October 14, 2007
Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost
Luke 17:11-19
On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between
Good News: Jesus restores us to the community
Tandem Stories
There were ten lepers living in the town. Nine were Jewish. One was a Samaritan.
There were ten lepers living in the town. Nine were Jewish, one was a Samaritan, and everywhere they went they would have to yell, “Unclean! Unclean!” They would yell “unclean” to warn those around them. They would yell, “unclean” to allow people time to move out of there way. No one could touch them, according to Jewish law, because their skin was infected.
Infected with what, you ask? We don’t know. Leprosy is a horrible disease in its own right, but when the term “leper” is used in Scripture, it is not just referring to leprosy. It is referring to a wide range of skin diseases and, back at that time, one skin disease was suspected as being as harmful as the rest.
And so there were ten lepers living in that town, nine were Jewish, one was a Samaritan, and they yelled “Unclean!” because, all things being equal, they were unclean to the population that surrounded them.
But when they saw Jesus. But when they saw Jesus they didn’t yell, “Unclean!” I wonder why. Why did they not yell unclean, why did they not warn Jesus of their disease?
We don’t know. What we do know is that, instead of yelling, “Unclean!” they yelled, “Mercy!”
Mercy.
Michelle was a woman who lived in town. I can’t say that Michelle was a friend; I didn’t really know her that well. But I can say that we all knew Michelle, and the majority of people felt that Michelle was unclean.
Michelle had been kicked out of the community that she had been with. She had been kicked out because they found out about her. They found out about her life, what she did, who she really was.
They found out the Michelle had at one time been someone else, and the change was visible. She didn’t look the same. She didn’t talk the same. She didn’t walk the same. And all of these visible signs let everyone know that she was different. All of these visible signs let everyone know that Michelle was, well, in the eyes of many, “unclean.”
But she showed up at church one day. She showed up at church one day seeking mercy. She showed up at church one day seeking the body of Christ, to taste it, hold it, to be held by it, by the hands of the people gathered there.
What would they do?
Ten lepers lived in that town, nine of them Jewish, one a Samaritan. They called out “Mercy” to the body of Christ, the physical body of Jesus standing before them.
And Jesus shows mercy. Jesus tells them to show themselves to the priests, and as they went to do so, they were healed. Healed from their leprosy. Healed from the judgments of others. Healed from those marks that were a signal to everyone that they were unclean. And once they showed themselves to the priests, they would be labeled clean again. They would be able to enter back into society. They would be able to resume their lives in their community once again.
All except one.
You see, the nine Jewish lepers would reenter society. They would be accepted back once they showed themselves to the priest. They would be labeled as clean again.
But not the Samaritan. It would do no good for the Samaritan to go the priest because the priest would not label him clean. He was a Samaritan. He was unclean to them by his very nature, it didn’t matter how spotless his skin was.
Michelle showed up at church that day. She showed up seeking mercy. But she was not spotless in the eyes of the church people there. And they shunned her, telling her that no matter how many times she returned, they would not accept her. They actually told her this.
So she walked down the street to another church. And I saw her walk in. I saw her take a seat at the back.
As Jesus was standing there on the road, the Samaritan came back. He came back because it didn’t matter if he showed himself to the priest. That priest would not label him clean. He had to show himself to the Great High Priest, to Jesus. Jesus, who could heal his leprosy, was also the only one who could heal the division that was erected between people.
Did Jesus say it was bad he was a Samaritan and heal him from that? No. That would be ridiculous. The sin was not that he was a Samaritan, the sin was the wall, the division, the anger, jealousy, and racism that existed between the Jewish people and the Samaritans. And so he comes back, praising God for healing his leprosy, and he receives something else as well.
Jesus breaks down the wall of racism between the communities. How? He talks to him. He speaks to him, sets him up as an example, an example of faithfulness for the Jewish people that had gathered around him, those disciples, and tells him the truth “He is well.”
He is well in the eyes of God, and therefore should be well in the eyes of those around him. Jesus restores him in front of the community, engages him as an example of faith.
Jesus broke down the wall between those communities.
Michelle came in and sat at the back. I watched her sit down. You could tell there was a difference in her; she was not the same as those sitting around me. Even my young eyes could tell.
But I saw her sing with vigor the hymns that day. I saw her smile during the children’s choir. I saw her cry during the prayers. And I saw her shake hands with the people around her at the peace. And they shook hands. And they shook hands. People were delighted to see her. She had come to give thanks to God, and so it did not matter in that place that she looked different, or acted different, walked and talked different. She had come to see the Great High Priest, to hear again how God has restored humanity, cured our sin and our diseases, and so she was welcome. She was an example of faithfulness.
And there, in the midst of the body of Christ that day, I saw a barrier come crumbling down. Not everyone was comfortable with Michelle being there. She did walk differently. She did talk differently. But the fact that the Great High Priest was the one she came to praise was good enough for them, and the road to changing hearts and minds was opened that day.
You see, there are communities still today that society sees as “unclean.” There are people still today that have been rejected by people, even Christian people, for who they are, what they look like, the way they act, and the way the dress. They come to the body of Christ seeking what we all seek: mercy, healing, and wholeness.
And God provides it. God provides it at this table. God provides it in this water. God provides it through the Word. And we come to hear it once again and give thanks. And as we come to hear it, to give thanks, we must be mindful that communities exist out there who are our neighbors, our brothers and sisters, our friends, that need to be included in this healing and wholeness because God in Jesus has told us that those walls that we erect to separate ourselves are not godly walls, they are walls of sinfulness.
When I talked to Michelle about her story, she told me of her faith and her love for God, and how she sought a community that would allow her to be part of it. She found it in the body of Christ that said to her, as Christ says to the lepers, “God loves you. You have come here in faith to give thanks to God for that love. Your faith has made you well.”
Ten lepers lived in that town, nine were Jewish, one was a Samaritan. And Christ broke down those barriers that lay between them, healing them not only of their leprosy, but also of their judgments. And God sets us free from our barriers and judgments as well. Let us go, now, and be that restorative body of Christ, as we have been restored. Amen.
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