They were without friends, family or future. Ten men thrown together through a common tragedy without a home and without a hope. Have you ever heard someone say “They treated me like a leper” or “they acted like I had leprosy?” Back in the eighties when AIDS was just surfacing and society and science still didn’t have a grip on how it was spread or who would contract it you would often hear those how had acquired AIDS make that statement, “I feel like a leper.” And while I wouldn’t want to minimize the hurt that people feel when they ostracized by others it is doubtful that anyone in this time could ever fully comprehend what life as a leper was like 2000 years ago.
Leprosy was probably the most feared disease of the time, and that wasn’t just then either, we don’t think of leprosy as a modern disease but the world health organization estimates that there were almost 690,000 cases reported in 1999. We forget that the rest of the world doesn’t have the health care that we have. And while we grip about a half-hour wait for the doctor or a three-hour wait in outpatients there are many places in the world where the closest hospital is a days journey away, and drugs are almost impossible to acquire for the common person. As a matter of fact it’s not a far stretch to say that this group of people would be considerably smaller if we lived in a third world country, because some of you would not have survived without the medical care that you have obtained in Canada.
But back to the subject at hand: Leprosy isn’t the term we use, today we call it Hansen’s disease, which isn’t to be confused with Hanson’s disease which is the uncontrollable compulsion to make puns. In 1869 Gerhard Hansen a Norwegian doctor discovered the disease was caused by a bacillus now called Mycobacterium leprae. Here’s a picture of it in case you ever see it and wonder what it is.
But before 1869 the scientific term was leprosy and we are told that there were three types of leprosy recognized when Christ walked the world. The first kind was Nodular or Tubercular Leprosy and it began with lethargy and pain in the joints. Little brown patches would appear over the body and nodules would form on them especially in the folds of the face, around the nose, eyes and mouth. Ulceration of the vocal cords would result in the victim talking in a hoarse rasp and before the disease had run it course the person would be unrecognizable.
The second type was Anaesthetic Leprosy and it begins the same way but the nerve ends are also affected and the infected area begins to lose all sensation and feeling, often without the person knowing until they scald themselves or break something without the warning that pain brings. Pain’s not always a bad thing. As the disease progresses the muscles waste away until the hands are contracted into claws and the feet curl up. It this particular type of leprosy that caused the loss of fingers and toes.
The third type of leprosy was just that Leprosy Proper and it was when the victim exhibited the combined symptoms of both other types. It was a horrible disfiguring disease that was contagious and incurable. Today through the marvels of modern sciences leprosy can be contained and in many cases cured, it the funds are available, but 2000 years ago or even 100 years ago the diagnosis of leprosy was a death sentence, not a quick death but a slow and painful death.
And so people were terrified of leprosy as you can well imagine and so at any sign of a skin disease the person was examined by the Priest and put into quarantine, if the symptoms disappeared the person was considered cured however if became apparent that the disease was or could be leprosy the consequences were actually quite dire.
But if the physical effects of leprosy were horrible there was something even worse. The leper had to bear the mental anguish and heart break of being totally cut off from the people he loved, being banished from society and shunned by everyone.
The book of Leviticus contained the law for the people of Israel and this is what it said Leviticus 13:45-46 “Those who suffer from any contagious skin disease must tear their clothing and allow their hair to hang loose. Then, as they go from place to place, they must cover their mouth and call out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ As long as the disease lasts, they will be ceremonially unclean and must live in isolation outside the camp. Nice huh?
The person with leprosy was not allowed to mingle with anyone who didn’t have the disease, they weren’t allowed to live in the village or the city they had to move into the wilderness living in caves and hovels, their only companions other victims. The closest they could come to a person without the disease was six foot which would have made for a tough time keeping your marriage intimate, but that didn’t matter because once you were diagnosed with leprosy you were considered dead and your spouse could remarry and your estate was divided up amongst your heirs.
There has never been a disease that has so separated people from the rest of humanity as leprosy, not even AIDS.
And so this is the setting for the story that Shera read this morning. Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem and somewhere between Samaria and Galilee he encounters this group of lepers standing as the law required some distance away. And as Jesus approaches they begin to cry out “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” We don’t know how they knew about Jesus, or more mysterious how they knew he was coming, but in him they saw their only hope.
They only asked for mercy, perhaps not daring to even verbalize the great burning desire that they could only whisper amongst themselves that they might be healed. That disfigured faces would once again be looked upon with love instead of revulsion, that twisted limbs would become straight and that life, life would return to normal.
But the thing they didn’t dare ask for was given them. I love stories like this, the Lepers didn’t verbalize their desire to be healed and Jesus didn’t tell them they were healed. He simply commanded them to go to the priest, which was what was supposed to happen if they were healed. And they obeyed. And it was in their obedienence that they found the miracle that could only be dreamed of because we are told as they went, their leprosy disappeared. I wonder what it felt like as the nodules disappeared and skin was made smooth again, as twisted limbs became straight and strong. I wonder if any of them had lost appendages to the disease and what it felt like as fingers and toes grew back.
And there are a pile of life lessons that we can learn from the lepers, we see how they realized that their only hope was Christ, we can see how they approached him humbly, without demanding their demands be met. We could talk about their obedience, how they immediately did as they were commanded. And we should marvel at their faith, how without question they believed what Christ offered to them, why else would they go to the priest. But that isn’t what they are famous for, instead sermon after sermon is preached about how only one of the nine returned to thank Christ. Which is of course what I’m going to focus on this morning. Why didn’t the other nine return? Their lives were radically changed, their lives were literally given back to them, why was their no acknowledgment?
Perhaps They Were Overwhelmed with What happened. Sometimes what happens is so incredible that we can’t find words to acknowledge what has happened. And maybe that’s what happened, it wasn’t that they were ungrateful it was just that so much more was happening in their lives that they simply didn’t get around to saying thank you. Kind of like those thank you notes that you’ve always intended to write.
For whatever reason it is sometimes harder to show gratitude for the big things then for the little things. It’s easier to thank someone for saving our place in line then for saving our life. Benjamin Franklin said “Most people return small favours, acknowledge medium ones and repay greater ones -- with ingratitude.”
And so in the haste to get their lives back, they forgot the one who had given them their lives back. Very few of us will be physically in that situation, although there are some who owe a doctor or paramedic their very lives. But what about the spiritual gift of salvation, are we so overwhelmed with the gift of eternal life that we haven’t taken the time to thank the giver.
Or maybe They Were Underwhelmed. Oh sure they had been given their health back, they had been healed from this horrible disease, but it wasn’t enough. You’re probably wondering what more could they want? They had probably thought about this day for a long time, and imagined what it would be like. But sometimes our imaginations are greater than reality. Have you ever talked to someone whose life has changed radically, a windfall of money, or a healing a better job and yet they still aren’t happy. They still haven’t found what they are looking for.
Perhaps they thought that life would be like it had been before the disease only to discover that their spouses had remarried, their property had been divided between their children, and their job was filled by another person. Perhaps they realized that they had lost the freedom they had as lepers. Confusing, maybe but as a leper they had no social responsibilities, no moral responsibilities, they didn’t have to provide for others they didn’t have to worry about disciplining the kids or doing a good job at work. All they had to do was stay alive. Mark Twain made this statement: “If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you; that is the principal difference between a dog and a man.”
Some people become Christians and then are disappointed because they don’t become more popular, they don’t get a better job, or make new friends, or they aren’t healed. They are disappointed because they are still human and life still goes on.
Epicurus said “Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; but remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.”
Or perhaps they Took It For Granted. You know what I’m getting at here. They thought well of course he healed me that’s what he’s supposed to do. Kind of the difference between a dog and a cat. You feed a dog and they think you are the most wonderful person in the world, you feed a cat and they wonder what took you so long. Somebody said that when you take care of your dog the dog thinks you must be a god, when you take care of your cat the cat thinks it must be a god.
We don’t thank the Doctors who make us better physically because that’s what they are supposed to do, we don’t thank the teachers who make us better intellectually because that’s what they are supposed to do, and we don’t thank the pastors who help us grow spiritually because, well let’s not go there it’s too self-serving.
Too often people view God as some genie in the air who is there only to take care of our wish list and we never acknowledge the debt because we don’t really acknowledge the gift. Most prayer lists have a lot more items on the “I want” side than on the “Thank you side.” When our prayers are answered how often is it written off as a coincidence? Or do we think “Well of course God answered my prayers, he’s God that’s what he’s supposed to do.” Don’t take God for Granted, he doesn’t have to answer your prayer, after all he’s God.
We don’t know why the nine didn’t come back. But we do know that one did, the proportions are probably the same today. And just as he did we need to develop the “Attitude of Gratitude” in our lives.
William Bennett said “Sometimes we need to remind ourselves that thankfulness is indeed a virtue.” Who comes to mind right now that you should be saying thank-you to? How about your parents, you know there was a period in you life that if they hadn’t been there you would have died. And there was probably a time in your life that if they hadn’t exhibited some self control they would have killed you. But you’re still here and there’s probably a lot of things in your life that you need to thank your parents for.
How about a particular teacher? A couple of years ago I phoned a man by the name of Joe Thomson in Saint John to thank him for the impact that he had on my life. Joe was my grade twelve English teacher, but more than that he was my debating coach and a good portion of who I am as a public speaker was formed by influence that Joe had on my life. And it took me twenty years to get around to thanking him.
How about God, what has God done in your life that you need to stop and say thank you for? Look around at the country we live in, the life style you have, your health, your family, your salvation. You have experienced God’s salvation haven’t you?
You see all Jesus gave the lepers was life, he gives us an even more incredible gift he gives us eternal life.
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