Based
on the Gospel reading: Luke 17:11-19 A
certain preacher was known for his uplifting prayers. He always found
something for which to be grateful. One Sunday morning the weather was
so gloomy that one church member thought to himself, “Certainly he
won’t think of anything for which to thank the Lord on a wretched day
like this.” Much to his surprise, however, he began by praying, “We
thank Thee, O God, that it is not always like this.” We
have so much to be thankful for, and yet it takes specific times of the
church year to remind us to give thanks to God.
It is easy to come up with a list of needs and petitions for our
prayers, but seemingly much harder to come up with a list of things for
which we are grateful. As we look around at the decorations in our church this
morning we know how blessed we are to live in Canada.
To live here means to share in the bounty and beauty of one of
the wealthiest countries in the world.
It means to live in freedom.
It means to live in comfort.
Sometimes we need to be reminded that such bounty brings with it
responsibility. Along with
the fruit and vegetables that we use to decorate our church, what we
really offer to God is ourselves. We
offer willingly and with thankful hearts all that we are and all that we
have. It is that attitude
of gratitude that comes through in a wonderful way in today’s gospel.
It is an attitude that is not always easily acquired, even, or
perhaps especially in our first world mindset.
The
gospel today links gratitude to God with healing, with coming to
wholeness. That is a
wonderful thing for us to consider as we celebrate our National
Thanksgiving. We
live in a world that is calling out for healing.
Many in our world suffer from hunger, from want, from disease,
from oppression. The gospel
holds out the promise of healing and liberation through the message of
salvation in Jesus Christ. As
Christians, we are called to wholeness.
But more, we are called to share that wholeness with others.
Most of us if asked what wholeness is, would speak in terms of
being physically well. But
true wholeness is far more than that.
It is no accident that in Greek, the word we translate as
"salvation", can also be used to mean health.
In fact, modern psychology is just catching up with Greek, as it
begins to see the strong link between health of body, mind, and spirit. Luke
recounts the story of ten lepers. "Jesus",
he recounts, "was travelling between Samaria and Galilee."
He was venturing out into the unknown, into a dangerous and
uncertain place. He is an
unknown place where anything can happen.
In that place he meets ten lepers.
They are not in that "uncertain" place by choice.
They are conforming to the law, a law which says they must keep
their distance from people. However, it allows them to call out for charity.
"Have
mercy on us," they call out to Jesus.
And Jesus, in compassion, says to them, "Go and show
yourselves to the priests." As they go on their way, they find that
they have been cleansed, made clean.
One of them, a Samaritan, an outsider, on finding himself healed,
returns to thank Jesus. "Your
faith has made you well, healthy, whole in every way," Jesus says
to him. Not only is he clean as are the other nine, but also he has
received salvation. Because
of his gratitude he has been made truly whole.
We need to question why that connection between gratitude and wholeness is so difficult for us to make. Indeed, it often seems as if those outside the established faith community are more open to the full healing message of Jesus Christ than those inside. Let us reflect for a moment on the nine lepers who did not come back to Jesus. What kept them from acknowledging the healing grace that had been given to them that day? Was there something in their past which kept them from real wholeness? Many
things can keep us from being grateful.
Perhaps fear or distrust kept the lepers from reaching out beyond
themselves. Fear can keep you from accepting a gift of grace, even
God’s grace. Perhaps they were too angry at life to ever say thank you for anything again. When anger consumes you, there is no acceptance of the good things that God has in store. There is no forgiveness for what has happened in one’s life. You are beyond that kind of acceptance. And that is a tragedy. There
was probably one who just did not connect the healing with the healer.
It happened too easily. Because
it was so simple, it was easy to think that it was all a dream.
It didn't really happen at all.
If something is too easy we may not see the need for gratitude.
We may simply expect it as our due.
We may think we have earned it as a right.
Perhaps
one of the lepers was so used to sickness that he could not handle being
well. There are people like that.
They get so caught up in being sick that they don't even know how
to be well. They revel in
their sickness. Perhaps
one of the lepers was so overcome with emotion at being healed that it
was impossible to talk about it. Or
perhaps one needed so badly to talk about what had happened that there
was no point in waiting. Was
there a family waiting for one of them?
Children perhaps who had not seen their parent for many months?
The excitement of being with loved ones could keep one from
remembering. We can be so
forgetful of the good things God does for us!
So
what was different about the person who did come back and say thank you?
Part of it certainly lies in our childhood lesson about saying
“thank you”. But the
one who came back came not just to say thank you, but to give glory to
God. Giving glory to God, recognizing that in Jesus God is in
action in our world, focusing on God, takes his action beyond that of
simply giving thanks. He is
offering himself. He is
acknowledging God’s saving grace.
And that gives him wholeness.
What
are the "leprosies" in our lives that need to be healed?
What keeps us from real wholeness?
How do we return to give thanks to God?
All sorts of things that happen in life keep us from wholeness.
But the real point is that Jesus doesn’t sit around waiting to
be thanked. Jesus healed
all the lepers. God offered
each one a gift of grace. It
is offered to each one of us.
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