Blizzards, Lepers and Gratitude

Luke 17:11-19

            Jesus was traveling through South Dakota.  As he entered the village of Rapid City, ten families that had been stuck in a blizzard without power for three days approached him.  They called out “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”  When he saw them he said “Go talk to the power company.”  And as they went on their way their power was restored.  Then one family, when they saw that the power was restored to their home, turned back, praising God with a loud voice.  They all lay down at Jesus’ feet and thanked him.  And they were nonbelievers.

Talk about good timing with this parable!  I think in the past week we have all had a moment of thankfulness or gratitude after that blizzard.  For some it was having power restored and for others it was the sound of running water.  For some it was being rescued from their car or home.  For others it was having their car plowed out.  For some it was finding that some of their herd of livestock had survived the storm.  For me as a people person and an extrovert, someone who gains energy from being around others, it was finally seeing people again.  At that moment I was so thankful and grateful to God that I had survived the blizzard and that I could be back around the people that gave me energy.  I would imagine that you had a similar moment of gratitude and thankfulness this week after blizzard Atlas.

That gratitude and thankfulness is a lesson to be learned in our text today from Luke.  There are ten lepers.  Lepers had a skin disease that was highly contagious, so they were cast out of their families and out of their homes.  They were sent out of the camp or community to live with other lepers, so no one else would catch their disease.  If they were healed of their leprosy they needed to go to the priest, who was the only one who could certify that they were now clean and could return to their community. 

            So when Jesus came through their village they called out in loud voices asking Jesus to heal them, to have mercy on them.  Jesus told them to go show themselves to the priest and as they went they were made clean.  Then one of them recognized the miracle healing that had just happened.  And he recognized who it was who had just sent them to the priest and who it was who had healed them.  So he decided to return to Jesus.  He praised God and then lay down in front of Jesus feet and thanked him for making him clean.

            This leper-made-clean was a Samaritan.  Remember that Samaritans were unbelievers.  They were outsiders.  Regardless, this man knew what had just happened and he was overwhelmed with thanksgiving and infused with a sense of gratitude.  He knew he needed to give thanks and praise to the one who had made him clean.  On that day the Samaritan leper received more than he ever dreamed he was asking for when he and his fellow lepers asked Jesus to have mercy on them.  He received a second blessing by Jesus.  Because he had returned, Jesus gave him one more blessing saying, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”  An even better translation of the Greek would be “your faith has saved you.”  Yes, Jesus provides salvation for this Samaritan – this nonbeliever.  Even though he was a Samaritan Jesus blesses him, loves him and saves him, just the way he is.

            But what about the other nine lepers that were made clean that day?  What happened to them?  Why didn’t they return to Jesus to say “thank you”?  Now, I am not sure that they did anything wrong.  They did what Jesus said.  They went to show themselves to the priest.  After all, Jesus didn’t tell them to make sure to come back and say thank you.  So they had followed directions and done what Jesus had told them to do.  According to the text, they did not give public verbal thanks for their blessing.  We don’t know if they gave thanks in private, maybe without even using any audible words.

            The one leper, the Samaritan, was able to receive the blessing that Jesus had given him, recognize it and give thanks for it.  That is a powerful thing.  Those two little words pack a powerful punch – “thank you.”  They mean a lot when we say them and when we have them said to us.  Thanksgiving is born out of our perception, our ability to recognize a blessing.  It is also created from articulation, our ability to put words around our gratitude.

            So, what?  How can this text intersect with our life?  For starters, we have plenty to be thankful for in our daily lives.  All too often, we take that for granted.  So be thankful.  Be thankful for a roof over your head and clothing on your back.  Be thankful for hot water and electricity.  Be thankful for health and life.  Be thankful for money in the bank and in your wallet.  Be thankful for food to eat and water to drink.  Most of all be thankful that you are a loved and forgiven child of God.

This text can also apply to our lives because we are lepers of sorts.  Now I don’t mean we have a skin disease, but we are infected with the disease of sin.  We need to be made clean.  We need to call out “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.”  Then we need to allow the power that Jesus has to forgive our sins to soak into those sinful places of our lives.  Through the waters of baptism, the bread and wine of communion, and the words of confession and absolution we are offered forgiveness. 

And in response to the forgiveness we are granted and all the good gifts that are bestowed on us we need to have the perception to recognize the blessing that has just happened.  Then we put articulation with that and put words around the deep gratitude we have for our Savior, that he would forgive us our sins, love us, provide for us and save us.  Today Jesus says to you and to me, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has saved you.”  What is your response?  Amen.

Jesus: The Unjust Steward

           Luke 16:1-13

           Have you seen the story that is circulating about Joey Prusak?  He isn’t a big name or anything, but lately he has been pretty popular because of a choice he made.  Joey works at a Dairy Queen in Minnesota.  Recently one of his frequent guests came into the store, a man who is blind.  He took out his wallet to pay and dropped at $20 bill.  A woman behind him in line quickly picked it up and put it in her purse.  So, Joey asked her to return the money.  She wouldn’t and claimed it was hers.  Joey then refused to serve her.  That is not why the story has been circulating though.  The story is popular because of what happened next.  Since the lady would not return the money, Joey opened his wallet and gave the man a $20 bill.  Joey made a good choice.  A choice that has gotten him recognition he probably never expected to receive.

Life gives us many choices.  We make decisions all the time.  Should I go out to eat or go home and cook?  Should I watch this channel or this other one?  Should I go to this event or this other one?  Should I be a member in this group or this other one?  Should I pay this bill or this other one?  Should I stay at this job or should I take another one?

Our parable today includes two decisions.  The first one is made by the manager.  The manager, upon finding out that he is going to be fired, makes a decision to reduce the debts of the debtors so that when all is said and done he will not be rejected by the community.  In doing so, the debtors likely have respect and appreciation for the manager.  So, when he is out of a job, they might be willing to help him out.  The debtors also likely have some appreciation for the owner, too.  They don’t know that this gift of debt reduction has come only from the manager.  Both the manager and the owner are in good positions, because of the manager’s shrewd behavior.

So, is this parable saying that lying, cheating, and being dishonest are desirable characteristics to have?  No.  This point is actually much bigger than that.  Remember, Jesus, as is typical, is hanging out with all the wrong people in all the wrong places, according to the standards of the world.  He is eating with sinners, looking for lost things, and telling parables about celebrating when the prodigal son comes home after squandering the inheritance.  Jesus doesn’t fit the norm and he never will.  So Jesus uses this story to illustrate a point.  Part of his point is that in God’s economy people are more important than profits.  Jesus is willing to risk the stare and the gossip about who he is hanging out with, because he knows that people are most important, regardless of who they are.  The same is true of the manager.

Now for the second decision, which is up to us.  The text ends with “You cannot serve God and wealth.”  No, you can’t have two masters.  There cannot be two entities that have ultimate control and authority in your life.  So here we have another choice.  Serve God or serve money?  Remember in making this decision you are not choosing to never use money.  Let’s be honest we use money all the time.  We just can’t make it our “god.”  We cannot give money the ultimate authority in our lives.  We can use it for the good of others, though.  We can let our money be used in ways that would be pleasing and acceptable to God.  In doing so we will be giving back to God, what first belonged to God.  Really everything we have is on loan from God.

We can support Kids Against Hunger next Sunday as we use our hands to do God’s work, by packing meals that feed people both near and far.  We can sign up to adopt a family for the Christmas Servant Event.  We can bring Jello salad or bananas for the meal at Cornerstone.  We can support our congregation and the ministry partners we highlight each month.  Our money can be used to serve God.

If we dig deep in this parable we can also see that the manager is choosing to serve God.  So what can we learn from the manager’s choice?  Often in parables you can find one of the characters portraying Jesus.  The unjust steward or the shrewd manager in this parable could also be seen as a Christ-figure.  The manager enacts grace, by offering a reduction of debts.  Similarly to Jesus, the manager dies and rises, only in the case of the parable that death and resurrection is metaphorical-losing his job and finding a way to bounce back from unemployment.  Then in his dying and rising he raises others, like Jesus, giving new life to those around him-by reducing their debts.  One author puts it this way, Jesus “became sin for us sinners, weak for us weaklings, lost for us losers, and dead for us dead.”  That is true in this story and in the entire Jesus story.

Let me retell today’s parable with a few different words, a slant that will hopefully allow you to see the presence of a Christ figure, one that is a bit hidden at first glance.  There was an owner who had a manager.  That manager was entrusted with the responsibility to run the business on earth, because the owner lived far away.  The manager was the best and brightest.  He was the owner’s creation.  He had the owner’s best interests in mind.  One day the owner was alerted that the manager was squandering the property.  The manager was misusing his power.  This was going to get him in trouble.  So, the manager decided to be clever and reduce the debts owed to the master.  This would ensure that he had followers after he lost his job.  So the manager set out to meet with the debtors.  The manager said to the woman who had cheated on her husband several times, “You have sinned much and owe much to the owner, but I will forgive the debt.”  Then the manager said to the man who had lied to the governing authorities, “You have sinned much and owe much to the owner, but I will forgive the debt.”  The manager said to the kid who had stolen a candy bar, “You have sinned much and owe much to the owner, but I will forgive the debt.”  He continued in this manner, forgiving the debts of many sinners.  After offering forgiveness verbally, his generosity had him killed.  Soldiers nailed him to a cross, where he gave his very blood for the forgiveness of the debts of everyone.  “For there is one God, there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave himself as a ransom for all.”  In giving his life as a ransom, he showed the world what is the most important choice to make – serving God by being in relationship with others, because the debts have already been paid through grace.  Choose God, because God already chose you.  Amen.

Lost and Found

Luke 15:1-10

            Like the lost sheep, I have been lost.  I have taken wrong turns and went the wrong way in a new place, but none of them were quite like the first time my mom and I traveled east for my first year of seminary.  Our goal for our first day of driving was to make it from Watertown to just outside of Chicago.  It was later in the evening when we arrived in the Chicago area.  This was the first big city driving I had ever done, and now we were doing it in the dark.  The car was loaded down and we were sick of driving.  This was before I owned a GPS, actually before they were very popular.  We had printed maps off of the computer to follow on our trip.  Somehow we took the wrong turn and instead of traveling around the city on a bypass road we went right through the heart of the city.  We were lost.  We were tired.  We were getting crabby.  We were hungry.  We just wanted to be at our hotel, but here we were lost in Chicago.  Unfortunately printed out maps are not very helpful in situations like this.  There is no “you are here” spot on the map.  Unlike a GPS they never recalculate.  I don’t really remember how or what got us out of this predicament, but I know there was much rejoicing when we arrived at the hotel for the night.

            Like the woman who lost a coin, I have on many occasions lost important items.  Last fall I had purchased a new headlamp.  I remembered taking my headlamp to Outlaw Ranch, where I had let Allen use it one evening.  I thought he had given it back, but months later I still couldn’t find it.  I asked him if he remembered giving it back to me or if it might still be at camp.  I was so frustrated with myself for losing my headlamp.  After months of searching I had finally decided it was lost forever.  Then, while I was at camp this summer I reached deep into a rarely used pocket of my suitcase and there was my headlamp.  The lost was found and there was much rejoicing.

            It is likely that you have been lost at one point or another in your life.  You have taken a wrong turn or traveled to a new place.  You have pulled out the map or asked for directions and found your way home.  And upon finding your way out of being lost you have rejoiced.  Or you have likely lost an important possession.  Misplaced your money or your keys.  You have searched high and low to find said possession.  And upon finding the item that was lost you have rejoiced.

            We see and hear announcements of lost things all the time.  There are announcements of lost children and parents at the grocery store.  There are signs for lost dogs stapled to light poles and street signs.  There are lost purses and lost keys.  Living in a tourist area there are often lost people.  In all of these situations of lost-ness there is often much rejoicing that happens when the lost is found.

            In these situations of lost-ness there is almost always someone doing the seeking.  If we look back at our parable in Luke we have a shepherd actively seeking the one lost sheep, from the herd of one hundred.  We also have a woman who is actively seeking the coin that she has lost, from the collection of ten.  Jesus is using metaphor here in the form of the shepherd and the woman.  Using these two common, everyday situations with normal, everyday people he intends to tell us about God.  God is like a shepherd who when he loses one sheep from the flock of one hundred, leaves behind the others to search for the one.  God is like a woman who when she loses one coin from the collection of ten, lights a lamp and sweeps the house until she finds the one.  Then upon finding the lost sheep or the lost coin God rejoices over what was once lost, but now has been found.

            The metaphor goes even further though.  It is not just about God being like a shepherd searching for a lost sheep or a woman searching for a lost coin.  The metaphor also includes us.  We are the lost sheep.  We are the lost coin.  We are that important to God.  God would leave behind the other ninety-nine to find us.  God would light a lamp and sweep the house in search of us.  God believes that each one of us that important.  So important that we are worth finding.  And so important that once God finds us we are worth rejoicing over.

            God’s way of rejoicing isn’t small and insignificant, either.  God is throwing a big party when the lost are found.  God is throwing a big celebration of rejoicing because we have been found.  If God is like the shepherd then upon finding one lost sheep he brings the whole herd of 100 back to the farm and invites over all the friends and relatives for a party.  If God is like the woman then upon finding one lost coin, a tenth of her wealth, she invites the neighbors over for a celebration, likely spending part of her money to have such a party.  I don’t think shepherds or women of low class usually acted like that.  It would be atypical for them to throw such a celebration to rejoice over what had been found.  That is how God is though.  God’s way of rejoicing is out of the ordinary and unusual. 

            So when we take the wrong turn in life and wander away from the flock, God will come searching.  When we are lost like a coin and need to be swept up, God will be there.  When we are lost and in need of being found, God will be actively looking for us.  And upon finding us God will invite the neighbors over and throw a celebration of rejoicing that is ridiculous and atypical, because the lost has been found.  Because, we, we are worth that much to God.  Amen.

Sabbath Healing: Where Law and Grace Collide

 Luke 13:10-17         

            There was a little girl named Liz who was suffering from a rare & serious disease.  Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5-year old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness.  The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the little boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister.  He hesitated for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, "Yes I'll do it if it will save her."  As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as everyone else did, seeing the color returning to her cheeks.  Then his face grew pale and his smile faded.  He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, "Will I start to die right away?”  Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his sister all of his blood in order to save her.   

            Our text for today enacts a similar type of healing.  Healing that is done to provide life more abundantly.  Healing that puts the neighbor’s interests at a high priority.  Healing provided by Jesus, the one who would later give his life for the life of the world.

            This text finds Jesus in the synagogue on the Sabbath.  On this holy day Jesus enters a holy place.  For the Jewish community the Sabbath is a day for rest and renewal.  Keeping the Sabbath was part of the law.  This law, along with others, was given to the Israelites after their Exodus from Egypt.  This law commanded them to rest, to set aside time, one whole day, to rest their bodies and their livestock.  This was good news for them after spending time in Egypt as hardworking slaves, never having any time off. 

            So, Jesus enters their holy place on this holy day of rest and he breaks the law of the day.  He works on the Sabbath.  More specifically, he heals on the Sabbath.  Now he is not an uninformed citizen, he knows the laws.  He knows what is acceptable and what is not.  Regardless, he makes an exception to the law.  He sees a woman who is crippled and bent over.  She has been this way for eighteen years.  He thinks she shouldn’t live one more day like this.  So right then and there, Jesus sets her free from her ailment and heals her.

            The leader of this synagogue is upset with Jesus.  He cannot believe that Jesus would break the law of the day and heal this woman.  The leader of the synagogue is probably worried that if we start making exceptions to the law then we will never stop.  If there are enough exceptions to a law then it doesn’t carry much power anymore.  This exception to the law is more than just an exception.  This is grace.

            Often there are moments where the law needs to be interrupted with a little bit of grace.  Sure, the law is important because it helps order our lives and keep the peace.  The law sets boundaries.  Jesus doesn’t just forget about the law, but he provides a new interpretation of the law, which has some grace in it.  He does not think the law should have the ability to withhold life, grace, and freedom from this woman.  He thinks she deserves to be healed and she deserves that today, not tomorrow, when it would be more socially acceptable.

            So, what can we, as people living in the 21^st century, take away from this lesson of healing on the Sabbath?  First we can learn the importance of the law.  The law of the Sabbath is also a law that is important in our lives.  It is part of the law, the Torah, the Ten Commandments.  The 3^rd commandment, as you may remember, is “Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.”  We are all in need of some rest and renewal.  We each need to find some time, preferably a whole day, to call our Sabbath.  When we factor in our work schedules and other events that day will not likely be the same for all of us, but it should provide the same rest and renewal.  I am often reminded that we all do not rest on the same day when I have my day off on a day that is a work day for most and when I work on days like today, when many others are allowed a day for Sabbath time.

            We can also be reminded of the new commandment and the greatest commandment that Jesus gave “Love God and love your neighbor.”  In summarizing the whole law he gave us this ultimate command of love.  This is the love that Jesus shows to the synagogue leader and to the crippled bent over woman.  In so doing, it is the love he calls us to share as well.  Love that knows no boundaries.  Love that crosses all boundaries.  This commandment of love is what bridges the gap between the law and the grace of this healing story.

            Through this lesson we also learn the importance of grace.  This is grace that often breaks into our world and provides healing and wholeness.  It is grace that sometimes interrupts the law and comes when we least expect it.  Nevertheless, it heals us.  It picks us up when we are crippled and bent over from the weight of the world, either physically or metaphorically.  It gives us life and life more abundantly.  It reminds us of the one who gave his life for the life of the world. 

Just like Liz’s brother said, “I will do it if it will save her,” Jesus says to us and to the bent over woman, “I will do it if it will save her.”  Jesus’ grace can and will save our lives on this day of Sabbath and everyday, and for that we say “Thanks be to God.”  Amen.