Luke 17:11-19
“Wellness”
October 9, 2022
There it was, new, clean, and unmarked, the most important item I packed in my bag for my trip to France last month. I nervously kept checking the very specific pocket I placed it in – as I was packing my car, when I stopped for gas, before I boarded the airport shuttle in Concord, again as I waited in line and once it was checked at the airline counter, I finally breathed a sigh of relief.
A passport – the way we are given entry into other countries and usually with only the most perfunctory of questions – for what reason are you travelling, how long will you be there?
To be admitted as a stranger into a strange land without official judgment and given access to all the goods and services and sights and sounds of the native residents of far away lands feels like an acceptance and a small example of a world of peace for which we all hunger.
As it says in Exodus, “You shall neither mistreat a stranger nor oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 22:21)
Jesus here has found his way into a no-man’s land.
This is the region between.
This is where the lepers live – in a place apart where they dwell in isolation and know to keep their distance.
In the shadows, they are to keep travelers safe by announcing their own condition with humiliating shouts of “Unclean!” if the thru travelers get anywhere close to them.
Jesus does not pass through as quickly as possible.
Instead, he takes the time to heal their bodies but also restores them so that they will once again be accepted as fully human by their families and their communities.
The tenth leper – the one who expresses gratitude to Jesus – is a Samaritan.
When we think of Samaritans, our mind usually jumps to the “Good Samaritan” that Jesus describes heroically in one of his parables.
Why are Samaritans seen as the ultimate outsiders in Jewish culture of the time?
Well, they were the descendants of many generations of intermarriage between the left-behind Jews during the exile in Babylon and Gentiles who settled in Israel when the Assyrians were conquering there.
Samaritans shared some things with Jews, but they worshipped at a different temple and their scripture had some similarities but also some dividing differences.
They were enemies in the same way that Catholics and Protestants were in the Middle Ages.
Social contact between Jews and Samaritans was avoided at all costs.
So, this tenth leper is an outsider and other two times over because of both his illness and his status as a foreigner.
He is judged by what others fear.
And yet Jesus sees him and the other nine lepers.
What Jesus may see initially are their arms covered in boils, the broken skin, the swelling and disfigurement, their torn clothes and mangled and knotted hair.
But Jesus is able to see them not for their outward appearance but in their pain.
He instructs them all to go and see the priest whose job it is to confirm that they are clean, and their life suddenly will be turned around.
Like so many other healing stories in Luke’s Gospel, this is one in which the kingdom of God – one in which the sick are made well – is previewed.
In restoring these 10 they are seeing what is possible with God.
There is one, though, for whom the excitement of this new life they’ve been given is not enough.
The 10th leper realizes that Jesus has really seen him and known him, and he can’t help but express his gratitude.
Not a forced gratitude – like when as a child you may have been taught that you always write a thank you note for Christmas and birthday gifts from your grandparents.
No, this is a spontaneous gratitude – the kind that can’t be contained.
It is filled with love for the one who loved him into wellness.
In such gratitude, his faith, his belief in the healing power of Jesus is transformative.
He has been truly seen and known for all that he is – leper, foreigner, other, and beloved child of God.
His thankfulness comes from an emotional place deep within him.
This tenth healed man recognizes and appreciates that he has been showered with grace.
He has been shown that he – the ultimate outsider – is embraced and welcomed by God.
Who comes to mind for you as the outsiders, the others?
Many of us remember those suffering from AIDS and HIV in the 80s and 90s and were shunned and lost jobs and housing and even family ties.
Maybe it is those from Afghanistan and other refugees who have settled as our neighbors here in Vermont.
It could be those who have been released from prison or have been in and out of treatment for their addiction.
The gratitude that comes rushing out of the tenth leper made well stems not from a sense of duty or manners.
It comes from and is acknowledged by Jesus as being offered and returned from a place of love.
What healing are we in need of?
What profound and deep gratitude can we share generously?
Be with me in lifting up this prayer from Rev. Wesley Palmer:
Ever faithful God, again and again you have restored us from illness, worry, hardship, suffering, grief, and loss. You have brought us from those places to health, happiness, joy, perseverance, hope and wholeness.
Too often after we have known your healing strength, we have gone on our way without acknowledging your gifts and graces.
In this moment, we pause to lift our hearts and voices in praise and thanksgiving.
We claim to be a people of faith and yet how often have we told others about the source of our strength and our very life.
Your grace and mercy are never ending, and we desire that our praise would be the same.
Our hearts are overflowing in thanksgiving, and we offer that to you in this prayer and through every moment of this day.
Remind us again and again to turn back and acknowledge that you have guided our steps through all that has been and all that will be.
We pray all this in the name of the great physician, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.