Finding our why
Luke 17: 11-19
New Ark United Church of Christ, Newark, DE
October 13, 2019
Each of the ten lepers—persons with a leprous skin condition—they knew what they were supposed to do.
They knew to keep their distance, to prevent Jesus from becoming as ritually unclean as they were.
They knew to call Jesus “Master”, and the Greek word that is used means “chief” or “commander”, as though Jesus had the power to command them, had power over their lives, and what they desired most—the power to heal them, to command the disease to leave their bodies.
They knew they must do as Jesus told them to do, and so they went.
They knew they must go to the priests to have their healing recognized and documented.
They knew the rules and they followed them willingly. They were outsiders but they were faithful outsiders. They knew what to do.
I would think they also knew their “why” – why they should be faithful even when they were outsiders.
But the one who, when seeing that he was healed, turned and praised God and laid himself face down on the ground before Jesus – this one knew a deeper “why”.
This one was an outsider among outsiders. This one could not go to the priests because this one was a Samaritan, a foreigner and would never receive a welcome from the religious establishment. Jesus then became the priest for this one, an outsider thanking another religious outsider. This one thanked Jesus for seeing them as being just as faithful, just as worthy as the other nine.
Think to a time in your life when someone welcomed you into their home. What did they do to make you feel welcome? How did the house feel to you? What were the colors you noticed? Was there an aroma, perhaps a meal being prepared? A good host knows what is needed to make a guest feel welcome.
Now think of a time in your life when you experienced profound forgiveness, when a burden was lifted from your heart and a relationship was not only restored but deepened and enriched. Or a time when you felt that you were wholeheartedly accepted as you are—all of you, flaws and gifts, your quirks and your tastes, your identity, all of what makes you a unique human being. How did that feel? What if anything did it move you to do next? If you haven’t experienced these, what would you do so you could? What is it your soul hungers for that you may be made whole?
Jesus knew what he was supposed to do.
He was supposed to keep his distance from Samaria, from those considered enemies but instead he traveled in the region between them, where the border was unclear.
If he wanted to live, Jesus knew he should stay away from Jerusalem. He could have lived a good long life in Galilee. But he was compelled by something more the “what” of a good life. Jesus’ “why” took him all the way to the cross.
We know the “what” of giving and living a good life and being a good person. We know the “what” of church and service to others and working for justice and offering a welcome to everyone. And we have our personal “why” and our communal “why” we do these things. What would be your 2 minute elevator speech about church?
But when we know in our bones our deeper “why” – that profound feeling, profound knowing of unconditional acceptance, radical forgiveness, fearless compassion that has the power to heal us – that’s what gives us the courage to step across the margins, to extend mercy and acceptance and justice to outsiders and erase the lines between us, to make our welcome extravagant, to offer joyful praise and deep gratitude in all circumstances.
Our deeper “why” is what compels us toward God’s future of wholeness for everyone.
Our deeper “why” is what gives us life, abundant life—so much that we want it for everyone and we’re willing to risk the cross to get there.
Amen.
Benediction – tune: House of the Rising Sun
Amazing grace how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost but now I’m found
Was blind but now I see
When we’ve been there ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun
We’ve no less days to sing our praise
Than when we first begun
New Ark United Church of Christ, Newark, DE
October 13, 2019
Each of the ten lepers—persons with a leprous skin condition—they knew what they were supposed to do.
They knew to keep their distance, to prevent Jesus from becoming as ritually unclean as they were.
 |
| Ten Lepers Healed by Brian Kershisnik |
They knew they must do as Jesus told them to do, and so they went.
They knew they must go to the priests to have their healing recognized and documented.
They knew the rules and they followed them willingly. They were outsiders but they were faithful outsiders. They knew what to do.
I would think they also knew their “why” – why they should be faithful even when they were outsiders.
But the one who, when seeing that he was healed, turned and praised God and laid himself face down on the ground before Jesus – this one knew a deeper “why”.
 |
| Ten Lepers by Bill Hoover |
This one was an outsider among outsiders. This one could not go to the priests because this one was a Samaritan, a foreigner and would never receive a welcome from the religious establishment. Jesus then became the priest for this one, an outsider thanking another religious outsider. This one thanked Jesus for seeing them as being just as faithful, just as worthy as the other nine.
Think to a time in your life when someone welcomed you into their home. What did they do to make you feel welcome? How did the house feel to you? What were the colors you noticed? Was there an aroma, perhaps a meal being prepared? A good host knows what is needed to make a guest feel welcome.
Jesus knew what he was supposed to do.
He was supposed to keep his distance from Samaria, from those considered enemies but instead he traveled in the region between them, where the border was unclear.
If he wanted to live, Jesus knew he should stay away from Jerusalem. He could have lived a good long life in Galilee. But he was compelled by something more the “what” of a good life. Jesus’ “why” took him all the way to the cross.
We know the “what” of giving and living a good life and being a good person. We know the “what” of church and service to others and working for justice and offering a welcome to everyone. And we have our personal “why” and our communal “why” we do these things. What would be your 2 minute elevator speech about church?
But when we know in our bones our deeper “why” – that profound feeling, profound knowing of unconditional acceptance, radical forgiveness, fearless compassion that has the power to heal us – that’s what gives us the courage to step across the margins, to extend mercy and acceptance and justice to outsiders and erase the lines between us, to make our welcome extravagant, to offer joyful praise and deep gratitude in all circumstances.
Our deeper “why” is what compels us toward God’s future of wholeness for everyone.
Our deeper “why” is what gives us life, abundant life—so much that we want it for everyone and we’re willing to risk the cross to get there.
Amen.
Benediction – tune: House of the Rising Sun
Amazing grace how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost but now I’m found
Was blind but now I see
When we’ve been there ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun
We’ve no less days to sing our praise
Than when we first begun
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