Manners Matter

Luke 17

¹¹ On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. ¹² As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, ¹³ they called out, saying, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!’ ¹⁴ When he saw them, he said to them, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’ And as they went, they were made clean. ¹⁵ Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. ¹⁶ He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. ¹⁷ Then Jesus asked, ‘Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? ¹⁸ Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?’ ¹⁹ Then he said to him, ‘Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.’

Please, sorry and thank you. The basis of good manners, yes, but also the basis of our relationship with God. Think about it – every time we come together in worship or stand before God in prayer, we say please, sorry and thank you.

These are important words – but it is just because they are good manners? Or is there more to it than that?

Before we get into the story we are given today, we need to look at the silent character – the space and time it is located. Jesus was walking towards Jerusalem, journeying towards his betrayal and crucifixion. At the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry, the land of Samaria was situated between the regions of Galilee in the north of Israel, and Judea in the south.  Jews travelling between Galilee and Judea would take the longer, six-day journey along the Jordan River valley rather than taking a shorter, more direct route through Samaria.  The Jews avoided all contact with the Samaritans because of their shared bitter history, just as the Samaritans themselves avoided the Jews. It was into this conflicted territory, this space between the clean and the unclean, in his own between time, that Jesus chose to walk.

As he was walking the ten lepers called out to him. They did not approach him, for this was against the laws. They could not approach any person or township as long as they were unclean. Yet somehow they knew that this man had the power to heal them. Was it something they had heard or was there something about the very presence of Christ that prompted their call? Either way, Jesus sent them to be declared clean by the local Rabbi and as they went, they saw they were.

Before we leap in to criticise the nine who did not return, we need to remember that they in fact did no more or less than was asked of them. It is easy to imagine, upon finding that you have been healed from a painful, disfiguring and isolating disease, that you would then run rejoicing to the family and community you came from. This Samaritan, though. He was far from home. Although the other sufferers may have been able to try and fir back into their community and their home, although one must wonder at their success with the knowledge of their illness in the front of everyone’s mind, the Samaritan was still a stranger in a strange land. Is this why he was the only one to return?

For whatever reason, the outcast, rejected by society twice over, was the only one who expressed that noblest of emotions. Gratitude. The force of love which beings hope and peace and action for a better future. Gratitude. The act of saying thank you for what we have received. It is then that this man received the greater gift – he was made whole.

How can a man who has already been healed be made whole? What more is there to gain after your physical infirmities are gone? I think this would vary for each person, but for this man at this time, it must have been some kind of recognition of his worth and humanity by the Son of Man himself. In giving thanks, the healing was made complete, the relationship cycle was completed. The ties between man and son of God were made real.

There’s something to be said here about the role that gratitude plays in our life, and were I speaking to a different group I would probably expand on it. But I have noticed that the longer we live, the more we are able to find the diamonds in the dirt of life, and to be grateful for them. In this group certainly I have seen and heard many words of thankfulness to God for what has been received. So I instead would I would like to leave you with a slightly different thought.

Jesus is not afraid of the dark and dangerous places. Jesus was and is always ready to travel through the places we rightly fear. Whether that is a physical place, such as many of the places that we as Church try to bring light, or the dark places of our own souls, Jesus is there. WE can try and hide our impurities, those diseased parts of ourselves that disgust of frighten us, but Jesus knows no boundaries when it comes to his love. There is nowhere that is too unclean or unacceptable for Jesus healing touch. As we journey with Jesus, we too can be made whole.