Untouchable Thanksgiving (Luke 17:11-21)

Untouchable COVID: Sean Payton

At the beginning of the COVID pandemic, one of the first well-known people to get COVID was Sean Payton, then-coach of the New Orleans Saints football team. After he had recovered and was back to coaching, he told the story of being in a sandwich shop shortly after being cleared to coach again. He was standing in line. And it was kind of quiet. And everyone was staring at him. So, he announces to the cafe that he had been cleared and that his COVID was behind him. One of the most famous football coaches of our generation speaking to the fear and also to the isolation of having COVID. We all know of individuals and families who did not let it be known that they had COVID. COVID carried a stigma. At one point here in the RGV things were so bad, if you had COVID you were untouchable. We all relate to that story. How many of you, like me, stifled sneezes in Walmart, because you didn’t want to create fear?

There have always been those diseases that create classes of people who are untouchable. If you have a certain sickness, you are isolated and quarantined. COVID brought that home. Our story today revolves around those who are untouchable. But often we come to this text and we assume that this story is about healing. And it’s about obedience. And it’s about being thankful. And if we get far enough it’s about faith. And when we do that, we end up missing the point of the text.

I’ll say this up front: we’re the untouchables in this story. If we do not see this, we will completely miss just what it is that Dr. Luke wants us to see as he tells this story from the life of Jesus.

What is leprosy?

In this story, Jesus arrives at a town and as he gets to the edge of town, he is greeted by ten men who had leprosy. We don’t know much about the disease that they had. Most do not think that the leprosy we find in the Bible is exactly the same as what we know as leprosy today. However, what we do know is this: it was highly contagious, it was always fatal, and if you had it, you were not allowed to hang with the rest of the population. To be a leper, you didn’t just have the worst skin disease ever… you were a pariah, you were an outcast, you were banned to spend the rest of your life in isolation with others who also had the same disease. And the worst part was… you were cut off from the community’s worship. You were not allowed in the temple, you were not allowed in the synagogue. You were expected to keep your distance from the rest of society.

The cry for mercy

Jesus arrives on the outskirts of this town, and these 10 lepers who are keeping their distance.

Luke 17:13 “raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

These ten men know the impossibility of their situation. Some of them may be in their last days of suffering with this terrible skin disease. They have heard of Jesus. They know he is a great teacher. They have heard that he comes proclaiming the kingdom. They know him to be a man of compassion. We don’t know that they expected healing. That would be making more of the word “mercy” than the story makes of it. They are appealing to someone who can give mercy and grace. And whether they know it or not, they are crying out for mercy to the only one who can truly give them the mercy that they need.

And when Jesus sees them he says

Luke 17:14 “Go and show yourselves to the priests.”

It’s kind of bonkers Jesus says this. We don’t know anything else about the conversation. But what we’re supposed to see is that Jesus responds to their cry for mercy with an instruction to go show yourselves to the priests. And the only reason you do this is if you have been healed. Jesus doesn’t proclaim healing. Jesus doesn’t touch them. Jesus doesn’t tell them that they are healed. He simply says “go and show yourselves to the priests.” Showing yourself to the priest is standard protocol for healing from unclean disease. The priests’ declaration that you are clean means you get to be normal. You get to go home.

Jesus’ appeal to faith

If you are the ten, what do you do? Do you stand around wondering if you heard right? I probably do. Jesus has appealed to their faith. They have a choice. Stay where they are and stay in their leprosy. Or received Jesus’ words in faith. They chose to place their faith in Christ’s word. They do as Jesus says. They head to see the priest. And along the way, they are healed. No more skin disease. No more leprosy. No more isolation. No more staying outside the town and watching all the birthday parties on facebook that you can’t attend. You get to go home. You get to go home.

The Big U-turn

One might think this is the end of the story, but it is not. One of those lepers who was healed, made a U-turn. He changes direction. In fact, he goes in the opposite direction. He goes back to Jesus, falls at Jesus’ feet, and thanks Jesus. In whatever was going down on the way to the priests… this leper decides he need to go back to Jesus.

The Big Reveal

Luke has one more surprise. If we’re not shocked that Jesus tells 10 outcasts of society to go see the priests and along the way they are healed, and if we’re not shocked that one turns around and comes back to Jesus, Luke tells us this:

Luke 17:16 “And he was a Samaritan.”

This man wasn’t simply an outcast leper. The man was a Samaritan. By implication, the rest were Jews. The only reason they would hang with a Samaritan was because he was a leper. You have to wonder whether he knows that the priests will be reluctant to declare a Samaritan fit to return to society. Regardless of what is happening, it’s the outcast among outcasts at the feet of Jesus giving thanks.

The last surprise may be the most shocking of all.

Jesus responds with three questions and the questions are quite stunning:

Luke 17:17-18 “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Didn’t any return to give glory to God except this foreigner?”

Three questions

What’s with the questions, Jesus? The other nine are simply doing what Jesus told them to do. They are obeying Jesus. They have not deviated from obeying Jesus. And yet, Jesus has these questions. It’s the U-turn that you’d think Jesus would be criticizing. I thought I told you to go see the priests. Why aren’t you obeying me? Instead, “where are the nine?” Where are the upstanding Jews, faithful to Moses? They continue down the path to see Moses. Jesus is simply a means to their end to get home. If Moses and the law are the way to get home, then they will do that. Obedience to the law is more important than Jesus. Making sure that religion is satisfied is more important than Jesus.

If you don’t think this is what’s happening here, just look at where Luke says the Samaritan leper is located:

Luke 17:16 “He fell facedown at his feet, thanking him.

The one is at the feet of Jesus. If you know anything about the biography that Luke is writing, being at the feet of Jesus is where his family is located. Being at the feet of Jesus is where home is. The other nine are headed to what they think is home… back to the normal, back to religion, back to home. Home is found at the feet of Jesus. This leper has returned to Jesus because he understands that to be with Jesus is to be where home is. All he wants, all he needs is Jesus. Jesus is everything.

The untouchable finds his home at Jesus’ feet. And Jesus says,

Luke 17:19 “Get up and go on your way. Your faith has saved you.”

Jesus doesn’t say, OK… good job. Thanks for thanking me. Now go see the priest. He says “go on your way. Your faith has made you whole… has saved you.” By now, going to see the priests is immaterial. The story doesn’t end there. The crowd that would be cheering the nine who went to see the priests are apparently watching all of this. The religious leaders who do not like Jesus are there… and Jesus says to them… the kingdom of God is in your midst.

The Kingdom of God is where Jesus is

That’s what the Samaritan leper knew. Home is where Jesus is. The Kingdom of God is where Jesus is. Not Moses. Not the law. Not their religion. Jesus. At the feet of Jesus. This whole story has been about knowing and understanding the kingdom of God.

The Kingdom of God is where untouchable sinners are healed

The Kingdom of God isn’t about the successful. It’s not about getting it right. It’s not about having all of the right boxes checked. The Kingdom of God is where untouchables like this Samaritan leper, like you and like me find healing in Jesus. We are the leper colony. There is no self-healing. The odds of us being able to help ourselves are impossible. We need Jesus and His mercy. Again and again and again. And so we come running to Jesus and place ourselves at his feet. Salvation is where Jesus is, where his Word is received and believed in faith. That’s where the kingdom is present. That’s where home is.

This story is not about having enough faith to be healed. It’s not about name it and claim it… name it and claim it is not biblical. It’s not about getting a Word of faith or having enough faith to be healed. That’s also unbiblical. This is about Jesus providing spiritual healing to untouchable people like you and like me.

The Kingdom of God is where thanksgiving happens

This is also not a morality play. This isn’t a story where we teach ourselves how to be thankful and to make sure that we thank Jesus when he does good things for us. That’s not why Luke wrote this. It’s not what Jesus commends about the Samaritan leper. But there is this: the kingdom of God is where Thanksgiving happens. The lasting picture of the story is for us to see that Samaritan leper at the feet of Jesus giving thanks. Coming home, being at home, and giving thanks among family is what forgiven people do.

Every Sunday is a day of Thanksgiving here at the Table. Every Sunday we take time to celebrate and praise Jesus for who He is and what He has done for us. We come together as untouchables… the unlovely and the outcasts, the sinners… those who desperately need Jesus… we come home, we sit at his feet, and we give him thanks and praise for His healing, his forgiveness, his salvation for us. There is no other place where we are going to find hope. There is no other place where we are going to find absolute unconditional love that never lets us go. We fall facedown in worship, at His feet, thanking Him.

Let’s Pray.

The kingdom is present among us. Right here. Right now. At this table. And we come to this Table at the feet of Jesus ready to receive from him all of the blessings of the kingdom, including forgiveness, salvation, and life. This is our home. This is where Jesus meets us as family. Everything we’ve ever wanted we find in Jesus who gives us Himself at this Table this morning.