Proper 23C, October 13, 2019. The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

O God of Sacred Story, grant us the strength, the wisdom and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

This sermon is going to include a list-making exercise – and so you might want to have a pen or pencil ready – or take notes on your phone. (Yes, I’m the priest who regularly tells people to use their phones during the liturgy.) You won’t need it for a few minutes, but I want you to be ready. Before that I want to offer some commentary on the readings from our First and Second Testaments. I want to highlight the surprising instructions from God through the prophecy of Jeremiah to the people who were in exile, far from home, captives in Babylon, because maybe some of you are in a similar situation. Jeremiah wrote the Word of God in a letter to them and said: “Plant gardens. Build dwelling places. Seek the welfare of the city where you are, for in its welfare, you will find your welfare.” The Hebrew word for welfare is “shalom.” The same word in Arabic, “salaam,” forms the word Islam. Islam is often translated “submission,” and that is also an essential part of shalom – submission is obedience; obedience is radical listening; radical listening is what God, also known as Love, commands above all else. Listening to love, submitting to love, and well-being are all one. Seek wellbeing in the new and difficult place to which you have arrived against your will. God’s blessing continues even in exile. Contribute to the welfare of the city wherever you are. Be a blessing where you are, even if you are a captive.

In Second Timothy, the writer encourages the community to remember Jesus Christ, but I want to tell you that the verb translated “remember” is ongoing action – keep remembering Jesus Christ. Keep remembering every day, you who are members of the body, keep re-asserting your belonging to the one who announces good tidings to those who are destitute, who proclaims release to captives and sight to those who cannot see, who sends those who are oppressed forth in liberty, and proclaims the year of amnesty. Keep remembering that this is now your (our) mission, and likewise, keep reminding others of this, that they are workers who have no need to be ashamed, when they are rightly explaining a word of truth, that is, a word of right-relationship with God and one another. As I said last week, instruments need frequent tuning. Keep doing it.
Now about those ten lepers. Ten lepers yelled out to Jesus to have mercy on them. Jesus told them to go and show themselves to the priests. He didn’t say “okay, I do have mercy.” He didn’t say “great is your faith.” He didn’t say, “not my job,” but he also didn’t touch them – there’s nothing to suggest that he even got near them. They kept their distance. They shouted out asking for mercy. He said, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.”
Who knows why they went. Perhaps it took immense courage and trust to set off down that road to show themselves to the priests. But my guess is that maybe they believed that the priests would have mercy on them, and besides, they probably had nothing left to lose. The story goes that, “as they went, they were made clean.” So not while they were talking with Jesus, but after they left Jesus, along their journey, on their way to show themselves to the priests, they realized that they had been healed, before they’d even reached their destination. They’d been asking for, praying for mercy and they got something so much better! By law, the priests, of course, would still have to declare that they were healed, or it wouldn’t count. So presumably, they continued on their way, simply doing what Jesus had told them to do.
Well nine of them did, anyway. One turned back to thank Jesus and praise God. One did not go his own way. And Jesus asked where the other nine were?? Did he not tell them to go and show themselves? That’s where they were. And after that, I imagine they were running all over the place, getting re-acquainted with their families and friends, re-integrated into the life of the community from which they’d been quarantined. I think that it’s reasonable to imagine that the nine didn’t attribute the healing to Jesus – so it might not have even occurred to them to come back and thank him. Therefore, I don’t think anyone should be particularly critical of those nine. In fact, the story even makes the point that it’s a foreigner – a stranger — a Samaritan — who turned back to give thanks – a foreigner, a stranger.
I also want to say that up to this point, this is not a story about faith equaling healing, or about enough faith causing the healing that one wants. This is not a transactional story about faith and healing. The lepers weren’t even asking for healing – they were asking for mercy. They all received healing – one turned back to give thanks to Jesus. So if there’s any equation that can be drawn here, it is that thanking Jesus counts as giving glory to God.
Many of you know that one of my early adulthood mentors was The Rev. Bill Dols, an Episcopal priest and a student of Jungian psychology. He has devoted much of his life’s work to engaging people in discovering the Sacred Story in order to rediscover their own personal and communal story, to help them understand their stories through God’s Story. Although I never heard him preach about this particular passage of the Gospel, here’s what I imagine he’d suggest.
Each and every one of us has ten healed lepers inside of us. I’ll say that again. Every single one of us has (at least) ten healed lepers inside of us. That is, we have had at least ten parts of ourselves – physical, emotional, spiritual — that haven’t been well, that have made us (and maybe others) feel disgust, that have made us feel shame, and have isolated us from fullness of life in relationship with the community. And along the way, along our various ways, healings have taken place. (Of course, we all have parts that are still in need of healing as I speak – but for right now, I’d like to focus on those experiences of healing that we’ve already had in our past.) I am confident that with a little time and thought, every single person in this room could list 10 times they have experienced healing along the way, whether from illness or infirmity, a disease or a disaster, hurt fingers or hurt feelings, a broken bone or a broken relationship or a broken heart. I wonder if you could take a few minutes right now and make a list of ten illnesses or injuries – physical or emotional or spiritual illnesses or injuries from which you have recovered or are in active recovery. Maybe you know how you healed, and maybe you just know that you healed but you don’t know how. You could write them in the space on page 15 of your bulletin or make an electronic list on your phone. If you can’t or don’t want to write them down, count on your fingers, ten healings you’ve experienced along your way. I’m going to stop talking for a minute so you can think of ten healings you have experienced. [1]
Put a star next to one of the healings on your list. We have also experienced healings as a community – as a parish. Physical, emotional, spiritual injuries and illnesses of this parish have been healed along our way. If you’ve been around a while, I’m sure you could come up with ten examples. You could write those down later for extra credit!
As we went along our way, wishing for mercy, perhaps pleading for mercy, healings took place. Now I know that this is a leap to a place where some people will not wish to stay, but just for a moment, I want you to use your imagination to jump. I would like you to imagine just for a moment that every one of those healings was from God (or Love). Every one of those healings was a movement toward greater fullness of life. Could you and I choose one of the 10 healed lepers in us, turn back, and praise God by giving thanks to Jesus for the healing? It sounds suspiciously evangelical doesn’t it? I know. Imagine giving thanks for what Love has done for just one in ten healings. That’s proportional giving – proportional thanksgiving.
What I’m suggesting is that we understand that all the healings – all of the blessings we’ve received are from God and we offer a portion back in thanksgiving – a portion that will not go on our own way – our own work and our own pleasure, our own self-satisfaction, but will turn back to Jesus for God’s way, God’s work and God’s pleasure. I want to point something out that strikes me – and maybe it will strike you too. Whenever I first hear this story that only one in ten turned back to give thanks, I have to admit, that doesn’t seem like very much. When I offer back to God one-tenth of the material blessings I receive, I have to admit, it seems like a lot – maybe even too much. But it’s exactly the same proportion.
If you have been a part of an Episcopal Church community for more than a minute, you might know that every autumn is a time to begin or renew our commitment to pledge stewardship. We are beginning our season of making pledges of gifts to Emmanuel Church for the ministries of Emmanuel Church in the coming calendar year, for the welfare of our city and our souls, for remembering Jesus Christ, and for giving thanks. Our first mailing from our pledge stewardship co-chairs, Liz Levin and Jamie Shore, went out this past Friday. A packet of materials along with a pledge card will follow mailed in the next week or so with a letter from me.
I want you to spend some time over the next few weeks reflecting on proportions of thanksgiving or gratitude, because I will be asking you, urging you to join me in designating a portion of all that you receive to the works of Love and healing that happen through and because of this particular place – this community. Our commitments to clergy, staff and ministry next year will come entirely from the gifts of thanksgiving and gratitude that you and others pledge to make for the coming year. For those of you who are new to this, pledges are typically made in 2019 and fulfilled in 2020. Your pledges help us plant gardens, build dwelling places, and contribute to the welfare of the city. We keep remembering Jesus Christ, and keep reminding others, that this is our calling.
I want to invite you to consider all the blessings that you have received along your way and to be bold and generous in returning a portion of those blessings, in a way that will make a difference in the way you live your life going forward because it will make a big difference at and through Emmanuel. A portion that is meaningful to you will be meaningful to Emmanuel, no matter what its size. I want to urge you to rediscover this sacred story in order to rediscover your own personal and our communal story, and to understand more and more our stories through God’s Story.

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