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Over the years I have talked to war veterans who mentioned that when coming under enemy fire and seemingly moments away from death they prayed, "Oh God, if you get me out of this one, I'll go to church every week."
Were their pleas for rescue sincere? Sure! But in our human weakness, we stop thinking about what God has done for us and fail to remain thankful and committed. Time and distance create a cloudy amnesia to the intense need expressed in our moments of desperation. Words under pressure are momentarily sincere, but at the end of the day talk is cheap.
Remembering where, when and how we personally encountered God's intervening love is one of the surest markers that we are responding to Jesus' invitation of "Follow Me" (see Matthew 4:19; John 21:19). It's the stepping stone to a new and different life -- no longer alone. It's a key factor enabling others to know through our witness that their life need not be destined towards despair, but to wellbeing unimagined. Grateful remembrance is the necessary springboard to a transformed existence.
Such is the encounter discovered in Luke 17:11-19, where Jesus, in moving through the adjacent regions of Galilee and Samaria on His trek towards His ultimate rendezvous with destiny in Jerusalem, encounters 10 lepers. Time is precious, yet important lessons will be presented among those Jesus personally encounters that day -- lessons that are also for us.
When He came to a certain village, 10 desperate men "lifted up their voices" in crying out, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" (Luke 17:13). It's here that Jesus enters where hope is lost.
We are not told the composition of the 10, except that some were Jews and at least one was a Samaritan. These may have ostracized one another earlier in life, as Samaritans were considered by the Jews to be "half-breeds" and their religion to be worthless and contrary to God. They were the "others" to be loathed and despised. But now they are bound as one in adversity, for all are lepers.
Leprosy, a scourge of the ancient world, was a progressively deteriorating disease that attacked limbs and nerve endings of the body. Its festering lesions were external manifestations of the creeping corruption of the body below the skin's surface.
Scripture here places these "walking dead" as standing "afar off" (Luke 17:12), a fact corroborated by other records of the customs of that day regarding infected individuals. They were to remain isolated, keeping at least six feet from others, 150 feet if upwind. They had to warn others of their presence from a distance to avoid contact with the land of the living and healthy. They were considered cursed, as the cultural mindset of the day linked physical ailments to personal or generational sin (see John 9:1-3).
The Son of God intervenes in the lives of these without hope, telling the 10 lepers, "Go, show yourselves to the priests" (Luke 17:14). This was in alignment with Leviticus 14:1-32, which offered lepers acceptance back into the community if their condition was no longer detectable.
But notice that when Jesus gave instruction to go, they had not been healed -- yet! Luke 17:14 further says that it was on their departure in obeying Jesus' instruction that they were healed. Imagine their joy as the lesions disappeared and their flesh was given new life!
But in the next few verses Jesus calls out, by means of an exception, a terrible human malady -- that of ingratitude: "And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. [ What?! ] So Jesus answered and said, 'Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?' And He said to him, 'Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well'" (Luke 17:15-19).
How do we personalize the lessons mentioned in these few verses? Is being grateful simply offering a big "thank you" as soon as possible, or is it something more profound?
Let's first realize that Jesus' earthly ministry was not accidental, but rather by design. His encounters were not random, but intentional. We simply don't worship an accidental Savior. He didn't stumble into that village or bump into those lepers because His GPS wasn't working. He said early on, "I must be about My Father's business" (Luke 2:49).
The theme of Luke's writing is crystalized in Luke 19:10, in which Jesus discloses that He came "to seek and save that which was lost." Luke penned a Gospel saturated with stories about gentiles, women, lepers and people plagued with demons -- all those who were culturally and conveniently kept "outside the camp."
He later wrote the book of Acts, the early story of the Church of God, the Body of Christ with members joined together against spiritual isolation. The proverbial safe distance from that which is unclean is erased through Christ and His sacrifice. Luke never missed a beat in sharing God's reaching out to those cast aside.
Yet those were not the only outcasts needing rescue. We should recognize that, under the lens of God's perspective, we were all lepers at one time -- spiritual lepers! Some of us may have forgotten this, and some may not realize this yet as God enters the village of our existence.
Sin can be likened to leprosy. Consider the story of Aaron and Miriam's dispute with God's role for Moses in Numbers 12. Sibling rivalry, personal pride and a spirit of accusation led to God briefly punishing Miriam with leprosy, externally exposing what was internally eating her up.
Scripture declares that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). It's our sins, the spreading lesions on our heart's nature, that caused us to be separated from God, with His face hidden from us (Isaiah 59:2) -- a gap much wider than even 150 feet, this one of our own making.
But God heard your cry and hears our cry now, echoing the lepers' cry of "mercy!" God the Father sent His Son who came willingly as the unblemished Lamb, One without any lesions in heart, soul or body -- yes, "Him who knew no sin to be sin for us" (2 Corinthians 5:21), paying the penalty of sin so we could live.
Hebrews 13 offers a colorful description of Jesus' suffering and isolation from the land of the living for our sakes and what our response should henceforth be: "Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate [like a leper]. Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach ... [And] therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name" (Hebrews 13:12-15).
What specific steps do we incorporate now in offering such sacrifices of praise as we heed Christ's call of "Follow Me"? Perhaps until now you too have suffered from the plague of spiritual amnesia regarding God's intervention. How do we, as the thankful Samaritan, glorify God with a loud voice?
As he did, we are to fall down in devoted praise and gratefulness -- in worship. This is more than a quick head nod and obligatory "thank you." We display how we value God's initial and ongoing intervention -- transforming us from the walking dead to a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17) -- by yielding our thoughts, words and deeds 24/7 before the great and loving Giver of life, surrendering all outcomes into His hands. He alone is able to erase the distance that separated us from Him and others. He alone gives us a joint future of close fellowship in His family forever.
One vital way we worship Him is in acknowledging His grace, His favor, every day by treating every human being who is made in the image of God with dignity and respect. Perhaps it's time to eliminate our own safe-distance rule regarding those we feel are outside God's ability to reach. To heed Christ's invitation of "Follow Me" is to understand that it's not our role to choose who can be part of God's family.
Like the Samaritan, we will discover that when God enters our lives He will always give us a job to perform. He could do everything all by Himself, but He wants us to partner with His grace our responding obedience.
Sometimes it won't make sense to us in the moment, like when He told the lepers to go to the priests even before they were healed. But we need to come to understand that God sees things as if they already are! At the end of the story, we saw that Jesus gave another job to the thankful Samaritan: "Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well" (Luke 17:19). He was to carry on in life in thankfulness, remaining aware of what had been done for him.
Again, God is always going to give us a job! When is the last time we asked God, "What is my job -- did I miss it?" It may be a little job or big job. It makes no difference, because we worship a big God who takes our "little" and makes it great to serve His purposes.
One of my lifelong jobs and privileges is to encourage people about God's ability to heal. When I was an older teen I was divinely healed of a dreaded disease. I have not forgotten and remain eternally grateful. As a minister for more than 40 years, I've had opportunity to share my story with those facing their "valley of the shadow of death." Like the thankful leper, I obey our common Master's call to go on our way in life with gratitude and share the story that God has given me. Are you sharing yours?
Like the thankful Samaritan, let's appreciate that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are always willing to give audience to a grateful heart. Gratefulness allows us to grow and gain in understanding about God's purposes for us and through us. When the Samaritan returned in thanks, he discovered a missing piece of the puzzle in what made his healing possible when Jesus told him, "Your faith has made you well" (Luke 17:19).
What does God have in store to share with you as you return to Him again and again in accepting the most incredible invitation offered to mankind -- "Follow Me"? Let's find out together as we move forward till next we meet again in this column -- we who have realized that we were all once lepers, and would remain so, but for the grace of our Heavenly Father through Jesus Christ our Lord.
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