Wonder Sparked and Reborn: Gratitude

Your Faith Has Made You Whole Main point:   The journey of our lives is to find healing which is wholeness through the presence of Christ who offers it to us in the in between times.

We continue a sermon series entitled, Wonder Sparked and Reborn.

The hope of this series is to intentionally prepare for the season of Advent and Christmas by focusing on imagination, awe, and gratitude, so that hope, peace, joy and love might be sparked and reborn in our lives through Christ’s birth.

Today, we explore gratitude in our daily lives.  

But in our passage I want to suggest that something deeper is going on here.  

I invite you to wonder with me as you hear this passage about the connection between wholeness found in Christ and our deepest gratitude.  

What if?

What if in the journey of  healing and wholeness. We find our deepest gratitude in Christ?

Our scripture reading for this Sunday is Luke chapter 17: verses 11 through 19 Hear the word of the Lord. 

On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” When he saw them, Jesus said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then Jesus said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”

This is the  Word of the Lord.

Thanks Be to God.

Prayer:  

Loving God,

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts be acceptable to you. You are our rock, our refuge,  and the redeemer of our lives. The healer of our lives.  Thank you God.  Amen. 

Manuscript:

Where do you need healing in your life? It is a strange question. And I am not talking about physical healing.  But the healing that we all seek deep inside of us.  I don’t know exactly where to locate it. The healing we need in our hearts. In our souls.

It is the healing and the wounds we don’t usually talk about.  And we don’t talk about it because we can hide these wounds. 

But I guess, I guess I have come to realize that everyone needs some healing. Yes, everyone looks nice coming here. And so many have it all together. But deep down. All of us have wounds. But when people get really honest. You begin to hear what people are carrying. You can’t see these wounds the outside.  But they are there.

Estranged relationships. A brother. A Son. A daughter. A marriage.

Disappoitnments about how life was supposed to go. Where I should have been? What I should have made. Who I should have been?

Grief. How can she be gone so soon? This was not the way it was supposed to be.

Anxiety, Uncertainty. The cost of living. How are we gonna make it? What if I lose my job? Most of hte time these wounds are hidden.  But there are seasons (and sometimes holidays) when they become visible.  They bubble up to the surface.  There maybe not so easy to hide.  When I first read this passage.  I could not relate to the ten lepers. That’s not me? I don’t have that disease. And yet, if I am really honest.  Maybe they are on a journey of healing just like me.

Now, the wounds of hte lepers are different.  Their wounds are visible.  But what I find interesting is that these 10 men are unnamed. And when you first hear Lepers or Hansons disease.  You think they are other. Not like you and me.  But I wonder.  Are they really different than you and me? Maybe the only difference was that they were seeking healing for visible wounds and maybe we are seeking healing for invisible wounds.  

And what I find interesting is that.  Jesus meets them in the inbetwen place. We know that place.  The place between. We are not where we want to be but it is where we find our l ives. That inbetween time. That time when things are not as they should be. That inbetween time. And we are searching for healing. We often would not name it as such.  And we try and find healing in food, alcohol, power, anger, sex.  But nothing really seems to satisfy.  But we are not the only ones on a journey. Jesus is on a path.

A way to Jerusalem, and to the Cross. Ten men have leprosy or Hanson’s disease and so they approach Jesus and beg him to heal them.  Remember these Lepers would have been outcasts.  Their skin would have been dry and scaly.  Maybe they would have ulcers and would be disfigured.  Unable to come close to anyone. In fact, they might have been required to ring a bell as they walked just to warn others.

To keep clear.

To keep their distance. They wonder will their lives ever change. But Jesus meets them in this inbetween place of struggle, and estrangement.    Jesus see them.  And their need.  He tells them to go and see the priests, “which was mandated by the law” For them to be restored to the community the priest would have to say that they are cured and can be welcome back into the community. And on the way they are healed.  But one of them. An unlikely, person. A Samaritan.  Stops, turns back, and upon seeing he is healed. And kneels before Jesus. Praising him. And giving thanks!

Then Jesus asks, “were not 10 men made clean where are the other nine?  Did none of them come back except the foreigner” Then Jesus said, “Get up your faith has made you well.”

Often there is an opportunity to see Jesus in that in-between space.

That unsettled space.  

Because when we are comfortable.  We are busy. We are occupied. We are distracted. We have no reason to search. Often in the good times we think. Look at me. Look at what I have done. Look at what I have created. And we don’t look for Christ.  

But in those in-between times we are searching, Looking. Seeking. Looking for answers.  Jesus most often appears clearly if we are looking.  

Jesus appears In that place of need.

These ten lepers see Jesus clearly.

And they ask for help. Jesus tells them to go see the Priests and also that journey they are healed physically. But Luke wishes to teach us an important lesson about Healing.  

That there is a distinction between healing physicaly.

And healing emotionally and spiritually.

And this is what Luke wants us to focus on.  This healing spiritually, and emotionally.

We don’t always like to talk about it.

And these internal wounds are sometimes harder to see.  But this tenth leper.  This surprising character.  This Samaritan, can show us the way. A path to healing through Christ’s presence.  .

This week I heard a powerful story. Of a Father and Son who had had a difficult relationship. And yet, there was a surprise grandchild born. And a baptism not long ago of that child. And as that child was baptized. As the congregation sang Jesus loves me. There was this profound moment of healing.

I remember being in my basement. During a hard time.  And somehow Christ was present.  I still can’t explain it. But Christ’s presence and reassurance.  Offering love, and hope.  

I never forget it.  

And it was a moment of healing. Now grace can come in so many forms in our lives. But ultimately it is God’s love.  The 10th Leper sees grace.  And I think it is fascinating, That this Samartian so excluded due to leprosy, and hated because the Samaritans were the sorn enemies of the Jews.  And yet, He is able to see clearly what is being offered in Christ.  

And this is what makes hiim different.  

He stops.

Turns around.

And chooses to go in another path. And that path is one of gratitude.  He falls at Jesus feet. And and praises God.

This is what separates him from the other ten. He sees the larger gift offered to him.  This one surprising Leper, intentionally chooses to see, name, recognize, turns around and moves towards Jesus.  And what does Jesus offer this Leper and us. Wholeness, and healing.

Jesus says, “Get up your faith has made you well.”

T​​he Greek word here for well is , sesoken, Your faith has made you well.  Is from the root sozo, Which can be translated any of these ways: healed, made well, saved. It can also be translated, with the King James Version, “Your faith has made you whole. 

Your faith has made you whole.  

Christ heals all the ten people outwardly and physically  but it is interesting to me that the Leper sees the larger journey of inward healing.    The inward journey is the long journey of our lives.  

It is important ot remember the larger context of our story. Remember Jesus is going to the Cross.

He is on his way to Jerusalem.

And this Leper recognized Jesus as God.  

That God is with him.

Near him.

Loves him.

The leper is not just healed, but is made whole through Christ presence.

He is restored, drawn back into relationship with God and humanity. And this Leper find the strength to get up and keep going.

Knowing that Jesus has healed his despairing heart. Jesus has healed his angry Spirit.. Jesus has healed his fearful thoughts.  

And this healing takes place Often in those inbetween places. When We feel like we are alone.

Outcast.

And yet this Leper gives us the path to healing.  When we like the Leper remember and see

Christ with us, Near us

Close to us. Beside us. When we see love and presence in our midst. When we draw closer to it. When we give thanks.  

Because we remember the larger story of our lives of a Savior.  Who would give everything for you and me.

And we find the grace and strength to get up.

To get up and keep walking.

Knowing our faith has saved us from despair. to remember the eternal hope of God. 

Know our faith has made healed us from our anger, fear, or hurt knowing we are loved.

Knowing our faith has made us whole knowing the larger story of our lives instead of just the fragments of pain.  

And I stand here to say.  That healing is possible through Jesus Christ. That this 10th leper can be you or me.  And for that gift, That hope. Christ has my ultimate gratitude. 

Thanks be to God.

Amen.

Outline 1:

 Where do you need healing in you life? (not physical, hidden wounds, surprised by how much people are carrying.

How is this story our story (first read it is hard to see parallels, journey of healing and so are we).

Christ usually intersects our lives (in between place, and Christ’s journey of healing)

10th leper pasuses, turns, and praise God - your faith has made you whole.  And in Christ’s presence we find hte strength to keep walking in faith.

We should never put limits on God’s grace (who it it for) and when it will happen.

But believe it can.

Baptism story

For for ultimate story of healing - we are grateful with our lives.  Amen.

Outline 2:

 Where do you need healing in your life?

Usually in honest, sessions people get real about the wounds tehy are carrying.

Anger about how life should have gone

Grief over a loved one

Estranged relationship

What if all of us are on some journey seeking healing?

When you first read this passage.  It is hard to relate.  These ten lepers, hanson disease.  Probably carrying a bell for people to keep their distance.  Outcasts.  It is hard to put myself in the text.  

But than I began to wonder.  What if they are just visible representation of a common search.  Yes, their illness were visible but what if their search for healing is universal - for us as indidviduals, as a church, as a country.

How might we enter the story and it be our story?

In-between place:

First Jesus meets them in an inbetween region.  An areas between Samaria and Galilee.  But that is where Jesus often meets us.  

Inbetween place in our lives. 

 We have this idea of how are lives are supposed to be.  How they are supposed to go.  And that is in comparison how they are.  

Or we compare our lives to others.  What they have.  What we should have.  

We are always trying to prove something to ourselves or to others.

And it creates pain, anguish.  It sucks the joy out of life.  And social media does not help.  Have you ever scrolled and seen the perfect vacation, perfect relationship, perfect life and felt nothing but what is wrong with my life.  Or felt the competition to keep up.

But we are not the only one on a journey.  Where is Jesus going.  Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem.  He is on a journey towards life.  And what is the intersection.  This moment in time.  Jesus meets those who are seeking healing in the inbetween place and what He is offering is healing and life.  To the Lepers and to you and me.  

Now the 10 lepers are all healed.  And Jesus tells them to see the chief priests.  Which would have been mandated by the law so that they could be said to be clean and reconnected to the community.  

But strangely, the 10 leper.  A Samaritan.  A foreigner.  An apostate.  The Samaritans were sworn enemies of the Jews.  And this samaritan was the one who turns around.  

Stops, turns back, and upon seeing he is healed. And kneels before Jesus. Praising him. And giving thanks!

Then Jesus asks, “were not 10 men made clean where are the other nine?  Did none of them come back except the foreigner” Then Jesus said, “Get up your faith has made you well.”

We can learn form the Samaritan.  His intentionality.  He pauses, turns around and notices Jesus.  When things are going well.  We don’t really see Jesus because we don’t need Jesus.   We are busy. We are occupied. We are distracted. We have no reason to search. Often in the good times we think. Look at me. Look at what I have done. Look at what I have created. And we don’t look for Christ.  

But this other.  This foreigner.  This outcast.  Sees something we often miss.  He seeks Christ gives praise and thanks.  

And we should learn to do that as well. To really pause and give thanks to Jesus.  And as I asked in this weeks email. I want to encourage you this day, this week to write down, to name in your own heart all that you are thankful for.  It has profound mental, emotional and physical effects on our lives.  

But this story points to an even deeper truth about healing.  Jesus says get up your faith has made you well.  

T​​he Greek word here for well is , sesoken, Your faith has made you well.  Is from the root sozo, Which can be translated any of these ways: healed, made well, saved. It can also be translated, with the King James Version, “Your faith has made you whole. 

Your faith has made you whole.  

The 10th leper is physically healed like the others.  But this 10th leper is made whole.  As the writer Parker Palmer says there is a “hidden wholeness” that we all seek.  

And here is my hunch.  What the 10th Leper experiences is grace.  Christ’s love that can make us whole.  Because remember the 10th Leper recognizes Jesus as God with His praise.  

He recognizes that God is near to him.

Close to him.

And that God can make us whole.  That God can heal the hidden wounds of our lives.  And that in Christ we can find the strength to keep walking.  To get up, because we have a savior.  Who sees us in inbetween places, and through his presence offers us healing.  And that grace is for all.  The samaritan, and you and me.

And for that, we offer to God our deepest gratitude.  The gratitude of our lives.  Amen.

Notes:  

“Praise is inner health made audible.” (Reflections on the Psalms) - C.S. Lewis

“Ancient religion and science agree: we are here to give praise . . . to pay attention.” - John Updike

In the passage from Luke, Jesus is again in a border region. He is crossing boundaries and healing people with whom he has no business interacting. This time he runs into a group of ten lepers. These ten lepers in this time were considered “unclean” and were outcasts in their community. They approach Jesus with a plea for healing but also keep their distance. Jesus instructs them to go and show themselves to the local priest, promising by implication that they will be made well. And, indeed, as they travel they are made well, cleansed of their infirmity. When one of them notices, he turns back to express his gratitude, falling at Jesus’ feet in a posture of worship to give thanks. All ten lepers do what Jesus has instructed them to do and they are healed. And yet, one returns to give thanks. He was made well like the others, but there is a second blessing, and that is to give thanks. His faith has made him not only physically well, but also whole. So what does the man who returned receive? Just like the other nine, he was healed, but there is an additional blessing. For the tenth leper it comes from noticing the blessing and giving thanks. 

We receive blessings all the time in our lives but many of them go unnoticed. Something changes inside of us when we notice the blessings in our lives and we give thanks. This practice of noticing changes us emotionally, spiritually, and some would even argue physically. Have you ever been with someone and you name and notice the moment? You say aloud and name the blessing you are experiencing. In that moment you are changed. The practice of gratitude often begins with our ability to recognize and notice the blessings in our lives and to give expression to them in some way. This practice of gratitude is one of our most powerful pathways to God. Just like the leper who connects with Christ. Gratitude connects us with Christ and often frees us from fear, and releases us from anxiety. Maybe the tenth leper is an invitation to be made whole through the practice of gratitude.

Discussion Questions

Like the leper who returns to Jesus, how might praise and gratitude be a practice of healing?

How do we give thanks even in hard times?

Why do you think the practice of gratitude can be a spark to renewal?  

Why do you think we sing the doxology each Sunday? What might be the intent behind that practice?  

“Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; Praise Him, all creatures here below;”  What if you were to use the doxology beyond Sunday?  

Musical Meditation: For the Beauty of the Earth

The text of the hymn For the Beauty of the Earth expresses thankfulness for a wide range of human experiences. Stanza two sings, “For the wonder of each hour of the day and of the night, hill and vale, and tree and flower, sun and moon, and stars of light.” How can you notice the wonder of each hour you are given, the beauty of our wonderful world, friends we hold so dear, the gift of our senses, the love both human and divine that surrounds us each day? For these and many other wonders, we sing, “Lord of all, to thee we raise, this our hymn of grateful praise.” 

For the beauty of the earth, for the glory of the skies, for the love which from our birth over and around us lies:

For the wonder of each hour of the day and of the night, hill and vale, and tree and flower, sun and moon, and stars of light.

For the joy of ear and eye, for the heart and mind’s delight, for the mystic harmony linking sense to sound and sight.

For the joy of human love, brother, sister, parent child, friends on earth, and friends above, for all gentle thoughts and mild.

For thyself, best gift divine to the world so freely given; for that great, great love of thine, peace on earth and joy in heaven.

REFRAIN: Lord of all, to thee we raise - this our hymn of grateful praise.

Click on the link below to listen to a modern version of this hymn sung to the tune DIX as it is in our hymnal. Sing along if you like.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zy7t2Uasqe8

Click on the link below to listen to the same text sung to a different tune arranged by British composer Phillip Stopford.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=ZlZVOPk-_kk

Gathering Question 

What blocks you from being grateful? What are the obstacles to gratitude that you face?

Opening Prayer

Dear God, as we gather here today, we pause to give thanks for the many blessings in our lives. We are grateful for this opportunity to come together, to share our thoughts, and to support one another. Help us to recognize the gifts we often take for granted—the love of family and friends, the beauty of nature, and the warmth of community. May our hearts be open to gratitude, filling us with joy and peace. Guide our discussions today, and let us inspire one another to live with a spirit of thankfulness, recognizing Your presence in all things. Amen.

Practice of Wonder

In your group, think individually for a moment and then share with each other a few things you are thankful for in your own life and share one thing you are thankful for in the group.

Closing Prayer

Loving God, as we come to the end of our time together, we lift our hearts in gratitude for the blessings You have bestowed upon us. Thank you God for the fellowship we have shared, the wisdom exchanged, and the love that unites us in Christ.

Help us to carry this spirit of gratitude into our daily lives, recognizing Your presence in every moment. May we be a reflection of Your grace and kindness to others.

Guide us as we go forth, and keep us rooted in Your love. In Jesus’ name, we pray.  Amen.

_______

Healing Through Gratitude

Focus statement:  The Tenth leper (an outsider teaches us) that he path to healing is found in the intentional choice of seeing Jesus in our midst and choosing praise and gratitude. 

Our passage for this Sunday is Luke 17, verses  11 through 19.  As you are hearing it I wonder what you are grateful for in your life?

I wonder what might obscure that gratitude in your life?

Hear the word of the Lord.

On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus[a] was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he entered a village, ten men with a skin disease approached him. Keeping their distance, 13 they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” 14 When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. 15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. 16 He prostrated himself at Jesus’s[b] feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? So where are the other nine? 18 Did none of them return to give glory to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”

This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

Let us pray.

Loving God, tune my heart to sing your praise.

Help me to see what blocks me from seeing you fully.

May the words of my mouth and the mediation of all of our hearts be acceptable to you.

You are our rock and redeemer.

Amen.

A woman came in for cataract surgery and the optometrist saw A “blueish mass.” At first they did not know what it was.  But upon closer examination this is the found…. This bluish mass was actually Was actually 17 disposable contact lenses stuck together.   The 67-year-old patient was unaware that the contact lenses were missing, During the exam, She said to them that almost each month, 

She would often say to herself… “Oh it happened again.”  So she just always thought the disposable contact had fallen out of her eye. So she would put in a new one. Repeating this pattern. She just kept adding them. After the examination, she told the doctors that she thought her discomfort was due to dry eye and old age.

They removed the blueish mass and she was able to see clearly once again.  

I wonder what is obscuring our eyesight this morning in our lives? Sometimes the obstacles that obscure our vision can be so close. Even though it is hard to believe we get comfortable with them. Sometimes we get into these practices, and patterns that we repeat which obscure our vision.  Sometimes they can be self-talk - I am not enough, I don’t have enough, 

Or some negative message that builds up over the years. 

Anger

Dispair,

Frustration

Fear That blocks our eyes from truly seeing. From truly seeing Jesus in our midst and the healing love He offers to us. And so I wonder, what obstacle might be blocking our eyes this morning?

Because we are invited this morning to see differently.  But not only see but live differently.

In our passage for today.  There is one Leper who truly saw Jesus.  And He is so thankful. What is so interesting to me is that this Leper.  Stops, turns around, and goes in a different path.

There is real intentionality.  And what Jesus offers is a wholeness that we all seek. But it makes me wonder?

What path are we on? In our passage, Jesus is on a path.

A way to Jerusalem, and to the Cross. But he is in the inbetween place between Samaria and Galilee. Ten men have leprosy or Hanson’s disease and so they approach Jesus and beg him to heal them.  Remember these Lepers would have been outcasts.  Their skin would have been dry and scaly.  Maybe they would have ulcers and would be disfigured.  Unable to come close to anyone. In fact, they might have been required to ring a bell as they walked just to warn others.

To keep clear.

To keep their distance. They wonder will their lives ever change. But Jesus meets them in this inbetween place of struggle, and estrangement.    Jesus see them.  And their need.  He tells them to go and see the priests, “which was mandated by the law” For them to be restored to the community the priest would have to say that they are cured and can be welcome back into the community. And on the way they are healed.  But one of them. An unlikely, person. A Samaritan.  Stops, turns back, and upon seeing he is healed. And kneels before Jesus. Praising him. And giving thanks!

Then Jesus asks, “were not 10 men made clean where are the other nine?  Did none of them come back except the foreigner” Then Jesus said, “Get up your faith has made you well.”

These ten unnamed lepers are searching for healing. I think they are unnamed because maybe all of us are searching for some kind of healing.  The text says that Jesus was in-between Samaria and Galilee.

Often there is an opportunity to see Jesus in that in-between space.

That unsettled space.  

Because when we are comfortable.  We are busy. We are occupied. We are distracted. We have no reason to search or focus.  

But in those in-between times we are searching, Looking. Seeking. Looking for answers.  Jesus most often appears clearly if we are looking.  

Jesus appears In that place of need.

These ten lepers see Jesus clearly.

And they ask for help. Jesus tells them to go see the Priests and also that journey they are healed physically. But Luke wishes to teach us an important lesson about Healing.  

That there is a distinction between healing physicaly.

And healing emotionally and spiritually.

And this is what Luke wants us to focus on.  This healing spiritually, and emotionally.

We don’t always like to talk about it.

And these internal wounds are sometimes harder to see.  But this tenth leper.  This surprising character.  This Samaritan, can show us the way. A path to healing through gratidue.  

Craig Barnes tells this Healing story of a relationship with one of his parishoners.  

He describes a healing and wholness service they would have seasonally.    The pastors and elders would meet in the chapel to pray with those who need healing in their lives. 

As they would start the service.  They would always make it clear that the only healer is Jesus Christ and that the pastors and elders are there not to perform magic, but to pray and hold people before their Savior. 

He writes this, “The amazing thing is that most of these people look so good on the outside. But inside they are sick and yearning for a savior.” He remembers the first time he conducted one of those services, a woman walked down the aisle and asked me to pray about her crippling arthritis. He said, “I prayed my heart out for her that night.” Later that year she came down the aisle using a cane. Again she knelt before God, and again I prayed and prayed that God would heal her from this crippling disease. About six months later she came down the aisle in a wheelchair. This time the elder and I kneeled before her asking God to be merciful. When I finished, she had the brightest smile on her face and said, "He is merciful, Pastor. Thank God he has healed my heart that used to be so crippled with anger. At long last I am a free woman." Barnes writes, that he once again learned something about grace… He writes, “It was never her body that she was worried about. It was her heart all along…. 

He goes on to say…. “If we told the truth, every one of us would have to admit that we belong in that line of broken people who come to the church looking for healing and hope and salvation and reasons to keep going another week. 

And by the grace of God…it always, always comes. Not as we had hoped or expected,

(M. Craig Barnes. When God Interrupts: Finding New Life Through Unwanted Change (Kindle Locations 829-844). Kindle Edition).

The 10th Leper sees that grace.  An outcast due to his health. This Samartian so excluded due to leprosy, and hated because the Samaritans were the sorn enemies of the Jews.  And yet, He is able to see clearly what is being offered in Christ.  

And this is what makes hiim different.  

He stops.

Turns around.

And chooses to go in another path. And that path is one of gratitude.  He falls at Jesus feet. And and praises God.

This is what separates him from the other ten. He sees the larger gift offered to him.  And this is what can separate us. In a world where there is so much that can obscure our vision of Jesus. And Christ’s presence with us. This one surprising Leper, intentionally chooses to see, name, recognize, turns around and moves towards Jesus.  And what does Jesus offer this Leper and us. Wholeness, and healing.

Jesus says, “Get up your faith has made you well.”

T​​he Greek word here for well is , sesoken, Your faith has made you well.  Is from the root sozo, Which can be translated any of these ways: healed, made well, saved. It can also be translated, with the King James Version, “Your faith has made you whole. 

Your faith has made you whole.  

Christ heals all the ten people outwardly and physically  but it is interesting to me that the Leper sees the larger journey of inward healing.    The inward journey is the long journey of our lives.  

It is important ot remember the larger context of our story. Remember Jesus is going to the Cross.

He is on his way to Jerusalem.

And this Leper recognized Jesus as God.  

That God is with him.

Near him.

Loves him.

The leper is not just healed, but is made whole through Christ presence.

He is restored, drawn back into relationship with God and humanity. And this Leper find the strength to get up and keep going.

Knowing that Jesus has healed his despairing heart. Jesus has healed his angry Spirit.. Jesus has healed his fearful thoughts.  

And this healing takes place Often in those inbetween places. When patterns or practices or just life obscures our vision.

We feel like we are alone.

Outcast.

And yet this Leper gives us the path to healing.  When we like the Leper remember and see

Christ with us, Near us

Close to us. Beside us. When we see love and presence in our midst. When we draw closer to it. When we give thanks.  

Because we remember the larger story of our lives of a Savior.  Who would give everything for you and me.

And we find the grace and strength to get up.

To get up and keep walking.

Knowing our faith has saved us from despair to remember the eternal hope of God. 

Know our faith has made healed us from our anger, fear, or hurt knowing we are loved.

Knowing our faith has made us whole knowing the larger story of our lives instead of just the fragments of pain.  

I wonder what you are seeing today?

I wonder which path we will choose?

Thanks be to God.

Amen.

“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” - GK Chesterton

Prayer is sitting in the silence until it silences us, choosing gratitude until we are grateful, and praising God until we ourselves are an act of praise.

Notes:

Notes:

The distinction between healing and cure.  

Being made whole is a process often of taking hte fragment of our lives and 

All are cured but one is healed or made whole.

All are cured but one sees Jesus

 Turns back, or approaches 

The 10th leper “turns back”

Get up, stand your faith has made you well, whole.  

What was different about the one?

They were all healed but there was something different about the one.

Stops. Turned back 

On a different path.

Person: Sometimes we don’t know what obscures our vision.  A woman came in for cataract surgery and the optometrist saw A “blueish mass.” At firs they did not know what it was.  What they found was that it was 17 disposable contact lenses which had been discovered in the eye of a patient who was scheduled for cataract surgery.

The 67-year-old patient was unaware that the contact lenses were missing, and later told surgeons that she thought her discomfort was due to dry eye and old age. She just always thought they had fallen out of her these disposable contacts.  So she just kept adding them.  

The doctors said, “It was such a large mass. All the 17 contact lenses were stuck together.” The woman was “quite shocked.” She had worn disposable lenses.  When it was time to put in a new lens each month.  She would often say to herself. “Oh it happened again.”  That lens must have fallen out.    She thought her previous discomfort was just part of old age and dry eye,” 

As I hard this story.  I wonder what is obscuring out eyesight? Sometimes the obstacles that obscure our vision can be so close.  Sometimes we get into these practices, or self-talk that obscure our vision.  That we can’t see clearly.  What is it that blocks our eyes from truly seeing Jesus? What obstacle might be blocking our eyes?

And than I wonder as I see 

In our lives, what do we see?  What do we notice? Do we see challenge or gift?

One Leper truly saw Jesus.  And He is so thankful. What is so interesting to me is that this Leper.  Stops, turns around, and goes in a different path.

There is real intentionality. 

And I think that is true in our lives today.  What do we see today?   And what path are we going on?

What is the larger context?:

“All sorrows can be borne if you put them into a story or tell a story about them.”  - Isak Dinesen….

Jesus is going to the Cross.  And especially in Luke, it is interesting that the outsider is the one who is grateful.  

Write it in my own words:

Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem but he is in the inbetween place between Samaria and Galilee. 10 men have leprosy or Hanson’s disease and so they approach Jesus and beg him to heal them.  He tells them to go which was the law, and on the way they are healed.  Than one of them when he saw that he was healed. Turns back. Praising God with a loud voice. He Kneels before Jesus. And he is an outsider. Then Jesus asked, “were not 10 men made clean where are the other nine?  Did none of them come back except the foreigner” Then Jesus said, “Get up your faith has made you well.”

Curiing

Praising/Thanksgiving

Healing

In-between time and outsiders:

Samaritans were the unlovely outsiders of Jesus’ day, and we can think about who that might be for our congregations and ourselves. These unappealingly different and unwelcome outsiders, along with outsiders generally, are received positively by Jesus in Luke. We see this most notably in the parable of 10:25-37, in which it is a Samaritan, and not the respectable religious people, who demonstrates love for his neighbor by showing mercy to a wounded stranger

In-between space….

Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem, to the cross, and the encounters he has along the way reveal something about the nature of the kingdom he will establish there. This encounter happens in a middle space, where one would expect the tension between ethnic and religious differences to be palpable. What God inaugurates through Jesus is made manifest in this “region between.”

The relationship between Samaritans and Jews at the time of Jesus was conflicted and sometimes violent. Centuries before this they had been one people, but changes and tensions wrought by exile and return put them at odds regarding beliefs about scripture, worship, what it means to be holy, etc. A history of hostility may explain why James and John suggest firebombing a Samaritan village (“Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” cf. 2Kings 1:10-12) after it refuses to serve as the first rest stop on Jesus’ journey. Jesus firmly rebukes their violent request (Luke 9:51-56).