October
13, 2013 at Calvary Evangelical Lutheran Church – Mechanicsburg, PA
“Then one of them, when he saw
that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on
his face at Jesus’ feet, giving Him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan.”
Giving
thanks is one of the proper uses of the Lord’s
name. We teach that truth to those who are learning the faith. Our catechumens
hear about the improper uses of the Lord’s
name: cursing, swearing, using satanic arts, lying, and deceiving by that name.
But then they receive instruction about what the Lord’s name should be used for: calling upon it in every
trouble, praying, praising, and giving thanks.
The
Lord expects to hear His name used
that way. He desires to have His people recognize the goodness that He has
bestowed upon them. That should seem to be automatic. But you heard how it wasn’t
in today’s Gospel Reading. An entire group of individuals received a great
benefit from the Lord, something
they had asked for. That was the heart of the event: “As [Jesus] entered a village, He was met by ten lepers, who stood at a
distance and lifted up their voices, saying, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.’
When He saw them He said to them, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’ And
as they went they were cleansed.”
Just
how much goodness had these individuals received? They had their entire life
restored to them. Their leprosy served as a near-death sentence. The ten lepers
were outcasts, sentenced to live outside the community as long as their disease
endured. They were cut off from friends and family, declared unclean by the
Divine Law. For some of them, their illness would be a literal death sentence;
they would die as their disease disfigured and destroyed them. But when Jesus
encounters them, He provides healing and life. Jesus purifies them of their
disease and restores them to being clean.
Hearing
what Jesus did for these lepers, the Lord’s
people would expect to hear about the thanksgiving that flowed from their
mouths. Perhaps it would be an act of worship. Or maybe a bit of the Psalter
would be remembered and recited. But that isn’t what you heard in the Gospel Reading,
is it? Nearly all the healed lepers go on their way without a simple statement
of thanks offered despite all that Jesus had done for them.
So
why isn’t there a great pouring out of thanksgiving from the group of healed
lepers? There might be countless reasons why not. But they could be summarized
into a few types. First is complete focus on the gift: exuberance over being
healed, over having everything in their lives restored, simply occupied all
their minds. It’s kind of like the reaction that children have when opening
presents on Christmas Eve—the whole focus is on the gifts, so that there’s no
thinking about who gave them. Another reason is not recognizing the giver: Did
the lepers fully understand that Jesus had healed them? We might think that
should be obvious, but there are times when people don’t know who gave them
something. Or perhaps the lepers thought they deserved something good from the Lord. Was this healing the rightful pay
out for all the suffering that they endured? If so, then this isn’t a matter
where gratitude was needed.
No
matter what caused the lack of thanksgiving, none was offered. That is, there
was none offered except from one of the healed lepers: “Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back,
praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving
Him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan.” This leper saw that he was healed. He
realized that this was a gift granted by God, so he praised God loudly for the
restoration of his health. But there was the important detail noted by the
Gospel Writer: not only does the leper thank God for being healed, he also
recognizes that Jesus was the One through whom that healing was given. That is
what drives him to assume the fullest posture of worship at Jesus’ feet and
give Him thanks.
This healed
leper does what all the others do not. And Jesus notes it. He notes that what
the leper did is a matter of faith: “Then
Jesus answered, ‘Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to
return and give praise to God except this foreigner?’ And He said to him, ‘Rise
and go your way; your faith has made you well.’” The healed leper
recognizes the gift that has been extended to him. Jesus did have mercy on him
by cleansing his illness. He had no claim to what Jesus gave, and he knows it.
And even though his entire life was changed, the healed leper is not distracted
so much by what has happened that he doesn’t recognize the giver. His returning
to Jesus, kneeling down at His feet, worshiping and thanking Him are all part
of his belief—the belief that saves him.
The healed
leper displays what should be seen in every single person who has received
benefit from the Lord. But those
other nine lepers show what is so often the reaction, even among those who
should know better. Lack of gratitude driven by a lack of recognizing what the Lord has given is sinful. When it is
driven by a sense of entitlement, then it is much worse, since that not only
fails to recognize what the Lord
has done, but overestimates humanity.
But this can
be avoided. There is an answer to this sin of ingratitude. It is what we prayed
for in the Collect of the Day. Note again the words that began that prayer: “Almighty God, You show mercy to
Your people in all their troubles.” That factual statement makes the true confession of
faith about the Lord’s identity
and character. It is rooted in what the Lord
says about Himself: “The Lord,
the Lord, a God merciful and
gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and
sin….” This is not just an empty
statement; the Lord follows up His
words with actions. He acts and He instructs His people to call upon Him to act
when in trouble.
We also prayed to
avoid the ingratitude shown by the other nine lepers: “Grant us always to recognize Your
goodness, give thanks for Your compassion, and praise Your holy name.” The recognition of the Lord’s goodness shown to us requires
that we have it revealed to us again. What the Lord
has done for us needs to be continually in our hearing, so that it remains in
our hearts and minds. Today’s Psalm endorses that idea: “Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in
them. Full of splendor and majesty is His work, and His righteousness endures
forever. He has caused His wondrous works to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and merciful.” But no delight will be found in the Lord’s works, if they aren’t studied or
remembered. No, then we will fall into the type of thinking that asks God: “What
have You done for me lately?” Or we will have the mindset that doesn’t
recognize that what we have has been given to us. That is the hazard of not
having the Lord’s works set before
you.
But you have
been given to know what the Lord
has done for you. Your leprosy has been cleansed: you have been redeemed by
Jesus’ death and resurrection, made to be holy and righteous in the Lord’s sight. This is what is remembered
over and over again by the Church, just as the believers of old recalled the
deliverance that the Lord had
given to them. The Psalm’s words can stand as the Church’s charter today: “The works of [the Lord’s] hands are faithful and just; all His precepts are
trustworthy; they are established forever and ever, to be performed with
faithfulness and uprightness. He sent redemption to His people; He has
commanded His covenant forever. Holy and awesome is His name!” The eternal
covenant is what Jesus has established for you and all the faithful to
remember, to be done often.
And that is
what will happen today. You will again hear how your sins were cleansed by the
death and resurrection of Jesus. You will confess that Jesus is the Lamb of God
who has taken away your sin, and you will ask Him to show mercy on you. You
will proclaim the Lord’s death by eating the bread and drinking the cup. These
will be your actions, as you seek to receive the promise that Jesus has
attached to such eating and drinking: forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.
But as you
do so, what else takes place? There are the prayers that give thanks for what
Jesus has done. The Lord’s Supper is a Eucharist, a time of thanksgiving. And
there are the praises offered to Jesus, including the Triple Holy that you
speak during the Sanctus. And after the eating and drinking, there is the great
statement that acknowledges that you have seen the salvation that the Lord has prepared for His people.
This is all
part of the praise and thanks that we offer to Jesus for the cleansing that He
has bestowed to us. Our sin and guilt are put in front of us. But as Jesus has
answered that sin and guilt by giving us His holiness and righteousness, we are
led to take the same actions as the healed leper: we come to Jesus, we kneel
before Him, we praise Him loudly, and we give Him our thanks.
These proper
uses of the Lord’s name take place
among us today. They are not the actions that stem from the lack of gratitude
for what the Lord has done for us.
Instead, they are the God-pleasing response of faith, the greatest act of
worship that we can offer. And Jesus’ words to us are the same as He spoke to
the thankful leper: “Rise and go your
way. Your faith has saved you.”
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