ray: Holy One, our hope and trust are in You. We quiet our soul so we might listen. We calm our mind so we might comprehend. We still our bodies so we might take notice. May we experience the holy in the here and now, where You dwell with us. May we know we are not alone in this journey of faith. Quiet our souls, our minds, our bodies, and break open our hearts to Your love, O God. Amen.
Gratitude & Faith
I’m
pretty sure I’ve said this before. “Your faith has made you well” is one
of those verses from Scripture that has done as much harm as good. Many of you have given thanks to God after
recovering from an illness or an accident or an injury. But just as many people, perhaps even you or
a loved one of yours have not recovered, even though you prayed as hard and as
often as you could. You may have assumed
that there was something wrong with your prayers or even wondered if your faith
wasn’t strong enough. Too often we think
of faith as being all about cause and effect – you pray for something, and it
either happens or it does not happen.[1]
This story about ten lepers who are healed points to a more profound understanding of faith. On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus and his disciples come across ten men with leprosy. It is difficult to exaggerate the social alienation of these ten men. They lived in total isolation – banished from their homes, from the loving touch of spouses, children, parents, or friends. They were separated from their faith communities. Any human contact. Everything familiar. They had open sores, oozing with puss. People feared that even to cross the shadow of a person with leprosy was to risk getting infected. So they lived alone, away from any community. Sometimes, as in this case, they banded together to become a small company of misery.
Jesus heals the lepers without any fanfare. ‘“Go and show yourselves to the priest,” He says. And as they went, they were made clean.’ Nothing is said about their faith. In fact, nothing about faith is attached to the healing. Jesus is completely uninterested in their religion. He sees them in need of healing and so he unceremoniously heals them.
We do not know where nine out of the ten go but we do know that this one man; a foreigner, and a despised one at that, comes back to bow down at Jesus’ feet and worship and give thanks. A Samaritan of all people. A social and religious outcast, one who would be judged a heretic by most people in his time, epitomizes this kind of godly life and attitude. He demonstrates a faith that lays hold of God, that cannot and will not remain silent in response to what God has done in his life. He publicly, spontaneously, and joyfully directs his thanksgiving to God. Being grateful is not a precondition for being healed by Jesus; all the lepers find themselves cleaned as they show themselves to the priests. However, the Samaritan turns around and comes back.[2]
In the New Testament, “turning back” or “turning around” is a description for the believer’s reaction to Jesus’ work and it has a deep theological meaning. In fact, to repent means to turn back or to turn around. It describes a movement of the whole person, initiated by God’s grace, a redirection or orientation toward God. Jesus words, “Your faith has made you well” refer not just to the medical healing which has already happened, but to the holistic healing of this human being.[3]
Luke wants us to see that the healing of the Samaritan is not only a medical cure from a severe disease and the restoration of his social status, but also a redirection of his life and faith. A complete change; a 360 so to speak. With his prostate position at Jesus’ feet and his giving thanks, the Samaritan demonstrates a faith that is complete because it includes thankfulness. The Samaritan is not grateful because it is his duty to be grateful, but because of his experience with Christ and now his faith in Christ. He is thankful because Jesus had mercy on him.[4]
The man recognizes the gift he receives when he saw and experienced it and he returned to say thank you. When Jesus said, “Your faith has made you well,” it sounds like by Jesus’ definition, faith and gratitude are very closely related, that faith without gratitude is not faith at all, and that there is something life-giving about gratitude.
I think that Jesus is teaching us about faith. Faith is about living a life of gratitude – a grateful sort of faith that made this man from Samaria truly and deeply well.[5] Perhaps we could even go so far as to say that to practice gratitude is to practice faith. If faith is not something we have, but something we do – something we live – then in living our faith we express our complete trust in God. How then can we not practice gratitude; when we know that God, the giver of all good gifts, holds all of life in his providential hands. When we practice gratitude, we find that faith is given in abundance, overflowing our grateful hearts.[6]
Gratitude has something to do with our faith. We recognize who is blessing us and why we are blessed. The physical circumstances of the person praying become less important. It is the thanking that saves the grateful leper, and such thankfulness is available to everyone in all circumstances. One can give thanks for our pleasant experience, while another thanks God for giving strength and perseverance during a hardship.
Medical science is recognizing the difference that a person’s attitude can have on their well-being. A person with a positive attitude; an attitude of gratitude and an ability to be thankful for the good things in their life can have overall better health and a better chance of healing than someone with a negative attitude and an inability to see the good. Even in the midst of a great crisis there are things we can be grateful for if we are willing to see them.
When we practice gratitude, it changes our life because it changes our outlook on everything. Gratitude even changes the character of a congregation. When Christians practice gratitude, they come to worship not just to “get something out of it.” But to give thanks and praise to God. Stewardship is transformed from just fundraising to the glad gratitude of joyful givers. The mission of the church changes from ethical duty to the work of grateful hands and hearts. Prayer includes not only our interventions and petitions, but also our thanksgivings – the things we are grateful for.[7]
We easily get caught up in our problems – the things we are worried about, the things we need, the things going wrong. It’s so easy to do. The media floods us with bad news and information about all the problems in the world. We worry about our family and our friends. We have problems at jobs, with our finances. Here in Fairfield we are having problems with crime. There is a lot to worry about. But it clouds our ability to see all we have to be thankful for. Each and every day.
Our families and friends. Our jobs and homes. A new day. The birds singing, the sun shining, the rain. Food on the table, a roof over our heads. I could go on and on. All these things come from God. So much to be thankful for if we remember to look; to think; to say thanks. It changes our attitude. It changes our mood. It changes our outlook.
Ten lepers were healed but one received something more because of the gratitude he felt and expressed toward the one who healed him. His whole life was changed; not just his physical health.
“Go on your way; your faith has made you well” is no longer a problematic saying, even when physical healing does not come. Instead, it is a description of a life of blessing for each of us and for the church; as we go on our way. We can rejoice and give thanks. For in giving thanks in all things, we find that God, indeed, is in all things.[8] Let us pray:
Generous
God, Giver of all Gifts. Today we just
want to say thank you. Thank you for
blessing us beyond our imaginations. Help us to recognize all that is good in
our lives and to remember that it all comes from you. In Jesus name, Amen.
[1] Feasting on the Word, Year C,
Volume 4. Season After Pentecost, Proper
23. Luke 17:11-19. Pastoral Perspective.
Kimberly Bracken Long. P. 164.
[2] Feasting on the Word, Year C, Volume 4. Season After Pentecost, Proper 23. Luke
17:11-19. Theological Perspective. Margit Ernst-Habib. P. 166
[3] Feasting on the Word, Year C, Volume 4. Season After Pentecost, Proper 23. Luke
17:11-19. Theological Perspective. Margit Ernst-Habib. P. 166
[4] Feasting on the Word, Year C, Volume 4. Season After Pentecost, Proper 23. Luke
17:11-19. Theological Perspective. Margit Ernst-Habib. P. 166 and 168.
[5] Feasting on the Word, Year C, Volume 4. Season After Pentecost, Proper 23. Luke
17:11-19. Pastoral Perspective. Kimberly
Bracken Long. P. 166.
[6] Feasting on the Word, Year C, Volume 4.
Season After Pentecost, Proper 23. Luke 17:11-19. Pastoral Perspective. Kimberly Bracken
Long. P. 166.
[7] Feasting on the Word, Year C, Volume 4. Season After Pentecost, Proper 23. Luke
17:11-19. Pastoral Perspective. Kimberly
Bracken Long. P. 168.[8] Feasting on the Word, Year C, Volume 4.
Season After Pentecost, Proper 23. Luke 17:11-19. Pastoral Perspective. Kimberly Bracken
Long. P. 168.
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