10/13/2019
11 through 19 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee as he was going into a village 10 men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice Jesus Master have pity on us when he saw them. He said go show yourself to the priest and as they went they were cleansed one of them when he saw he was healed came back praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus's feet and thanked him and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked we're not all 10 cleansed. Where are the other nine has no one returned to give praise to God except this Foreigner. Then he said to him rise and go your faith has made you well the word of God for the people of God.
What is free?
Boardman the meditations of our hearts In the words of my lips be pleasing in your sight. our Rock and Our Redeemer amen
quick audience participation poll raise your hand if you like scary movies.
This is a multi-billion dollar a year industry.
Only two people 2% I think not let's just assume that some of your lying.
The reality is I don't like scary movies. Not just because I have high blood pressure is also just because those are scary and that's not right. And so
I was looking the other day self-care is very important. And so I was looking the other day to go to a movie and I was like, okay, I'm going to go have some me time going to go to a movie but every single movie on the list was either one a I was going to have to see within the next month with the kids or be with super super scary and I had no interest in seeing them right so I began to think what what makes a scary movie. now don't be offended some of you around when Hitchcock stuff came out. Okay reality the situation. Told you I liked it cannot look at a flock of birds anymore. Right? Like you just seemed off in the field and you're like no they're going to get somebody. Okay, and so some of you came up after an end for some of these clowns are scary and you're like my parents had a movie that was like a semi going through the desert following a car and they just wouldn't leave it alone this movie have like no words. Do anybody remember the name of the movie? Duel, that was it. Yeah.
Okay that explains it.
So I kept all the anticipation right is just like there's no words. It's just wrong and Just Tires squealing and stuff. Right? So I found out that there's like there's like three or four main components to a scary movie right or to any of our our nightmares. Okay. First is isolation Okay. First off before we use for my generation The Walking Dead does not qualify as scary. It's like Gore It's a separate category. It's not always in this category. So that's how I'm going to preface this next statement, which is that Scary movies happy happy night nightmares occur in isolation Okay, like the person is by themselves or with people in a small group of them K that the second part is that they have people with them that they do not know. Okay, so people with him that they don't know and they don't trust right like, oh magically these people show up right outside the motel in the pouring down rain where the car breaks down. Right? Like don't trust those people. Okay, so you have a group that come together because they're forced in some capacity to come together. the third is
Physical or threat of physical pain? Okay, so like the threat of physical pain or violence? Okay, and then 4th is desperation Kay people are in despair scary movie also in our heads and we sleep at this time of year baby nightmares as well. They they are the components of of nightmares. And so now I want to invite you again to look at the story of the leper. The leper who was forced because he has leprosy to no longer live with other people unless they are lepers they have to live outside of the camp. They are alone or with a small group of people. Baby disease that is debilitating it gets worse and there's no cure the threat of physical pain and discomfort. That isolation pain and discomfort and then they all said the small community and they have despair or desperation. The story of leprosy was a story of scary horror. Where was The Hope right? Like where where was there going to be some source of healing when a source of healing only existed if you happen to go to the priest and be deemed clean and then you could go back to your community.
And so we have this person who was one of 10 lepers now when the Bible talks about in Luke, I didn't check this passage, but it says in the initial Lucas says like in between the land of Samaria and Galilee, right? Like there's this land in between. There's no land in between. Okay. It's like but they share borders, but they share culture in between right and so it's kind of like How many of you have been in McAllen Texas write Source know if you've been to McAllen, Texas and that's kind of one of the places where the Border cross them. They didn't cross the border, right? So you have an area where worst driver I ever took Greyhound McAllen, Texas to Des Moines, Iowa. Do not do it 36 hours of horrible, but they don't check passports until like an hour and a half in they really don't check fast for it. So I just look and see if you're white or not. And so then that's how that there's that border community and so that's kind of a situation where Jesus is going into this border Community where if you were you you certainly didn't expect much of anything from a Samaritan I haven't talked about them probably isn't how I should be talking about them in church. And so the reality was that the Thursday's group of leopards one of them's the Samaritan and Jesus that they call out to Jesus but based on the rules in Scripture. It wasn't the first thing they said to Jesus because wherever the lepers went, they had to constantly yellow unclean unclean wherever they went. So if you were on their path you could get away and so you wouldn't get the disease. You can see how this type of life would have created or source of despair of isolation a lack of Hope. And then they asked Jesus. to heal them and he does. I don't know how it happens, but it does. and this one leper What happens to also be a Samaritan of when we expect very little if anything comes to Jesus with gratitude? Comes to Jesus and Niels At His Feet lays down at his feet.
And it doesn't tell us exactly what the other with the words of Jesus says in terms of like if he was just sad or upset that the other nine didn't come back. Just asks, where the other nine.
But the Samaritan who didn't have healing officially yet would still have to go to the priest in order to say that he was healed. Jesus provide the source of Hope in a world of despair. Jesus provides a source of Hope in a world of despair
one of the realities of the world in which we live while they're there maybe like six billion plus of us, right? Many times we can feel alone. Even in a room full of people this morning you may feel alone.
Never underestimate the power of Satan to divide. And so much division happens in this world. We create an awesome. We created them.
But God didn't offer to heal the nine. And leave the Samaritan out. God healed them all. And that says something for our understanding of Faith as well.
now What do we do with this? What do we do with this this verse by the way at the end of the pericope at the end of the little part of scripture?
Jesus says something that is really tough to swallow and it's probably hurt people as much as help people. It is your faith has made you well.
I don't know about you, but sometimes I don't want to call bull crap on that. Because sometimes I know people have great faith. Who are Madewell? And sometimes I I know people who have no faith. Who are made well and still have no faith.
So, I don't know exactly.
How this worked out.
but the Samaritans Madewell
and as a result the Samaritan shows gratitude to Christ.
I don't know if if the reason that this leper show gratitude was because of the healing which he'd receive but he hadn't been deemed healed yet, or if it was cuz of the acknowledgement of his own Humanity by someone. He didn't expect to acknowledge it. Maybe it was that somebody acknowledged. the value that he has in a world that valued him not
We live in a increasingly isolated world. I think I shared a few weeks ago. I Do Worship out of the nursing home in Heartland Christian village out there like twice a month and then once more than twice a month soap
I had 40 people in worship like 3 weeks ago. 40 people in worship I got there and I immediately told the lady.
Who's next? Like why they gathered here? Do you have like a famous musician coming or something? Why are they here? And and it was kind of frightening cuz I'm used to like 10 or 15 right? But but not this and she's like no, I think they're just here for church. I like y. How awesome is God? And so even in a world that where people can feel isolated and alone.
Don can call us together.
We have a responsibility as people of Faith to share God's love. However, we can do it guy.
My generation has a lot of people who served in the Middle East during the war and part of my motion.
Is a friends are telling me how good those people are. They're not like numbers. Right? Like you're not like some far-off thing. They're saying hey I serve with these people and they're going to get blown away.
so the knowledgement of humanity what Christ calls is to you? but we live in a world that seeks to minimize others Humanity at all cost. We live in a world that seeks profit. over people I don't know all the hegemonic purposes of of what's going on in Middle East. I don't pretend to know. I don't pretend to know all of the contractual obligations of GM with the UAW, right but I was listening to an article this week to a news report the talked about the reason why people are on the line on striking still and this is the reason the people named most. I'm you might not know it but
GM uses temporary workers to do their work. Okay, so they can hire you. Okay. So faster route worked in college and I was what you call a 90-day Wonder right? Like you have any protections after 90 days the company he wonders where that person was when the person that's not as productive shows up on the 91st day that's called the 90-day Wonder anyway, so so you gain the protections of the Union at that point times, they just can't come in and fire UK temporary workers at GM can get fired things like that, but they don't need you anymore. Right? So the workers that have been there under temporary status don't have the pay they don't have the benefits and they don't have the protections of the Union. Okay. There's not an easy answer here. I'm just showing the situation.
Some of them have been working there for three years and still are on temporary status because the union doesn't have to bring them on now. This is because unions worried about costs movie for the company's worry about cost moving forward and being fluid with some of those things right, but when people named why They were on the strike line. They were more likely to name their brothers and sisters who couldn't be on the strike line cuz they be fired who didn't earn as much as them being in the same protections benefits of them as a reason that they were still there. That's a source of Hope. That's a source of Hope and saying that in response to isolation. We're going to say no. We're in this together. And maybe together is not even for me and my family maybe it's for another generation of workers who come after me. That's hope. That's part of our Christian response is to share in the burdens of one another.
Some of the Christ calls us to is live out our faith. It would be great if we could just show up here. We could sing some songs. We we could have communion and we could go home actually kirkegaard tells this really great story right there tells a story about this duck these docks and these ducks lived in a little duck world, right? That's where do ducks live duh. And so these ducks live in this little dark World in a go to this little duck church and bean little duck Pastor little oversized but either way leave it alone. Okay. So this little duck Pastor Wright and his little. Pastor preaches, he's amazing sermons about how great it is to fly and the little dog provider little duck amens, and then they want to go home.
Have you no idea that can fly?
Price didn't call us to be that church. So let's talk real for a second backpack Ministry k when a family opens a backpack They're not opening just they're not just opening meals. their wedding acknowledgement manatee in the world that tells them that isn't care about them. They're opening hope and love and community. Because we care to show the love of Christ. That's what it means to be Church. In Christ calls us to be Church in a complicated confusing world where we don't have all the answers of why someone gets healed and someone doesn't why someone has a $40 an hour job and someone works for 13 bucks an hour. We don't have the answers for all that. But God doesn't call us to God calls us to act.
The faith has made your faith has made you well. It's actually a continuation of the story about faith. Remember the disciples who didn't have enough Faith to forgive and forget and forgive. Because they constantly be asked.
Jesus essentially told them it's your job. You're not that fat face to forgive. You just have to understand it at your job. We got a lot of work to do. What does an end with backpack Ministry it doesn't end with Trunk or Treat it it doesn't end with love your neighbor. That's where it begins. And it begins because we encounter Christ where we step out in faith.
for our face has made us well.