Faith and Thanksgiving

October 13, 2019


Luke 17:11-19
On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.”
And as they went they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan.
Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

Ten Lepers called to Jesus for healing. Because of their dreaded skin disease, they could not get close to anyone. They had to quarantine themselves. And so since they could not get close to Jesus they shouted out to him from a distance, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” And Jesus shouted back to them with a all the power of his divine voice, the power of love and healing. “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” In the Old Testament, lepers, who naturally became healthy had to show themselves to the priest who would certify them as healed. Then the former-leper could go back into his village, could go back to his home. And since he was certified, his family and friends could safely get near him again without worry of getting sick from him.

In today’s story, as the Ten Lepers were going to the priest’s place, they realized that they were healed. The pain had gone away, the long-time numb skin had feeling, crippled limbs could move. When they discovered that they were healed, one of them wanted to return to say thanks to Jesus and to show his gratitude, but the other nine thought they had to show themselves to the priests, as Jesus had said. Why didn’t they return to thank Jesus? It was because they had no faith. They had received a miracle, but they were not healed by faith. They were healed by the miraculous power of Jesus’ love. But they didn’t realize it. It takes faith to recognize that Jesus is the source of the healing.

They thought that they had to show themselves to the priests. “We have to do it. We got’ta do it,” they thought. If this is what they were thinking, then it was not an act of faith, but an act of work. It is as if the healing was accomplished by what they were doing. “Because we are doing this,” they thought, “we are being healed. We are really doing something great by following Jesus’ command. And because we are doing it, we are healed.” And so the miracle of Jesus becomes their deed, and so they commend themselves rather than thanking Jesus.

It was not a matter of bad manners for not thanking Jesus who had helped them. It was a matter of bad faith, or shall we say, “no faith”?

What healed them? It was not their action of going to the priest. They were healed already at the moment when Jesus told them to go to the priest to show themselves, to show the priests that Jesus had healed them. At Luke 5:23, Jesus said to a paralytic, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” He did not say, “I heal you,” but he gave the command to prove that he was healed, that is, to walk and be so strong and healthy that he could carry his own bed. And so it was with the Ten Lepers. They were healed by the power of Jesus, and then were told to respond to the healing by going to the priests. They were not healed by their faith, but by the love and power of Jesus. Jesus can heal even the unbeliever. But only healing is not enough. Salvation is necessary. The Greek New Testament word to “heal” and the word to “save” are the same [soteria]. So “Your faith has saved you” and at the same time “Your faith has healed you.” The Gospel writer Luke, who was a physician, is teaching us that faith has brought to the man something greater than just physical healing of his skin disease: it has brought to him eternal salvation. He has been healed of his sin and therefore saved.

The Ten Lepers called out to Jesus to be healed. There are many people in the world today who call upon Jesus to heal them. Like leprosy, there are dreaded diseases today like Ebola and cancer, there are economic conditions that are like disease such as poverty and starvation and war, there are diseases of the soul such as loneliness and depression and anxiety. People of the world are calling out, “Have pity on us. Help us. Heal us. Give us hope.” As Christians we first of all react in the same way that Jesus did. We have compassion. We have love. We wish we had the healing power of Jesus, but we can do what the Holy Spirit has given us the power to do: we have compassion, we express our love, we pray, we help as we can, we give to charity, we speak words of hope, and if we have the chance, we speak the words about true healing and salvation in Jesus Christ.

When we read this story, we realize in humility that we are often like the Ten Lepers. We are calling out to God and to anyone who will hear us, “Have pity on us. Help us. Heal us. Give us hope.” And when we realize that God has had compassion on us and shown his mercy and salvation, we have hope. Then in our faith, we realize that we have been more than just helped and healed, we have been saved. Then we run back to Jesus and, like the Leper who was healed, we “throw ourselves at Jesus’ feet and thank him.” Our lives of faith become lives of thanksgiving and praise.

One of my favorite stories in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles is in Chapter 3:6-8.

Then Peter said [to the crippled beggar], “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God.

This is what our life as Christians should be like: “walking and jumping, and praising God.” Like the Leper, when we realize that we have been healed, our faith leads us to return to Jesus and thank and praise him. Returning to Jesus is sometimes called “repentance.” Repentance is usually seen as something shameful and hard. But it is simply a going to Jesus, falling on our knees to confess our sin and faith and receiving the forgiveness of sin and the healing of our souls. Repentance is an act of gratitude and thanksgiving.

Today we celebrate Holy Communion. This sacrament is often called the “Eucharist” which means the “Thanksgiving.” In the Communion liturgy we say, “Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right to give him thanks and praise.” Today we join with the healed Leper and the dancing healed cripple, and with all those of every generation that thank the Lord for healing and salvation.

Amen.

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church


Sermon Index