Sermon for the Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost
GIVE HIM THANKS
Theme: Our Christ is generous even when we are thankless, because He is.
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ!
Amen. Only one person out of ten, seeing that he was healed, “turned back
praising God with a loud voice.”
Dear Christian friends,
This is what Jesus says to you in His Sermon on the Mount: “Judge not, that you
not be judged. … Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do
not notice the log that is in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:1, 3)
· These Words from Jesus stress for you the importance of not holding
your neighbor’s sins against him or her. It would be impossible for you not to
notice your neighbor’s sins. Only make certain that you do not use your
neighbor’s sins in the wrong way: Do not judge your neighbor on account of his
or her sins, “for in the same way you judge others,” says Jesus, “you will be
judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Matthew 7:2,
NIV).
· We must not take note of our neighbor’s sin as a way of judging and
condemning our neighbor, to be sure. But maybe we can take note of our
neighbor’s sin as a way of examining and judging ourselves. “Why do you see the
speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your
own eye?” Perhaps it would be a good thing for us each to use the specks in our
brother’s eye as a way of alerting ourselves to the log that is in our own eye.
In light of these thankless lepers in Gospel, bear this in mind: those things
that you might not so much appreciate about your neighbor might be the very
same sorts of things that your God might not appreciate so much about you.
I know this sounds a little strange, but I sincerely hope that most of you have
had the opportunity, at least once in your life, to feel unappreciated or
unthanked by someone you love. For example,
· At one time, thank-you notes were a common courtesy that you showed to
someone who gave you a gift. Thank-you notes are fairly rare these days, but if
you are a bit older, or if you have given an extraordinarily large gift to
someone, you probably felt insulted and hurt about the thank you note that
still has not arrived in the mail.
· Or think about the unnoticed, thankless service you give to this
congregation. Yes, you have been elected to the task—but a little appreciation
goes a long way, doesn’t it? When you do not feel as though your labors are
appreciated, how enthusiastic does that make you feel about the next time you
are needed?
· Or again, think about the experiences many parents have with their
children. Clearly your children do not see how much you sacrifice for them on a
daily basis. If they did, would it seem as though they could treat you a little
nicer than they do?
Such experiences as these will go a long way to helping you understand and
appreciate today’s Gospel. You should think of the thanklessness others have
shown to you as the speck in their eye. You could use that speck of your
neighbor’s thanklessness, not as a way of examining your neighbor and judging
him, but as a way of examining and judging yourself—especially in light of
today’s Gospel. Ten of your neighbors make an appearance in today’s Gospel,
each crying out to Jesus, “Have mercy upon us!” Of the ten,
· Which of these neighbors do you not appreciate so much?
· Stated another way, which of these neighbors has a speck in the eye
that points to the log in yours?
· Jesus asks, “Were not ten healed? Where are the [other] nine?” I am
ashamed to say that I am one of the missing nine. Each of the specks in the
eyes of these nine cleansed lepers is like a compass needle that points
accusingly northward to my log in my eye concerning my cold and thankless
attitude toward the gifts God has given.
Perhaps you have had the opportunity, at least once in your life, to feel
unappreciated or unthanked by someone you love. Learn the lesson from such
experiences. Allow those experiences to warn you about the hazard and danger of
feeling thankless or unappreciative toward your God—
· the God who loves you and who gave Himself up for you (Ephesians 5:2,
25);
· the God who forgives your sins and cleanses you from all
unrighteousness (1 John 1:9);
· the God who heals all your diseases and redeems your life from the pit
(Psalm 103:3);
· the God who secures you in every storm and tempest (Jonah 2:5-6).
And what a wonderful picture of our wonderful God St. Luke has painted for us
in today’s Gospel! Here Jesus our God quickly acts with kindness, with
compassion, and with open-handed generosity:
As He entered a village, [Jesus] 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. 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. … 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?”
If you or I were treated with such thanklessness, it would be very easy for us
to become jaded and resentful and to stop being generous. Not Jesus! Jesus is
the God of Compassion, not the god of getting fed up. A very short time after
today’s Gospel, Jesus met another man who cried out, “Have mercy on me” (Luke
18:38) in the same way that today’s lepers cried out to Jesus. Jesus does not
grow resentful. Jesus does not withhold His gifts on account of thanklessness.
Even though Jesus had been forgotten and taken for granted by nine cleansed
lepers, Jesus continues to shower His mercy and gifts upon those whom He loves.
Jesus said to this other man whom He later healed the same thing He said to the
one thankful leper at the end of today’s Gospel: “Go, your faith has healed
you.”
Jesus’ Words at the end of this Gospel would have been better translated, “Go,
your faith has saved and delivered you.” With these Words, Jesus is speaking
about a gift that is much greater than the physical healing of your bodies—much
greater than any other gift that could possibly be given. With these Words,
Jesus is speaking about the gift of faith that He has given and delivered to
you. “Go, your faith has saved and delivered you.”
These final Words create a surprise ending for this Gospel. All along, this
Gospel’s trajectory of thought has been a warning against thanklessness and
lack of appreciation for the gifts of God. Reflecting on our lives, it ought
not to be terribly difficult for any of us to compare ourselves to those nine
cleansed lepers who were not thankful enough. But Jesus gives us a surprise
ending with the words, “Go, your faith has saved and delivered you.” He changes
the subject away from thanklessness and He speaks about faith.
· You and I also have been given the gift of faith. That is what God’s
Word did for us in Baptism and continually does for us with every hearing and
with every Holy Communion. The giving of His gift of faith to you is what God’s
Word is all about.
· “Go, your faith has saved and delivered you.” God’s gifts are not
contingent upon our appreciation of them. The Words “ your faith has saved and
delivered you,” open an escape hatch, so that we do not need to identify
ourselves exclusively with the thankless nine. See yourself also as that one,
returning, Samaritan leper who had been cleansed. See yourself this way because
you also have God’s gift of faith. Hear Jesus commend and praise your faith,
even though it did not come from you but it was His gift to you.
· Draw nourishment from today’s Gospel, dear saints! Give thanks to God
that He continues to show His grace and mercy to us, even when we waver in our
thankfulness. Jesus does not withdraw His gifts from you; Jesus does not
determine the level of your thankfulness before He gives you more; Jesus does
not grow weary or impatient or jaded. Jesus continually promises you—even as
you realize how you may have taken His promises for granted—Jesus continually
promises you, “Go, your faith has saved and delivered you.”
___________________________________________________________________
'CAT 41 Sermons & Devotions' consists of works that are, unless
otherwise noted, the copyrighted property of the various authors;
posting of such gives members of this list implied consent for
redistribution _with_attribution_ unless otherwise specified by
the author (as long as no charge is made for the work and it is
not made part of a compilation), as well as for quoting or use
in a congregational setting _with_or_without_attribution_.
Note: This list's default reply is to the *poster*, NOT the list.
Do *not* reply to the list with your comments, but to the poster.
Subscribe? Send ANY note to: [email protected]
Unsubscribe? Send ANY note to: [email protected]
Archive? <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/>
For more information on this or other lists offered by Confess And Teach
For Unity, you can contact the CAT 41 list administrator at:
Rev. Fr. Eric J. Stefanski <MoM [at] lists (dot) cat41 <dot> org>
