Rev. Michael Phillips Sermon for October
10, 2004
They must have been shocked – those first hearers of the parable. It must have stung, at least a little bit, that single, simple line. You see, it starts out quite commonly, quite predictably: ten lepers, traveling together, seek cleansing from a famous and proven healer.
“Jesus, master, have mercy on us.” They ask for mercy because everyone knew and agreed that a chronic ailment such as leprosy was God’s way of punishing unrighteousness.
So Jesus the healer tells them to present themselves to the priests, and as they go they are cleansed. One turns around and comes back to say “thank you” and then it happens; the one line that stings like a wasp; that burns like acid. The storyteller, not Jesus, but the storyteller simply reports – “He was a Samaritan.”
Until that point in the story the Jewish storyteller, Jesus, and the Jewish listeners would have assumed that all 10 lepers were also Jewish, (why wouldn’t they?) especially when Jesus tells them to go and present themselves to the priest. Presenting your gift to the priest as sacrifice was a very Jewish thing to do, and would have sufficed. The one – the one out of ten – the one to take the extra step, going out of his way to say “thank you” was not Jewish, instead, he was a Samaritan.
The hero of this Jewish story is a Samaritan. The point of the story is not just “remember to say thank you,” although that’s a good lesson, the point is that as far as Jesus is concerned, the way you behave toward others is far more important that your pedigree.
Jews often thought of themselves as special; the chosen, the favorites, the first among all others, the people of covenant. One was born into Judaism - children of Abraham, the 12 tribes of Jacob, and the rest were merely details. But when Jesus came along, he proclaimed a new way of understanding who God had chosen; a new covenant. He said, “Your faith – no your bloodline – your faith has made you well.”
Theologians refer to this as Jesus’ message of radical inclusivity, and Paul picked up on it in his teachings and his letters. It no longer matters if you are male or female (although that used to matter a lot.) It no longer matters if you are slave or free (although that used to make a big difference.) It no longer matters if you are a Jew or a Gentile (and that used to matter an awful lot.) All that matters is your faith – your active participation in the love and compassion and the reconciliation of God. A new covenant is sealed with a new people.
Much earlier Naomi recognized this truth in her non-Jewish daughter-in-law when as a new widow Ruth said, “Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.” God creates us all and loves us all. It doesn’t matter to him what nationality, or heritage, or culture we claim. We are one in Christ.
And so this morning we welcome a young boy into this household of faith, and it just so happens he is a foreigner- born in Russia and adopted into the Goloway family. But where he was born makes no difference to God. What matters is being reborn by water and by Spirit in baptism; so that he can take his place at this table, and learn the ways of this family.
None of us witnessed his natural birth. All of us will witness his spiritual birth, as he becomes a member of this household of faith. This is why rather than being threatened by diversity we welcome it and celebrate it. The varieties of European cultures in this parish, Asian, Latino, African, Caribbean cultures – the various languages and accents, ages, genders, and all the rest add color, flair, and spice to our parish.
And beneath all the surface variations, we know that deep down we are one in Christ. Another way of seeing it is that we are all foreigners. No one group or people has been favored by God, so all of us seek to be included and accepted; healed and restored; forgiven and loved. Having received all of this by God’s grace and the Holy Spirit at baptism and in Eucharist, we, like the Samaritan leper, return to Christ Sunday after Sunday, day after day, to say “thank you.”
In his fellowship,
Amen.