Sermons for the Month

Life as One BIG Thank-You
DATE: October 14th, 2007
SERVICE: 20th Sunday after Pentecost
TEXT: Luke 17:11-19

“To all of you Saints here this morning, grace and peace to you from God our Father, from His Son, Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. AMEN

Can you imagine the 10 lepers, clustered together in fear, drawing as close to Jesus as they dare, longing for a kind word or glance?

They are suffering physically, due to painful skin diseases that cannot be hidden from scrutinizing eyes. They are suffering emotionally, having been ostracized from society, denied access to loved ones, forced to live only with other sufferers and to shout out "unclean" to warn uninfected people of their presence. They are suffering spiritually, since their disease is viewed as divine judgment for some sin, known or unknown. As human beings they are invisible; but as a threat, they are quite visible.

These suffering ones have heard of Jesus, the rabbi who speaks boldly and heals miraculously. So, when news of his arrival reaches them by word of mouth, in a group they take a risk and approach him, calling out for mercy. And he saw them; Jesus gives attention to the invisible ones and without ceremony tells them what to do. "Go and show yourselves to the priests."

There are two reasons for this; one is that if a priest judges a person to be unclean then that person - like these 10 - is cut off from society and from family. To be restored to a normal life requires a priest's judgment that the person is no longer unclean. This is the primary purpose of Jesus' command, to restore these invisible ones to visibility. But, there also is an underlying reason; they will testify to the priests about Jesus' healing power. So, when the priests judge the lepers to be clean they will be - without wanting to do so - confirming Jesus' Divine power.

As the 10 suffering turn to go, they do so not knowing what will happen next. As one writer so eloquently stated, "They accept, they obey, and somewhere down the road of their obedient they find they are wearing new skin." Isn't that a wonderful image? There is healing on the highway. "As they go, their ruined hands, feet and faces put on new flesh, perfect as a child's." (1) They must have been ecstatic, so they run faster to reach the priests, doing exactly what Jesus told them to do; they are anxious to begin a new life with their new skin.

That's true of all but one of them. He returns to Jesus. Some scholars say it's because he was a Samaritan and would have been rejected by the Jewish priests, so he had no reason to continue on his way. But, others point out that he needed to find a Samaritan priest to receive the declaration of purity, so he would have been in as much of a hurry as the others. Whatever the case, it dawns on him that the source of his healing is Jesus and that he can get to a priest and to his new life later. He turns back to honor and thank the one who saw him, healed him and in the end saved him.

I like the image that the Rev. Rick Summy provides. "He (the healed man) sees too. He notices that he has been healed and recognizes its source. The sight and recognition are every bit as much a gift as the healing itself. Jesus saw and had mercy; now the one who has received mercy sees and heads straight for Jesus. No longer keeping his distance he falls at Jesus' feet and gives thanks." (2)

I cannot help but think that Jesus wants us to be like this man, to see the ways he is a powerful presence in our lives and to give thanks. The problem is, though, that we take a lot for granted. We often are blind to the ways we are blessed. A quote I read this week noted that "what we take for granted we never take seriously." (Vance Havner) In other words, we are so "use to" whatever it is we take for granted that we are unaware of its true value.

The idea hit home for me as I've been reading the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns. It's set in Afghanistan; the story begins in 1959 and continues into the 21st century, detailing the rule of the Soviet Union and then the Taliban in that country. I'm not sure I can recommend the book; it's well written, but absolutely unnerving. If even half if what is described is reality, it's horrible.

But, the book has caused me to think about what I take for granted as a Christian, as an American and particularly as a Christian American woman. The fact is that until it's brought to my attention through books, the news or travel, I'm pretty much blind to my life of privilege and take the way I live for granted. I do not take seriously the fact that I'm amazingly blessed.

Well, the same concept applies to the gifts of God - the true treasure - that was mentioned in last week's sermon. We often are blind to our life of privilege as God's children and take the love, mercy, forgiveness and empowerment of God for granted. We may not take seriously the fact that we are amazingly blessed.

We do not seriously consider that like the Lepers in today's Gospel, who received new skin, we too are transformed through Jesus. Jesus sees us and acts, but do we see him and respond? Do we return to thank Him by our worship, prayers, serving, testimony and support of His church? Is our life one big "thank you", a living expression of gratitude to God?

I was watching television preacher Joyce Meyer, who I happen to appreciate, and she was telling about her earlier life. She was an active church member, on the evangelism board and a regular at worship services. Yet, she said, it her heart and mind her focus was not responding with gratitude for God's gifts, but the focus of what she did at the church or gave to the church was on herself. She was like a robot, she said, who repeated over and over again, "What about me. What about me. What about me." She had to experience personal healing, then her focus switched to serving others and she saw her actions as a response of gratitude for God's gifts. Then she was at peace, and her faith and ministry began to flourish.

That's what it means to take the gifts of God seriously, rather than for granted. Today we are celebrating the ways people here at Faith are a living expression of gratitude to God. At our Ministry Fair we'll see how people give of their time and talents so that God is praised with music, so the church grounds present a welcome to the world, so children and youth learn and serve together, so soup is made and people are warmed by blankets and shawls and so that relationships are encouraged. All that, and much more, will be celebrated today.

And, of course, all that sharing of time and talent is under-girded by the giving of financial resources, another important way that gratitude is expressed. One of the reasons I encourage what is called "first fruits giving", which means that we give to God first - whatever amount we have prayerfully decided upon - before we pay bills or use our resources in other ways, is that it makes the concrete statement that we take ministry seriously and we do not take the gifts of God for granted.

All of this - the priorities we set, our manner of interacting with others, the ways we give of ourselves and our resources - is a sign that are eyes are open. Like the healed man who returned to Jesus, we too see, recognize how our lives have been transformed. Then, what else is there to do but live life as one big thank-you to God?

AMEN

(1) "Down the Road and Back" by Paul D. Duke, Christian Century, September 25, 1995, www.findarticles.com

(2) "Sermons and Reflections: Luke 17:11-19" by the Rev. Rick Summy, October 13, 2004, Lutheran Theological Seminary Chapel, www.ltsp.edu

---