“Rise and Go Your Way”

October 9, 2016


GOSPEL LESSON: Luke 17:11–19 [The healing of the ten lepers]

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.”

Through the words of the Bible, the Holy Spirit speaks to us. A good way for us to hear, listen to, and understand those words, is as if we enter the Bible and become part of the story or the proclamation. It may not always be comfortable, because then we hear that the words of condemnation are about us. Then we are driven to know and accept our real situation. The confession of faith starts with a confession of sin and the prayer for help and salvation. And then finally we can rejoice like the leper who “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.”

So, get ready, and let’s jump into today’s Gospel reading. Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem where he would be crucified. People knew that Jesus had the power of God to heal, and so ten men who had leprosy met Jesus to ask for healing. They “stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, saying, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.’” This is where we enter the story. We have to become one of those lepers. We do not have to take their disease unto ourselves, because we all have our own horrible diseases. I started to make a list: arthritis, allergies, bigotry, cataracts, cancer, diabetes, drugs, deformities, epilepsy, egoism, fear, failure, gout, grief, greed, hypocrisy, hate, indifference, jealousy, kookiness, laziness, malignancies, mutiny, neurosis, overweight, pride, pimples, queasiness, queerness, rashes, rabies, sickness, tiredness, uneasiness, vindictiveness, vanity, worry, warts, exhaustion, expectations, yearnings, zaniness.

We find ourselves standing at a distance from Jesus, because we feel our sickness or shame or unworthiness. We hate our problems, we want to change, but we know we cannot do it by ourselves because we have already tried to. We need the help of Jesus. We want him to help us. “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” That is the only prayer that beggars like us can pray.

In the story, Jesus did not say, “You are healed,” he said, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” He did not heal them immediately. It is like when we pray and do not see an immediate result to our prayer. But the words of Jesus give us hope. At the time of Jesus, if a priest certifies that you are healed, then the leper can go home to his family and the family will not worry about the infectious disease. Jesus gave the ten men the promise of complete healing. And we assume that all ten of them were healed. And we Christians assume that God will likewise hear our prayers, have mercy on us, and help us.

Our text reads, “And as they went they were cleansed.” Within a short time, the sores on their skin began to heal and no longer hurt. They could once again feel their hands and feet that had become numb from the disease. They could move their fingers. They could feel the healing power of Jesus. And perhaps they began to walk faster to find a priest that would declare them clean and healed and safe.

All ten were healed but only one man returned to give thanks to Jesus. As we said before, when we read the story we enter the story as one of the ten lepers. But now, are we part of the nine who continued on their way to see the priest or are we the one who returned to thank Jesus? Maybe we are like the one Samaritan, but often we are in the group of nine, I am afraid. When we recover from a sickness or are successful at a task, even if we did pray at one time or another, we think that it is because of what we did, or credit it to luck. Just think of all the great miracles that happen all around us every day from morning to night. Just think of all the blessings we have. Even without our prayers, God blesses us. And we sinners do not see God’s hand. That is why it is important to pray daily the Lord’s Prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Those words become praise when in our heart we pray, “Father, thank you for giving us our daily bread and all we need today and everyday. Amen.”

And when we realize this, we become like the Samaritan who came back and thanked Jesus. But is he disobeying Jesus who told him to show himself to the priest? Well, he thought, he can do that later. First he has to praise God and thank Jesus, then he can continue with his new life and obligations. As Christians we do not go and see the priest, but we do go to the pastor and get a certificate of Baptism that cleanses us from sin. As Jesus said, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.” And so it is with us. We start with thanks and praise and then continue with the tasks that God has given us.

Jesus said, “Your faith has made you well.” In the Greek Bible, the same word can mean both “to heal” and “to save.” “Your faith has healed you.” “Your faith has saved you.” Jesus means both. This man has both healing and salvation because he believed in Jesus who was his healer and savior. And it is the same for us. Jesus blesses us in this life and in the life to come.

Jesus was the healer, and at the same time he was the one inflicted by the sin and disease and hatred of this world. He took that upon himself. The words of the Prophet Isaiah say it this way: (Chapter 53:3-5)

3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

He was the sacrificial Lamb of God who took upon himself our sin and disease,


“and by his wounds we are healed”
“and by his wounds we are saved.”

And in his resurrection, we are given the faith to know that Jesus has the love and power and mercy to hear our prayers for mercy. And therefore today and everyday, let’s take the part of the Samaritan. We too know we are healed and saved and we too praise God with a loud voice and humble ourselves before Jesus with thanksgiving. And the words of Jesus echo in our ears. “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.” Or, as the liturgy says, “P: Go in peace. Serve the Lord. C: Thanks be to God.”

Amen.

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church


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