Monthly Archives: September 2021

Humbled – Sermon on Luke 14:1-11 for the Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity

Luke 14:1-11

1 One Sabbath, when [Jesus] went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. 

2 And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. 3 And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” 4 But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. 5 And he said to them, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” 6 And they could not reply to these things. 

7 Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, 8 “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, 9 and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. 10 But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. 11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Jesus eats with all sorts of people. He eats at His friends’ house with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus (Lk. 10:38-42). He eats at His disciples’ houses. He eats in Peter’s house and Peter’s mother-in-law serves Him (Lk. 4:38-39). Jesus calls Matthew the tax collector to be His disciple and eats with him and other sinners. And you remember that the reason Jesus tells the parable of the Lost Sheep, Lost Coin, and Prodigal Son is the Pharisees accusing Jesus of welcoming and eating with sinners (Lk. 15:1-2).

We aren’t surprised that Jesus would eat with His friends and disciples. We do that too. And as Christians, we are comfortable with the fact that Jesus eats with sinners. But we might find it surprising that Jesus would even eat with Pharisees. The Pharisees were our Lord’s enemies. From the beginning of His ministry, the Pharisees were butting heads with Jesus (Lk. 5:21; Jn. 5:18).

Think of the person in your class or at work that you most regularly butt heads with – no matter what you just can’t seem to get along. He takes everything you say and turns it into an accusation against you, so you’re always on your toes, always analyzing everything word out of your mouth. Being around a guy like that is exhausting. Now, if that person invited you over for dinner, you’re going to decline. (Unless they tell you that they are going to be serving dry-aged Wagyu steaks. Then, you probably go, you just don’t stay for dessert.) But as difficult as the person you are imagining is, he probably isn’t trying to find some way to get you the death sentence. That’s exactly what the Pharisees wanted for Jesus, but our Lord still repeatedly ate with the Pharisees.

Once, Jesus went to Simon the Pharisee’s house where He was anointed by the sinful woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears (Lk. 7:36-50). Another time, Jesus was invited to eat at a Pharisee’s house and didn’t wash His hands the way the Sabbath traditions requires (Lk. 11:37-54). When Luke finishes recording that meal, he notes that the scribes and Pharisees were lying in wait for Him, to catch Him in something He might say.

Now here, in our text, an important Pharisee has invited Jesus to his house for a Sabbath dinner. And, what d’ya know? Jesus goes. 

Now, we have to imagine this scene of everyone arriving for the fancy dinner. Luke here gives us enough details to sketch this out, but they are interspersed in the account. So, let’s bring them together into one picture. Jesus arrives at this ruling Pharisee’s swanky house. As the guests arrive, they might give a nod or a handshake to their friends, but each of them is more interested in positioning themselves to get the best seats. They are cutting in front of each other to get as close as possible to the head of the table. I don’t know how a Pharisee would save a seat – maybe he’d drink half of whatever was in the cup or lick the silverware. Who knows? But they are all claiming their spots and making sure their position is secure and no one else takes it from them. Then, their gaze turns towards Jesus.

When Jesus arrived, He wasn’t concerned with sitting in the high, prominent spots. So, we can assume that there was only one spot left at the table – the lowest. Jesus finds His place, and the eyes of all the Pharisees are on Him. If you were there and watching Jesus approach His seat, you wouldn’t notice the fine dining couch or the fancy china. The only thing that would catch your attention was this man.

Luke, the doctor, tells us that the man before Jesus has ‘dropsy.’ The term does appears in medical literature about 300 years before Jesus by a guy named Hippocrates (from whom, we get the Hippocratic oath). The word is actually two words mushed together – “water” and “appearance.” In other words, the guy was swollen, grossly bloated. It is not stretching the text at all to assume the Pharisees brought this man in so they could accuse Jesus of breaking the 3rd Commandment, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.”

Now, the Pharisees had lengthy discussions on what was and what wasn’t permitted on the Sabbath. They wrote all sorts of rules that defined what you could and couldn’t do on the day of rest. It went so far as to define where you could spit. Every other day of the week, you could spit wherever you wanted, but on the day of rest, you could only spit on rocks because spitting on soil might be watering a plant and considered work. Also in their discussions, they considered how much help you could give to a person who was sick or injured. For example, if someone had a cut you could apply a bandage to keep the wound from getting worse, but you couldn’t apply the bandage in a way that would help the person get better because that would be considered work.

These Pharisees are all closely watching as Jesus sees this man, ballooned up with disease. But Jesus turns the tables. Notice, they don’t ask Jesus a question, but He responds to the situation asking, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” The Pharisees don’t say a word. Jesus heals the man. His swelling is gone. His features return to normal, and Jesus sends him away. Then, Jesus exposes the Pharisees’ hypocrisy. “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?”After this question, the Pharisees aren’t just silent. They aren’t able to answer. With two pointed questions, Jesus humbles the Pharisees into deafening silence.

Then, our Lord throws the knock-out punch. They had been watching Jesus carefully as He approached the table, but He had been watching them too. They had been scrambling, shoving, jolting, and jockeying for the best places. It’s interesting: for all the discussion and debate the Pharisees had on what was and wasn’t considered work on the Sabbath, they didn’t debate about contending for prominent positions in their regulations. And Jesus echoes what we had in the first two verses of our Old Testament lesson (Pro. 25:6-14). Basically, if you put yourself forward as being important, you’re likely going to be humbled, and it’s going to be a public spectacle. Instead, be humble, and wait for your host to exalt you.

Now, of course, this is some solid, practical advice. Any motivational speaker could take what Jesus says here and teach a helpful lesson: Don’t strut around blowing smoke about how important you are. Instead, go about your business quietly, and your recognition will come in due time. But this isn’t a self-help seminar, and I’m not a motivational speaker.

Instead, notice what happened at this meal. Jesus, who was by far the most important person there, ended up in the lowest seat. And even though no one changed positions, Christ elevated His place back the peanut gallery to be the prominent place, and those who were at the head of the table end up in the bleachers.

Dear saints, as our Epistle lesson (Eph 4:1-6) said, “Walk in a manner worthy of your calling.” Humble. Gentle. Patient. Bearing with one another in love. Paul will say a similar thing in Php. 2:5-11, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” But Jesus didn’t remain humbled and lowly in death. The text goes on, “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Dear saints, this humbled mind is yours. You, Christian, are saved by God’s grace. Live that out. You were sinful and low, but Christ has invited you, by the cleansing of His blood, to sit at His table. He has given you the seat of honor next to Him. Through His death and resurrection, you have been raised with Him. Your life is even now hidden with Christ in God. And the day is coming when Christ who is your life appears, you also will appear with Him in glory (Col. 3:1-4). Christ will call to you, “Friend, move up higher.” And you, and all believers, will be honored in the presence of all creation. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Doxology – Sermon on Ephesians 3:13-21 for the Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity

Ephesians 3:13-21

13 So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory. 

14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 

20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

This text is a prayer that you would be strengthened, rooted, and grounded in faith so that you would know the love of Christ. Whether you know it or not, that is why you are here today. You are here so that you would know the love of Jesus. Now, beware. The prayer in this text is very humbling for us. But if you are willing to be humbled, you will receive a gift greater than you can imagine. So, let’s walk through the text.

In v. 14-15, Paul is basically getting to his knees to pray. Then, in v. 16, the prayer begins. Paul asks that God would strengthen our inner being so we would know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge. Now, Paul wouldn’t pray that we be strengthened if our inner being were already strong enough to hold on to and grasp Christ’s love. And we can’t make ourselves strong enough by working harder than others or being smarter than others. Of course, it’s good to be smart and work hard, but this text isn’t about that. This strength comes from outside of us.

As we come to v. 17, we need to remember that Paul is writing this text to and praying this prayer for Christians. If you go back to the opening verses of this letter, you see that Paul is writing to the saints who are faithful and have already been blessed in Christ and have been given every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (Eph. 1:1-3). So, it is good and right to imagine that Paul is praying this for you. But his prayer asks for something you would expect to have already happened. He prays that you, Christian, would be strengthened with power through the Holy Spirit so that Christ would dwell in your hearts through faith. Isn’t that interesting? Doesn’t Christ already dwell in the hearts of Christians? Yes. And don’t you already know this? Yes!

But this prayer shows that even you, God’s people, His saints, you who are chosen by God, you need to be rooted and grounded so that you have strength to comprehend the love of Christ. Let’s consider this idea of being rooted and grounded because it helps us understand why Paul can pray that we would have something we already have and know something we already know.

A lot of our learning moves from one thing to another. In school, you are taught numbers then, when you master that, you move on to addition. When you master addition, you move to subtraction then multiplication then division, etc. Sometimes, we are tempted to think we don’t need to learn something anymore because it’s simplistic. If you showed up for calculus your senior year and the lesson was learning how to count, you’d drop the class! But the Christian life is about learning, and learning again, and again, and again the love of Jesus.

How young were you when you learned the lesson, “Jesus loves me this I know”? Isn’t that teaching for baby Christians? Yes, it is. But Christian, you don’t move beyond those lessons. The teaching of Christ’s love is as elementary as learning that 2 comes after 1, and 3 after 2. But that teaching is also more advanced than differential equations.

Christian, be humbled to learn that simple lesson again. You need to be strengthened to be rooted and grounded in Christ’s love. Rooted and grounded means that you don’t move. You don’t go anywhere. You stay put. You roots go down deeper and deeper where you already are. In other words, there are incredible things to know, but it is the same. Same soil. Same location.

Here’s where those roots dig down – look at v. 18-19. Those roots dig down into the breadth and length and height and depth of the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge. You already know this love, but Paul is praying that you would know more fully the love of Christ.

Now, we know that the place we learn of Christ’s love is always through the Scriptures. But for that message to take deeper root, there needs to be some breaking up of hardened soil. In other words, for your inner being to become stronger, God will come to you through His Word to break you up a bit first. You will hear the Law and learn about your needs, your weaknesses, your limitations, and your sin. And God uses that Law to break you up and expose your failure and sin. Then, the soil is prepared for your roots to go deeper as you hear God say, “You knew before that I loved you, but you didn’t know that I would love you here and in this situation.”

Just briefly consider our Old Testament lesson (1 Kgs. 17:17-24) which is a continuation of the story from last week. The widow of Zarephath learned that God loved her and cared for her during a drought that left her with only enough flour and oil for she and her son to have one more bite before they died. But in the midst of her plight, God loved her and provided so that her little bit of ingredients wouldn’t run out. In today’s text, she learns that God still loved her even when her son died.

Remember what she said. This widow figured that her son’s death was God simply reminding her that she was a sinner (1 Kgs. 17:18). She thinks that God’s love was only enough to provide for her next meal. But God had more blessings and love to pour out on her. Her son was raised. God loved her and did far more abundantly than she could ask or think. God had more love to give that widow even in midst of the death of her son. Her son was raised, and, God be praised, her roots went deeper into the love of God.

Now, that’s her story, how she was broken, strengthened, and more deeply rooted in Christ’s love. I can’t say how this will specifically happen for you. But you will face a time of suffering or weakness. You will encounter something that simply knocks you down so all you can see and feel is how weak and powerless you are. Then, God’s love will come to you in that weakness and place of inability. That love isn’t new, but His love will come into that place, and you will know again and more fully than before the love of Jesus which you already know.

Dear Beau, that brings me to you. Beau, today you are Baptized. Today, God has made you a Christian and saved you (1 Pet. 3:21). God has made you His disciple by placing His name – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – upon you (Mt. 28:). He has claimed you as His own. God has joined you to the death and resurrection of Christ (Ro. 6:3-10). God has clothed you with Christ (Gal. 3:27). But, Beau, today is just the beginning of God’s love for you in Christ. There’s more. More gifts. More blessings. More love that God will continue to pour out on you. Beau, may God give you the strength to let your roots sink deeper and stronger in the love of Christ as you grow and mature in the faith. May each day of your life be filled with lessons of Christ’s infinite love for you.

And all you saints, may this be the same for you. May God give all of you the strength to sink your roots further and deeper into the knowledge of God’s love so you may know His love which surpasses knowledge. And may you unite your voice with the entire church in a doxology, in praise to God.

Dear saints, your God is able to do far more abundantly than all you ask or think. And His power is at work within you. To Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.[1]

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

[1] Portions of this sermon were adapted from a sermon by Rev. Dr. Jeff Gibbs on this text.

Today – Sermon on Matthew 6:24-34 for the Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity

Matthew 6:24-34

[Jesus says,] 24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Of all the things we humans do, there is nothing more pointless and draining than worrying and being anxious. A reasonable argument could be made that worry is a bigger waste of time than watching television, playing endless video games, or scrolling on your phone all day. Anxiety not only fills our mind and distracts us from doing productive things, it can, depending on how anxious we are, also zap us of physical energy. But now, kids, listen to me carefully: Don’t use that statement to argue with your parents when they tell you to stop wasting time watching TV or whatever. You don’t have my permission to say, “But pastor says it’s better than being worried.”

How many times have you been really worried and incredibly anxious about something, but then everything fell into place and life simply moved on? We all remember times when we have been incredibly worried, but it can be easy to forget what we were worrying about because everything worked out just fine. God gave you what you needed, and you made it through. There are other times you weren’t worried about anything, and God still gave you what you needed. So, whether you are anxious and worried or not, God provides.

Three times in this text, Jesus commands you, “Do not worry.” One other time He asks almost sarcastically, “Why do you worry?” Jesus cares a lot about us not worrying because He has an interest in your confidence and trust. He doesn’t want you to be anxious. In this text, Jesus makes two things clear: First, God wants to and does give you everything you need for life. And second, God wants you to have confidence that He will give you everything you need.

We sit in strong, solid, well-built homes that have cupboards, pantries, and refrigerators full of food. In fact, we often end up throwing perfectly good food away. We have dressers, closets, and storage bins filled with more clothes than we could ever use, but we wonder if God cares about us. Birds and grass have a lot to teach us about trusting our Creator.

God cares for the birds by feeding them. Each day, every bit of food eaten by every bird on the planet was put there by God. God knows you need food just like a bird does. He’ll make sure you have it. God cares for the flowers by clothing them more splendidly than Solomon was ever clothed. If God clothes the grass like that, He will make sure you have what you need.

We live in a world surrounded by unbelievers who are always worried about the future. The sad fact is that they think their worry actually accomplishes something. Christ doesn’t want you to live like that. Jesus says you are free to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things – food, clothing, house, home, money, goods, etc. – will be given to you as well.

Listen, God promises that if your regular source of food and clothing is depleted or cut off, He will provide another one. Our Old Testament lesson (1 Kgs. 17:8-16) is a great example. God sent a drought to punish Israel during the days of Elijah, so God told Elijah to live by a brook named Cherith promising, “I have commanded the ravens to feed you there” (1 Kgs. 17:4). Scripture doesn’t say how long Elijah lived there with the crows waiting on him, but as the drought went on, the brook dried out, and that is where our text picks up. God tells Elijah to go the city of Zarephath because, “I have commanded a widow there to feed you” (1 Kgs. 17:9). That line really struck me this week. 

For however long he lived at Cherith, Elijah had become accustomed to the ravens flying to him and providing his food because God had commanded them to feed him. Now, he gets to Zarephath, but this widow doesn’t come up to him and say, “There you are. Diner is at my place. God commanded me to feed you.” Not even close! Elijah watches this widow picking up a couple of sticks and asks her for a drink of water, and the woman heads off to get it. Only then does Elijah decide to add a bite of bread to his order, and the woman doesn’t say, “No way! I can’t give you anything.” Instead, her response is, basically, “I’ve only got enough ingredients for my son and I to have a bite. I’m grabbing these sticks so we can bake it, eat, and die.” I wonder if this is how Elijah recognizes that she is the one God had commanded to feed him. Then, there is the promise that the flour and oil will not run out until God would send rain and provide relief from the drought (1 Kgs. 17:14, 16). Again, once Elijah’s supply of food from the ravens was gone, God provided Elijah another supply of food.

Dear saints, God will provide all you need for this life until He calls you to heaven. And in the New Creation, God will provide you with a feast of rich food for all eternity (Is. 25:6). He has promised!

Now, all of that brings us to v. 34 which is where I really want to focus our attention, and if your mind has been wandering, come back. After telling us to not be anxious about what we will eat, drink, or wear, Jesus says, “Do not be anxious about tomorrow.” Again, Jesus has given us ample reasons to not worry about food and clothing, but I honestly don’t know many, if any, people who are anxious about those things. (God has certainly blessed us!) But I do know a lot of you here are worried about what will happen tomorrow, a month from now, a year from now, and in the coming decades.

Some are worried about the virus and the variants. Some are worried about what long-term side effects the vaccines might have. Some are worried about the government becoming too authoritative. Some are worried the government isn’t doing enough to stop the virus or terrorists, and with the 20th anniversary of 9/11, some are worried about another terrorist attack on our soil. Some are worried about the world becoming more and more hostile toward Christians. All of this can pile up and make us worried about the world our kids, grandkids, and great grandkids will live in. But Jesus straight up tells us, “Do not worry about tomorrow.”

Now, I’ve been trying to figure out a way to say this succinctly since Tuesday, and I still haven’t found it. So, bear with me. When Christ commands us, “Do not worry about tomorrow,” Jesus almost gives us permission to worry about today, but it’s like we are to draw a line at the end of the day and not have any worry whatsoever about anything past that line. To be sure, Jesus tells us to not worry about our life – food, clothing, etc., but the evil and ugly things we face today are enough for us. And we are to do everything God gives us to do to confront and combat those evils each day God gives us.

Here’s what I mean, with all of Jesus’ talk about not worrying, we can fall off the other side of the horse and become sinfully passive and idle. We might be tempted to think we don’t ever have to work or do anything to combat the evils we face and think God will just take care of everything. Well, that isn’t right either. For example, it is a sin to pray for a hole when God has given you a shovel.

And since each day has enough evil of its own, don’t let tomorrow’s evil distract you with worry from the evil you face today. Jesus promises that He will give you everything you need to meet the evil, ugly challenges of today. And, if He gives you another day tomorrow, He will do it again.

For example: Some of you have watched the pain family endures while their child is being treated for cancer. Some of you have actually gone through this. But for those of you who haven’t, you might think, “I could never handle that. I don’t have the strength.” You were right. God hasn’t called you to do that – at least not yet. But Jesus doesn’t want you to worry about that diagnosis coming tomorrow because it distracts you from meeting the challenges and evil God has called you to face today. If the day comes when God calls you to meet that evil (or any evil like that), Jesus promises to give you the strength to meet that evil each and every day it is yours to endure.

You see, when you get to the end of the day and are completely worn out, remember, God designed your tank to be empty at the end of the day. So, go to sleep in peace (Ps. 4:8). And when you wake up again, be ready to face the trouble that comes your way that day.

Above all, remember what Christ has done by taking on our flesh. Jesus Himself got hungry and thirsty and tired and hot and cold, so He knows the struggles you face. He endured it all without a shred of worry because He trusted that God the Father would provide the strength He needed to endure it. Even as He went to the cross, carrying all your sin of doubt and anxiety, He entrusted Himself to God (1 Pet. 2:23), and there on the cross Jesus provided what you needed most – His forgiving blood shed for you. On the cross, Christ overcame and defeated all the evils of every day that you face and opened the kingdom of heaven to you.

So, when you face the evil of each of your todays, remember that God has promised to take care of it.Ps. 37:32-33 says, “The wicked watches for the righteous and seeks to put him to death. The Lord will not abandon [the righteous] to [the wicked’s] power or let him be condemned when he is brought to trial.” That means that none of the devil’s charges against you can stand in God’s court, and nothing that the world can throw at you will ever change that.

Dear saints, be comforted and be at peace. Your God knows what you need to face today and all your future todays. And He will provide the strength you need. He has promised. He is faithful. He will surely do it (1 Thes. 5:24). Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Rise & Go – Sermon on Luke 17:11-19 for the Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity

Luke 17:11-19

11 On the way to Jerusalem [Jesus] was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. 12 And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance 13 and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” 14 When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. 15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; 16 and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Leprosy wasn’t simply a skin disease. Scripture repeatedly equates leprosy with punishment for sin and a sign of God’s wrath. In Dt. 28(:15, 27) Moses says, “If you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God,… [He] will strike you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors, with scales and [leprosy] of which you cannot be healed.” We see this happen several times in the Scriptures.

When Moses’ sister Miriam spoke against Moses (Num. 12:1-10), she became a leper. David’s general, Joab (and later Joab’s descendants), were struck with leprosy after he unjustly killed Abner (2 Sam. 3:29). After Naaman was healed from his leprosy, Elisha’s servant, Gehazi, took a bribe from Naaman and became leprous (2 Kgs. 5:20-27). King Uzziah of Judah contracted leprosy when he offered incense in the Temple even though he was not a priest (2 Chr. 26:16-21). The rabbis in Jesus’ day taught that leprosy was never contracted by people who lived moral lives. (I don’t think we can or should go that far, though.) There is little doubt that these ten lepers concluded that their condition meant they were being punished by God.

In desperation, they cry out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy upon us.” What were they asking for? Did they know that Jesus had cleansed lepers before, so they were crying out to Him for healing? Did they want food or money? Honestly, we don’t know, and it’s possible that the lepers didn’t know themselves. Notice, they don’t call Jesus ‘Lord’ as many other people do when they call out to Jesus in faith. Instead, they call our Lord, ‘master,’ which opens the door to all sorts of possibilities. Jesus simply responds, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.”

Now, this statement from Jesus was probably not received well by the lepers. They already knew that the priests were supposed to examine people with skin diseases and declare them to be clean or unclean, and, since these ten have leprosy, they are unclean. Going to the priests would be a pointless exorcise for lepers. The best-case scenario for a leper being examined by a priest would be for them to be declared unclean again. Because we know the end of the story, we know that Jesus has a hidden word of promise here. We know that their leprosy would be gone by the time they got to the priests. But some have argued, and I think convincingly, that these lepers heard the opposite. Instead of hearing the hidden promise, they heard a hard, “No, I won’t help you,” from Jesus.

Let me explain. I frequently and regularly get phone calls and people coming in to the church asking for help. I listen to their story and ask questions to discern how we as a congregation can best help them. Nine times out of ten, the individual is simply looking for one more excuse to continue some type of sinful, destructive behavior.

A few years ago, a man came here telling me that he was homeless and wanted money to buy food. I listened to his story, prayed with him, offered him some godly advice, and told him, “We have some food I can give you in the basement.” (And just so you know it was perfectly good food that I ate a couple days after he came.) But he didn’t want what we had, so I told him that he could go to Northlands Rescue Mission or to the Food Shelf because we support those ministries monthly, but he wasn’t interested in that either. He wanted money to get something from the store. I simply told him, “Listen, we are happy and willing to help you. You can have this food here, you can get a meal at Northland, or you can get something from the Food Shelf.” He became very upset, and as he left he yelled at me, “[Bleep] off.”

I’m very glad that we, as a congregation, send monthly support to different ministries in our community that can assist probably 95% of the people who come to our congregation asking for help. Those ministries serve as a clearing house to make sure people aren’t abusing the generosity of Christians and can come along side of people to help teach them to make better decisions. And I want to be clear, we still help many who need assistance through our Deacons’ Fund, but some people refuse to receive the help they actually need.

I think the nine lepers were like that man. He was offered three ways to get food, which is what he said he wanted. But he only heard the refusal to give him money as a refusal to help him. These lepers probably heard Jesus’ statement, “Go and show yourselves to the priests,” in a similar way. It was as if Jesus was saying, “I’ll only help you if you are declared to be clean by the priests.”

The other thing we have to consider is the timing of all this. When were these lepers healed, and when did they discover that they were cleansed? I’ve typically imagined that the ten lepers start marching off to Jerusalem, and after they had walked for a couple hours, discover that they were healed. Nine of them continue journeying to the Temple, but the Samaritan hikes his way back to the village, back through the streets, back to Jesus’ feet where he falls down and gives Him thanks. The thing about this is that the text doesn’t actually supply any of those details. It’s certainly possible that it happened that way, but the grammar that Luke uses actually seems to imply something different.

The way the verbs work seems to suggest that the healing happened more or less immediately, or at least while the ten are still within earshot of Jesus. Imagine if their cleansing happened immediately, basically just as they turned away. The Samaritan, unlike the nine, turns back and praises Jesus with a loud voice. He recognizes both his healing and the source of his healing – which came from the Word of Jesus. In faith, given by the Holy Spirit, the Samaritan believes that Jesus is the good God who has good things for him. He receives the gift of healing, but even better, he believes in the healing Savior, who also gives salvation and eternal life, which is exactly what he gets. Those last words of Jesus in our text are better translated, “Your faith has saved you.”

In the end, the nine ungrateful lepers didn’t expect God to be good to them. And Jesus’ statement, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?” would be a direct rebuke of them – something along the lines of, “Are you nine going to ignore when I have just done? I’ve given better than the mercy you asked for, and I have even more to give you.” But even if that isn’t the case, when the nine are healed, they refuse to recognize their Healer. The fact that they are cleansed is a wonderful thing, but it is only temporary. Their skin is restored, but their souls were still leprous in sin. They are the embodiment of the un-thankfulness that Jesus talks about in Mt. 5:45 where He says, “[God] makes the sun rise on the evil and on and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” Dear saints, how often does our merciful God gives good things to draw us to Himself, but we fail to recognize it?

But the Samaritan sees God’s goodness and comes back for more. He returned to Christ from whom all blessings flow.

It’s one thing to be grateful, but it is a different thing to be thankful. There is little doubt that the nine lepers were grateful that they were better, but they didn’t recognize how they had been healed. But the one, the Samaritan, the doubly outcast, was thankful. He was not only happy for the gift of healing; he was also thankful for and to the Giver of the gift. That is why he returns to Jesus and gives Him thanks and praise.

I’m going to abruptly change gears here, so bear with me. The church has commonly used Psalm 116:12-13 as a prayer before receiving the cup during Holy Communion. Here’s that prayer: “What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord,” which fits perfectly with what this Samaritan leper does. Jesus is good to him by healing him. So, what thanks and service does he offer to God? He goes back and receives more. He receives the salvation of his soul which is even better than being cleansed from leprosy.

So, let’s bring this to us today. Too often, we are like the nine. We see and feel our suffering and think that God has forsaken us. We pray and ask God to remove whatever crosses we bear, but in our impatience, we think that any delay of relief is a hard, “No,” from God which makes us doubt God’s goodness. As that sinful doubt creeps in, we grow less and less thankful, and even when God does remove that suffering, we do not recognize His goodness and mercy. May we repent.

Dear saints, even in our most difficult times, we can wait on the mercy of God. Yes, we suffer in this life, and “Our sufferings are not trivial, but neither are they eternal” (Rev. Petersen). We can wait on and trust in God. We can praise Him even in times of sorrow because He has bought us with His blood and will never leave nor forsake us.

And from this Samaritan, let us learn to always return to Jesus. When Jesus tells him, “Rise and go,” He doesn’t give him any direction. The man can go wherever he wants. But notice where he did go after being healed, he went back to Jesus, back to the goodness of God for more. And the interesting thing about Jesus’ command to ‘go’ is that the Greek word is a little ambiguous. At its root, it means ‘journey’ which means that It doesn’t necessarily mean, ‘go away,’ it could also mean ‘come with me.’ And it doesn’t make much sense if Jesus praises the man’s faith and tells him to go away. Faith always returns to Jesus in thanks to receive more of what Jesus has to offer. That is why Ps. 116 answers the question, “What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits to me?” with, “I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.”

Dear saints, we can expect God to be good wherever we journey. And we always desire to come back to Christ because He has more good things to give to us. Faith wants to be with Jesus and continue to receive His gifts. He is our Temple. He is our Priest. And He is here now to cleanse us and freely give us His forgiveness.

God has given you every good thing. So, what will you do to repay Him? Come and get more. Come now to His table and lift up the cup of salvation. Come, eat and drink the Body and Blood of Christ for the salvation of your soul. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.