There is much we could think about from
this passage from Luke’s gospel. Jesus is in the borderlands, and the fringes
of society, or the borders of countries, are often dangerous places. Places that
people avoid. Borders help to divide ‘us’ from ‘them’ .
Lepers were people who were not
allowed to associate with others, they were people to avoid.
Even those these people are called
lepers, it is unlikely that they had what is now known as leprosy. Any kind of
skin condition was called leprosy. Notice
this group of ten lepers kept their distance, they were unclean, and anyone who
touched them, even accidentally, would also be unclean – and this would have
meant not being able to go about their normal daily business or interact with other
people. So here we have Jesus crossing borders and
boundaries.
I wonder, who do we avoid?
I wonder, what places we avoid?
When do we use language of ‘us’ and ‘them’?
Where do we draw the lines?
Another aspect of this reading is
that of gratitude.
“Keeping their distance, they called
out, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" “ and Jesus responds
that they should go and show themselves to the Priest – the one who can declare
them clean. And one came back. The other nine did what they were asked to do,
they were obedient. but one came back. We
are told that they were healed as they walked. They were not healed with Jesus
standing there, in this story he does not touch them or spit or rub dirt or anything
else, just tells them to go to the priest. And as they were walking to the priest,
they noticed they were healed.
Earlier we sang: Thank you for giving
me the morning.
How many mornings do we wake up thanking
God for the morning, for a new day, for the possibilities and opportunities
that arrive with a new morning?
In some way we receive the blessing
when we recognise the blessing, and then we give thanks. But this man does more than say thank you, he
returns to Jesus ‘praising God with a
loud voice’. In being healed this man recognised God’s healing.
“So what
does the man who returned receive? Certainly, the blessing of healing, as did
the other nine. But also the blessing that comes from recognizing
blessing and giving thanks -- the blessings, that is, of wholeness and
even salvation.” [David Lose Working Preacher]
In a
world where we hear of financial crises, violence, death and despair on the
nightly news, we are more likely to speak about our problems, concerns, and
worries. I know how easy it is to think,
and speak, of those things; but by focusing on our troubles they become bigger
and more prominent in our life. The more we focus on the problems, the harder
it is to see the beauty, the wonder, the blessings of each day.
And naming
the blessings make them more real. Thanking God for the blessings reminds us of
God’s involvement the world. How often
do we stop to count our blessings, or to thank God for the beauty of the world,
the wonder of life, the smile from a stranger?
We are
going to practice now. Thirty seconds thinking time then I invite you to name a
blessing in your life.
…..
Name the
blessing
Prayer:
thank you God for all your blessings, amen.
.....
There is
a difference between being obedient, as the nine were, and recognising and
celebrating the new life each of us is offered. In recognising and living into this life,
recognising and naming and being grateful for blessings.
As disciples
it is important to be obedient, to follow God’s call in our lives, but it is
also important to respond to God with love, not only obedience.
Being grateful changes us. We see ourselves
in a different way, and we see life differently. No longer do we focus on our
problems, it doesn’t mean they aren’t there and we don’t need to deal with
them. Try spending as much time on your blessings as you do on your troubles.
We are told that the man who came
back was praising God loudly as he returned, then fell at Jesus feet thanking
him. Sounds a bit over the top to me, but imagine what life was like for this
person. He was a Samaritan, which meant hated by the Jews, and he had been labelled
as a leper, which means he was doubly cursed. He now was healed, but he is
still a Samaritan. So he was still an outcast on this side of the border, but
now he knows he is more than a Samaritan or a leper, he is a loved child of
God.
How might we live as the loved child
of God that we are?
How might we encourage and support
other people to live into their identity as loved children of God?
Slide
1 [gratitude is the hearts memory]
Slide
2 [stones happiness gratitude]
Thursday
was International Day of the Girl. [slide 3] This year’s theme is innovate to
educate. In many countries [slide 4] , education resources are limited, so boys
are seen as worthy of education, but girls are not. And it isn’t that long ago,
even in Australia, when it was thought that girls needed less education than
boys.
Slide
5 – we can let people know they are important to God by letting people know
they matter, their story matters, their feelings, voice and life all matter. Each
person is important to God, surely that means each person is important to us.
Slide
6 – we don’t do this alone, just as each person is important, each person has a
role in the coming of the kingdom of God, we don’t work alone, we work with other
people, and we work with God.
Earlier
today we have talked about fair trade, and the church’s response to refugees, we
have looked at Jesus crossing boundaries and borders, and the response of one person,
the one who was despised because of his ethnicity and excluded because of his
disease, the one who not only thanked Jesus, but praised God. We praise God in
worship, but we also praise God when we live in gratitude, when we recognise
God’s abundance in our lives, and when the decisions we make each day reflect
God’s love for all people and all of creation.
How
will you praise God in your life this week?
