Trinity 14
Lk
17:11-19
9/2/18
“You shall not misuse the name of
the Lord your God.” “What does this
mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not curse, swear, use satanic
arts, lie or deceive by his name, but call upon it in every trouble, pray,
praise and give thanks.”
This past Wednesday we covered the
Second Commandment at Learn by Heart. And while they have now moved on to the
Third Commandment in preparation for this coming Wednesday, our Gospel lesson
this morning provides the opportunity for the whole congregation to reflect upon
this same topic.
Our text begins by saying, “On the way to Jerusalem he was
passing along between Samaria and Galilee.”
The Gospels are “theological biographies.” They are biographies in that they share true
and accurate information about who Jesus Christ is and what he did. However, their purpose is not simply to share
historical information. Instead they
have a theological purpose. They are seeking to reveal to us how God was
at work in the Jesus Christ in order to bring forgiveness and salvation to all
people.
Because of
this difference in purpose, they are organized differently. We expect a biography to begin at the
beginning of a persons’ life and then cover the events that took place in order. This is not the way the Gospels approach things. For example, the Gospels of Mark and John
begin with Jesus as an adult who is starting his ministry.
Luke’s
Gospel gives us a great deal of information about Jesus’ conception and birth. And while he does tell us about the beginning
of Jesus’ ministry, Luke chooses to focus on our Lord’s final trip to
Jerusalem. Near the end of chapter nine
we read: “When the days drew near for him to be
taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.” From that point until Jesus
enters Jerusalem on Palm Sunday at the end of chapter 19, everything that is
said and happens always has the context of Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem. It always has the context of what Jesus has
said is going to happen there. He had told his disciples in chapter nine before
they started the journey: “The
Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief
priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”
So when our text begins by saying, “On the way to Jerusalem…,” this is
for us a statement that points to the Gospel. As the readers, we already know
what is going to happen there – what has
happened there. Jesus Christ was
numbered with the transgressors in your place and was crucified in order give you
the forgiveness of sins. But then, as he
had predicted, he rose from the dead on the third day. He defeated death. He began the resurrection that will be yours
as well. This journey was about your salvation.
We learn
that as Jesus entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a
distance and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on
us.” The lepers were afflicted by some
kind of skin condition – we are never quite sure about the specifics when the
term is used in the Bible. It probably
wasn’t what we know as leprosy in the modern era. But that didn’t make it any less
devastating. Lepers were ritually unclean
and so had to live separate from other people lest they makes others unclean by
mere touch. They were basically cut off
from normal, everyday life – cut off from their own families.
Because
they were not supposed to approach other people, they stood off at a distance
and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.”
There are two things to note about their statement. First of all, they
called Jesus “master.” In Luke’s Gospel
on all the other occasions when this word occurs, it is Jesus’ disciples who use it.
Luke is signaling to us that these were men who approached Jesus in
faith.
Second,
they had a very simple plea: “Have mercy on us!” This is the same thing that we sing in the
Kyrie of the Divine Service with the words, “Lord have mercy!” The words “have
mercy” were a call for help. These men called out in faith for Jesus to help
them.
Jesus said
to the lepers, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” Now this healing miracle is unlike any other
we hear about in the Gospels. We are
used to Jesus speaking a word, and healing occurs immediately. We see Jesus touch someone and at once they
are healed, or ever raised from the dead.
But that’s not what happened here. Jesus spoke to them and they weren’t healed. Instead, he told them to go and show
themselves to the priests, the agents who could declare a person clean. Jesus sent men who were still lepers to Jerusalem.
It didn’t
make sense. But these men trusted Jesus’
word. They headed off toward Jerusalem. And then Luke tells us that “as they
went they were cleansed.” The Greek
grammar is absolutely clear. The healing
occurred not before they set out, but rather as they were going.
In this
event we see what is true for our lives as well. We don’t walk the Christian life because we
have already seen all of the blessings that it means to us. In fact, we don’t even fully understand what
the greatest blessing is going to be like.
The apostle John said, “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and
what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ
appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”
Instead, we
walk in faith, trusting our Lord’s word. As we do, we receive the healing of
forgiveness. Many times our prayers for
physical healing are answered as we would want them to be. But none of that changes the fact that we are
all walking by faith; none of us receive the final blessing of resurrected
bodies and life with God as it was intended to be before we set out in
faith. Instead, it is only by walking in
faith that we can receive them.
The ten
lepers believed Jesus’ word, and they walked in faith as they headed to Jerusalem. And as
they went they were cleansed. Imagine the shock and joy that must have been
theirs when they realized that their skin was now just like everyone
else’s. They were healed!
Nine of the
lepers kept going to Jerusalem. They
needed to go see the priests. They need
to get the official verification of this healing. Because after all, it was time to get on with
their lives! There was no time to spare.
They had already lost too much of their lives because of the leprosy. They
thought about nothing else except what they now wanted to do.
There are
times that describes you. You are so
busy doing what you want to do, that you forget to stop and give thanks to God
who has made everything possible in the first place. Or you just take the blessings for
granted. This morning you woke up with a
roof over your head. If you wanted to,
you ate breakfast. You’ll certainly each
lunch and dinner. You had a variety of
clothes from which to choose this morning as you got ready. You have a vehicle that you were able to
drive to church.
You are
able to come to come to church today in complete freedom. There is no reason to fear that a suicide
bomber is going to walk in here this morning and detonate himself. There is no reason to fear that a group of
gunmen are going to come in and shoot you all because you are Christians.
These are
all incredible blessings. Just ask
anyone who does not have them! But when
was the last time you actually gave thanks to God for each of these things? An
important part of not misusing God’s name is to praise God and give thanks to
him for the many gifts and blessings he provides. This means that we actually
need to stop and think about what these
are, instead of taking them for granted.
So this
week make a point each day of giving thanks to God by name for your housing,
your food, your clothing, your transportation and your religious freedom. In doing so you will be keeping the Second
Commandment. But here’s the thing about
the commandments. They describe the way
God has ordered his creation. They
describe how things are meant to work.
And therefore it is good for us
when we live in these ways. When you
actually stop to think about all the good things God has given you in order to thank
him, it makes you realize how good your
life really is. It makes you feel
more content. And that’s a good thing.
One of the
lepers, when he saw that he was healed, did turn back back praising God with a
loud voice. He fell on his face at
Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. He
didn’t just use words. He got his whole
body into it as he was before Jesus.
Only one
leper returned, and Luke tells us a surprising fact when he says: “Now he was a
Samaritan.” The Lord Jesus noted this
too when he said, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found
to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”
As we were
reminded last week in James’ sermon about the parable of the Good Samaritan,
the Samaritans and the Jews shared much in common … and they despised one another
because of the differences. The other
nine didn’t return and give thanks. Only
this Samaritan did. His need to give
thanks to the One who had healed him overcame any ethnic or religious barrier.
Your need to
give thanks overcomes any hindrances because of what Jesus has done for you. Jesus Christ is making his way to Jerusalem
in our text in order to win forgiveness for every way we break the Ten
Commandments – including our lack of thanks.
Because you have shared in his death and resurrection through baptism
you are holy in God’s eyes. You are
God’s child now. You are justified and
ready for the Last Day – whenever it arrives.
You are ready for death if that comes first, because death cannot
separate you from God and his love in Christ.
And you know that death cannot have the final word because Jesus Christ
has risen from the dead – the first fruits of your resurrection.
Our text
ends this morning as Jesus said to the man: “Rise and go your way; your faith
has made you well.” Thanks be to God that I can say the same to you this
morning! You will leave this place
knowing that your faith in Jesus Christ has made well. Because of Jesus you are forgiven. Because of
Jesus you have peace. Because of Jesus you have eternal life. So give thanks to God.
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