Two Rivers Pastoral Charge
Sunday October 8, 2023 – Thanksgiving Weekend
Scripture: Luke 17:11-19
(In the story for all ages earlier in the service, I invited everyone to imagine themselves into the scripture story, walking through a guided mediation. I invited everyone to consider how it felt to be exiled from their families and communities for so long, how it felt to be healed, and then what the first thing that they wanted to do after being healed would be.)
This week, we have a story about Jesus healing 10 people – I think that this story is assigned to Thanksgiving weekend because of the 10 people who were healed, only one of them returns back to say thank you to Jesus, while the other 9 go on their way.
On the surface, it seems like a pretty straightforward story – be like the one who came back to say thank you; don’t be like the other 9. A simple story with a simple message.
But simple stories are boring, (and simple stories make for boring sermons,) and there are a couple of details in this story that have me asking questions, and that have me wondering if there is more to this story than just what’s on the surface.
I wonder about the other 9. What was going on in their minds or in their lives so that they didn’t come back to say thank you? Were they so eager to see their families and loved ones after years of being exiled due to their illness; in so much of a rush of excitement that they couldn’t take the time to come back to say thank you to the healer? Or were they resentful – resentful of the society that they lived in that had insisted on their exile for so many years? And did resentment for the lost years prevent them from feeling any gratitude for their healing?
A common assumption is that if someone doesn’t say thank you, it is because they didn’t appreciate the gift; but in this story, the profound implications of what Jesus did for the 10 people would make that an unlikely explanation for why 9 of them didn’t come back.
I wonder about those other 9.
The other curious detail in this story that, at least for me, adds depth to the story, is the very last line. Earlier in the story, Jesus cures all 10 of the people in the group. He says to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests” – this would have been so that they could get confirmation that they were now ritually cleansed to be allowed back into regular society – and we’re told that “as they went, they were made clean.” All 10 of them have been cured from the disease that separated them from their communities.
But after the one comes back to praise God and say “thank you,” Jesus tells him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.” It’s almost as if he has been healed twice – once with the other 9, and now this extra layer of healing added on at the end.
Most of you know that I worked in health care for many years as a physiotherapist; and those of us who work in health care learn that there is a difference between curing and healing. Sometimes a person will experience both, but you can also have one without another. Healing tends to refer to a wholeness, body, mind, and spirit well and in harmony with each other. Curing refers to the disease process. Someone might be cured from the injuries sustained in a car accident, but still carry the emotional and spiritual trauma of the accident, so still have some distance to travel in terms of healing. Or the other way around – a person may have a condition for which there is no cure, yet can experience healing in terms of being at peace with themselves, with their family, and with God.
And I’m left wondering – did the other 9 experience a curing of their disease process without the healing that would make them fully whole? When Jesus told the 10th person – the one who came back to offer thanks and praise – that their faith had made them well, did that one alone experience the fullness of healing that Jesus was able to offer?
I do think that this story goes deeper than it might appear on the surface.
I also think that this story invites us to ask ourselves some questions as well.
What if we imagine ourselves into the sandals of one of those people who approached Jesus on his way to Jerusalem. If you were to come face-to-face with Jesus, crying out, “Jesus, have mercy on us!” what would be the substance of your request? What needs or requests would you bring to the feet of Jesus? Fortunately, leprosy is no longer a big concern in our time and our place, and even in places in the world where it occurs, it is easily treatable these days. But all of us carry needs and longings in our hearts that we bring to Jesus.
And then this story invites us to dig a little bit deeper. When you go into the very core of your being, what is those deepest needs, those deepest longings that are maybe even too tender to put into words? What is the thing that Jesus can give to you that will bring the deep healing that goes beyond a simple cure that was offered to the 10th person in our story?
I also think that the story invites us to think about gratitude. I invite you to imagine yourself back into the story the way that we did during the story for all ages, and if it’s easier for you to close your eyes again, I invite you to close your eyes. This time the circumstances are different. This time, you don’t have leprosy, but you are simply yourself. You are yourself at your most authentic – this is Jesus, and you don’t need to hold anything back. Jesus is looking at you with deep, deep love in his eyes, and you hear him saying your name. He reaches out and puts his hand on your shoulder. He tells you that your faith has made you well. As you return Jesus’s gaze, let yourself feel the love that is radiating from him. What things are you thankful for in this moment? What gratitude is welling up in your heart? Let this gratitude move from your heart to your voice? What words do you use to say thank you to Jesus? What actions to do you do to express your gratitude?
Thanks be to the God of life and of healing and of love! Amen.
“Healing of the Ten Lepers”
JESUS MAFA
Used with Permission.
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