The
10th
Leper; Remember to Give Thanks and Praise
Count
your blessings…
always
be grateful…
say
thank you;
These
are phrases we have all heard before…
Psalm
66 begins with a similar theme:
Make a joyful
noise to God, all the earth;
sing the glory of his name;
give to him glorious praise.
Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!
sing the glory of his name;
give to him glorious praise.
Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!
Give
thanks and Praise!
What
are you and I
thankful for?
When
do we say thank you?
In
what ways and for what reasons,
do
we give thanks and praise to God?
You
and I give thanks
through prayer;
we
make a joyful noise in song;
we
come together in worship to praise God.
There
is much to be grateful and thankful for:
God’s
grace,
salvation
through Christ,
and
the gift of the Holy Spirit that resides within each of us.
In
the scripture from Luke the 10th
leper
was
the only 1 of 10 to return and give thanks and praise.
Before
we answer the question why only him,
we need to better
understand how the lepers suffered.
You
and I encounter the
world through our senses…
sight,
smell,
hearing,
taste,
and
touch.
We
see God’s beauty in creation,
we
smell the freshness after a rain,
we
hear the birds chirping,
we
taste the sweetness of fresh fruit,
and
we grasp hands of others as we pray together.
These
are just a few ways we encounter God
through
our physical senses.
You
and I also connect
with each other through our senses.
We
speak and listen to each other;
we
look into another’s eyes;
we
hold hands.
What
do you and I
miss when one of our senses is lacking?
Many
times in the Bible,
blindness
is used as a metaphor for being unable
to
see truth.
Jesus
opens their eyes, restores them to wholeness.
In
this scripture in Luke, there are 10 lepers.
Leprosy
includes many types of skin disorders.
Lepers
are considered unclean;
they
are outcasts,
separated
from others,
unapproachable.
Imagine
not
being allowed to touch others
or
to be touched…
no handshakes,
no
pats on the back,
no
hugs,
no physical
touching at all.
The
pain, the isolation,
the
loneliness they must experience makes for a hard life.
The
10 lepers approach Jesus, however, they keep their distance
(as
they must).
As
he entered a village, ten lepers approached him.
The
lepers desire mercy,
alleviation
from their suffering,
they
wished to be healed,
to
be made clean, whole,
and
welcomed back into society.
They
trusted in Jesus, God’s agent of healing.
There is
another meaning to the translation
when
Jesus tells the 10th leper:
“Get
up and go on your way;
your faith has made you well.”
‘Made
well’ also means to be saved.
Salvation
has been given to the 10th leper.
Do you
realize who the 10th leper is?
He is a
Samaritan.
In
Jesus’ time,
Samaritans
were disliked and considered outsiders.
So
even with his leprosy made well,
he
was still a foreigner, an outsider, other.
Jesus
is on his way to Jerusalem, to die;
he
heals the 10 lepers, the Israelites and the Samaritan;
all
are ‘made well’, all are given salvation.
The
kingdom of God is for all!
The
9 follow Jesus’ instructions:
Go
and show yourselves to the priests.
On
the way they were made well.
So
why did only one, the Samaritan, return to give thanks?
Perhaps
the 9 thought they had been given what they deserve
after
so much suffering or
they
were preoccupied with the possibilities
they
now could embrace
-return
to family and friends,
be
part of society again
or
maybe obediently following Jesus’ instruction
they
went to the temple, showed the priests,
and
then gave thanks to God at the temple.
Was
none of them found to return and give praise to God
except this
foreigner?”
The
10th
leper, the Samaritan, is a model of faith.
You
and I are to give praise to God.
Psalm 66
says to make a joyful noise, sing praises,
shout
so others, all the world knows God’s great deeds!
Bless
our God, O peoples,
let
the sound of his praise be heard.
Let our
praise be heard!
The
first question in the Larger Catechism asks
What
is the chief and highest end of man?
Man’s
chief and highest end is
to glorify God and fully enjoy him forever.
Praise
God!
The
apostle Paul tells the Philippians:
Rejoice
in the Lord always; again, I will say Rejoice.
And he
tells the Thessalonians:
Rejoice
always, pray without ceasing,
give
thanks in all circumstances;
for
this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
We are
to rejoice, to give thanks,
embrace
God’s mercy and grace and share it with all:
all
who will see, all who will listen,
all
who we can touch with our words and actions.
What are
you and I already doing as individuals,
as
a community, and
as
Christians
As
disciples, we strive to live a life where you an I
look
beyond our own needs,
and
care for others as God has cared for us.
We
acknowledge what God has done for each of us,
through God’s grace and mercy,
we
have been made well and saved by Christ Jesus,
God’s love made flesh,
and
through the Holy Spirit,
you and I answer God’s call to love neighbor,
help those in need,
and spread the Good News.
What new
opportunities is God calling us to try and do?
You
and I may not encounter a leper,
yet
there are those suffering,
feeling
like an outsider,
being
treated as other,
someone
longing for the simple touch of a kind hand.
We can
be
the
one who listens to their stories,
the one
who speaks words of comfort and understanding,
the
one who sees when others look away,
the
one offering a gentle hand to hold
or a shoulder to cry on.
You
and I blessed!
Let us
also be a blessing!
As we
Get up and go on your way be sure to:
Pray!
Rejoice!
Shout
with joy!
Sing to
the glory!
Lend a
hand, reach out to others!
and
finally,
Remember
to always give thanks and praise!
Amen.
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