leper, that Samaritan, he knew about gratitude. Gratitude brought him back to Jesus.
Gratitude takes nothing for granted. We are created by God, loved by God, and healed by God.
What we have is from God- even life every day.
Gratitude grows with discipline and practice. Children are not born writing thank you notes.
How many times have you heard a parent prompt a young child, “What do you say Johnnie?”
“Don’t forget to thank the nice lady.”
Gratitude changes our relationship with God, with the church and even with ourselves.
In gratitude, we come to worship,
not to see what we can get out of it for ourselves,
but rather to give thanks and praise to God.
In gratitude
the offering goes from being a fundraising effort
to an act of glad gratitude from joyful givers.
In gratitude
mission is no longer an ethical duty,
but it is the work of grateful hands and hearts.
In gratitude
prayer goes from intercession and supplication to thanksgiving.
Each thank you becomes a way to practice gratitude
so that more and more our lives are shaped by the truth
that we belong not to ourselves, but to our God.
For all that we are
for all that we have
for all that we love
for all that we experience
for all that we endure
for all that we can be
Thanks be to God.
Amen