21st Sunday after Pentecost, 10/13/2013

Sermon on Luke 17:11-19, by David M. Wendel

[11] On the way to Jerusalem (Jesus) was passing along between Sama'ria and Galilee.
[12] And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance [13] and lifted up their voices and said, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us." [14] When he saw them he said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they went they were cleansed. [15] Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; [16] and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. [17] Then said Jesus, "Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? [18]
Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" [19] And he said to him, "Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well." (Revised Standard Version)

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Nature of True Worship

It seems to me, as a preacher for more than three decades, and a Christian my whole life, that the focus of our gospel lesson is often the words of Jesus at the end of the account, where he says to the one leper who has returned to offer thanks and praise, "Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well." And this is not an insignificant comment from Jesus, who acknowledges the fact that while ten lepers were healed, there is something that is different or the one man who returns in gratitude and thanksgiving. Jesus names it, "wellness", while other translators refer to it as "wholeness", or some translate Jesus' words as, "your faith has saved you." Each of these help us to get at the value of not taking the gift of health, healing and salvation for granted, but always taking time to return to God to give thanks. In fact, when Martin Luther was asked to describe the nature of true worship, he answered, "the tenth leper turning back."

The Tenth Leper Turning Back

And doesn't that give to our understanding of this text a little different depth, and breadth? Don't the words of Luther challenge us to consider this passage in a little different light--not thinking only of what we have received--our wellness, and wholeness and salvation, but also causing us to think about our response in a broader way--not just as giving thanks, not just as saying, simply, "thank, you, Jesus"--but in terms of the totality of worship? We tend to hear our gospel lesson for today as encouraging us, not to take our wholeness and salvation in Christ for granted, but to always turn back, saying "thanks!" But Luther would have us see in the tenth leper turning back, not only a call to gratitude, but the nature of all true worship, which would include much more than just an occasional word or expression of appreciation. For, according to Luther, the totality of our worship as Christians, is implied, typified by the response of the tenth leper, turning back. So, how does the response of the grateful leper describe, shape, speak to, our response of true worship?

The Tenth Leper-A Samaritan!

The entire passage revolves around the almost understated comment of Luke, that this tenth leper, "was a Samaritan". Luke doesn't tell us about the religion of the other lepers, but he makes it clear that this one, this one who returns to offer true worship, is a Samaritan--the one who represented corrupted religious practice, the one who would've been considered least in the kingdom of God, because Samaritans were not considered true believers, nor true practitioners of Jewish faith. And yet, here is this one who returns to worship Jesus--this Samaritan who shouldn't have known anything about correct, proper worship!

And yet, as is often the case in Holy Scripture, and the life of Jesus--the faithful, truly religious one is not always the one you might expect! While the relation between Christians and Muslims is not exactly the same as between Jews and Samaritans, the same point can be made--the same issue illustrated, that we Christians and our often lazy, uncommitted, hap-hazard worship life is put to shame by the commitment to daily prayer exhibited by many Muslims. Like the Samaritan in our gospel lesson, many Muslims pause not once, but five times daily to bow, kneel down, and yes, even prostrate themselves before God, offering thanks and praise, whereas Christians find it nearly impossible to show up but once a week, regularly, to offer, as Luther terms it, "true worship".

And sure, Christians might be offended at that comparison, protesting that Muslims are required to pray five times a day, whereas Christians are free in the Gospel to pray and worship as they wish, because they want to, not because they have to. But isn't that the point? Like the tenth leper who returns out of heartfelt gratitude to praise God, prostrate himself at the feet of Jesus and thank Him, we Christians who have similarly received life, health and salvation, all too often neglect to return and respond. While we, too, are commanded to "remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy", the Sabbath Day for us Christians often finds us, not in the synagogue offering our true worship of thanks and praise, but hiking in the mountains, getting in 18 holes on the golf course, lazing around at home reading the funnies with a second cup of coffee. The point of the account of the tenth leper who turns back isn't to make us feel guilty, not to shame us into waking up on Sundays, saying, "I guess I'd better drag myself to church today, or I might be condemned to hell..." Rather, the response of the leper who returns is intended to inspire us, and to encourage us to join Him in true worship--which is thanks and praise!

The Free Gift of God's Grace

And we are invited to return to Jesus each and every Sunday morning, not because we are filled with guilt, not because we are afraid we'll be punished, or sentenced to purgatory for our ungratefulness, but purely out of love--love for our Lord Jesus Christ, who gives us gifts of life, wholeness, and yes, even salvation, freely, without our earning it, or deserving it. The good news in this Scriptural account is that in spite of the ingratitude of the nine who didn't return, they remained healed! Jesus didn't smite them, or curse them with a return of their leprosy--all ten were healed, and all ten remained clean, so far as we know.

In the same way, our Lord doesn't smite us, or curse us with evil, illness, or misfortune,when we fail to return to Him on Sunday, to offer true worship. The good news is that as we are healed and made whole without our earning it or deserving it, we are not punished with death and hell because we are undeserving and unworthy! God's grace is given as free gift--and our worship, our praise and thanksgiving are to be given freely, as well, as heartfelt response. That's the good news in the account of the ten lepers. And it is that good news that is intended to turn our hearts, to turn us around in life, so that we do not live as ungrateful, unappreciative wretches, so that we do not neglect to return to our Lord, to give Him our true worship, our thanks and praise, but that we come to Him often, and regularly, at least once, each and every week, to bow, and kneel, and prostrate ourselves before Him, worshiping Him for all that He has done for us, and in us.

Thanks and Praise

Which is why, by the way, our chief act of worship as the community of the faithful, is called, Eucharist, which means "thanksgiving". That's why the climax of our worship is called the Prayer of Thanksgiving, because giving thanks is the heart and soul of what we do as Christians; thanksgiving is what makes our time together, "true worship", because the focus is on giving thanks and praise to God! We say in the Eucharistic liturgy, "It is right to give God our thanks and praise"; and then we pray, "We give you thanks, Father, through Jesus Christ your beloved Son..." We make our thanksgiving explicit in the Eucharistic feast, so that we do not neglect to say thanks, but offer to God our proper sacrifice of prayer, praise and thanksgiving. That's why Christians come together each week, to join in the Great Thanksgiving--so that we do not forget to offer our true worship, so that as a community, and as individuals, we turn back to Jesus, we come to worship and adore Him, as we gather as a people who are full of thanks and praise, moved, transformed by the reality of Jesus' presence in us and among us, and the reality that we, too, leave here, healed and restored. So let us offer our true worship! Let us come together each week to offer to God our prayer, praise and thanksgiving. Let us never fail to turn back, with the tenth leper, to Jesus, who makes us whole and clean and new!

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Rev. Dr. David M. Wendel
Columbus, OH
E-Mail: dwendel@thenalc.org

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