Healing, Gratitude and Attitude

This message was first delivered at Mt. Zion United Methodist Church in Rustburg, Virginia and Brookneal United Methodist Church in Brookneal, Virginia on October 9, 2016. It is based on the lectionary text of Luke 17:11-19.

When we are harmed, we want justice. When we do harm, we desire mercy. How are we called to be in ministry to the world? The Gospel lesson for today is from Luke 17:11-19 (NRSV)

On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”

Today we are going to look at this from three angles – Healing. Gratitude. And Attitude. First, healing...because this is an encounter about ten people in need of healing.

First, a little background on leprosy – it is a long-term infection which is spread among people that, if left untreated, can cause permanent damage to skin, nerves, limbs and eyes. Contrary to folklore, it does not cause body parts to fall off – but they can become numb or diseased due to secondary infections that can cause tissue loss causing fingers and toes to become shortened and deformed. Yes, it still exists today. Most new cases occur in 14 countries – with India accounting for more than half of the roughly 180,000 new cases each year. The US reports about 200 new cases each year. It is treatable and the World Health Organization is dedicated to eradicating the disease in the world – beginning with India, Africa and Brazil.

Leprosy was a more than just disease in Jesus' time (still is more than a disease in our time – but much more so back then). Lepers were not just perceived as a physical threat. They were also seen as a ritual and spiritual threat. These folks were more than just potentially infectious; they were ritually unclean. They were cast out (the same term as was used for how demons were treated) because their disfigurement was thought to be not just physically but also spiritually deadly and contagious.

And they were cast out from everywhere. This group apparently included nine Judeans and one Samaritan. They were all equally unclean. The difference in their religious practice was irrelevant now. Somehow, these ten had been grafted into a community by this physical and spiritual contagion, and now they would have to make the best of it together as a community of outcasts. Can you imagine being cut off from everything and everyone that you know and love because of a disease? Not able to be a part of their home communities? Unable to interact with family? Not able to participate in traditions or worship of their faith?

There was only one way back in for them. If a priest declared them clean after an appropriate examination, they could rejoin their own societies.

But Jesus was not a priest. So, Jesus himself could not perform all of the healing needed, a large part of which was being allowed back in regular society again. So, he did what he could. He told them to go show themselves to the priests responsible for making the declaration. And they went on their way to do just that, discovering as they did that they had been made clean.

The physical healing had taken place. The sores were gone. Their flesh was made whole. And these guys were understandably excited. This is a physically painful and uncomfortable disease. To suddenly be freed from that discomfort was extraordinary. We do not know what nine of them did next. Maybe they all headed to the priests to show themselves, like Jesus had instructed. Maybe some of them were so overjoyed they headed straight to family and friends to share the incredible news!

That would have probably been my first motivation – it would be like winning the healthcare lottery! If I suddenly had all my health issues wiped away – knees not achy, back not hurting, no more cluster headaches, scars faded – I would be thrilled! If Jesus said, go and show yourself acceptable to the priests and I found myself 100 pounds skinnier and no gray hair! I would be texting my family and taking selfies and posting them to Facebook saying – look at this, I'm transformed! But this healing was different because the stakes were so much higher!

The ten lepers were outcasts and now they were going to be let back inside. They were going to be acceptable again. This was more than physical healing – this was a healing of relationship to the rest of society. These ten were being restored – being welcomed back. They were worthy again.

One of the ten turned back. From Eugene Peterson's The Message: One of them, when he realized that he was healed, turned around and came back, shouting his gratitude, glorifying God. He kneeled at Jesus’ feet, so grateful. He couldn’t thank him enough—and he was a Samaritan. Jesus said, “Were not ten healed? Where are the nine? Can none be found to come back and give glory to God except this outsider?” Then he said to him, “Get up. On your way. Your faith has healed and saved you.”

How interesting. How ironic. That out of this band of outsiders, it was the MAJOR outsider – the one with two strikes against him: leper AND lone Samaritan – who remembered to give thanks.

The temptation to moralism with this story of the “ungrateful lepers” is very strong. “You ought to be more thankful for what you have and for what God has done for you!” or “Don’t be ungrateful like so many people, even religious people, are!”

Do we have room for improvement in expressing thanks and praise to God? No question about it. We all do. We all should do better.

But today’s story isn’t primarily about moralism. It’s about ritual and boundaries and spiritual realities. And it’s about the underlying call of Jesus to all disciples to keep on healing all people—including people who are deemed beyond the bounds by cultural or religious assumptions or leaders.

It's about bringing people inside these imaginary boundaries of what is acceptable. Do we forget that through Jesus all are saved? That the only question is whether a person desires to be saved? The turning toward Jesus and the desire to be in relationship to God are the ONLY requirements? Who are our lepers...those who we would exclude from our community?

The Epistle lesson today is from Paul's second letter to his right-hand man Timothy. Paul is writing from prison (talk about exclusion from society!) and he is insistent that Timothy get the church focused back on the important stuff. The Message paraphrases 2 Timothy 2:8-15 in this way:

Fix this picture firmly in your mind: Jesus, descended from the line of David, raised from the dead. It’s what you’ve heard from me all along. It’s what I’m sitting in jail for right now—but God’s Word isn’t in jail! That’s why I stick it out here—so that everyone God calls will get in on the salvation of Christ in all its glory. This is a sure thing:

If we die with him, we’ll live with him;
If we stick it out with him, we’ll rule with him;
If we turn our backs on him, he’ll turn his back on us;
If we give up on him, he does not give up—
for there’s no way he can be false to himself.

Repeat these basic essentials over and over to God’s people. Warn them before God against pious nitpicking, which chips away at the faith. It just wears everyone out. Concentrate on doing your best for God, work you won’t be ashamed of, laying out the truth plain and simple.

Paul is serious. Repeat these things over and over to the church: If we die with Christ, we'll live with him. If we stick it out, we'll rule with him. If we turn our backs, he'll let us...free will and all that. But he won't give up on us, because that just isn't in his nature!! He does not give up and can't fake it.

But we can't ignore that warning from Paul. Stop it with the pious nitpicking, it chips away at the faith. From the NRSV it reads, “avoid wrangling over words, which does no good but only ruins those who are listening.” New King James translation, “[don't] strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers.” One more – the Good News translation, “give them a solemn warning in God's presence not to fight over words. It does no good, but only ruins the people who listen.”

It ruins the people who listen! You see...somebody is watching and listening and seeing how WE act as the church. And they are going to accept or reject our message based on that knowledge.

We have got to get our act together! The world and its people need us. They are counting on us. They'll know... They'll know we are Christians by the love we show for each other.

We have to exemplify God's love in every aspect of our lives, but it is critical that we show love within the church. This story was related to me and it hit so close to home, it felt like a story I could have told myself. “I became a Christian as a teenager, and I immediately wanted to be involved in my church. Hoping to channel that enthusiasm, the church leaders put me on the committee which was planning the promotion for the church's building fund. The adults were working on a brochure, which I was supposed to help them write. It was exciting to be performing an important service, and to be working along side a group of mature Christians-or so I thought.

After the first meeting it was clear that these "mature" believers were more concerned about whether or not to have an air conditioner in the new sanctuary than they were about spiritual matters. They argued and fought through the entire meeting. I got my eyes off the creator and onto the creation, and it was discouraging. For 6 years after that day I refused to go to church, read the Bible or even consider anything relating to Christianity. "If that's what Christians are like, why would I want to be one?" I reasoned.”

You see? They'll know! They will figure it out before we even get the chance to tell them about Jesus and the unfathomable love he has for every single person. Mahatma Ghandi said, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” Do not let this be our story.

What does Paul say right after he tells us to NOT be pious nitpickers? Let's not get stuck on verse 14 without moving on to verse 15! The NRSV, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth.” But I particularly like the Living Bible's clear statement: “Work hard so God can say to you, “Well done.” Be a good workman, one who does not need to be ashamed when God examines your work. Know what his Word says and means.”

Work hard. Be a good workman so that God can say to you, “Well done.” That is a worthy goal. We have all had performance reviews of some kind. Maybe at work? I have experienced a lot of different employer review styles. The executive director of my current employer, Rush Homes, has implemented a new style. It is a wheel of competency (which sounds more fun than it really is). He and I each had a chart which was kind of like a round spider web. Each section had a topic like flexibility, teamwork or expertise and we colored in our opinion of my performance so we could compare how each of us felt about how well I do my job. In some areas we agreed – we both think I am expert in the job that I do. We disagreed on how flexible I am...I rated myself higher than he did...

How would we pass on a performance review from God? Are we following the example of Christ? How are we doing with this unconditional love thing?How are we about sharing that love with others? Are we impacting the ones who are watching us in a positive way? If they know the love of God through us...are they getting the right picture? Can we, as Paul wrote, “be one who does not need to be ashamed when God examines our work?”

There is another passage of scripture that describes an instance of healing - where Jesus is in a house so packed that no one can come through the door anymore. So his four friends open the roof and lower this paralytic down through it so Jesus can heal him. Although the focus of the story is, understandably, the healing of the paralytic...there is something more significant happening. It involves his friends and what their faith urges them to do for their friend. They ripping the roof off the place, and those outside are being let in.

We need to rip some roofs off. We need to go outside and see the people who are hurting and need Jesus. We need to find every way possible to get them connected to the one who loves them – and let them know that he does.

There are people who are hurting out there. People who need to see the love of God. We have neighbors who don't have enough to eat, who need a listening ear, who need a helping hand to get back on their feet, neighbors who face barriers that we can dismantle. They are counting on us.

We have the power to show them God's love. But we have to understand something very important. One more warning. They will experience God's love through the love we show. And they will be able to tell if it is genuine. They will know if we are helping them out of a sense of obligation or if our helping them is just an extension of the joy we have in being loved so much by God. If we aren't reaching out because of the healing that we have received through God's mercy and gift of his Son's sacrifice...if we aren't serving the Lord with gladness – it won't have the same impact. Not that it won't have an impact...if you give a hungry man a sandwich because you are feeling guilty or fearful of God's Wrath...the hungry man will still get a sandwich. But the attitude is different.

If you sit with the man – in community with him – and share a meal or a kind word or listening ear. What a different impact. I work with the homeless response system in Lynchburg as part of my job. One of the organizations that I love the most is a scrappy little non-profit called Warm Streets. It's just a guy and a pickup truck and 5000 Facebook followers that he calls his Rapid Responders. It all started with him handing bags of useful supplies to people he saw living on the street. Simple stuff like a blanket, ready to eat non-perishable food, hygiene supplies. It has grown to even more. One thing he does help get people exiting homelessness (especially homeless veterans) settled into homes. Mainstream programs like Rapid Re-housing through Miriam's House or Permanent Supportive Housing through the Lynchburg Housing Authority help find the assistance, support and shelter...Warm Streets provides the human touch. A smiling man and his responders - with a donated microwave or a basket of cleaning supplies, furniture, a NEW bed through his partnership with Mattress Warehouse. A hug and a lot of tears.

That is serving the Lord with gladness. That is the work that we can be unashamed of. It's not about the stuff, the the leper encounter isn't just about the healing...it is about the relationship. It is about caring deeper about THEM. I think this little story illustrates how easy it is to make an impact.

Mamie Adams always went to a branch post office in her town because the postal employees there were friendly. She went there to buy stamps just before Christmas one year and the lines were particularly long. Someone pointed out that there was no need to wait in line because there was a stamp machine in the lobby. "I know," said Mamie, 'but the machine won't ask me about my arthritis."

We all feel a need to be a part of community. A sense of belonging. That someone cares for us even when we feel like we are on the sidelines. Part of being church is that caring, bringing people on the outside into the warmth of God's love and grace. Ripping off roofs so that those on the outside can come in and meet this Jesus we worship.

The mission statement of the United Methodist Church states that we are “to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.” Disciples, by biblical definition aren't simply worship attenders or financial givers, but people who answer the call to follow Jesus with their lives. And their love.

They'll know we are Christians by our love. Everyone needs to hear about this incredible. Unfathomable. Unconditional. Love. When we dive into the depths of that unfathomable love, then we start to see the people around us differently. And this love thing starts to spread. And this just might catch on.