Who s In? Who s Out? Luke 17:11-19 Rev. Michael D. Halley October 9, 2016 Suffolk Christian Church Suffolk, Virginia Twenty-First Sunday After Pentecost ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As this story from Luke begins, Jesus is on a long journey south, from his home area in Galilee to the city of Jerusalem. There, as we know, he will have his fateful encounter with the ruling religious authorities of his day, ending with his death, burial, and resurrection. On the way, as Luke tells us, he comes to the border between Galilee and Samaria. This is an important detail in the story, because ordinarily Jews of that day did not set foot in Samaria, choosing to take the long way around to get to Judea, where Jerusalem is located. Why was this? Although the Samaritans and the Jews shared a common heritage, they were at odds regarding beliefs about scripture, worship, and what it means to be holy. Relations between Jews and Samaritans were tense and sometimes violent. Jews felt they were superior to Samaritans and would have nothing to do with them. fear. But Jesus ignores all this tension and approaches this border without It was then that ten men called out to Jesus. They couldn t approach Jesus or anyone else because they suffered from what the Bible calls leprosy, which could have been any one of many skin disorders. Lepers had to
Page -2- constantly announce their presence by calling out Unclean! It was a horrible and lonely way to live. Go, show yourselves to the priests, Jesus told them. Well, why did he tell them to go to the priests? Because they needed documentation that they were clean and could once again mingle with polite society. Borders... documentation... does this sound familiar to anyone? Quite a timely story, would you not agree? One of the ten, a Samaritan, seeing and realizing that he was now healed of this awful disease, responded by doing four things: he turned back, gave praise and glory to God, fell on his face before Jesus, and gave thanks. In fact, this Samaritan man made quite a scene, shouting out over and over his gratitude for this healing from God. Rise and go, Jesus told him, your faith has made you well. Is this a story and lesson about giving thanks? Yes, of course. But is it not also a story about who s in and who s out? The ten lepers were definitely in the latter category. Ostracized, cut off from society, looked down upon, forbidden to mingle with other people, left to eke out some kind of subsistence apart from family and friends. They are truly the outs, wouldn t you say? And probably, I would think, there are many in our own world today who would feel a kinship with these ten lepers, for they, too, live on the outskirts of polite society, forgotten and unseen by the in crowd. There is no doubt something to be understood here about the people who live on the margins of our communities, who are treated as invisible or unlovely because of how they look or who they are or where they come from.
Page -3- Jesus clearly notices and loves them and calls us to do the same. 1 I read a little piece last week 2 about how crustaceans -- such as crabs and lobsters -- grow. Of course we know that periodically they must shed their outer shell, known as the carapace. It is the only way they can grow. So, the lobster or crab must find a safe place while the old shell comes off and the new larger shell forms and hardens. This is a very vulnerable time for these creatures, and of course softshelled crabs are a great delicacy to many of us. But no matter where a crab or lobster goes for this shedding process, it is vulnerable. These crustaceans must risk their life in order to grow. Is there a lesson here for us? By focusing attention and love on the Samaritan, definitely one of the outs of that society, is Jesus saying we should do likewise? Do we need to periodically shed our own shell so we can grow in our faith? What about the nine other lepers who did not come back to thank Jesus? Maybe they were like the little boy who went to a party. When he came home, his mother asked him, Did you thank the lady who gave the party? I was going to, he explained, but the girl in front of me thanked the lady and she said Don t mention it and I didn t. 3 The story is told 4 that John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church, was visited by a poor man. During the conversation, Mr. Wesley noticed the man s thin coat. It was a cold night, and Mr. Wesley suggested that he had better get another coat. This is the only coat I have, the man replied, and I thank God for it. Then Mr. Wesley asked the man if he had eaten and he answered, I
Page -4- have had nothing today but water to drink, but I thank God for that. What will you thank God for when you return to your residence tonight? he asked the man. I will thank God that I have dry stones to lie upon. John Wesley was deeply moved by this man s sincerity, and he said to him, You thank God when you have nothing to wear, nothing to eat, and no bed to lie on. What else do you thank God for? The man replied, I thank God that he has given me life, a heart to love him, and a desire to serve him. The man left with a coat from Mr. Wesley s closet, some money for food, and words of appreciation for the witness he had made. That night in his journal John Wesley wrote, I shall never forget that man. He convinced me that I have more to learn about being thankful. So, as we read and think about this story of Jesus and the lepers, do we see ourselves in the story? If so, where are we in the story? One of the disciples, observing and taking all this in? One of the lepers, desperate to be able to rejoin society as one of the ins? Or one of the nine who continue on to get their documentation from the priest? Or are we the Samaritan who returned to give thanks? And if we are the Samaritan who returned to give thanks, what will we do with the rest of our life? Will we go forth to step across boundaries, share mercy with outsiders, pay attention to things worthy of praise and move forward into God s future with assurance... [and] always give thanks? 5
Page -5- The questions remain and haunt us: Who s in? Who s out? And where are we? A very wise preacher wrote, You and I are nice, decent people... Still, if we could look deep into our heart of hearts, some of us would see a decay and disfigurement as severe as that of the lepers. There is within each of us a spiritual leprosy that denies the love and charity of others -- that degrades our dignity as children of the divine -- that twists and distorts that which is good and wholesome and eternal. If we could see ourselves as God sees us in our incompleteness and imperfection, then we would cry out with joy that the God of all creation accepts us and loves us as we are, and gave his Son in our behalf. 6 No matter who you are; no matter where you are on your life journey; no matter where you have been; no matter what your political persuasion happens to be; no matter how far you got in school; no matter where you are on the economic ladder; no matter, no matter, no matter... God loves you and gave his Son that we might be adopted into God s eternal family. I pray you will open your heart to accept God s lavish love and then go to share it with those who are ignored and forgotten. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, how we thank you for this great lesson Jesus has taught us. Forgive us for the ways we divide ourselves into the ins and the outs. Thank you that Jesus so completely identified with the outs and constantly invited them to full participation in life. Thank you for your great salvation so freely given us in Christ, in whose name we pray, Amen. Amen +==+==+==+==+==+==+
Page -6- All Scripture references are from New International Version, NIV, copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc., unless otherwise indicated. +==+==+==+==+==+==+ Sunday Sermons from Suffolk Christian Church are intended for the private devotional use of members and friends of the church. Please do not print or publish. Thank you. Suggestions for sermon topics are always welcome! 1. Quoted from the Rev. Meda Stamper, Commentary on Luke 17:11-19, http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=1786. 2. Step into Your Adjacent Possibility, by the Rev. Leonard Sweet, https://sermons.com/sermon/step-into-your-adjacent-possibility/1444105. 3. Told by the Rev. King Duncan, in Learning to Give Thanks, www.sermons.com. 4. Told by Maxie Dunnam in Jesus Claims Our Promises, The Upper Room, 1985, pp. 61-62. 5. Quoted from the Rev. Audrey West (Adjunct Professor of New Testament, Lutheran School of Theology, Chicago, IL), Commentary on Luke 17:11-19, http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3029. 6. From Thank You, Siri...Oops!, by the Rev. King Duncan, https://sermons.com/sermon/thank-you-siri-oops/1480025.