+ 18th Sunday after Pentecost – October 13th, 2019 +
Beautiful Savior Lutheran
Milton, WA
Series C: Ruth 1:1-19; 2 Timothy 2:1-13; Luke 17:11-19
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Naomi is far from her hometown of Bethlehem. St. Paul is in prison. 10 lepers call to Jesus outside a village between Samaria and Galilee. Today’s Scripture readings feel a bit like the biblical version of grandma’s soup pot: Something from pantry, the freezer, and the fridge. “How’s all this going together?,” we wonder.
As different as these readings might appear at first, they all have something in common.
Naomi was far from home. Not Israel. Not Bethlehem. But Moab, the ancestral home of Lot’s incestuous relations. To make matters worse, Naomi’s husband, Elimelech had died. Then her two sons died. No husband. No heir. No home. No inheritance. She had her two daughters in law, but she left too. Naomi and Ruth were alone.
St. Paul found himself alone as well. As he wrote to strengthen and teach young pastor Timothy in his second letter, Paul was bound in chains. Locked in prison, likely in Rome; and awaiting his eventual martyrdom. I imagine there were many times he felt alone.
The same goes for those 10 lepers. They suffered more than an incurable medication illness; leprosy was a social disease. A one-way ticket out of town. Lepers lived as outcasts. Cut off from family, friends. Cut off from the temple, from worship. Whenever someone drew near them on the road yelled out, “Unclean! Unclean!” On top of it all, one of those lepers was a Samaritan, a double loner and loser in the eyes of most Israelites.
Each story, in its own way, begins with loneliness, separation. Naomi and Ruth in Moab. Paul in prison. The lepers outside the village. And I imagine that they are not alone in that. At one point in the past or present, we’ve all felt alone too.
Now, I don’t mean the alone time we enjoy with a favorite hobby, or in study, prayer, and devotion, like Jesus often did, and calls us to do. I mean the kind of loneliness we see increasing in our digital age; where the more technology and social media “friends”, “likes”, and heart emojis we have, the more disconnected and alone we often feel.
And yet, our feeling of loneliness hits closer to home as well; it’s personal. Sometimes we’re alienated as a result of our sin, and its consequences in our relationships with family, friends, and neighbors.
At times, it’s the loneliness and pain we experience as one who has been sinned against, one who has been hurt, abused, or wounded in word and deed by others.
Still, at other times it’s the hurt, despair, and loneliness that affects us for no apparent reason other than the fact that we live in a fallen, broken world, where our body and mind are also plagued with disease. The loneliness of despair and mental illness where you can feel entirely isolated and alone even in a crowded room.
But being alone is only part of the story of Naomi, Ruth, Paul, and the Samaritan leper. God did something far greater than they expected or imagined. God met them in their loneliness with his faithfulness, mercy, and compassion.
God led Naomi and Ruth back to the promised land. Back to Bethlehem. Ruth married Boaz. Boaz redeemed the inheritance of Ruth and Naomi, ensuring they would be cared for. Ruth and Boaz also had a son named Obed. Obed fathered Jesse. Jesse fathered David. And David, centuries later, fathered Jesus, the finder of Lost Ones, the Healer of the broken, the Reconciler of Loners. God was faithful to his promise.
St. Paul too, though he was imprisoned, bound in chains, and suffered for the preaching of the Gospel, he was not alone. As he wrote to Timothy, This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, We shall also live with Him. If we endure, We shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.
Those 10 lepers weren’t alone either. “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” They cried out. And he did. He was merciful. Compassionate. Jesus healed them all.
And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.
The whole event is a marvelous preview of the restoration, renewal, and rebirth that He gives to all in his coming resurrection from the dead. Jesus is the Savior of the nations, Jew, Gentile, Samaritan, everyone. That Samaritan realized that in Jesus, he was no longer alone – not in his leprosy, and not in his sin. He fell down on his face for the same reason people and pastors often bow at parts of the service, in reverence and worship before our Savior. The Samaritan praised him, literally made a doxology to Jesus.
Naomi, Ruth, St. Paul, and that Samaritan leper were not alone after all. And neither are you. Whatever pain, despair, worry, anxiety, hurt, or sin has left you feeling abandoned, you are not alone. In Jesus, God joined us in our loneliness. For us who are outcast, Jesus became the outcast on the cross. For us who are alone, Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me” so that we would never be alone. For us, Jesus endured and bore our pain, suffering, loneliness, worry, doubt, despair, disease, sin, and death so that we would never be abandoned.
God is with you, not in the warm fuzzy feelings that come and go. God is with you in ways you can touch, taste, see, hear, smell: Jesus’ Word of absolution that releases us from bondage to sin and death. Jesus’ water and word that unites us with our kinsman redeemer; a washing of renewal, regeneration by the Holy Spirit. Jesus is with you in his body and blood hidden in the bread and wine where he promises to be with you, bless, feed, forgive, and restore you.
Jesus is also with you in your brother and sister in Christ. “When one member of the body of Christ suffers, all suffer. When one member rejoices, all rejoice,” writes St. Paul. This is one of the many reasons God calls us his children, his family, and gathers us in his house. So, as we come to church each week, take a moment to look around and think, “Who haven’t I seen in a while? Who might be feeling lonely and could use a card, a phone call, or a visit?”
After all, what God did for Naomi and Ruth, St. Paul, and that Samaritan leper, he does for each of you. In Jesus the lost are found, the lonely are comforted, sinners are redeemed and restored. And now, Jesus sends us on our way like that Samaritan leper. “Rise, and go your way, your faith has saved you.”
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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