A man who had regularly prayed for many years began to wonder if God heard his prayers at all. During one of his routine times of prayer, he started this doubting pattern once again. He stopped praying and thought for a moment, finally saying, “Enough of this.” He then lifted his eyes toward heaven and yelled, “Hey up there, can you hear me?” There was no response. He continued, “Hey, God, if you can really hear me, tell me what you want me to do with my life.”
A voice from above thundered a reply, “I want you to help the needy and give your life to the cause of peace!”
As the man was not really expecting an answer and faced with more of a challenge than he really wanted, he answered, “Actually, God, I was just checking to see if you were really there.”
God responded, disappointment in His voice, “That’s alright; I was only checking to see if you were really there.”
Have you ever wondered how you might respond to God if you heard, with 100% certainty, His voice and His calling on your life?
Since the time of Moses, it was the priest who determined whether a person was clean or unclean, and the priest followed the mandates of the Law of Moses. To us, much of the Law might seem silly, but we view it through the lens of some 6,000 years of modernization. Today’s Gospel offers an example.
Leprosy was a catch-all category for any number of skin diseases. Anything from dandruff to—at the time—a deadly disease. The Law required the priest to examine the afflicted person and determine the type of Leprosy and the prescribed outcome. If the priest decided it was not a life-threatening or contagious disease, the person would be considered “clean” and could stay in the camp; however, if it was a contagious type, the law was very clear: Leviticus 13:45-46 says, “Those who suffer from a serious skin disease must tear their clothing and leave their hair uncombed. They must cover their mouth and call out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ As long as the serious disease lasts, they will be ceremonially unclean. They must live in isolation in their place outside the camp.” The afflicted did all these things—the tearing of clothes and unkempt hair—not as signs of uncleanness, but as signs of remorse. Grief came from not only being separated from the community but, more importantly, from being separated from God, because they could no longer go to the Tent of Meeting or the Temple, which was the dwelling place of God. After being sent out, if a person is thought to be healed, the Law states that the person “shall be brought to the priest; the priest shall go out of the camp, and the priest shall make an examination.” If deemed clean, the person could return to the community; if not, they remained outside.
It was ten of these unclean lepers that Jesus encountered in our Gospel reading today. From a distance, they cried out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” Jesus’ response was to set into motion the requirements of the Law: “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” All ten demonstrated their faith in Jesus by immediately going to find the priest, and as they were going, they were all healed. However, only one, the Samaritan, returned to Jesus to give thanks to God. The fact that the one who returned is identified as a Samaritan suggests that the other nine were Jews. The word Judah—Jew—means praise, but the nine, who should have returned to give praise and thanks to God, kept going. Meanwhile, the Samaritan—the one considered unclean even before he became sick—was the only one to return and give thanks.
The Samaritan ran and literally lay his face to the ground in front of Jesus, praising God. Because of his thankfulness, Jesus blessed him a second time by telling him to “get up.” That may seem insignificant, but in the era of the gospel writers, people would have connected that phrase “get up” with resurrection. Someone who is dead lies on the ground with their face in the dirt, yet Jesus tells the Samaritan, “Get up,” and gives him new life.
There is a valuable lesson here about gratitude and giving thanks to God, about recognizing the blessing in each moment and the work of God in our lives, but there is also a lesson about responding to God’s actions in our lives. Not only should we acknowledge these things, but we should respond by being transformed and given new life because of them.
Imagine that you are the Samaritan. Now that you have been healed, you can return to the community, where you may find your wife, children, and job waiting for you, along with the rest of your life. Because your life has been restored, you can return to all these things instead of living in isolated exile.
Imagine running with the other nine to be examined by the priest, and seeing the expressions of joy on their faces as they realize they have truly been healed. You then realize that you, too, have been healed. In that moment, you understand that it was not family, friends, the priest, your job, your social status, your abilities, your gifts, or your money that caused this healing. It was God, and God alone. This is truly one of those defining moments—a point in time when you gain clarity and have the opportunity to consciously choose to do something or stop doing something. It is an event that forever shapes or changes the course of your life.
As the Samaritan ran to the priest to show that he was clean, he experienced his defining moment. He could continue on his current path and reclaim his old life, or he could return to the One who had given him a new life, a transformation. Does anyone have a poem running through their mind right now?
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
God places these moments in everyone’s lives. For Moses, it was the burning bush. For David, it was standing in front of Goliath. But it isn’t always something so dramatic. For Elijah, it was a still small voice, and for Matthew, it was a look and those two simple words, “Follow me.”
We, as a Christian people, are defined by how we respond when that moment arrives. Like the nine who continued on, we can declare that our lives, our wants, and our desires are sufficient and then just keep going, or like the Samaritan, we can have the courage and the faith to respond to God and give thanks for His gift of new life.
The story of the ten lepers concerns gratitude toward God, but it also highlights recognizing blessings, having the courage to take the less-traveled path—to respond—returning to God, and receiving new life in Christ.
In his Revelation, John tells us that one of the elders in heaven approached him, saying, “Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?” John said to him, “Sir, you are the one that knows.” Then he said to John, “These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
For this reason they are before the throne of God,
and worship him day and night within his temple,
and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them.
They will hunger no more, and thirst no more;
the sun will not strike them,
nor any scorching heat;
for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of the water of life,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
In our sin, we were the ones forced to cry out, “Unclean! Unclean!” But through the blood of Christ and our response to God, we have been restored, no longer exiled from Him; therefore, let us recognize this great gift, give thanks, and sing praises to His Holy Name. And then, let us respond by living a resurrected life—a life guided by the Holy Spirit in the service of our God.
As a concluding prayer, would you please turn to page 837 in your Book of Common Prayer.
Let us give thanks to God our Father for all his gifts so freely bestowed upon us.
For the beauty and wonder of your creation, in earth and sky and sea.
We thank you, Lord.
For all that is gracious in the lives of men and women, revealing the image of Christ,
We thank you, Lord.
For our daily food and drink, our homes and families, and our friends,
We thank you, Lord.
For minds to think, and hearts to love, and hands to serve,
We thank you, Lord.
For health and strength to work, and leisure to rest and play,
We thank you, Lord.
For the brave and courageous, who are patient in suffering and faithful in adversity,
We thank you, Lord.
For all valiant seekers after truth, liberty, and justice,
We thank you, Lord.
For the communion of saints, in all times and places,
We thank you, Lord.
Above all, we give you thanks for the great mercies and promises given to us in Christ Jesus our Lord;
To him be praise and glory, with you, O Father, and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.We thank you, Lord.
Above all, we give you thanks for the great mercies and promises given to us in Christ Jesus our Lord;
To him be praise and glory, with you, O Father, and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.
Candle in a Cave 