Rev. Michael Piazza in Liberating Word says about Luke 17:11-19 “This story, found only in Luke, is well known to those who regularly attend Thanksgiving services in their local churches. It is, of course, the story about 10 lepers who are healed by Jesus. Only one of them returned to say thanks. Preachers love to use this story to harangue congregations about living with ingratitude. That is certainly an important value, and I must confess that I have preached sermons about “Nine Ungrateful Turkeys.” However, that really wasn’t the point Luke had in mind when he included this story. Luke’s point is found in the last part of verse 16. Luke describes the one healed leper returning to prostrate himself in gratitude at Jesus’ feet. Then Luke adds, “And he was a Samaritan.” Luke’s point seems to be that insiders often take the gifts of God for granted. People who have been on the outside seem to have a tenderness of heart that overflows with gratitude. Jesus sees the grateful man and asks, rhetorically, if there were not 10 originally. He then wonders if all 10 were not healed. No one answers, but Jesus lifts up the Samaritan and sends him on his way, saying that “his faith has made him whole.” Now, wait weren’t their 10? Weren’t they all healed? Wasn’t it Jesus who healed all 10? How was it, then, that the Samaritan’s faith made him whole? This may be purely semantics, but it also may be a profoundly important spiritual principle. You see, people who are physically healthy may be a far cry from being spiritually and emotionally whole. This Samaritan’s gratitude, and his need to express it, spoke volumes about the kind of person he was. While Jesus healed all 10 lepers, the Samaritan’s faith was what made him whole. What did happen to the other nine ungrateful turkeys? Could it be that a few months later a spot developed on one leper’s hand, and he panicked to think the leprosy might be returning? Perhaps he should go back and find the rabbi from Galilee. The leper suddenly recalls that he never even thanked the Master for healing him. What about us? How many times have we been healed without giving thanks? Remember that cold that didn't turn into pneumonia? Remember that broken bone that healed? I suspect there are more than nine ungrateful turkeys …”
Rev. Michael Piazza in Liberating Word says about Luke 17:11-19 “This story, found only in Luke, is well known to those who regularly attend Thanksgiving services in their local churches. It is, of course, the story about 10 lepers who are healed by Jesus. Only one of them returned to say thanks.
ReplyDeletePreachers love to use this story to harangue congregations about living with ingratitude. That is certainly an important value, and I must confess that I have preached sermons about “Nine Ungrateful Turkeys.” However, that really wasn’t the point Luke had in mind when he included this story. Luke’s point is found in the last part of verse 16. Luke describes the one healed leper returning to prostrate himself in gratitude at Jesus’ feet. Then Luke adds, “And he was a Samaritan.”
Luke’s point seems to be that insiders often take the gifts of God for granted. People who have been on the outside seem to have a tenderness of heart that overflows with gratitude. Jesus sees the grateful man and asks, rhetorically, if there were not 10 originally. He then wonders if all 10 were not healed. No one answers, but Jesus lifts up the Samaritan and sends him on his way, saying that “his faith has made him whole.”
Now, wait weren’t their 10? Weren’t they all healed? Wasn’t it Jesus who healed all 10? How was it, then, that the Samaritan’s faith made him whole?
This may be purely semantics, but it also may be a profoundly important spiritual principle. You see, people who are physically healthy may be a far cry from being spiritually and emotionally whole. This Samaritan’s gratitude, and his need to express it, spoke volumes about the kind of person he was. While Jesus healed all 10 lepers, the Samaritan’s faith was what made him whole.
What did happen to the other nine ungrateful turkeys? Could it be that a few months later a spot developed on one leper’s hand, and he panicked to think the leprosy might be returning? Perhaps he should go back and find the rabbi from Galilee. The leper suddenly recalls that he never even thanked the Master for healing him.
What about us? How many times have we been healed without giving thanks? Remember that cold that didn't turn into pneumonia? Remember that broken bone that healed? I suspect there are more than nine ungrateful turkeys …”