Proper 23 C

What set the one leper apart? Could it be his Attitude of Gratitude?

Proper 23 C

Transcribed from a sermon given

October 11, 2010

By Rev. Valerie Ann Hart

At St. Barnabas Episcopal Church

Luke 17:11-19

Psalm 69:1-11

Once upon a time there was a rich man who was taking his dog for a walk. It was a Saturday so he was dressed in his jeans and his flannel shirt. As he was walking along he came across a group of beggars who said, “Please sir, give us something, anything, to help us.” So he reached into his pocket where he had a whole stack of envelopes and he gave an envelope to each one of them and said, “Take this to the bank.” Well the first one who got it said, “An enveloped, I don’t know, there is just a piece of paper in here, and he threw it away.” The next one took it out and saw that inside the envelope there was a check that could be cashed at the bank for a thousand dollars. He went, “That guy couldn’t possibly have enough money to be giving us all a thousand dollars, and he threw it away. The next man said, “Wow, a thousand dollars, that man probably doesn’t have much money in the bank so I better hurry up and get there first before everybody else gets there.” Another one said, “Well I can use this thousand dollars.”  And he headed off to the bank thinking, “Well it’s about time. Finally, my luck has changed. My luck has changed! Hey, I’m going to give a call to my bookie because today is my lucky day. I can make it even more lucky.” Another one said, “Oh, I owe some money to my dealer and this will give me some more drugs.” So he went out to share it with the person from whom he bought his drugs. Another said, “Party!” Then he called all his friends together and had a great party. Another went and cashed the check and took it to his family, and they all celebrated and were happy. There was one that when he saw what was handed him turned around and looked for the man who gave it to him. He had to go all over the park to find him, and when he finally found him, thanked him and thanked him. He said, “This is wonderful! This will change my life. With this I can get into a room and take care of my wife and it will give me a new start in life. Thank you!” And the rich man said, “Where are the other ones that I gave the same thing to?” He responded “I don’t know, they all disappeared.” The rich man said, “Well, you know what, I have a couple of positions open in my company and I really need some good people to fill them. Will you work for me? I’ll make sure you get paid enough to live well, and you will always have security because you are just the kind of person that I want to have work for me.”

Now that is what happened with Jesus and the lepers. There were ten people with leprosy. Remember that back then leprosy was a greatly dreaded disease. There was no cure, and if you had true leprosy the nerves died and the circulation died going to your extremities, so they would start to get gangrene, smell bad and look terrible. People were terrified of others with leprosy because it indeed was very contagious. So if you had leprosy you had to stay 50 yards away from others. You couldn’t come close. You also were considered ritually unclean. You couldn’t go to the temple or to any worship services because you were unclean. And if you did heal from the disease, back then they didn’t make a distinction between different kinds of skin disease, you had to go to the priest and show yourself to be certified as no longer having the disease in order to be ritually clean and to be welcomed back into society. That is why when Jesus looks at the ten lepers he says go and show yourselves to the priests. Go and show yourselves that you are clean so you can come back into the society. And they all go off. We don’t know what the other nine were thinking. But one, when he realized that he was cured, turned around and came back praising God and giving thanks. Then Jesus says to him, “Your faith has healed you.” Now it is an odd thing for Jesus to say because all ten were healed and presumable the other nine did not have that kind of faith. So what was going on?

Well there are several different kinds of healing. There is healing of the body, and I have seen prayers that have transformed people and the doctors were amazed. So I do believe that prayer can be physically healing. There is also mental healing, peace of mind, healing of mental disorders, anger, hurt guilt, and that is a powerful kind of healing. And then there is spiritual healing which means reconciliation of the person with God and other people. When we pray for healing it can be any one of those three that are answered. For example, I think we all know people who have major illnesses perhaps a chronic disorder, and yet they are filled with life. There bodies might be falling apart, but their spirits and their minds and their hearts are open. They are full of gratitude to God for what they do have, and love and joy that is shared in a way that transforms people around them. We also know people who are physically what one would consider healthy and yet they are depressed, lonely, and complaining all the time. So there are different kinds of healing.

What happened is that Jesus healed the body of all ten lepers, but there was more for the one who had faith. The Greek word that is translated as faith, is not faith in the sense that you believe a set of precepts. It is not that you ascent to the Nicene Creed. It is not that you believe that Jesus is any particular thing. Faith represents relationship and trust. Faith means that there is harmony in the relationship with God. A wholeness in the spiritual life.

The one that turned around and came back to Jesus with thankfulness had his relationship with God healed; he became spiritually whole. This is because he had what in the twelve step programs they would refer to as an attitude of gratitude. That no matter what is happening there is much to be thankful for. You see that in the psalms. In the psalm we had today there is a wonderful expression of that. When we read it it starts out, “Be joyful in God all you lands; Sing the glory of his Name. “ What we are supposed to be doing is singing and praising God all the time. The psalm goes on to describe how God brought the people across the sea on dry land. But it doesn’t just talk about the wonderful things, the happy things. It also includes, “You tried us just as silver is tried. You brought us into a snare. You laid heavy burdens on our backs.” And yet, and yet, we will praise you because even in those difficulties and in those dark times you were with us, and you helped us to learn from them, to grow from them. That’s gratitude - when we acknowledge God in everything and give thanks to God at all times. Always. When we realize that every breath that we breath is a gift from God. When we say thank you Lord for this beautiful sunny day, and thank you Lord for those cold foggy days. And thank you Lord for my health today and thank you Lord for getting me through whatever I am suffering. Because it is that attitude, that relationship with God, in which we are wholly present with God and we remember to acknowledge God in all things at all times. That is the foundation of true healing and true health.

May you remember to praise God and to sing of his glory.