Responding to God and Being a Child of God
Luke 17:11-19
So we have in all our readings this morning, readings which ask us two questions. How do we respond to the actions of God and what does it mean to be a child of God?
In our Old Testament reading and in our Gospel reading, we have two stories of people with leprosy. Leprosy can be quite hard to get hold of in this modern age, to understand what it was like. I suppose the nearest common analogy would be how we all felt in those early days of COVID … don't come anywhere near me. I might catch something.
Although it's translated as leprosy, it may not have been leprosy. It's used to describe any disease of the skin. What's clear is it was highly infectious. So let's look at two different human responses. to the same event. One is where we have Naaman who had leprosy. He is told by Elisha how to resolve the problem. But it's not what he's expecting. So he gets annoyed. Hang on a minute, I thought you'd say this and you'd wave your hand over me and it would all be sorted. I'm not sure I'm very happy. So he gets cross. I wonder how many bells that rings with some of us?
When God doesn't respond how we expect. He won’t give us the instructions we expect in order to get what we are asking for. We get cross. Hang on a minute, you're God. I expected you to do this. To look at this further, let's turn for a minute to our gospel, where we have the story of ten lepers.
In accordance with local practice, Jesus says, go and show yourselves to the priests. And on the way, they were made well. So it was the act of obedience that began the process of healing. He doesn't say they became instantly well. On the way to see the priests, these people with leprosy are made well.
And then one of these people, who has been made well, turns around and goes back to praise Jesus. falls at Jesus' feet and gives thanks. And Jesus, in that lovely way he has sometimes of giving us comfort and challenge in the same encounter, says, hang on a minute, there were ten of you – where are the other nine?
How come only one of you has come back to say thank you? It reminded me of conversations I used to have with my parents when I was a slightly sort of obstreperous teenager. I know it's hard to believe, but just accept it for a minute. When I was a slightly obstreperous teenager and I had certain expectations of my parents, they were my parents and they should do certain things. That was their job.My parents occasionally had another view and we used to have robust conversations about it. who was right, but here we have something quite similar; ten people have been made well only one goes back to give thanks. Perhaps, because it doesn't say, but perhaps because they thought well that's Jesus's job that's what he does and i'm fixed now so that's great but the one who remembers where his healing has come from goes back and says thank you.
It's a reminder to us that we should do the same how often, and it's a question we all need to ask ourselves, how often have we said oh thank you jesus that's great and gone on to the next thing without a second thought
I think there's something else going on in this story. You'll notice the one who goes back to say thank you is a Samaritan. You will know probably from the story of the Good Samaritan that Samaritans were considered to be outcasts. They didn't belong. So it's always quite a twist in the tale.
Jesus was very good at making the crux of the story people who were rejected by those who were listening. Now that sense of being an outsider, being one who doesn't belong in this country, is a familiar narrative in our current social discourse. People like that, whoever we think they are, it doesn't matter, whoever we think they are, not like us, they don't belong here in this gospel story. That again turns that narrative on its head. It's the one who is the outsider who remembers to go back and give thanks.
So belonging to a certain cultural or social group does not of itself make us righteous before God. That may seem obvious to many of us here, but it's worth repeating.
There is, though, in our epistle, which was read so beautifully for us by Heather, something very deep about the nature of God's response to his children. These epistles, these letters, were written to early churches. From this distance, it's very easy to think, oh, well, those early disciples, they must have had it all sorted, you know, because they were right in the middle of the action. No, no, these early churches were full of conflict and dispute for several reasons, one being that the word of Christ, had turned their common understanding on its head. So there was lots of arguing about what they should be doing and who was right and who said what to whom and all the rest of it. That beautiful epistle from Timothy reminds us of some fundamental truths and some fundamental responsibilities. I'm going to start at the end of the letter.
Do not fight amongst yourselves. It does no good to those who are listening. Present yourselves as one who is worthy. Someone who is explaining the truth and has no need to be ashamed. As children of God, we have no need to be ashamed of our faith. We should stand behind it.
We might be ashamed of some of our behaviour as children of God. For those who are listening, it does no good if we argue amongst ourselves. Let's go back a bit to the top of that reading. Because here is the heart of Christ’s promise.
I said at 8 o'clock this morning. It reminds me of when we were the first class in our school, just of when I happened to be born, who were learning about computers. We did some very basic programming.
And you had to write things that said things like, if this is the case, then that. That is what this letter reminds me of. If we behave like this, then Jesus will do that. If we behave like this, then Jesus will do that. It is a certainty. It's the rule. That's how it works. If we deny Jesus, he will deny us. Which certainly concentrates the mind.
But the next two lines are extraordinary. If we are faithless, he remains faithful because he cannot deny himself. Those lines make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up every single time I read them. Because it is a reminder that yes, we have to behave responsibly, but there is something in us by virtue of our.faith which is fundamentally connected to the heart of God. He cannot deny himself, he cannot deny that holy part of himself which is in each of us. So he will remain faithful, he will walk with us even if we decide to turn away and say things like, well that wasn't what I was expecting, that's not what I expected him to do, I'm a bit cross. He will remain with us.
But that if then thing that's in the letter.is important to remember. If we behave as our faith directs us, then we will be in step with Christ. My prayer for each of us is that in all the healing we have received, it may not be leprosy, it may not be COVID, but it will surely be something, that we will remember to turn back and to say thank you to the one who is the source of our healing. I pray all of this in Jesus' name. Amen.