the thankful Samaritan

from my sermon on 10/10/10 from Luke 17;11-19

Have you written your thank you notes? My mom is a dear, sweet woman, but in one area she is dictatorial--thank you notes. Come Christmas, or birthdays, or graduations, after 24 hours the clock starts ticking. Have you written your thank you notes?

Something much deeper than thank you notes is going on in this passage. Luke has Jesus going on an extended journey in his Gospel. It is not a sentimental journey, but a sacramental one. We know what happens in Jerusalem. Jesus' passion, death, and resurrection forms one salvific event. This trip is preparing all who follow Him for this act. In this lesson today, Jesus is going along the border between Galilee and Samaria. Now, good Jews would take great pains to avoid Samaria. More about that later.

Jesus is approached by 10 lepers. Here is a fun topic: leprosy! There is a disease we know today as Hansen's disease where a person loses sensations in the extremities and skin may turn splotchy white. In the Bible, there is a much broader definition than just this one ailment. IN the Holiness Code in Leviticus 13 & 14 you can find out more than you ever wanted to know about leprosy. It could include having mildew in your house walls, or fungus in your clothing, as well as a host of skin diseases including eczema, the heartbreak of psoriasis, ringworm, and rashes. What do we do when there is a disease we can't explain? We get scared! What do we do with such people? We cast them out! We are threatened so we ostracize them. Hear is what it sounds like....(a person rings a bell from the back and shouts "Unclean, unclean!").

But here, the 10 lepers go off script. They shout, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!"

Jesus sees them. The English translations don't do justice to the Greek. It literally says that Jesus sees 10 persons with leprosy. Do you get the significance? Not 10 lepers, but 10 men with leprosy. You are not the disease. You are not the diagnosis. You are not AIDS, or bulimia, or cancer, or diabetes....You are a person with this disease.

Jesus follows the Old Testament Holiness Code. He sends the 10 to the priest, who acts as the public health officer, who can certify that they are clean, and can reenter the community. As they go, they are cleansed. Are there any Catherines in the congregation? That is the Greek word for cleansed.

One of the sees that he is healed. He returns to Jesus, praising God loudly. There are times to pray quietly, even in silence, but there are times when it is most appropriate to pray loudly. If you are a miner in Chile who has been trapped underground for more than 60 days, and shaft B reaches you, it is a time to ring bells, and blow sirens, and shout, "Hallelujah!"

This one kneels at Jesus' feet and says, "Thank you." As you can tell, there is much more going on here than just writing a thank you note.

Then there is a short phrase; we would likely pass right over it except Luke drops a bomb with just one word. The one who says thanks is a Samaritan. Samaritans were looked down on for 2 reasons. They had been the Jewish people left behind when other Jews were taken into captivity in Babylon. They had intermarried with foreigners, so that good Jews would say about them, "Half-breeds!" They didn't worship the same way. They read the Bible differently and they looked not to Jerusalem but Mt. Gerizim. So the good Jews would say about them, "Heretics!"

So this one who says thank you is a triple outsider. He is a leper, a Samaritan half breed, and heretic. He becomes the model for giving thanks.

The math major in me loves this. Ten are healed, 9 do what is lawful, 1 does what is loving, 9 do what is right, 1 does what is righteous (in right relationship), 10 are made clean, and 1 is made whole. This is the story of the thankful Samaritan.

We have heard of Samaritans before in Luke's Gospel. You may remember how a lawyer asked Jesus what it took to inherit eternal life. Jesus turns the question back to him. The lawyer quotes the two great commandments to love God with all one's heart and soul and mind and strength and to love one neighbor as oneself. Jesus says he answered correctly. But the lawyer wanting to justify himself asks, "Who is my neighbor?" So Jesus tells a story about a man being attacked by robbers on the Jericho road and being left for dead. A priest walks by. A Levite walks by. Another man sees the beaten man, binds up his wounds, put him on his donkey, takes him to an inn, pays the innkeeper to take care of him, and says he will come back. And who is the hero in this story? A Samaritan, the Good Samaritan.

In our passage, we have the thankful Samaritan. He is the model of gratitude. He is the model of disipleship. This foreigner is not welcome in the Temple in Jerusalem, but he is welcome at Jesus' feet. Jesus welcomes all.

Jesus is on a journey. We are too. Our vision statement is "Following ONe, Serving All." It is challenging us to welcome all. Our Journeys Sunday School class is struggling with the idea of becoming a REconciling Ministries class, which means they would be welcoming gays, lesbians, transgender folks. Some 20 people met last Sunday night to begin this prayerful, careful process. They are afraid of the unknown. They are afraid that in taking this stance they might alienate some of their own class members. They are afraid that they might split this congregation. They are afraid that some might see this as only a political stance. There is one more thing that they are afraid of, and that is, not doing what is righteous. You are welcome to join the process of discerning as we meet again on Sunday, October 17, at 6 p.m. in the Fellowship classroom.

Then last Wednesday afternoon, I joined the prayer group as I usually do. I think it is a good thing for me to be in prayer for this congregation. Nancy usually has us read a passage of scripture 3 times and receive a word or phrase that resonates with us, but this time she had us read Gal. 3 where it talks about how our baptism in Christ has washed away the old distinctions and that we are all one in Him. There is no longer Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female. Then she asked us to name who are the insiders and outsiders today. Straight or gay, able or disabled, sober or addicted, rich or homeless, we said. It is challenging to welcome all.

It reminded me a pastor I knew when I did my D. Min. work at Austin Seminary in the early 1990's. This pastor led a congregation of the Metropolitan Community Church, a denomination that is radically welcoming, especially to the gay and lesbian community. He said this: In our church we have communion every week. People kneel to receive a piece of bread and the cup. But we do something else every week. We lay hands on the people (lots of gay men, HIV positive), and pronounce a blessing on them. Many times they are in tears. They often say, "This is only touch I receive all week long." They are so grateful.

A true sign of discipleship is gratitude to Jesus who welcomes all.