Sermon for Thanksgiving Eve

The Great Thanksgiving

Luke 17:11-19

Thanksgiving Eve (B), 2009

Zion Lutheran Church

Mount Pleasant, Michigan

Pastor Jonathon Bakker

            Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord, Jesus Christ, amen.  The Holy Scripture for our consideration is the Gospel reading from St. Luke.

Now it happened as he went to Jerusalem that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.  Then as he entered a certain village, there met him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off.  And they lifted up their voices and said, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!’  So when he saw them, he said to them, ‘Go, show yourselves to the priests.’  And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.  And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks.  And he was a Samaritan.  So Jesus answered and said, ‘Were there not ten cleansed?  But where are the nine?  Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?’  And he said to him, ‘Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.’

            Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I always believed that this particular reading was appropriate for Thanksgiving services because of the thankfulness of the Samaritan Jesus healed from his leprosy.  Upon closer inspection, however, and now having seen and experienced what actually takes place during the Thanksgiving holiday here in the United States, I realize that this reading is chosen because of all the travelling that takes place with this holiday!  Naturally, with such travelling there are usually happy reunions with family and friends we haven’t seen for a while, and for that we give thanks.

            Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, but he was not taking the direct route – in the reading today he’s somewhere to the northwest of Jerusalem, somewhere in the midst of Samaria and Galilee.  He could have been anywhere between Cana and Mt. Gerizim, but he was on the way toward Jerusalem when he met ten lepers outside a village.  They were outside the village because of their leprosy.  When they saw Jesus, they lifted up their voices and cried out to him, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.’  And he did, sending them to the priests, because a priest had to confirm that they were cured and a sacrifice, too, was required.  As they went, they were cleansed.

            One of those lepers was a Samaritan, and it is most likely that the other nine were Jewish.  The Samaritan returned to Jesus and fell down before him in thanksgiving for the miraculous cure of his leprosy.  Jesus wondered aloud why only one had returned to glorify God, and then he blessed him, commending his faith, and sent him on his way.  It’s not only Jesus that travels now, but also the thankful Samaritan who had been healed.

            Now, within the Gospel of Luke there is not only this one, but two accounts of Jesus healing lepers. 

The Gospel reading for tonight, from chapter 17, is very similar to an earlier account in chapter 5.  It reads, ‘And it happened when he was in a certain city, that behold, a man who was full of leprosy saw Jesus; and he fell on his face and implored him, saying, ‘Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.’  Then [Jesus] put out his hand and touched him, saying, ‘I am willing; be cleansed.’  Immediately the leprosy left him.  And [Jesus] charged him to tell no one, ‘But go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as a testimony to them, just as Moses commanded.’’  It’s surprisingly similar to our Gospel, which leads one to wonder why both were included in this Gospel. 

            Surely one account of healing a leper would have been sufficient to demonstrate that even leprosy is no match for our Lord’s divine powers to heal.  Jesus’ temptation by the devil is only recorded once in the Gospel of Matthew, but it would be naive of us to assume that he was not, like we are, tormented by Satan throughout his earthly life.  He did not give in to temptation and he was not sinful, but there is no reason to believe that after 40 days in the wilderness the devil would have just given up and allowed Jesus to carry out his ministry without any interference.  One account of that temptation was enough for Matthew to convey the struggle Jesus had with the Devil and the comfort he found in the care of God the Father, and it’s not unreasonable to expect that the same would be true of a healing miracle as specific as cleansing people from leprosy.

            Friends, these two accounts are included not because they were so similar; they exist for us because of their differences!  Imagine you had 5 children, and they all went outside, chopped down a tree, and cut and stacked the wood for you.  All of those children are equally worthy of your praise and thanks for a job well done, but what if only the older four had actually been given that chore and the youngest one had done it out of his own free will.  Or what if the youngest one also happened to be the only girl?  All would remain equally worthy of your praise and thanks for a job well done, but the youngest, especially if she was a girl, would stand out because of the difference.

            It is the same in our Gospel tonight, dear friends – Luke, who was careful to include the events and sayings of Jesus in his Gospel as accurately as possible, saw fit to write two very similar, but not identical accounts.  The difference is not in the result of Jesus’ healing – the lepers are cured every time; the difference between these two accounts lies in the question the lepers asked Jesus as was travelling toward Jerusalem.  In the first episode, the leper fell on his face and asked Jesus for cleansing.  Cleansing is the technical term for being healed from leprosy.  Luke uses that term in both accounts, describing the lepers as having been cleansed, but in this account of the Samaritan, they do not ask the Son of God for cleansing.

            ‘Have mercy on us!’ is their plea.  As Jesus travels closer and closer to Jerusalem and ultimately toward his death on the cross to cleanse the world of sin, those making requests of Jesus are no longer asking for mere temporal cleansing, but for eternal healing.  And as we see in this reading, Jesus grants both.  The Samaritan was cleansed and his life spared from his physical illness, but beyond that, the Lord of life and death had mercy on him and granted him the fullest healing of all – the forgiveness of sins and everlasting life through faith.  He said, ‘Arise and go your way; your faith has made you well.’

            Friends, in the midst of all this travelling taking place around Thanksgiving, let us give thanks to God for the greatest travels of all – Christ’s journey from heaven to earth, from Bethlehem to Calvary, and from death to life, for us.  Jesus has heard our cries for mercy just like he heard the Samaritan’s cries and grants us full healing in his death and resurrection.  Our only response can be to give him thanks and praise for all that he has done for us.

            To Christ alone be all the glory, forever and ever, amen.

            The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus, our Lord, amen.