SAINT LUKE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH OF WATERTOWN

Sermon delivered by Pastor Anthony E. Schultz

Pentecost 21 October 25 and 28, 2001 Luke 17:11-19

Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

People of God—rescued from the flaming lake of fire in hell by the innocent blood of the very Lamb of God:

Have you ever gotten in an elevator—and pushed the button for the floor you wanted? The doors whoosh shut and you hear these kind of grindy noises? It kind of makes you wonder—what would you do—if all of a sudden the elevator began to plunge out of control down, down, down, down. Would you know what you are supposed to do? I looked it up the other day. It was not a comforting. The first thing they tell you is experts disagree. That means people who are supposed to be the smartest there are when it comes to things like elevators crashing can’t agree on what you are supposed to do. They do agree that the idea of jumping up just when the floor slams into the ground is not going to work. It isn’t going to work because how are you going to time it so you know when you are about to hit the bottom? There’s no gauge—no little window in the floor so you can see the ground coming up to hit you. They say you dasn’t even be standing up when you hit—because the ceiling’s going to come crashing down on you. They say the thing to do is lie down on the floor of the elevator—in the middle of the elevator—and cover your head and your face. Then when the ceiling comes crashing down on you—you are in the best position to survive that. Fine. But what about the floor coming up to hit you? They say spread out—you will better absorb the shock. Not to worry—they say. Odds are the elevator will scrape into the side of the shaft rather than plunge all the way to the bottom! Comforting? I don’t think so. You can avoid elevators all together—taking the steps. Better for your cardio-vascular any way. But try as hard as you can—still troubles and problems will come. Be as careful as you can possibly be—still troubles and sickness will come. Be as watchful and cautious and prepared as you can possibly be—still grief and sickness and death will come. There is safety and protection and rescue in only one. Today the familiar account of Jesus and the ten lepers reminds us:

Only Jesus Can Help
1. Call on him in times of trouble, then
2. Remember to thank him

Last Sunday we walked beside the Lord Jesus as he taught his disciples. Remember? Jesus said, “Things that cause people to sin are sure to come—but woe to the person through whom they come. It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than to cause one of these little ones to sin…If you have faith as small as a mustard seed you can say to this mulberry tree, be uprooted and planted in the sea and it will obey you.” Remember? Jesus talked about stewardship. If you had a servant—that is a slave. If you had a slave who came in after working—doing his job in the field—would you say to him—sit down. Take it easy. Let me get you something cold to drink. Let me get you a little supper? No—it’s the slave’s job—his job to make supper for the master—the owner. Then he gets to have supper. Jesus makes the stewardship application, “So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, “We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.” If we come to Church every single Sunday morning—and Sunday School or Bible Class and bring abundant thank offerings. If we go to Lord’s Supper every time it is offered. If we read our Bible every day and fold our hands tightly and squeeze our eyes tight shut and literally get down on our knees and pray without ceasing. If we come to every mid-week Advent and Lenten service and help make the meals and stay after and clean up. If we are on the Church Council and stay at Voters Meetings until past ten o’clock. If we invite our friends and neighbors to come to church and Bible class with us. If we talk to family and friends when they are doing painful self and soul destructive sins. If we are doing all of that—we should say, “We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty!”

Jesus understood duty. He was born into this sin infected and sin encrusted world to die. Born to die! Jesus was born in a stable. His first bed was a feed box. Jesus was born to die for the sins of the world. Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be handed over to the gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.” The disciples did not understand any of this. Luke 18:31-34 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. On his way to Jerusalem—with fierce determination Jesus walked to Jerusalem—knowing full well the horrible suffering and death that were ahead of him. Nothing could stop Jesus from going to Jerusalem to lay down his life to give us the gift of eternal life!

As they were going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. When Adam and Eve plunged the world—plunged all of creation into sin there were horrible consequences. Now there would be germs, bacteria, viruses, sickness, disease, plagues and death. It’s not a quip pro quo—not a this for that—not a germ for a sin. Sometimes the devil tempts us to think that way. Do something bad—on purpose—and if it’s bad enough—God will get even with you by making you sick! Be wicked when you are young—and when you get old you get a terrible disease? That’s wrong. If being sinful earned a disease—we wouldn’t all be sick. We would all be in the morgue! The wages of sin isn’t sickness. The wages of sin is better paid than that! The wages of sin is death! That’s only part of the story. The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord! Ten men did not have leprosy because they were the ten most wicked men in the village. Ten men had leprosy so that the goodness of God might be revealed in their lives! Leprosy was a big word. It included all kinds of skin diseases. Skin that would itch, peel, flake, be sore, red, irritated, skin that oozed, wept, blistered—skin that died and came off. Leprosy here is most likely the classic going from a nice creamy deep tan color to a pale and pasty grew to a snow white death and decay. You could wrap yourself in strips of clean cloth to try to hold yourself together—delaying the inevitable death that would come when you got a blood infection or worse. You get the painful picture. Leprosy was the cancer—the AIDS—the inhaled anthrax of Bible times. It was feared. It was dreaded. It was incurable and terminal.

They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” Doing my homework this time I read “Since generally the voice was also weakened by leprosy, their calling with a loud voice would seem to suggest that the ten men joined their voices in crying out to Jesus in order to be sure they would be heard by him.” When he saw them, he said, Go, show yourselves to the priests.” It would take faith—trust in the word and promises of God—to start out walking—running towards the priests—the combination pastor and public health officials—when you were still sick! But God-given faith—hope and trust would say—do what Jesus said. Go to the priest as fast as you can—and show yourself to him. And as they went, they were cleansed! They were cleansed. They were healed. They were made whole. Do you know people that have a beautiful complexion? Have you seen a little baby lately—with skin just as soft and smooth and beautiful as can be? That could not begin to compare to the skin of those ten men! If Jesus willed your leprosy to be gone—what germ—what flaw—what little bit of dead skin would dare remain? What single cell flawed or infected would dare to remain—if Jesus willed you to be well and whole? And that was not nearly the best miracle. The greatest miracle of all is Jesus making us clean and whole deep inside. Jesus did that just outside the walls of Jerusalem—when he died on the cross to take away the leprosy of sin!

One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Please, please, please have pity on me. That’s the easy part. To call for help is easy. Workers were repairing a building in New York the other day. The scaffold was somewhere between 12 and 15 stores high when the whole brick front of the building came crashing down. 5 workers were killed. Many more were injured. I’m sure they cried out for help. People walking by scrambled to help them. Did they say, “Thank you!” Do we say thank you to Jesus—or do we talk about being lucky? Do we thank Jesus—with our words—by our actions—with our thank offerings? Do we look at what we put into our envelope as church dues—or a thank offering—a thank you gift to my Savior? We have reason to throw ourselves at Jesus’ feet and thank him!

What to do—what to do? Would you know what to do if say you were on a runaway camel? I have been on camels a couple of times. If one bolted would you know what to do? Instinct would suggest pull back as hard as you can on the reins—like with a horse and yell, “Whoa!” That might work with horses. It won’t with camels. Camels have nose rings. Chances are you would really hurt the camel’s nose. And they would run all the faster! Camel reins must be pretty cheesy because they say the reins would probably break if you pull real hard. What you are supposed to do is see which way the camel puts his head—left or right—then pull that way. The camel will end up running in a circle. That will get old quickly—and the camel will sit down to rest from running in this circle. That’s when you jump off quickly! What do you think? Think you will remember that—if you are on a camel and he takes off? Maybe? How has your life been lately? Feel like you have been going in circles faster and faster? Pretty soon it will be the holidays—the made dash from Thanksgiving to New Year’s. Are you ready for that? Are you dreading that? Are you thinking—this year I will be strong. I will do whatever it takes to make these the best—the most fun holidays ever? Or are you thinking—I need help. I need Jesus’ help today—tonight and every tomorrow that Jesus gives me. I need Jesus’ help. I will call to him and he will hear me. He will answer me in the best possible way. And from now on I am going to try harder and harder with the Holy Spirit’s power to remember to say, “Thank you, my Savior, my LORD and my King!” Amen!