12th Sunday of Luke
Scripture: Luke 17:12-19
Nutshell
(1) Challenge
After Jesus healed ten lepers, only one returned to give thanks to God. This left Jesus stunned. Did the other nine lepers not have a responsibility to give thanks for the healing they received?
(2) Sin
Sometimes, when good things happen, or we’re enjoying life, our priorities get out of whack, like the nine lepers who forgot to give thanks to God.
(3) What happens?
When this occurs, Jesus says we are like the people at the time of Noah or the people who lived in Sodom at the time of Lot, all of whom were destroyed. We become too entangled in worldly matters, missing the Kingdom of God right in front of us.
(4) Christ forges a new path
Jesus opens our eyes to see that the Kingdom of God requires new priorities and a new way of living.
(5) Longing satisfied
When the one leper returned to Jesus to thank him, Jesus replied that it was his trust that had healed him. You see, the leper had demonstrated his trust in God by making gratitude one of his priorities. The healing is a demonstration that God’s Kingdom is on the move.
(6) Visible evidence
Now that Christ has opened our eyes to what’s important — trust in God — we can reorient our priorities to what matters.
(7) What shall I do?
As the prophets wrote and as Christ tells us, it isn’t the things of this world that matter, but things that build up the Kingdom of God: such as justice, mercy, and trust. This week, in order to build up treasures for this world, take time to pray and care for others, thus building up treasures for the Kingdom of God.
Full Text
(1) Challenge
Once, a mighty lion was sleeping in the forest. A little mouse, without realizing the danger, ran over the lion’s nose, waking him up. The lion caught the mouse with his paw, ready to devour it.
But the mouse, in fear, begged for mercy and promised that it would one day repay the lion’s kindness if spared. The lion, amused by the idea that such a small creature could help him, decided to let the mouse go.
Sometime later, the lion found himself caught in a hunter’s net. Unable to free himself, he roared for help. The mouse, remembering the lion’s mercy, rushed to the scene. Using its sharp teeth, the mouse gnawed through the net, freeing the grateful lion.
Aesop’s fable highlights the concept of gratitude, as the mouse expresses thankfulness by repaying the lion’s act of mercy when the opportunity arises.
Yet, when Jesus healed ten lepers, there was only one “mouse,” if you will, who returned to give thanks to God. This left Jesus stunned. Did the other nine not have a responsibility to give thanks for the healing they received? Had they not understood how God had freed them from their slavery to leprosy?
(2) Sin
Just like the lepers who had been healed, we too have been healed and blessed by God. Though we have to understand this in the proper way.
When we hear “blessed by God,” we often think of material things. God has blessed her with beauty. God has blessed him with success. God has blessed that couple with a wonderful family.
The lepers thought they had been blessed with physical health, forgetting that they will, one day, die.
But, by mishearing scripture and focusing on the material things of this world, our priorities get out of whack.
We focus on making money, obtaining beautiful possessions, or having a good reputation. We focus on making sure our kids do well at sports.
In short, we’re like the nine lepers who forgot to give thanks to God.
(3) What happens?
When this occurs, Jesus says we are like the people who lived at the time of Noah.
“They were eating and drinking, and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed all of them.”
Or, Jesus says, we’re like the people who lived in Sodom at the time of Lot who were, “… eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day that Lot left Sodom, it rained fire and sulfur from heaven and destroyed all of them.”
Lot, you may remember, was Abraham’s nephew. God told Lot that he was about to destroy Sodom, where Lot lived, but he was going to spare Lot and his family. The only requirement was that they not look back as they were leaving. Famously, Lot’s wife disobeyed and turned back to see Sodom’s destruction and she was turned into a pillar of salt.
In both instances, the people were concerned with earthly matters. They weren’t concerned with God’s teachings about mercy or justice. They were concerned with themselves and building themselves up.
And so, they were destroyed.
(4) Christ forges a new path
Today, Jesus opens our eyes to see that the Kingdom of God requires new priorities and a new way of living.
You see, the one leper who returned to thank Jesus was a foreigner. To the original Judean hearers of scripture, this was an insult. Jesus praises the loyalty of a foreigner over his own people. You can imagine how insulted the Judean would have felt.
Yet, Luke tells this story to shake us up. He’s purposely trying to unsettle us precisely to get us to rethink our priorities. To encourage us to put God first in our lives.
(5) Longing satisfied
When the one leper returned to Jesus to thank him, Jesus replied that it was his trust that had healed him.
The leper had demonstrated his trust in God by making gratitude one of his priorities. The healing is a demonstration that God’s Kingdom is on the move and present.
The offering of the Eucharist, every Sunday morning, is our Thanksgiving. After all, the word literally means thanksgiving.
Those of us gathered here are embodying that one leper who returned in gratitude. Though we may not have experienced the healing of leprosy, we have been given the promise of the Kingdom. We gather in the hope of resurrection, and the assurance of Christ’s healing touch in our lives.
(6) Visible evidence
Now that Christ has opened our eyes to what’s important — trust in God — and we’ve given thanks to God for his blessings, we can reorient our priorities to what matters.
What might this look like?
To the Rich Young Ruler, Jesus says this looks like selling all you have in order to give to the poor and follow Jesus. For him, he wasn’t able to follow Jesus until he had used what he had to love his neighbor.
For a lawyer, Jesus said it looks like a Samaritan helping a stranger alongside the road—putting him on his donkey, taking him to an inn, bandaging his wounds, and paying for his care.
For a judge, Jesus says it looks like him granting justice to a widow who was wronged.
For a tax-collector, it looked like making right with people he had defrauded, paying them back 4 times as much as he had defrauded them!
In each case, it looks like someone changing their lives, reorienting their priorities to God’s priorities and emphasizing justice, mercy, and love.
(7) What shall I do?
As the prophets wrote and as Christ tells us, it isn’t the things of this world that matter, but things that build up the Kingdom of God: such as justice, mercy, and trust.
This week, in order to build up treasures for this world, take time to pray and care for others.
Be like the Rich Young Ruler and give to those in need. Be like the Good Samaritan and help those beaten down in life. Be like the judge and the tax-collector and give justice to those crying out for it.
Be like God and prioritize loving your neighbor in a way that shows them you see their humanity.
Amen.