20th Sunday after Pentecost [Pr. 23] October 14, 2007 “Series C”
Grace be unto you and peace, from God our Father and from our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Let us pray: Dear Heavenly Father, guide us through your Holy Spirit, that we might read your Word, digest its meaning, and understand its significance for our lives. Then, through the same power of your Spirit, enable us to embody your Word and make it our own, that our lives might reflect your saving grace, poured out for us through Christ’s death and resurrection. This we ask in Christ’s Holy name. Amen.
When I first read our Gospel lesson for this morning, I had to check to make sure I had the right lesson sheet. After all, the story of the healing of the ten lepers, where only one returns to give thanks and praise to Jesus for having been cured, is a text quite often associated with and read at Thanksgiving services.
In the context of Thanksgiving, this text provides the preacher with the opportunity to praise the few persons who still attend these Thanksgiving services, as being like the one leper who returned to thank Jesus. And at the same time, it provides opportunity to chastise those who don’t attend, as being like the nine others who did not return to give thanks, even though they were simply doing what Jesus told them to do.
But in the context of our lessons for this morning, this twentieth Sunday after Pentecost, we are given an opportunity to look at this text in a different light. And since our lectionary has chosen to place our Gospel lesson alongside the story of the healing of Naaman of leprosy in our first lesson, it practically begs us to compare the similarities and differences in these two stories. By so doing, I believe we can come to appreciate anew this story of Jesus healing the ten lepers.
First, the similarities. Both Naaman and the ten persons in our Gospel lesson suffer from what is described as the dreaded disease of leprosy. Of course, according to the various commentaries that I read, many skin diseases or abnormalities were, at that time, deemed to be leprosy. Yet this should not diminish our appreciation of the healing that takes place. Both Naaman and the ten persons in our Gospel lesson were considered to be incurable. In both cases, God’s grace and mercy extended beyond human expectation.
In addition, both Naaman and at least the one leper who was healed and returned to give thanks to Jesus, were foreigners – that is, they were not Israelites. Naaman was a commander in the Aramean army, a dreaded foe of Israel. And the one person who returned to give thanks to Jesus was a Samaritan, an outcast thought to be an enemy of Israel’s faith. The implication in both of these stories is that God’s grace and mercy extends beyond the boundaries of God’s chosen people. Our God is the God of the universe, not the sole God of Israel.
The last similarity that I would like to comment on is the fact that both Elisha and Jesus, according to Jewish law at that time, avoid contact with those who were deemed to have leprosy. Elisha sends a messenger to Naaman, telling him what he needed to do in order to be healed of his disease. And Luke makes a point of telling us that the ten lepers who pleaded with Jesus to have mercy on them, kept their distance from Jesus.
I share this similarity with you, not because it is an example of how we should maintain our distance from outsiders, or those who have been deemed to be unclean. In my opinion, we have erected enough barriers that separate us from truly caring for those who differ from us. Rather, I make this point because it leads into the differences in our two stories.
From a distance, Elisha sends his messenger to tell Naaman that if he would wash himself seven times in the muddy Jordan, he would be healed of his disease. Although Naaman balks at the idea, to the point where his servants have to convince him to give it a try, it is through his washing in the Jordan that he is healed.
This could easily lead to the conclusion that there is something curative about the muddy waters of the Jordan River. Except for the fact that our lesson makes it clear that the reason that Elisha challenged the king of Israel to send Naaman to him, was to reveal to Naaman that there was a prophet of God in Israel. Thus, the purpose of this healing story was not to project the thought that the Jordan River had curative powers, but to reveal that Elisha was a true prophet of God.
But in our Gospel lesson for this morning, Jesus doesn’t use any props in order to bring about the healing of the ten lepers. From a distance, he simply says to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” Since the priests were the only ones who had the authority to declare a person to be clean and healed of their disease, enabling them to be restored to life in the community, the ten begin to follow Jesus’ orders. And as they begin their journey into town, which has been off limits to them for as long as they have been ill, they are healed.
I believe this is a significant difference in our two stories. Jesus simply says, “Go,” and healing occurs. Jesus heals by his word. It reminds me of the creation account in Genesis, in which God speaks, and it is so. It reminds me of John’s description of the incarnation in his Gospel, in which he tells us that in Jesus the Christ, God’s Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
Here, Luke is telling us the same thing. This is not just another miracle story, one among many in the Gospels. And Jesus is not just one among many who were able to perform miracles throughout the pages of Bible. Jesus is not just a prophet. Jesus is able to heal by his word. In Jesus, the very Word of God, the very presence of God, has come among us.
This brings us to the second difference in our two stories, one that I need to share with you the concluding verses of the story of Naaman’s healing. After Naaman returned to Elisha and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel…” he added, please accept a present from your servant.” But Elisha responded by saying, “As the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will accept nothing.” In other words, Elisha would not take credit for Naaman’s healing, but demanded that Naaman give credit to God.
Contrast this with what takes place in our Gospel lesson, when the one leper cured of his disease returns to give thanks to Jesus. Our text reads, “Then one of them, when he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him… 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?”
The fact that Jesus accepted the thanks of this one person, this Samaritan foreigner who had been cured of his disease and returned to praise God, does not indicate a difference in character between Jesus and Elisha. It is not an indication that Jesus is vain. Rather, as Lucy Lind Hogan states in her commentary on our text, “Jesus accepts the thanksgiving of the Samaritan and makes a startling admission. “Was no one found to return and give praise to God?” In returning to give thanks to the man Jesus, the Samaritan has met and has given praise to the living God.” End quote.
Clearly, this story of Jesus healing the ten lepers, is more of a story that attests to our Lord’s divinity as the Christ, the Son of God, than it is about the theme of Thanksgiving. After all, the nine who did not return to give thanks for their healing were simply doing what Jesus told them to do. In fact, if those nine were members of the house of Israel, it would be natural for them to go to the priests to be declared clean, and be restored to their community.
However, since the one who did return and give thanks to Jesus was a Samaritan, a foreigner, a non-Jew, going to the priests of Israel would have been a waste of time. They would not have even bothered to see him, much less declare that he could be restored to the community of the faithful. Yet he is the one who returned to praise God and give thanks to Jesus – and by so doing, attest to the fact that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
As I think about this story, in comparison with the healing of Naaman, I am amazed at the redeeming grace of God. I am humbled to think that in Jesus the Christ, we not only behold the presence of God, but also receive the saving grace of God, without merit or even the simplest requirement of having to give thanks. And what an awesome thought it is for me, to come to his table, where Christ’s presence and redeeming grace is continually offered to us, without merit. Such is the grace of God.
Amen.
