Scripture: Luke 17:11-19 (cf. verses 11 - 14); Psalms 111 and 2 Timothy 2:8-15
Theme: Borderland Ministries
Proposition: Jesus calls us to the borders of our society - 1. We are to reach out to the broken hearted, the disenfranchised and the marginalized 2. We are to bring them deliverance and freedom in the name of Jesus
INTRO:
Grace and peace from God our Father and from Jesus Christ His Only Begotten Son who came to take away the Sin of the World.
We all remember those special things that happened to us during our early school years. One of those things I remember was learning about the American Poet Robert Frost. I don't remember a great deal about him but I do remember that he was highly regarded for two things that spoke to my heart growing up in hills of Eastern Kentucky:
1. His realistic depictions of rural life in America.
2. His command of common speech.
And I remember this little poem that we studied. It's words have spoken to me over and over in my life. It's called THE ROAD NOT TAKEN.
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference."
Many of us here this morning understand perfectly the meaning of those words. We have lived them. We have taken both the roads that have been well traveled and the roads less traveled. Each of them has made their own unique impression on our lives.
In our Lukan passage this morning we find Jesus traveling down one of those roads less traveled. We find Jesus walking along the valleys of Beth Shan and Jezreel. He is walking along the border between the territories of Samaria and Galilee. It is here on this borderland that I would like for us to focus our attention on this morning.
Over the years I have taught and preached the story of the 10 lepers many times. Each time it has been usually focused on the subjects of faith, obedience and of course gratitude. Many times wondering and contemplating on what made this one leper amongst the 10 come back and give Jesus praise and adoration. Why was he the only one to come back and fall at the feet of Jesus?
However, today I would like for us to focus on the place where Jesus and his disciples were walking. They were on the border between Samaria and Galilee. They were in the in-between land. I do not think it is by accident that Luke provides for us this little piece of information. I believe He did on purpose. I believe Luke wanted his readers to focus on Jesus' location and from that understand that some of the greatest ministry of all time occurs on the border lands. Some of the greatest ministry happens in those in-between places where we are most likely to find the disenfranchised, the broken and marginalized.
On both sides of that border lived a group of people who were racial, politically, economically, culturally, linguistically and religiously far different from one another1. In fact, one would be hard pressed to find two groups more diverse. At one time that had not been the case. At one time the area of Galilee had been the home of the tribes of Issachar and Naphtali while the majority of the land of Samaria had been the home of the tribe of Manasseh. While there were some differences back then they were minor in comparison to those in Jesus' day. Now each territory was inhabited by people who did not care for one another nor did they trust one another. It could be said that they literally loathed each other.
In verse 11 Jesus is walking between two worlds - the world of the Galileans and the world of the Samaritans. No doubt his disciples were feeling a little uneasy. They particularly didn't want to be right there walking on the edge of Samaria. Most of them were Galileans. They didn't trust Samaritans. All their lives they had been taught that Samarians were inferior in race, culture and especially in faith. They had been taught that Samaritans were heretics and no better than Gentiles. Jesus' disciples had to be wondering why Jesus was walking on the border between these two peoples. There was a lot that could go wrong in just a few minutes coming from either side.
Jesus therefore was leading his most faithful disciples through a no man's land. He was leading them through the in-between land. I believe today that is one of the key places that Jesus is still calling his church. I believe that is still the place where Jesus is traveling today. It's a place where we are called to go and be the Body of Christ.
It's a place where many times I find myself uncomfortable. It's a place that if I just open my eyes I find myself there more often than not. It's a place that you find yourselves more often than not. You find it in your daily lives, where you work, where you go to school, where you eat and where you go for entertainment and leisure. You find this border country or in between lands in office buildings, in factories and even in neighborhoods.
We can find ourselves in the in between country in times of great suffering. Some weeks ago I had an opportunity to help with a woman's memorial service. The woman had been an infrequent attendee at our church and her mother had asked if we could host a memorial service. Her death had been both tragic and sudden as she had fallen during the night and die all alone. It wasn't until the next day that her mother coming by to visit found her slumped over body lying on the floor. You can imagine her pain and her grief and the ensuing pain and grief of her children.
The memorial service proved to be quite interesting. Her children and their friends came from a very different world in which I grew up. They came from a different culture, a different economical background and most obviously a different religious background. Their social habits were different, their language was different and their mannerism were far different. They looked like they would be more comfortable in a local bar tossing back a few beers than sitting in a church. They had more art on their bodies than we had hanging on our church walls. Their language was more in line with the dialogue from a R-rated action drama than from the hushed tones of reciting the Apostle's creed.
Our church was merely the meeting place for the memorial. We did not provide the speaker or the music. All I was needed for was to open the doors and be present in case there was an issue. At first I thought after I open the doors I would retreat to my study and wait until the memorial service was finished. It wasn't my kind of crowd and I didn't want to be in their way. Truthfully, I really didn't know how to be a part of their crowd. Most of them were from the other side. The sanctuary had become border country. We were all in the land in between. But then something drew me to them. I think it was their grief. I think it was their pain. I think it was all the sorrow and heartache that I saw on all their faces.
I didn't know their world. I didn't know their world of tattoos, raw language and questionable sexual morals. All I knew was that I was standing on the border between their world and the safe religious world I represented. I didn't know what to say to them. We were worlds apart. My world was safe and protected. Their world seemed dangerous and out of control. They seemed lost and unsure of what to do. They too were on border country. They didn't know how to feel comfortable in my world. My world seemed just as dangerous to them as their world seemed to me.
All I knew to do was to just be there. So, I took up the position of a greeter, host, helper and encourager. I did what I could to make sure that things went well and that they were comfortable. I helped them arrange some pictures and some other memorabilia they were using to honor this lady they all loved. I was in border land so I did what I thought I could do to bring comfort and peace.
I did not that day nor do I today have Jesus' power to bring complete healing. I could not look down at the woman who had passed away and immediately bring her back to life. I couldn't heal the pain and suffering I saw on the faces of her children, her siblings and her mother. I couldn't fill the air with a peace that passes all understanding. I couldn't change what had happened in their past. But I could be there. I could be there listening. I could be there doing what I could to reach out in kindness. I could be there serving with a towel. I could be there to provide directions, to provide comfort and to provide peace. I could be there standing on the border between their world and my world. I could do all I could to be a border crosser.
And that is what I think Jesus wants us to focus on today. For when Jesus walked along that border he was able to:
1. Encounter people suffering from broken hearts, bodies, minds and souls.
There has been much written about leprosy1. Much of it has to do with the medical issues that surround modern leprosy in which there still is no cure. While there may be cases of modern leprosy spoken of in the Bible it appears that more often than not "ẓara'at" (Hebrew word translated as leprosy) was referring to some type of skin disease more on the line of vitiligo or psoriasis. There are no Biblical references alluding to any type of hideous facial deformity, the loss of feeling or the rotting of fingers or toes. And the Levitical code involved a series of examinations that were to take place over a seven day period which of course would not be long enough to note the progress of modern day leprosy. Moreover, Biblical leprosy was seen as a curable disease. When the leper was cured the priest would make an atonement before the LORD and a sin-offering along with a trespass offering would be lifted up for the person.
The issue of leprosy in the Bible was not it's medical characteristics but it's spiritual characteristics. Leprosy was seen as a moral disease more than it was a physical disease. The reason one contracted leprosy was because one had transgressed the Laws of God. Leprosy was a physical manifestation of a heart that had rebelled against God. Every leper in the Old Testament was afflicted because of some transgression they had committed against the LORD or His Chosen People:
+Miriam had uttered disrespectful words against Moses (Numbers 12)
+Joab and his family were cursed by David because Joab had murdered Abner (2 Samuel 3:29ff)
+Gehazi provoked the anger of Elisha over his sins of covetousness (2 Kings 5:27)
+King Uzziah had attempted to usurp the office of God's Priests ( 2 Chronicles 26)
+Namaan had fought against the Children of Israel and had taken some into captivity ( 2 Kings 5)
When a person contracted leprosy the fear was not one of bodily infection as much as it was of moral infection. The lepers were to remain outside the camp out of a fear that they would in some way morally infect others. As long as signs of the disease remain they were obliged to live outside the camp. It was believed that once they truly confessed and repented of their sins God would then remove the disease and they would be able to go to a priest, offer the appropriate sacrifices and return to society.
Taking that into consideration then these 10 men appear to be great sinners. It was believed that each of them had rebelled in some great fashion which caused God to punish them so severely. Now, they were coming to Jesus to find deliverance. They were coming to Jesus with broken hearts, broken minds and broken bodies. They were coming to confess, repent and hopefully receive God's mercy and grace.
It's interesting that they did not go to the Temple or to one of the local synagogues. One would have thought that if any place could bring healing and wholeness it would have been the priests and the scribes at the Temple and/or the synagogues. But these men came to Jesus. They come to the border - the in between land dividing Galilee and Samaria. It was there they met Jesus and received healing of their bodies, minds and souls.
Perhaps we are to understand that nine of the men had journeyed down from the territory of Galilee while the one came from up from the territory of Samaria. Perhaps all ten had lived together for quite some time. We don't know. Luke doesn't tell us. It's not important.
What is important is that they believed that Jesus could met their need. What is important is that they reached out to Jesus in faith. There was something about Jesus that let them believe that he could take care of their problems and their sins. There was something about Jesus that they believed could make it possible for them to be able to return back to society.
It causes us to pause and reflect on our own congregations and small groups today. Do people who view themselves as sinners believe that they can come to our congregations and find deliverance? Do they see us as places where they can find healing of their bodies, souls and minds? Do they see us as places that can bring healing and wholeness? Do they see us as these lepers saw Jesus? Do they see us as safe zones located on the borders between the world and righteousness?
Do we in the Church see them out there on the borders of our lives in our offices, schools, work places and neighborhoods? Do we venture out to the land that's in-between - in between the Church and the world? Do we dare go out there and welcome them to come in and find grace, mercy and love? Do we dare invite them to come and receive God's compassion and love?
Oh, some we do see. Sadly, some we have labeled for all to see. Those who commit what we in the church call mortal sins we have labeled all too well. If they sin sexually we label them as sinners who are in danger of Hell fire. If their addictions get the best of them we label them as sinners who are in danger of Hell fire. If they live ways that we don't agree we label them as sinners who are in danger of Hell fire. And so often we want to keep the labels on them as some kind of warning to others. We think that as long as they retain their sinfulness they should at least have to cry out UNCLEAN! UNCLEAN!
The question is not really about the labels. For after all the Bible does label certain behavior as sin. There are certain behaviors that do distinguish a person of darkness from a person of light.
The real question is do the people who are broken, disenfranchised and marginalized see our congregations and our small groups as places where individuals and groups of people can lose those labels? Do they see us as a place of healing and forgiving? Do they see us as a place of compassion, grace and mercy? Do they see us with label makers or do they see us with outstretched arms welcoming them into the life of righteousness and holiness? Do we venture out to the border lands to heal their broken heartedness?
II. Secondly, we see Jesus releasing people to experience healing and wholeness
Don't you love Jesus' words to these men - GO and Show Yourself to the Priests?
They had faith that Jesus could heal and so Jesus operates inside their faith. Jesus invites them to live and act in their faith. Jesus treats them as already healed. He tells them to go back and be reunited in faith to the LORD and to their communities and families.
Isaiah 65:24 reminds us of these words - "Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear."
Those words speak of the heart of our God. Before we can even put our words of confession into some kind of sentence structure God already hears our prayers. Before we can even speak them into existence God is already at work - listening and answering our prayers.
Many years later after this incident St. John would write these words: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." ( 1 John 1:9).
The idea is rather simply yet transformative. In Christ people can experience deliverance and freedom. By believing in Christ, by obeying Christ anyone can be freed from both the penalty and power of sin.
None of this would have happened if Jesus had not traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. None of this would have happened if Jesus had not gone in the in-between land.
Today, our challenge is to do the same. To simply travel in the in-between land. To leave our comfort zones and to travel in that area that is so close to those who live in the world. To reach out and invite them for a time of fellowship. To walk across the street, to go to the desk down the hall, to sit among a group at a football or basketball game. To begin to build relationship. To be a border crosser for Jesus.
Today, our challenge is to be Jesus. That necessarily will take on many different forms. It will mean that we participate in the social gospel, the evangelical gospel and the spiritual formation gospel. It will mean that we become the Church of Acts 2:42 - 47 and Acts 4:32 - 37. It will mean that we are ready to help those who need help with their finances, their health issues, their emotional issues, their addictions, their marriages, their jobs, their relationships, their self-esteem, their spiritual lives.
For that is what we will find if in fact we venture out with Jesus along the border. These 10 men had lost everything. They had lost their homes, their social standing, their spiritual standing and their jobs. They were outcasts. They had to announce to everyone that they were unclean. They could bring nothing to Jesus but their brokenness, their pain and their emptiness.
They only thing that they could give Jesus was their faith and obedience. They had no silver, no gold, no great plans or ideas. They were diseased, depraved and defeated.
But Jesus didn't ask for anything. He received their faith and rewarded their obedience. He gave them back their lives and sent to so that others would have proof that they had been healed.
But they did not go back empty handed. They couldn't. The requirement for cleansing required two turtledoves, at least one male lamb, at least 1/10th an ephah of fine flour and some oil.2 Coupled with all those ingredients was an eight day ritual of bathing, isolation and thanksgiving.
Receiving healing is one thing, being able to afford the ritual of cleaning was quite another. I wonder if this was the reason they came to Jesus. Perhaps they knew of Jesus' generosity (feeding of the 5,000 and 4,000, the Sermon on the Plain etc...). Perhaps they didn't have the money for the necessary items or the money to take the trip to Jerusalem (for the Jews) or to Mount Gerizim (for the Samaritan).
Once again this passage causes us to take a pause and ask ourselves some essential questions. Will we pay the price to help those who live on the other side of the border of Life to come over and truly experience Christ? Will we help them as they will need help to find new jobs, new friends and perhaps pay off overwhelming debt? Will we help them as they try to get clean from their addictions? Will we put in the time to help them put their lives back together?
Is our rescue account, our compassionate ministries account and our evangelism account have enough money, time and resources to help the brokenhearted, the disenfranchised and the marginalized? Are we ready to walk on the border - the in between country as individuals and as a Body of Christ? Or can we only offer up a prayer and hope that the government or some other charitable organization will lend a helping hand? This passage causes us to do some serious thinking and soul searching.
Some passages of scripture don't lend themselves to be wrapped up like a pretty bow. They don't allow us to leave them without some serious introspection and reflection. This is one of them. Luke shares with us this beautiful miracles story of faith, obedience and gratitude. But he does so by taking us to the border country - that land that exists between the broken hearted, the disenfranchised, the marginalized and Christ. Christ has led us here to bring redemption, healing and wholeness in His name and through His Holy Spirit.
As we close this morning are we ready to go to the border country = the in-between country that exists in our offices, our schools, our workplaces and neighborhoods? Are we ready to reach out to those who need us most and more importantly are we willing to pay the price in time, resources, talent and even finances? Border ministry, in-between ministry is full of miracles but it will require us to surrender ourselves for the sake of others.
Let us hear the Word of God today - let it stir our hearts and let us commit today to follow Jesus all the way - especially to the in-between lands.
This is the Word of God for the People of God. Praise be to God!
1 see R. T. France, in his very fine commentary on The Gospel of Matthew(NICNT, 2007) and https://blogs.thegospelcoalition.org/justintaylor/2011/08/17/7-differences-between-galilee-and-judea-in-the-time-of-jesus/
1. Racially the area of the former Northern Kingdom of Israel had had, ever since the Assyrian conquest in the eighth century B.C., a more mixed population, within which more conservative Jewish areas (like Nazareth and Capernaum) stood in close proximity to largely pagan cities, of which in the first century the new Hellenistic centers of Tiberias and Sepphoris were the chief examples.
2. Geographically Galilee was separated from Judea by the non-Jewish territory of Samaria, and from Perea in the southeast by the Hellenistic settlements of Decapolis.
3. Politically Galilee had been under separate administration from Judea during almost all its history since the tenth century B.C. (apart from a period of “reunification” under the Maccabees), and in the time of Jesus it was under a (supposedly) native Herodian prince, while Judea and Samaria had since A.D. 6 been under the direct rule of a Roman prefect.
4. Economically Galilee offered better agricultural and fishing resources than the more mountainous territory of Judea, making the wealth of some Galileans the envy of their southern neighbors.
5. Culturally Judeans despised their northern neighbors as country cousins, their lack of Jewish sophistication being compounded by their greater openness to Hellenistic influence.
6. Linguistically Galileans spoke a distinctive form of Aramaic whose slovenly consonants (they dropped their aitches!) were the butt of Judean humor.
7. Religiously the Judean opinion was that Galileans were lax in their observance of proper ritual, and the problem was exacerbated by the distance of Galilee from the temple and the theological leadership, which was focused in Jerusalem.
2 For an interesting look at leprosy from a Jewish viewpoint see the following article - http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/9774-leprosy
3 See Leviticus 14:1-30 for the full treatment.
