"A Step in Faith"
Luke 17:11-19
October 14, 2007
St. Paul United Methodist Church
Rev. John A. Fleming
I remembered and thought I would tell you again the story of the young man who was studying and living in the United States. He was not born here and his parents lived in another country. For the first time in his life, he was on his own. He lived by himself. He did his own laundry, and shopped without any help from his mother.
It seems that the young student was not prepared for what he saw in the grocery store closest to his apartment. He was a new student at the school and didn't have any friends yet and so he did not have anyone to talk to about what he had discovered. He was lonely in his new life and when he was honest with himself, he admitted that he longed for home.
So when he found what he found in the store, naturally he wrote home to tell his parents about it. Here are the words of his first letter, "Dear Mom and Dad, how are you? I am fine. Things are going well with my school work so far. Today I went to a grocery store for the first time. I have never seen some of the things that are on the shelves in this store. I went down one aisle and there on one of the shelves was powdered milk. I bought a package and brought it home. It seems all you have to do is add water and all of sudden milk is there. I want you to know that I have tried it and it is wonderful. It is so amazing. I will write again when I can."
A week or so later the young man went back to the grocery store to get the things he needed. He went down another aisle and this time he found another great product. This time he discovered powdered orange juice. And again he wrote to his parents about his discovery. "Dear Mom and Dad how are you? School is still going well here. I'm making good grades and some friends, too. I have to tell you that I've been back to the grocery store and found powdered orange juice. I bought a container of it, brought it home, and followed the directions. It seems all you have to do is to add water. I've tried it. It tastes really good. Right now I'm sipping a cup of it. I'll write again soon."
Some time passed and the young student went back to the grocery store for a third time. He rushed home. He couldn't wait to tell his parents what he had found. These are the words of his third letter. "Mom and Dad, no time for chit-chat. I'll get right to the point. I've just come home from the grocery store and I'm excited. I went down an aisle I had never been down before. And there, at my eye level was something I've never seen before. On the container were the words Baby Powder. Mom and Dad, you know how I have always longed for a little brother or sister. Well, I just bought a package of the stuff and in a minute or two; I am going to add some water to the powder just like I did the milk and the orange juice. I'll be sure and write you just as soon as I can. I might even call you on the phone this time. I want you to know whether the baby is a boy or a girl. Is this a great country or what?
Now we laugh at that, but the truth is that we have come to expect things to happen in miraculous and quick ways. We live in a world where we can email someone thousands of miles away. We can text message one another using our cell phones. There is a special language for sending text messages. I have learned that lol stands for laugh out loud. I also have learned that the letter "u" is acceptable for typing out the word y-o-u.
Quick fixes and the word miracle is just about everywhere. If you go to the grocery store today or any day for that matter, you will find the word miracle on several products. After all a sandwich is just not a sandwich without Miracle Whip salad dressing. We have come to expect miracle products, miracle breakthroughs and miracle cures. So it is not hard to come to the quick conclusion that when it comes to a miracle, little is expected of us. Almost nothing is required of us. All we have to do is to buy the product, rub on the ointment, add some water, turn on the switch, take the pill, try the program, have the surgery, and the miracle will happen.
You won't get that idea from the Bible. You see, according to the Bible, if something miraculous is going to happen, we have to do something. We have to go somewhere. We have to step out in faith. We have to take a chance. We have to sacrifice something.
There is a great and old story that says that the waters of the Red Sea didn't part until someone actually stepped into the water. We have a picture of Moses raising his staff and the waters parting. But according to this old tale, Moses raised his hands, but nothing happened until someone's sandals touched the water. Isn't that a great story? I don't know if its true or not, but it is a great story.
And what we have in our scripture lesson for this morning is also a great story. Luke tells us that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, traveling in an area between Samaria and Galilee. It was a road a good Jewish person would not travel. Jews and Samaritans did not get along. Luke tells us that Jesus was traveling in that region and entered a village. It is there that ten lepers approached him.
I'm not surprised they were there. Lepers often banded together and hung out at city gates. They approached those who entered the city for food. Lepers kept their distance; that was the law. It was also the law for them to cry out when anyone came near them. This was the prescribed cry, "Unclean! Unclean!" I guess the idea was that those who heard it could high tail it in the other direction. Leprosy was considered highly contagious!
What I want you to see what I saw in our scripture this week. Notice what the lepers cried out. Their words were not, "Unclean! Unclean!" Their cry was, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" That is not the cry of a leper, friends. That is the cry of the church. That is the prayer that would have been used in the Temple. Luke is telling us this story in such a way that the church hears it as a message for them and not just for the lepers. Their cry is the cry of all of us who come to church Sunday after Sunday, week after week, with our lives in a mess. We cry out because we hope that what is promised here is true. We, too, want to be whole again. And so we cry and we pray, "Jesus, master, have mercy on me. Look at me. Notice me. Help me!"
Listen a little longer to this story; notice its details. Jesus tells the ten to go and show themselves to their priest. That, too, was the law. It was the priest who declared the unclean clean again and allowed them back into the community of faith and back to their families. Now it is easy to miss the point. Don't miss the point. Jesus did not heal them and send them to the priest. He sent them to the priest and as Luke puts it, "And as they went, they were made clean."
I would have liked to have been there as the feeling came back in their fingers and hands. I would have liked to have seen the scabs and the scars suddenly were healed. I would have liked to see their strength return and the joy that filled their spirits once again. Not even Jesus saw that happen.
Now the story doesn't end there. We might wish it did. There is a scandal in this story. The scandal is that one of the ten, when he discovered he was healed, turned back. He went to Jesus. He fell at Jesus' feet and he praised God for the healing. That's not scandalous you say? You are right. The scandal is that the one who returned was a Samaritan! Oh no!
We use this passage of scripture in November, near our Thanksgiving holiday. I can see the sermon title out on the message board in front of the church, "Where Are the Nine?" That is a sermon about our need to return and give thanks. I've preached that sermon. But I've also discovered that this story is more than a call to give God your thanks.
There are two big messages in our lesson. The first is that Jesus performed a miracle. And it's a whopper at that. Ten were healed in one fell swoop. Ten for the price of you, you don't get that often in the Bible. This is a healing story; there's no doubt about that. But this is also a story about one of the ten being saved. The scandal is that the saved one was a Samaritan.
Jesus waits to tell us the identity of the one who returned. Just when you thought that you could sit back and be dazzled, Luke gives the identity of the one who turned around. I guess it is supposed to make you think, "If the Samaritan gave thanks, I should, too." So what starts out being a miracle story ends up being a church story. It is a story that says that church people, above all people, should live with the expectation that God is still working in our lives to free us. That God still wants to give us new lives and wholeness. It is a story that also says that we cannot sit back and wait for it to happen. We have to cry out for it. We have to take a step towards it. We have to take chances and trust that the God who has always guided us will guide us again and that the God who always heals us will heal us again.
Turn back to the lesson. Notice what Jesus does. First, he says to the leper, "Get up and go your way." And then Jesus goes on his way, too. As he walks, there is a strange smile on his lips. He is thinking about his question, "Where are the nine?" He knows where they are. He has known all along. He knows where we are, too. He knows the things in our lives that separate us. He knows the things that feel like leprosy to us. He knows the aches in our hearts and the fear in our eyes and he beckons us to take a step towards healing.
And without another word Jesus walks away, taking steps towards his cross. He eyes have a certain passion in them and his shoulders sag as if he is carrying a very heavy burden. The air around him is now silent. He's walking towards your wholeness. I hope you will walk with him. Let us pray.