LK 17: 11-19 

Laterally Luke…Pentecost+18… Revised 2019

Jesus always seems to be on the move. Today He’s moving between Samaria & Galilee. A kind of no-man’s-land; except that it’s not. Is anywhere ever really a ‘no-man’s-land? On the outskirts of this un-named village Jesus is confronted by ten un-named ‘lepers’. Even to suffer from eczema, psoriasis, or the like meant you were swept up into the ‘leper’ category & became an outcast in the Palestine of those days. Our job, though, is to relate our story to today & today’s outsiders, named or un-named, diseased or not; not simply talk about what happens back in Jesus’ day. Let’s make today & every day, ‘Jesus’s Day’.

Notice how the ten are careful to keep their distance, even from the One they believe can heal them. Look round us, & how many people, can we see keeping their distance from Jesus? For how many different reasons? Maybe they’re keeping their distance, too, from us, His followers, for whatever reason, real or imagined? How can you & reach out lovingly, & with healing, to them, as Jesus reaches out to today’s ten? 

Sizing up the ten’s predicament, Jesus mercifully tells them to show themselves to the priests. They realise this can have only one meaning: that He has healed them as they have begged Him to do.  Are we so concerned, as Jesus is, for the predicaments of others, that we do what we can for them? Or just leave it to praying? 

And, what about those who pray & pray to God as they know Him for healing of one kind or another, yet nothing ever seems to happen to them? For them? Intercession lists in so many churches go on & on, interminably, it can seem, for those for whom someone has a concern. What can we do at a practical level - Jesus is always practical - for them as well as faithfully & continuously praying for their healing?

Only one of today’s ten - let’s call him ‘Benji’ - comes back to say thank you. Jesus has now given him his life back, & a face he can show openly in public. For some odd reason, now that ‘Benji’ has a name I’ve given him, makes me think of the name badges so many of us wear in church. Are we making the most of them? Inviting others into a named relationship with them? As they, with their name badge, are inviting us? How can we then deepen that relationship beyond the badges we wear? One way we can relate more deeply to everyone is by taking a Jesus-like attitude of inclusion to one & all, badged or not. It’s the attitude we take, the Name we bear, not the badge we wear, that makes the difference!

Brian

Afterthought: Jesus’ question at the end of the passage about whether any of the other nine have come back to praise God ‘except this foreigner’ contrasts those who live, or begin to live anew, praising God, with those who don’t invite God into our lives except when we want something! Opportunists, rather than disciples? Pray not!