+ 18th Sunday after Pentecost – October 9th, 2022 +
Series C: Ruth 1:1-19; 2 Timothy 2:1-13; Luke 17:11-19
Beautiful Savior Lutheran
Milton, WA
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
What do you usually do when something is broken? Try and find a fix…get out the duct tape and WD40? Maybe look up how to fix whatever it is on YouTube? Odds are that most of the time most of us will simply take whatever’s broken and throw it out and replace it.
What about our Lord? What does he do with those who are broken? Well, we get to find out in today’s gospel reading from Luke 17. We quickly see that Jesus is the God of the outcast, the lost, the broken.
On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance…
If there was anyone in the ancient world who was a picture of being an outcast and broken it was someone who had leprosy. They were considered the lowest of the low. Sick and broken beyond a cure. Not only that, leprosy rendered you ritually unclean, which meant that that you were completely cut off. No temple. No sacred festivals. Not even your own home was open to you. If anyone came near you, you were expected to move out of the way. If anyone came near, you were supposed to cry out, “Unclean! Unclean!”
Most folks in Jesus’ day avoided leper colonies like this one. Stayed away from those who would render them ritually unclean as well. But not Jesus. Jesus comes to them. Jesus draws near to the outcast and the broken. On his way to Jerusalem, traveling between Samaria and Galilee, Jesus intentionally walks right to these 10 lepers. Jesus is the God of the broken.
They lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.”
They longed for mercy. No doubt Jesus’ reputation had preceded him. They had heard of his healing. Heard of his compassion. Heard of his power to heal. And they hoped that he would do the same for them.
Jesus…Lord, have mercy. We sing and pray that same prayer as we gather together here in the Lord’s house. As we hear and receive his compassion for us in the healing, saving power of his word, water, body and blood. Jesus is the God of the broken in this place as well.
When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. You can only imagine their faces as they looked at each other in amazement. AS they looked down at their hands and back again to each other. They must’ve been absolutely giddy with joy, dancing, hooting and hollering, high-gives and fist-bumps all around. And then nine of them went off to the temple to show the priest. To go through the Levitical ceremonies that would render them ritually clean again.
But not all of them. One of them, upon seeing that he was healed turned around. Headed back down the road. Found Jesus. And this time he didn’t keep his distance from Jesus. He fell down on his face. He gave thanks. He worshipped Jesus.
This is where we find out that not only was this fellow a leper. He was also a Samaritan. So often this is how it goes in the gospels. It’s the lowly, the outcast, and the broken who see Jesus for who he is and they believe in him. Trust him. Have faith in him. The sinners, tax collectors, and Samaritans. If lepers were lowly and outcast, a Samaritan leper had to have been even lower. He had no priest to run off to see. He could not go to the temple. He had nowhere to go to, except to Jesus.
The same is true for us. True, we may not be social pariahs like lepers were in the first century. But I’m sure there are plenty of ways we find ourselves feeling outcast in this sin-sick fallen world. And I’m sure there are plenty of days when we feel helpless, hopeless, and broken. Jesus, master, have mercy on me. In our pain and suffering, in our shame and guilt of sin, in those moments when words for prayer seem to fail us or escape our lips, let these words fill your heart, mind, and mouth. Lord, have mercy.
These are not desperate words. They are words of hope. Like the Samaritan, we have nowhere to go to, except Jesus. And there is nowhere and no one better to turn to in our brokenness. For you do not have an absent, aloof, or callous God. You have Jesus, the God of the broken. The God who dwells with you and for you in your suffering – whether it’s body, mind, or soul, or some whirlwind of it all – he is with you. What does God do with broken people? Toss us out? Throw us aside? No.
You have Jesus who runs head, hands, arms and feet first to take all the brokenness of our sin, the ugliness of death upon himself on the cross and to save you. Jesus was the only temple and priest and savior the Samaritan man needed; he is all you need as well.
Recognizing this, the Samaritan man returned and gave thanks. “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”
What happened to the other nine…why didn’t they return to thank Jesus? We’re not told. But we are told what happens to the Samaritan man. Jesus praises and honors the Samaritan man. “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.” The better translation is your faith has saved you.
And in this Samaritan man we see a picture of our life and faith in Christ as well. Jesus comes to us in our brokenness. Heals us. Rescues us. Saves us. And after all that, what else is there to do but to thank and praise, worship, and rejoice in Jesus, the God of the broken. The God who is and always will be full of mercy and healing for you.
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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