Luke 17:11-19
Since July 1st
I have been a stay at home mom to my two year old son (and another one
on the way). So when I read the Gospel lesson for today what immediately
came to mind was not the most recent commentary on this passage from
some Biblical scholar. Nor was it the insights of colleagues from shared
study or even the thoughts of parishioners. Rather, what came to mind
was the version of this passage I have read many times to my son in The Baby Bible 1,2,3 not to be confused with the similar and equally provocative work by the same author titled The Baby Bible ABC.
Let me share with you the version of the story we read in Luke from The Baby Bible 1,2,3. It is called “9 Men Who Forgot to Say Thanks.” “Ten men were sick. They called out to Jesus, “Help us get better!” Jesus made them feel better. Nine of the men forgot to say thanks to Jesus. They just walked away. But one man said to Jesus, “Thank you for making me better!” 1
A great way to learn the importance of saying thank you while also learning that ten minus one is nine. It’s a fine telling of the story and I am glad that my son can learn from it, but I do have some criticisms of it. I will confess that I feel a bit strange critiquing The Baby Bible 1, 2, 3 But really my critique is not just of this brightly illustrated rendition, but of all simplistic and quick reads of this passage from Luke. You see, I think if we are willing to dig a bit deeper than a quick moral answer and easy lesson, we can find a lot more to this story than just a reminder of our manners.
This story takes place on a border, or a an area “in between.” It says Jesus is “going through a region between Samaria and Galilee.” So not quite in one and not quite out of the other, but right on the border, crossing over. And he encounters these ten lepers who keep their distance. Even though they call out to him, desperate for help, they still keep their distance because the lepers understood that they were cast out in every way. They were declared unclean- inside and out. They were ritually or spiritually unclean and their diseased skin was physically unclean, and so they were cast out- away, separate, an invisible but impenetrable boundary was forever placed between them and every other group, family …person. And so they cry out to Jesus for mercy.
While I can thankfully say that I have never had leprosy or any other serious contagious disease that would lead to a quarantine, I can in some way relate to the kind of trapped feeling those ten must have experienced. Sure, most of us have probably never been formally declared unclean and forced to stay away from all people at all times, but in many ways we do know what it is like to feel closed off, trapped, or pushed out. Who among us has never felt left out, pushed aside or walked on? Often these experiences take a toll on our self-esteem, leave us feeling bitter or insecure and we find ourselves struggling to feel close to another, afraid to step out with confidence, unsure of our actions … trapped by our self-doubt. And sometimes the things that trap us or break us away from others are our own feelings of anger and hatred. We try and try but just can’t let go of that anger inside that pushes us away from a certain person, group of people or type of people. And before we know it we are trapped, cut off, isolated because of our own fears and anger.
There are so many ways in which we may become cut off from others. So many boundaries that we draw between ourselves and others. Sometimes these take the shape of depression or alcoholism or loneliness or long-time grudges. In any case we, like these ten lepers may find ourselves crying out to Jesus, from what feels like a distance, begging for mercy, begging to be free of what holds us back, hoping for a Savior.
And Jesus listens to these cries. No questions asked, no past sins remembered, no paybacks demanded, Jesus looks at us, just like those he looked at those, lepers with mercy and healing. To the ten lepers he says, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” In those days that was what was needed to be made clean, healed, brought back into the community, made whole again. Skin sores or not, if a priest has not declared you clean, you are still on the outs. Jesus understands these rituals, and so he sends them to the priest, to the mediator, the connection between God and the community so that they and the people around them will know that they have been made clean, they are free, unbound, ready to return.
The men do as they are told. Even though as they walk away they still look sick. It is not until they have already begun their journey that they can see they have been made clean. But nine of them follow Jesus’ instruction. They go to the priest just as he told them to. It is that one other one that disobeys. He stops in his tracks, turns around, praises God and thanks Jesus.
Turns out this guy is on to something. Jesus commends him for this and in fact sounds frustrated that he is the only one to do this. Perhaps it is as simple as “The Baby Bible 1, 2, 3” says and Jesus is happy that this guy has shown good manners and said “thank you.” But maybe there is something else going on here. Maybe this guy, this Samaritan/ foreigner, leper, outcast, unclean man roaming around with a group of other lepers in this area that is in between two places, maybe he has caught on to what Jesus has been preaching over and over again to everyone and what no one, not even his disciples seem to get. This leper sees that he does not need to go to a priest because right here in his presence is God. There is no need to go anywhere else to thank God, but rather it is time to fall on his knees and sing praises. He has seen past the physical, spiritual and ethnic boundaries that this person, this Jesus Christ is God. He recognizes God with us.
So maybe if we, like The Baby Bible 1,2,3 are looking for a take away “lesson” from this passage it is less about manners and a math lesson and more about recognizing Jesus Christ, even across boundaries. If we were one of the ten out in that strange place, with those strange people encountering a strange man and experiencing a strange occurrence, would we have been willing to see the face of God, to identify that experience of God with us? And what about after this story, if we were to encounter the guy Jesus healed- the foreigner, labeled as a leper, roaming in misery for who knows how long with a crazy story about mercy and grace would we be willing to set aside all of the boundaries we have built up, all of the filters and preconceived ideas to recognize an experience of Christ?
Typically when we think of where we might find God we think of things like lovely sunsets, quiet prayer, beloved friends and family, children’s laughter and these familiar pews of the church. But Jesus may be calling us to push our boundaries, to look outside of those circles, cross over the borders and find the presence of God in the faces and places of others. Jesus may be calling us to let go of whatever it is that binds us and keeps us trapped, so that we can go and bring God’s presence to others.
Today as I stand here I know that we all have one thing in common and that is we are praying for Nora. Pastor Ed, his wife and their daughter Nora have become very dear friends to me and my family and even though we know that 3 year old Nora’s surgery went well and she is recovering, I know that probably like me, you who care for them are concerned. As a mother I of course hope to never be in a situation where I am sitting in a hospital waiting for a surgeon to tell me the latest on my child’s heart. That is certainly a place that no one wants to go. But as a Christian I know that in the doctors, nurses, other parents and children, family, friends and church members like yourselves Pastors Ed and Laura and their daughter will time and again experience the love and peace of Christ. Because even in the uncertain areas in between when you are not quite where you want to be, but far from where you started, when you are around people you do not know and feeling trapped by fears, worries and concerns … even in those places, across whatever boundaries, Christ is there.
So come now and be fed so that we can go and bring the presence of Christ across any boundary and to all persons. And remember to leave here with eyes wide open, knowing that God is all around, even in the unexpected. And that is a lesson that I want my two year old to learn even more than good manners or ten minus one. Amen.
1Stanford, Elisa. The Baby Bible 1, 2, 3. David C. Cook 2009
Let me share with you the version of the story we read in Luke from The Baby Bible 1,2,3. It is called “9 Men Who Forgot to Say Thanks.” “Ten men were sick. They called out to Jesus, “Help us get better!” Jesus made them feel better. Nine of the men forgot to say thanks to Jesus. They just walked away. But one man said to Jesus, “Thank you for making me better!” 1
A great way to learn the importance of saying thank you while also learning that ten minus one is nine. It’s a fine telling of the story and I am glad that my son can learn from it, but I do have some criticisms of it. I will confess that I feel a bit strange critiquing The Baby Bible 1, 2, 3 But really my critique is not just of this brightly illustrated rendition, but of all simplistic and quick reads of this passage from Luke. You see, I think if we are willing to dig a bit deeper than a quick moral answer and easy lesson, we can find a lot more to this story than just a reminder of our manners.
This story takes place on a border, or a an area “in between.” It says Jesus is “going through a region between Samaria and Galilee.” So not quite in one and not quite out of the other, but right on the border, crossing over. And he encounters these ten lepers who keep their distance. Even though they call out to him, desperate for help, they still keep their distance because the lepers understood that they were cast out in every way. They were declared unclean- inside and out. They were ritually or spiritually unclean and their diseased skin was physically unclean, and so they were cast out- away, separate, an invisible but impenetrable boundary was forever placed between them and every other group, family …person. And so they cry out to Jesus for mercy.
While I can thankfully say that I have never had leprosy or any other serious contagious disease that would lead to a quarantine, I can in some way relate to the kind of trapped feeling those ten must have experienced. Sure, most of us have probably never been formally declared unclean and forced to stay away from all people at all times, but in many ways we do know what it is like to feel closed off, trapped, or pushed out. Who among us has never felt left out, pushed aside or walked on? Often these experiences take a toll on our self-esteem, leave us feeling bitter or insecure and we find ourselves struggling to feel close to another, afraid to step out with confidence, unsure of our actions … trapped by our self-doubt. And sometimes the things that trap us or break us away from others are our own feelings of anger and hatred. We try and try but just can’t let go of that anger inside that pushes us away from a certain person, group of people or type of people. And before we know it we are trapped, cut off, isolated because of our own fears and anger.
There are so many ways in which we may become cut off from others. So many boundaries that we draw between ourselves and others. Sometimes these take the shape of depression or alcoholism or loneliness or long-time grudges. In any case we, like these ten lepers may find ourselves crying out to Jesus, from what feels like a distance, begging for mercy, begging to be free of what holds us back, hoping for a Savior.
And Jesus listens to these cries. No questions asked, no past sins remembered, no paybacks demanded, Jesus looks at us, just like those he looked at those, lepers with mercy and healing. To the ten lepers he says, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” In those days that was what was needed to be made clean, healed, brought back into the community, made whole again. Skin sores or not, if a priest has not declared you clean, you are still on the outs. Jesus understands these rituals, and so he sends them to the priest, to the mediator, the connection between God and the community so that they and the people around them will know that they have been made clean, they are free, unbound, ready to return.
The men do as they are told. Even though as they walk away they still look sick. It is not until they have already begun their journey that they can see they have been made clean. But nine of them follow Jesus’ instruction. They go to the priest just as he told them to. It is that one other one that disobeys. He stops in his tracks, turns around, praises God and thanks Jesus.
Turns out this guy is on to something. Jesus commends him for this and in fact sounds frustrated that he is the only one to do this. Perhaps it is as simple as “The Baby Bible 1, 2, 3” says and Jesus is happy that this guy has shown good manners and said “thank you.” But maybe there is something else going on here. Maybe this guy, this Samaritan/ foreigner, leper, outcast, unclean man roaming around with a group of other lepers in this area that is in between two places, maybe he has caught on to what Jesus has been preaching over and over again to everyone and what no one, not even his disciples seem to get. This leper sees that he does not need to go to a priest because right here in his presence is God. There is no need to go anywhere else to thank God, but rather it is time to fall on his knees and sing praises. He has seen past the physical, spiritual and ethnic boundaries that this person, this Jesus Christ is God. He recognizes God with us.
So maybe if we, like The Baby Bible 1,2,3 are looking for a take away “lesson” from this passage it is less about manners and a math lesson and more about recognizing Jesus Christ, even across boundaries. If we were one of the ten out in that strange place, with those strange people encountering a strange man and experiencing a strange occurrence, would we have been willing to see the face of God, to identify that experience of God with us? And what about after this story, if we were to encounter the guy Jesus healed- the foreigner, labeled as a leper, roaming in misery for who knows how long with a crazy story about mercy and grace would we be willing to set aside all of the boundaries we have built up, all of the filters and preconceived ideas to recognize an experience of Christ?
Typically when we think of where we might find God we think of things like lovely sunsets, quiet prayer, beloved friends and family, children’s laughter and these familiar pews of the church. But Jesus may be calling us to push our boundaries, to look outside of those circles, cross over the borders and find the presence of God in the faces and places of others. Jesus may be calling us to let go of whatever it is that binds us and keeps us trapped, so that we can go and bring God’s presence to others.
Today as I stand here I know that we all have one thing in common and that is we are praying for Nora. Pastor Ed, his wife and their daughter Nora have become very dear friends to me and my family and even though we know that 3 year old Nora’s surgery went well and she is recovering, I know that probably like me, you who care for them are concerned. As a mother I of course hope to never be in a situation where I am sitting in a hospital waiting for a surgeon to tell me the latest on my child’s heart. That is certainly a place that no one wants to go. But as a Christian I know that in the doctors, nurses, other parents and children, family, friends and church members like yourselves Pastors Ed and Laura and their daughter will time and again experience the love and peace of Christ. Because even in the uncertain areas in between when you are not quite where you want to be, but far from where you started, when you are around people you do not know and feeling trapped by fears, worries and concerns … even in those places, across whatever boundaries, Christ is there.
So come now and be fed so that we can go and bring the presence of Christ across any boundary and to all persons. And remember to leave here with eyes wide open, knowing that God is all around, even in the unexpected. And that is a lesson that I want my two year old to learn even more than good manners or ten minus one. Amen.
1Stanford, Elisa. The Baby Bible 1, 2, 3. David C. Cook 2009
No comments:
Post a Comment