The Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity - September 2010

The Church Season of Trinity
The Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity, One Year Series
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (September 13, 2009)

“Cling Tightly to the Word of God”

Readings:   
    Psalm 119:9-16
    Proverbs 4:10-23
    Galatians 5:16-24
    Luke 17:11-19

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Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen

The text for today’s message is as recorded in the Gospel Lesson from the 17th chapter of St. Luke, the following verses,

Luke 17:11-19 (ESV)

11 On the way to Jerusalem he 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 the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit

The one leper returning to give thanks to Jesus for healing his leprosy is a Samaritan. That is significant, especially when you pair this account with last week’s Gospel account of the parable of the Good Samaritan. Two weeks in a row, the Samaritans are the heroes. Why are they Samaritan half-breeds despised by every pious Jew, doing what every pious Jew is supposed to do? The answer is not one of race, but one of faith. The nine lepers who keep running toward the temple are the ones following Jesus’ directions, or so it seems. Jesus tells them, go, show yourselves to the priests. So they run to the priests. All but one keeps running. One turns around and runs back to Jesus, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet.

A Jew, hearing this account, would be full of rage. Samaritans are not supposed to run to this teacher, this troubler of Israel. They are supposed to go to their own temple and see their own priests. There is a detailed temple liturgy of recognizing a healed leper. The liturgy must be followed. Instead, this Samaritan writes his own liturgy and returns to Jesus.  We hear of a gracious response to the Savior Who heals His people, along with an ungracious response of following the rules and doing as you are told.

Truth be told, there is a little bit of the nine lepers in each of us. Sometimes we look at the church as a center of goods and services. We go to church to get something out of it. Once we get what we need out of it, we don’t think about it again until we need something. When that happens this building and what goes on inside this building becomes like Dollar General, a Meijer’s, Kroger’s, or dare I say, like a Wal-Mart. We don’t think much about what goes on there or what’s inside these places until we need something. Then we are concerned with our needs and wants until they are fulfilled. After our needs and wants are met, all those stores and places are out of sight and mind until next time.

I’m sure we all have thoughts about families who we think rarely darken the door of a church except when they wanted to squeeze something out of it.  But, it’s the old story isn’t it, while we’re thinking about those people, they’re probably thinking about us. Yet all of us are guilty at one time or another of using the church like a store. When a baby is born, you take the child to church for baptism. When a child turns a certain age, you drop the child off at church for catechism instruction and pick them up an hour later, making an appearance in church only for their confirmation. When it’s time to get married, the church is the place for the wedding of your dreams. The church building is a perfect backdrop for the perfect wedding.

And in our Gospel lesson today that kind of thought process was the way of the nine lepers too. We’re in big trouble, our health is deteriorating, our bodies falling apart, but look over there a man named Jesus, quick get His attention.  They and we react that way because you get what you ask for, you do as you’re told, and you live your life as if you expected Jesus to heal you all along. Instead of singing “What a privilege to carry/Everything to God in prayer”, you consider the privilege a right, a demand expected from a sovereign individual who makes God and His Word in their own image.  Despite Jesus’ miracle on their behalf, not even He found people to be grateful, save one.

How do you find yourself responding to the miracle of preaching and the Sacraments? Is this an hour to squeeze out what you need to keep up appearances with God? Or is this an hour that is the center of everything you say and do during the week? It is one thing to say you are a Christian; that you believe Jesus died for your sins and rose from the dead to deliver eternal life for you. It is another thing entirely to say you are a Christian, but nowadays when you say you are a Christian it’s like saying you prefer Coke over Pepsi. All the other options are crass, so I guess Christianity is my choice.

Repent. Enough of consumer Christianity. Turn around with the Samaritan leper and return to the Lord, falling on your face to worship Him. Raise your voice to the Lord. Sing praise to the God Who does wonders without ever counting the cost. Rejoice in the Savior of the nations Who saves both Jew and Gentile from sin and eternal death.

A Christian cannot help but live a gracious life in Christ. Consider Saint Paul’s words in his letter to the Galatians, “for the flesh lusts against the Spirit; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law…. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

Perhaps it’s that last sentence that keeps so many people away from the Christian faith. A Christian crucifies his flesh every day. That’s the toughest thing to do as a Christian. When you wake up, you think that you won’t sin as much as you did yesterday. Nevertheless, you fall right back into those old traps. How do you not fall into those old traps of sin? Saying you’re not going to do that and actually not doing that are two different things.

Solomon has the answer in today’s Old Testament reading, “My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart; for they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh. Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” Give attention to the Word of the Lord. Give attention to His Word here as well as at home. The Divine Service is part of our walk with our Lord and Master Jesus Christ. Reading the Word at home, praying for all needs and conditions of your fellow people, meditating on last week’s sermon, this is what it means to give attention…to incline the ear to the Lord’s sayings.

The center point of our life together as Christians happens here in the Divine Service. Here is where sins are forgiven and grace is bestowed. The pastor is an instrument of grace. God’s undeserved love comes through Jesus to you. When you leave here, do not let the Word spoken to you fall out of your ears or your mouth. Among you lies the forgiving Word in preaching and in the Lord’s Supper. The Means of Grace fill you with His forgiveness, not just for an inconvenient moment, but for life. Why treat them as you would treat consumable goods and services?

When you walk weekly and daily with the Master and His Words, you find yourself always wanting to be gracious to others as God is gracious to you. Good works give evidence that faith is living and active among you. Good works are also a fruit of faith. They are a result of forgiveness, not a cause of forgiveness. The grace you show others, even those who are not known by the Lord, is a sermon on forgiveness preached without words.

We arise and go our way today once again healed from sin and death and given forgiveness and life. While we go our way, we take “firm hold of instruction and do not let go.” We cling to Jesus and His Word of forgiveness like burrs cling to our pants when we walk through the woods. Make note of the last hymn today, not just to sing, but especially to the words.  “Cling Tightly to the Word of God”, focus on the subject and the objects.  God is the center, you are His beloved, Christ did the work and you receive the miracle of salvation, the result of His love.

God’s Word is among us is a gift we don’t deserve. It is a miracle, a great mystery from God that He would save us all. You can’t help but fall down before the King of Kings and show your gratitude for all His gratitude on your behalf. Psalm 92 says “It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; to declare Your [mercy] in the morning, and Your faithfulness by night.”   What an amazing Savior we have in Jesus Christ! Amen.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
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