"Thank You
Notes"
a condensed version of the
sermon delivered by Rev. Kirk Moore on Sunday, October 14, 2007 at Union Congregational Church in Somonauk, Illinois.
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Three little words
Cassie, my wife (of 20+ years) loves to hear those three little words from me. She wants to know that the things that brought us together at the beginning either still exist or have grown into something that is even better. I understand that by saying those three little words, I acknowledge that we share something together that brings meaning to each of our lives.
Those three little words?
"I appreciate you."
What? You were thinking something else?
In reality, those three little words aren’t enough. Over the last 20+ years I’ve learned that gratitude is something Cassie really appreciates. However, simply saying, ‘Thank you" or ‘I appreciate you’ as a way to move onto the next conversation or event in our lives doesn’t cut it. Saying something like that sounds like "Yeah, yeah --- that was great – thanks" to her. I’ve learned that what is important in showing appreciation is genuine, gushing and deep gratitude. That is the kind that really reaches her.
In this week’s Bible reading from Luke 17:11-19, Jesus healed 10 lepers. He instructed them to show themselves to a priest to prove that they were healed. 9 of them did exactly that – or at least that is the assumption. One of them, a foreigner – a Samaritan -- an outcast among outcasts, was overcome with gratitude and came back – with deep and gushing gratitude, to say "Thank you!"
Did the 9 who followed instructions do it wrong? They just did what they were told to do. Right? Couldn’t they have been showing their thanks by doing what was asked of them? We could talk about a whole lot of things that might have been going on with them. They’d been separated from their families for who knows how long – for a reason that nobody talked about – and now Jesus just told them to go see a priest. They were going to be restored to their families and communities! I can imagine they couldn’t get away from their place of forced exile quick enough.
But there must be something more here than is right at the surface. (There always is, isn’t there?)
Jesus paid special attention to the one who came back – against his instructions. This one foreigner, a Samaritan, knew he was healed and came back. This Samaritan could have gone to a priest. Samaritans, thought outcasts, followed the law – the Torah. They were outcast because they had a history that included these people of Northern Israel assimilating with people of Assyria. But they did follow the scriptures. The Samaritans would say that they followed the law in a truer fashion than the ones who considered them outcasts. This Samaritan knew all that. And he could have gone to a priest. But he didn’t. He came back to Jesus.
Some say that this encounter Jesus had with the 10 lepers is really a metaphor for Jesus' telling of God’s salvation to the Hebrew people, their rejection of Jesus’ message, and the acceptance of it by the Gentiles. That sounds like a reasonable way to understand this reading – except that the Samaritans weren’t really Gentiles.
What I think this story of healing teaches us is that there is something better that God desires from us than simply following the rules. There is something better that God desires for us than knowing God loves us and then going about our lives as normal. God wants us to live for something more. God desires a response from us that is more than a short and curt ‘thank you.’
All ten lepers left the area and no longer had leprosy. They were cleansed or made clean, (ekatharisthesan) our Bible reading says. The illness was removed – they experienced a catharsis.
One leper really noticed that he had been healed. (iaomai) There’s a difference – a progression that goes from "made clean" to "healed." It’s like this: Ten had their symptoms vanish. One was cured - restored. (It doesn’t say the others weren’t healed and restored, but Jesus only got to see, so we only get to see, the one who came back.)
But then it goes even further. After Jesus asked, "Where are the other nine?" he turned to the one who was face down on the ground praising God and said, "Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well."
Made you well
Made well
The same word, sesoken, that means "made well" is the word that means "made whole." It is the same word that means "saved." When Jesus said to Zaccheus, (remember the short tax collector you learned about in Sunday school?) "Salvation has come to this house today" in Luke 19:9, he followed it up with "For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost." Save. Salvation.
Your faith has made you well.
Your faith has made you whole.
You faith has saved you
Your faith has brought you salvation.
Ten were cleansed
One was restored
That same one was made whole, saved – received salvation.
This word, salvation, brings up images that might not be the same as it is here in this passage. Salvation often brings up images of hellfire and brimstone preaching.
"Jesus Christ has come to bring you salvation. Your soul was heading for Hell, but now Jesus as brought you salvation and you’re heaven-bound!"
But this cleansed, restored and saved Samaritan leper was made whole. He was given liberty. He was brought to a whole and amazing place. He experienced firsthand God’s grace and God’s unconditional love. He experienced God’s restoration when things seemed hopeless. This cleansed, restored Samaritan person’s only response had to be one of genuine, gushing and deep thanks.
What is it that God has done in our lives that we are ready to really gush about?
Why do we seem to instead try to move onto the "next thing" with a short, shallow ‘Thank you’ instead?
Here’s a challenge for this week – this season
The harvest is coming in. We have reasons to be thankful. I know that we also have reasons to be concerned and reasons to be sad – in anguish even. But like the Samaritan leper – God offers us cleansing, restoration and salvation.
Let’s respond with genuine, gushing and deep gratitude.
Look for ways this week to show genuine, gushing and deep gratitude to God. When you see those ways – instead of simply noticing or pausing for a quick "thank you." Really, genuinely, deeply gush with gratitude to God. Gush in the way you sense is right. Gush with words. Gush with gifts. Gush with your time. Gush in writing. Gush with your finances.
In whatever form you use -- Send out to God some moving, authentic and gushing thank you notes.
Close with prayer.
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