PROPER 23 -- Ruth 1: 1 – 19a; Psalm 113; II Timothy 2: 3 – 15; Luke 17: 11 – 19
Given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, IL on Sunday, October 14, 2007
Shelter….
“We spend a good deal of our lives seeking shelter”, a pastor[1] friend of mine said recently.
His comment hit me right between the eyes…..he was right, I realized. We do spend a good deal of our time in this life seeking shelter:
- We commit ourselves to the largest financial transactions of most of our lives when we buy a house, seeking shelter.
- We seek shelter in the protection of our financial assets (FDIC insurance, e.g.).
- We seek shelter by passing laws to protect society from the ills that might overtake it.
These are some of the ways in which we seek shelter.
What does shelter provide us? The answers might be many. The answers that readily come to my mind are:
- protection; and
- identity.
Let me say that one again…We seek shelter in God through our faith.
That’s what the 10 lepers were doing, as well, in the gospel account heard today. For Luke’s recording of Jesus’ healing of the 10 lepers is about a good deal more than a healing story: it is a story about shelter.
Before we examine the idea of shelter in the encounter we hear today, let’s look more closely at some of the important points of Jesus’ interaction with these 10 men….
- Connections to other accounts in Luke having to do with lepers:[2]
a. Naaman, the Syrian: In Luke 4: 27, Jesus refers to (obliquely) to the healing of the foreigner, Naaman, the Syrian’s, healing from leprosy.
b. Another healing of a leper (Luke 5: 12 – 16): The differences and similarities between the chapter five account and today’s account are worth noting: The differences are: 1. Jesus touches the leper in chapter five (thereby becoming “unclean” himself); 2. the leprosy leaves immediately upon Jesus’ touch. The similarities are: i. the encounter begins with a cry for help from the leper; and ii. the man is told to “go show yourself to the priest”.[3] - “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”: Several things are of note in the cry which comes from the 10….
a. They call Jesus by name: How did they know Jesus’ name, and – even more importantly – how were they able to recognize Him? We don’t know the answers to those questions exactly (and Luke does not record them for us), but it’s possible that they knew about Jesus from the travels and the ministry of the 70 persons who were sent out (see Luke 10) in advance of Jesus, into every place “where He intended to go”.[4] If so, then the advance party that went out to these places did a very fine job of describing Jesus and His work of healing.
It’s also possible that Jesus’ healing work has been known to them by reports from eyewitnesses.
b. They do not cry out “unclean, unclean”: The requirements of Leviticus 13: 45 – 46 are not observed, that they cry “unclean, unclean” as a warning to anyone who might approach them. Thus, their cry for mercy invites interaction, instead of exclusion (though they keep their distance[5] as they cry out). - Luke’s geography: Several scholars have questioned Luke’s knowledge of the geography of the Holy Land, as he tells us that Jesus “was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee”[6] However, Luke’s purpose might be to remind us that Jesus was passing through an area in which a group of lepers could be composed of both Jews and foreigners (Samaritans), thereby establishing the radical reversal[7] of the gratitude of the Samaritan who was healed.
- Jesus’ test of faith: Returning to the earlier healing of a leper, we see that Jesus actually touched the man, healing him instantly (Luke 5: 12 – 16). However, in today’s account, Jesus seems to be testing these 10 men, as He says, “Go, show yourselves to the priest”. As they leave, they are still afflicted with leprosy.
The point seems to be that they must take the steps (quite literally) needed in order for the healing to come to pass. (There must have been something very compelling in Jesus’ command, for they obey!)
How does the idea of seeking shelter fit into today’s healing story?
Remember that lepers were required to “live outside the camp”.[8] Lepers were considered to be “unclean”, a condition that, in addition to placing them outside of society literally, also put them outside, religiously.
The religious authorities of Jesus’ day spent a lot of time figuring out who was worthy of shelter, and who was not. The idea might seem strange to us today, but a whole list of conditions would place someone “outside the camp” in their ability to worship, including: 1. various diseases; 2. lameness; 3. physical impairments; 4. immoral behavior; 5. contact with dead bodies, or with blood; 6. eating unclean animals; 7. associating with unclean persons (Jesus’ association with “tax collectors and sinners”, e.g.) and so forth.[9]
The job of the “door keepers” of the religious establishment of Jesus’ day was to peer through a small opening in the door of God’s grace to see if a person was worthy enough to enter. Their job was to maintain the security of the shelter.
And so, the 10 lepers’ cry is essentially a cry not only for deliverance from their physical affliction, but it is a cry to be made whole, so that they might come into the shelter of God’s presence and grace.
What lessons might we draw from today’s Gospel? As I consider that question, here’s what comes to mind:
- We must be able to identify by name the source of our healing: Notice that the lepers cry out to Jesus by name….God’s power to heal is made manifest in the person and work of Jesus Christ. That remains as true today as it was 2,000 years ago.
- We cry, “Master, have mercy on us”: With the 10 lepers, we cry out for mercy, inviting God’s provision of shelter. And as we do, we invite God’s intervention in our lives. The great hope we have in Christ is tied to the movement we take by the power of the Holy Spirit to move from our obvious condition, which is to acknowledge that we are “unclean”, into the place where we invite Our Lord to address our condition and our inability to correct it.
- God provides the raw material of healing.
- Human beings provide the response which allows the healing to take place.
So, it’s often true that those who have received the greatest restoration are the most thankful.
As we acknowledge our own “unclean” condition, and seek God’s healing and restoration, we regain our identities as Christ’s own forever, and we come under the protection of God’s shelter.
AMEN.
[1] The Rev. Jim Rivett, a Lutheran Pastor (during an informal study hour on Thursday, October 11th, 2007) who is a retired Chaplain from Marion Federal Prison.
[2] In Biblical usage, the term leprosy applies to any of a wide range of skin disorders and diseases, not just to leprosy itself.
[3] The priest was to certify that the individual was free of his disease, in accordance with the provisions of Leviticus 14: 23.
[4] Luke 10: 1
[5] Verse 13
[6] Verse 11
[7] Luke’s gospel account is full of such role reversals: 1. the rich are sent away while the poor are cared for; 2. the foreigners show thankfulness while God’s chosen people do not; 3. the Samaritan shows mercy to the wounded man while the Jewish priest and Levite do not (The Parable of the Good Samaritan – see Luke 10: 29 – 37), etc..
[8] Numbers 5: 2 - 3
[9] This list is a short one. For more detail, a careful reading of the Books of Numbers and Leviticus is in order.
