Last week I awoke feeling congested with a scratchy throat. My alarm clock looked like this:
I looked like this:
First impulse that came to me was to go back to sleep. What a wonderful and simple proposition. Yup, nothing like turning over and drifting away . . . instead, I lay in bed for a few minutes and then came upon a funny notion that if I got up, had a cup of delicious and hot coffee and lived as if I wasn’t sick then I would be able to start the day right and get a lot of good things accomplished. Mmmmm, coffee would feel swell on my scratchy throat . . . .
The cup of coffee won out of which I am thankful.
There are a lot of things we can express our gratitude for, just as there are a lot of people who rightly deserve thanks. We may at times think of ourselves in autonomous ways but we really function much like a body. And it’s in the functioning that we find opportunity for gratitude. In point, recall the story in Luke 17 where Jesus encounters 10 leapers at a border village between Galilee and Samaria. There is the old adage of the village idiot; that is, the idiot known and accepted by everyone. But imagine the ten leapers of a village, who are required by Levitical law to stay outside the village until declared clean. They are allowed to beg at the village gate but not enter. Their previous way of life is radically changed. They are known, as the village idiot is known, yet not accepted.
Now, let’s go a step further. A midst the ten leapers is a Samaritan. He’s considered a half-breed by most Jews of the time period. Also, some would call him a dog. So it’s interesting that there’s a Samaritan leaper hanging out with Jewish leapers. Most of the ancients did not have democratic sensibilities nor tolerance for people outside of their religious group, especially if the two groups had striking similarities. Case in point was the strained relationship that the Stoics and Christians had within the first couple hundred years of Christianity. The two groups had many virtues in common but were fundamentally different in their Theology. The Samaritans and Jews are similar in their Theology but differ in practice. The Jews worship in Jerusalem. The Samaritans on Mount Gerizim.
This isn’t a problem for Jesus. Historically, we in the Church of God understand this grand, ecumenical movement of the Gospel. It is good news for the whole body and not just for individual parts. Jesus heard the ten leapers cry out, “Master, have mercy on us” (Luke 17:13b, NLT)! He heard all ten, and then addressed all ten by telling them to show themselves to the priests. This is basic protocol that you read about in Leviticus 13-14. It’s the thing you do when you’re clean and ready to be part of the body again. Remarkably, “as they went, they were cleansed of their leprosy” (14b). All ten were cleansed but one was a Samaritan, and that one was not heading to Jerusalem but to Mount Gerizim, and most likely to the dissatisfaction of many.
Again, this isn’t a problem for Jesus. He’s not overly concerned about social standing. Jesus is attentive to the heart of the person. I was relating this story with someone the other day and he remarked that all social standing will eventually go away. How true. What really matters is good relationships with one another and with God, or simply put, righteousness. But even after people are healed and renewed to be part of a body, they can still carry the mentality of sickness and isolation. In a different conversation a lady pointed out to me that some people haven’t got back into the social game since COVID. I’m sure this is true to a certain extent. Perhaps there is nothing worst than having once been sick yet living as if one still is.
The Samaritan in the story, on the other hand, lives as a man who’s been healed when he returns to Jesus in worship and thanksgiving. This is surprising since the other nine, all Jewish and considered to be far more righteous than Samaritans, fail to “give glory to God” (18). Equally surprising is the fact that in Jesus’ day, leprosy not only cut people off from community but also from the presence of God. The leper could not offer sacrifices of worship since he was considered unclean. In the Hebrew, leprosy can be translated as “scourge”. The connotation being that leprosy is a divine punishment on the individual as if they were being repeatedly flogged with a leather whip. To be healed from leprosy means community in both the mundane and divine. That the Samaritan knew and lived as such is a great take away for all of us this Thanksgiving. Because of Jesus we are made whole and can function as a body. This is our great opportunity for gratitude. Let our lives be praise to God.
Happy Thanksgiving!
–Pastor Aaron