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The
Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity.
The
Collect.
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LMIGHTY and everlasting God, give unto us the increase of faith, hope, and
charity; and, that we may obtain that which thou dost promise, make us to love
that which thou dost command; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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nd it came to pass, as Jesus went to Jerusalem, that
he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered into a
certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:
and they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And
when he saw them, he said unto them, Go
shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as
they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed,
turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at
his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are
the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this
stranger. And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.
(Luke 17:11-19)
Sin
is, itself, a wound. If not treated, it will lead to certain death. But even
when treated, a knife wound will leave a scar; but there was no known treatment
for leprosy. It led inexorably to death. Among very many other blessed truths
in today’s text is one stark truth that stands out like the Sun at noontide on
a clear day: that Gratitude is a product of GRACE! What is gratitude then? Gratitude is the direct and natural result of Grace!
This may sound like a circular argument (petitio principii) and, if so, it
certainly is as it sounds; for all truth circles back to the absolute. The
composition of the Universe that God has made is a splendid and perfect example
of a closed system (Space-Time Continuum) in which every object of its
composition conforms to the perfect laws of nature and of nature’s God. The
Sun, Moon, and Stars, obey the natural laws of inter-gravitational pull and
balance which forces them to remain in their respective orbits or trajectories.
We see the same laws respected in the plant kingdom. An apple seed will always
produce an apple tree and never a peach. The animal kingdom as well adheres
strictly to the laws laid down by God in their propagation. Sheep will always,
as God commanded, reproduce after their own kind. This signals a great
reciprocity in the natural creation; however, man is an exception to the
general laws of behavior among men and his interaction with all other aspects
of Creation. Man, unlike other creatures of the animal or vegetable world, has
will and reason. God has deemed this essential if man can possess the gift of
love for love must be a result of will. So, we will observe in today’s sermon
text that gratitude is a function of will and, ultimately, of love itself.
“AND it came to pass, as Jesus went to Jerusalem, that he
passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.” I love the casual manner in which God
introduces a great event as if it is simply a thing that happens by chance
along the way; but it is not!
The usual route of Jewish travelers was to avoid passing through Galilee and,
especially, Samaria (due to the ill-winded assumption that these people were
‘less clean’ than the Jews). Jesus did nothing by ‘accidental’ incident. He was
well aware that ten men awaited His coming at a ‘certain village’. It is
unlikely that the men themselves knew of a surety of the ‘arranged’ meeting,
but Christ knew that He would perform a great act of healing at this place.
“And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten
men that were lepers, which stood afar off: and they lifted up their voices,
and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” Now, we will all
understand, I am sure, that leprosy was no disease lightly to be taken. It was
a slow and cruel killer. The flesh of its victims literally rotted on the body
causing limbs, ears, and even noses to be eaten away. The odor was putrid and
unbearable. Slowly, by increasing miseries, it brought its victims to the long
home (grave). There was no cure for the disease in the arsenal of man’s medical
knowledge and resources. The disease could not be hidden from others due to the
emitted odor and the marred features of its victims. They were shunned from the
public and cast out into colonies apart. If a non-leper approached, they must
shout “Unclean, Unclean!” “And
the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare,
and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean,
unclean. All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be
defiled; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his
habitation be.” (Lev 13:45-46)
What a horrible existence was
this! It is, in a great many points, exactly like sin. It is putrid, disfigures
our persons, alienates us from the family of God, and, in the end, it murders
its owner.
There are volumes of books written
about ‘effective’ prayer, but if you would like to know a good and simple
prayer that brings results, observe the prayer of the lepers: “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.”
How did these men know that Jesus was among the approaching throng? We are not
told, but they must not have ever seen His face before, and even now they stand
afar off. I believe that they may have heard a rumor of His coming and that
rumor, combined with an insight from on high, gave them a conviction of Him. To
them, He was Jesus, Master! You will observe that they asked for no specific
healing or grant of favor – only MERCY!
This, too, is the perfect prayer of the sinner. Nothing else will profit the
sinner ere MERCY is granted
him. Of what is MERCY made? The answer, of course, is all of GRACE. Mercy comes not as an
entitlement, but as a free grant of goodness (Grace).
“And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests.” Immediately upon sighting the need,
Jesus provides the cure. Of course, the Kingdom of Heaven requires reciprocity
of faith in its provisions of Grace. I am amazed at the simple faith of these
ten lepers in responding to the counsel of Christ to “Go
and shew yourselves unto the priests.” To what end? They
knew, as surely as all in the party of Christ, that the leper must be
pronounced clean by the priest in order of re-admittance to society. These men,
not yet being noticeably healed, immediately began their journey to the priest
in OBEDIENCE to Christ. Our faith requires us to be obedient to God, not to our
own desires and reason. Once these lepers embarked, the healing began. Just as
Naaman was wholly healed on the seventh dip into Jordan waters, so were these
lepers when they responded to the Lord in FAITH. “And it came to pass,
that, as they went, they were cleansed.” “….and
it came to pass….” How common in tone, but exceptional in result! It
was not their walking that resulted in healing, but their faith and response in
Christ.
“And one of them, when he saw that he
was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on
his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.” The actions of this poor leper could
cause a mighty warrior to weep with humility. This leper believed God. This
leper obeyed God. This leper was healed by God, and he KNEW it! No longer was
his first priority to go to the Priest and be pronounced clean! His very first
priority was to run to that One who had made him clean. He turned back from his
own purposes and objectives to those of God. With a louder voice than that used
in begging for mercy, he glorified God. He fell on his face at the feet of the
Beloved Son of God and gave thanks. Have you ever felt so miserably dirty from
sin and pleaded the mercy of God, and then been granted cleansing and
forgiveness? There are certainly sins in every man’s life at some point which
should compel him to the pleading.
The other nine lepers got what
they desired – healing of body, but only one came back to return praise and
thanks to the Healer. The Author, noticeably and with purpose, informs us that
this one leper who returned to give thanks was one of those hated Samaritans.
Why are we so frankly told this? What does it add to our understanding? It
informs us that none are beneath the merciful favor of God to heal and forgive.
It is often the one who stands in the lowest esteem of man that may rise to the
greatest regard of heaven. “And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but
where are the nine? Where are the other 90%
who have received the grace and mercy of God besides this 10% who have returned
to give thanks? Does this not speak to the great body of ingrates who occupy
the pews of America’s churches every Sunday? One is kneeling at the feet of
Christ, the other nine have separated themselves from Christ once their desire
is granted. What a shame and a testimony to ingratitude! “There are not found that returned to give
glory to God, save this stranger.” Quite often it is the stranger that
becomes a more worthy child of God than those who have been received into the
family of God from their youth.
There is grave counsel in the
final words of our Lord to the Samaritan stranger, but also to us: “And
he said unto him, Arise, go
thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.” Do you grasp the
significance of this last clause? “Thy
faith hath made thee whole.” The faith and gratitude of this one
leper has made him not only well of leprosy, but whole in every other way!
To be wholly well is to be cured of the greatest disease, and that disease is
not even the deadly sin of leprosy – it is the deadliest of diseases from which
no man can recover except by the grace of God! That disease is – SIN!
Please observe the difference
between the one leper who was made whole in every whit, and the nine who were
only cured of the immediate and most apparent malady. The difference was the GRATITUDE
expressed by the one who returned to praise God and return thanks. How often do
we pray for a cherished blessing and, when it is granted by God, we go our way
into the world without returning on bended knee to give thanks for the grant?
All that God gives is a result of GRACE. All that He expects in return is
GRATITUDE!
In the natural Creation, we
observe that all material bodies conform to the physical laws put into place by
God at the instant of Creation. Gravity is in effect twenty four hours per day.
Darkness will always immediately flee from the presence of light. Sound will
always travel through the medium of space via wave lengths. Electrical current
will always require a return in order for electrons to move from a positive to
a negative pole. If the ground return is interdicted, the current ceases to flow.
This is just like Grace. God freely grants grace to those of us who can never
merit it, but God will not blindly grant grace to those who are unwilling to
express gratitude for it. Gratitude is a function of Grace. If the return line
(Gratitude) is interdicted, the current (Grace) will cease to flow.
I will relate here an explanation
of Grace I found in my father’s papers whom he credits to an E. Willams:
“Gratitude is a temper of mind which denotes a desire of acknowledging the
receipt of a benefit. The mind which does not so feel is not as it ought to be.
When the apostle Paul says of the heathen, "Neither were they thankful," he seems to stamp the sin of
ingratitude as peculiarly odious. But, like every other grace which is required
of us, virtuous gratitude depends, in part, on right views. A right view of
benefits received, of the source from whence they flow, and of our own demerit,
has a direct tendency to excite gratitude; and while the mind is influenced by
sovereign grace, this will be the pleasing effect. The devout Christian surveys
the sovereign benevolence of the Creator in every person, in every object, in
every quality, and in every event. Sovereign benevolence forces itself on every
sense, and pervades his grateful heart. And then, when he extends his views to
a future state, and contemplates the operations of grace—sovereign,
distinguishing, efficacious grace—he is melted into reverential awe and grateful
praise, and exclaims, "Why me,
Lord!" Glory, everlasting glory to Him that sitteth on the throne, and to
the Lamb of God that was slain, who hath redeemed us to God by His blood, and
hath given us the earnest of His own inheritance.”
We have this from the good John
Flavel concerning the opposite side of the coin - Grace: “There is many a learned head in hell. Gifts are the
gold that beautifies the Temple; but grace is as the Temple which sanctifies
the gold. One tear, one groan, one breathing of an upright heart is more than
the tongues of angels.”
If we would pray for grace, we
must express gratitude after its giving. Do we?
