Allow me to introduce myself.
I’m a businessman from the city of Ginae, in the country of Samaria. I believe you would call it the West Bank now, but back then the Romans were in power.
Lovely wife, two smart kids.
You can just call me Sam.
It all started one day with a little red sore on my face.
Hmm, I thought. It’ll go away.
But it didn’t.
I began to worry at it.
A week later, my wife says, “you should get that looked at.”
Yah, I’ll get to it.
Three weeks later, it was bigger, and getting kind of scaly.
Ok, I’m going to the doctor.
He took a good look at it, and told me, you need to go see the priest. Now.
Off I went to the priest.
He looked at my cheek, frowned, and told me, this could be serious. You need to quarantine for a week.
Wow.
A whole week by myself, consumed with worry.
Couldn’t see my wife.
Surely it couldn’t be. I have plans. I have a business. I have a family. I have a life to live.
After 7 days, the priest examined me again, very carefully.
I’m sorry, but you have leprosy.
A whole new identity thrust on me.
I am a leper. I am unclean. I am one of ‘those’ people.
The priest read me a passage from Leviticus.
Leviticus 13:45, 46
"Now the leper on whom the sore is, his clothes shall be torn and his head bare, and he shall cover his mustache, and cry “Unclean! Unclean!”
In Hebrew, "unclean" is pronounced (taw-may') (what is it in Aramaic?)
"He shall dwell alone, his dwelling shall be outside the camp."
And so I left my city, my family, my business, my life, shouting taw-may!, taw-may!
Mothers hustled their children away from me.
My fellow businessmen drew back from me.
My own children, wanting to run to me, but holding back
taw-may!, taw-may!
Out I went, to join a colony of lepers.
Leprosy is not physically painful, since the nerves die off. That is just the problem. I was removing a pot from the fire, and thought I smelled meat burning. But I had forgotten to use a stick to lift the pot handle, and grabbed it with my hand instead. Didn’t feel a thing. Got a nasty burn.
But the pain was in my mind. The isolation, the loneliness.
The loathing of everyone who sees me or hears me. I loathed myself.
And thinking this is punishment from God for my sins.
taw-may! taw-may!
And then I heard a report about a leper who was healed by a Jewish rabbi named Jesus.
The man was full of leprosy, yet Jesus was willing to heal him. Jesus even touched him.
Cleansed! Jesus told him to go show himself to the priest, just to make it official.
If Jesus could make him clean, He could make me clean.
I’d heard that Jesus had visited Sychar here in Samaria a couple years ago. Just 20 miles from here.
I determined to seek Jesus for healing
A few months later, I heard Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem through Samaria. This was my chance.
Travel is difficult for a leper.
We have to avoid healthy people, avoid the roads and crowds.
There are no inns that cater to lepers.
No one would sell us food, but we don’t have any money anyhow.
Jesus is always surrounded by crowds. Have to cross his path in the countryside.
I met some other lepers, Jews. We decided to join forces.
Found out what village he was going to, and hustled as best we could through the fields to the village entrance.
Waited for Jesus outside of a village.
We were off to one side, 100 paces from the road. That’s how far we have to stay away from people. (that’s about the length of a football field to you).
taw-may! taw-may!
Finally saw a large group approaching. This was our chance.
We waved our arms, and shouted together, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” x3
Some of us, just a dry whisper, from the leprosy.
And Jesus saw us.
He quieted the group around him, and listened to our feeble cry.
And Jesus shouted back, “Go, show yourselves to the priests” (wave off)
There was no touch.
No command to “be cleansed.”
No sudden euphoria.
There we stood, a wretched band of decaying humanity, and Jesus stood expectantly.
But there was a note of authority in His voice.
I said, “lets go!”
And so we stumbled and hobbled off to find the priests
taw-may! taw-may!
Ow! I stubbed my toe on a rock. Pain! I feel pain!
I hadn’t felt anything in that foot for a year!
My face – was soft.
I looked at myself all over. Not a trace of leprosy!
Hallelujah!
All around me men were staring in amazement at healthy hands, hugging, dancing around, whooping it up.
And off they raced, laughing excitedly, to show themselves to the priests.
I wanted to join them, but there was something else I wanted to do first.
I retraced my steps toward Jesus, much faster now.
There’s the group of travelers, a little alarmed at my torn clothing and quick pace.
Out of habit I started to shout, “Ta…”
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
I pushed my way through the crowd, and found Jesus.
I fell on my face at his feet.
Thank you Jesus! Thank you cleansing me! You’ve given me a new life! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
And Jesus said, “were there not 10 cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?"
And he said to me. (looking down) “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”
Ingratitude
To a leper, the most amazing part of this story is healing.
But to Jesus, the Great Physician, there was something even more amazing.
Where are the nine? What possible excuse could they have for not returning to give glory to God?
* There was no one to remind us, “What do we say when someone does something nice for us?”
* Jesus said to show ourselves to the priests, so we have to do that first.
* I’m not sure the cure is going to last, so I’m going to wait to make sure.
* Almost everyone else is going straight to the priests – I’ll just follow the majority.
* Its inconvenient – I’ll do it later if I happen to cross Jesus’ path. Right now I’ve got more important things to do.
* Ya know, I think I was already getting better, since I’ve gone vegan, and started juicing and eating organic. I did it all myself.
* God owes me this one. Especially since I am a Jew, and I’ve had such a hard life.
* It was an impersonal, mass healing, so no personal thanks are needed. Jesus wouldn’t notice my absence.
* I got what I wanted. Yay me! Now I’ve got a lot of lost years to make up.
* #9 fill in your own
Consider our situation
Sin is like leprosy.
* To be born in this world is be infected with sin.
* Sin deadens our conscience. When we do things that hurt ourselves, we don’t feel it.
* We can’t cure it by ourselves. It is a death sentence.
* It excludes us from the society of heaven. This whole world is a leper colony, quarantined from the rest of the universe.
Consider what it cost God to give us the gift of salvation.
* Consider the inconvenience to Jesus to leave the honor, joys and comforts of heaven to come to this world as a poor, despised human.
* Consider that none of us deserve anything good.
* Consider the personal love of Jesus for each person.
Consider the personal touch of Jesus in healing.
* When the multitudes of sick people gathered around Jesus, He could have said, “everybody, be healed!”
* But it was always personal.
* Salvation is personal to Jesus. He came for each one, one by one. When one is ungrateful, Jesus notices.
Purpose for thanking (Desire of Ages p. 347)
* our confession of His faithfulness is Heaven’s chosen agency for revealing Christ to the world.
* …that which will be the most effectual is the testimony of our own experience. We are witnesses for God as we reveal in ourselves the working of a power that is divine.
* …God desires that our praise shall ascend to Him, marked by our own individuality. These precious acknowledgements to the praise of the glory of His grace when supported by a Christ-like life, have an irresistible power that works for the salvation of souls.
* The Lord works continually to benefit mankind. He is ever imparting His bounties… but men’s hearts are unimpressed. He has given all the riches of heaven to redeem them, and yet they are unmindful of His great love. By their ingratitude they close their hearts against the grace of God.
* It is for our benefit to keep every gift of God fresh in our minds. Thus faith is strengthened to claim and to receive more and more. There is greater encouragement for us in the least blessing we ourselves receive from God than in all the accounts we can read of the faith and experience of others.
* The soul that responds to the grace of God shall be like a watered garden.
Appeal
Psalm 116:12-14
* Then let us remember the loving-kindness of the Lord, and the multitude of His tender mercies.
* Like the people of Israel, let us set up stones of witness, and inscribe on them the precious story of what God has wrought for us.
o And as we review His dealings with us in our pilgrimage, let us, with hearts melted with gratitude, declare,
* ”what shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits toward me?
* I will take up the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD.
* I will pay my vows to the LORD now in the presence of the people.
Benediction
Colossians 3:15
* And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body, and be thankful.
* Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
* And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the Name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
