+Nine were
healed. One was saved. To me, that’s the down ‘n dirty take away from today’s
Gospel about the healing of the ten people who have leprosy.
Oh sure there
are other points Luke makes in this Gospel: the very clear message that this
healing happened while Jesus and his friends were in a sort of cultural no
man’s land---they weren’t in Galilee where they “belonged,” and they weren’t in
Samaria where they most certainly DIDN’T “belong.” They were in a border
region. The Greek word translated here actually means “the middle region” They
were traveling in the middle area between Samaria and Galilee. They were
neither here nor there. They were betwixt and between. They were, in effect, no
where that mattered….
And they were
approached. Accosted, pursued, sought out by a group of ten people, ten people
who found one another after being cast out from their families, their homes,
their villages. Pushed out, denied,
forgotten, shunned. They were united through their exclusion.
They were no
longer anyone. And they were wandering in an area best described as no where.
Jesus and the
ten are where we usually find Jesus —on the border between clean and unclean,
safe and unsafe, ok and not ok.
Now, Luke gives us these details for a reason. He’s making sure his
readers know that this story of healing didn’t take place in the temple. It
took place out there, beyond the border of the safe, beyond the border of the
comfortable. That’s important….we tend to forget that while it’s joyful when we
gather on Sundays to worship as a community, we must never forget that this
worship is simply the fueling station for the rest of the week. When you leave
here you are to seek and serve Christ in all whom you encounter. All. Not just
those we feel comfortable with…not just the familiar. Not just the safe. Being
out there, is what Luke is trying to get across.
Now, let’s look at the actual healing part of this Gospel. It’s an
interesting course of events---the group of ten approach Jesus-- They’d heard
about this itinerant preacher and healer and what in the world did they have to
lose by trying to get his help? NOTHING. So they holler at him as he approaches
the nearby village. This isn’t a quiet meet and greet on the road into town.
It’s a bit of a dust up.
When
I re-read this story on Friday morning I had an image of Jesus and his friends
approaching the village and upon hearing the shouts of the ten, Jesus looks
over his shoulder and says, in what I hear as a somewhat dismissive tone: All
right, GO, get out of here, show yourselves to the priests. As if to imply,
fine, I’ve taken care of you, now get out of my way, I’ve things to do.
Lots of commentators keep Jesus really squeaky
clean during these stories. That just doesn’t jibe with who I think Jesus of
Nazareth was—he hung out in notoriously bad places with people of questionable
character---he was a rabble rouser, an instigator and a pain in the patoot to a
whole lot of folks. He was sweaty and smelly and dirty. He could be rude and
outlandish. He could be cranky and annoying. After all, he was HUMAN. He had good days and bad. So what makes us
think that he kindly and gently said, in an angelic voice, “Go show yourselves
to the priests.” Perhaps he was brusque. Perhaps he was annoyed and ticked off
and said “Go show yourselves to the
priests” [say with annoyance] and then rushed on his way.
I imagine the
scene playing out like that rather than a holier than thou preacher gently and
lovingly giving them direction.
BUT and here’s
the kicker, even when annoyed and rushed and hot and bothered, Jesus can’t help
but feel compassion. He can’t help but HEAL them, even if he doesn’t take the
time to stop and speak with them. He can’t help, amidst all the human-ness of
his being, to also be Divine. That’s the beauty of our Savior. For he at all
times and in all places, is BOTH.
And so, he
gives his directive and the ten head toward the synagogue to see the priests.
(No doubt hoping that this Jesus knew what he was talking about.) And as they
turn on their way they are miraculously and thoroughly and utterly healed...
It’s a miracle, they have been
healed. Noticing this barely slows nine of them down. Who can blame
them? They’re anxious to do exactly what they’ve been told---after all if that
crazy preacher could heal them with just a word, he could also un-heal them if
they didn’t follow his instructions.
They’re not the bad guys in this story—they did as they were told.
But then
there’s the one….a Samaritan nonetheless… a foreigner to beat all foreigners--
a hated outsider who stops, and turns back toward Jesus, falling at his feet
and praising God for this gift of health.
This isn’t just
a simple thank you. It isn’t just rejoicing at being relieved of a particular ailment.
No this one man, upon receiving the gift of healing, turned his whole life, his
whole mind, his whole heart and his whole soul over to God. His behavior is a
shout of “Hosanna in the Highest, you are my God and I am your child.” His is a song of the saved, not simply a
refrain of the healed.
Have you been
healed, or have you been saved?
To be healed is
a wondrous thing, worthy of our gratitude.
But to be saved
is to go out into the world, seeking and serving Christ in all whom we encounter.
No exceptions, no yes buts, no I can’t. It’s the challenge presented to us by
Jesus in today’s parable---be grateful for your healing, AND be energized,
renewed and inspired by your salvation.
Go out into the
world, make a difference. Stand up and stand out as one who is Healed and
Saved. For that’s what we are called to do. Thanks be to God.
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