19th Sunday After Pentecost Proper 23

October 10, 2010

the Rev. Ken Kroohs

(Habakkuk 1:1-4 & 2:1-4,Ps. 37:1-10; II Timothy 1: 1-14; Luke 17:11-19)

WHAT WE DO WITH GOD’S GIFTS IS OUR CHOICE

St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church, High Point, NC

MAY THE WORDS OF MY MOUTH ... AND THE MEDITATIONS OF ALL OUR HEARTS ... BE ALWAYS ACCEPTABLE TO YOU --- OUR STRENGTH AND OUR REDEEMER AMEN

Try to get the impact this story had in the first century — 10 people walking down a busy street. They are lepers ... skin falling off, two have no nose, one has lost both ears, they smell so bad one passerby is throwing up in the gutter. Other people jump away and run down the side alley. Some throw things at the ten ... in some cases it is food but most of the time it is rocks.

God appears before them and heals them!! Wow! As they walk away only the non-Christian bothers to even say “thank you”.

What power this story had for the first century audience. The ultimate healing, not just of physical wounds but of social ostracism. They had to show themselves to the priest ... show they have been healed so they can rejoin society. Amazing!! And, in our words, only the non-Christian bothered to say “thank you.”

Makes you wonder. Makes me wonder. Makes me squirm over the times I have not said ‘thank you’ to God. Why is it we are more likely to thank God for health after we have been sick? And not when we are well?

Why is it we are more likely to thank God for our homes and food and jobs when we were unemployed then when we were secure?

If you remember the sermon on the mount when Jesus said “blessed are the poor” — I suspect this is exactly what He was driving at: when we know we are dependent on God we are more likely to be thankful.

But we are not dependent on God are we? Be honest now! Don’t we earn what we get? Can we not accomplish anything if we just work hard enough? Don’t we get what we deserve? ..... If any of that is true than we are not dependent on God. Or at least not completely dependent.

We tend to miss or at least over look large parts of our lives — things that influenced and made our lives possible. I know I do that and since I am the only person I can speak authoritatively about I will use my life as an example.

My parents were not able to provide a single dollar for my college. I had not worked as hard as I could have in high school — graduated with good grades but not enough to get scholarships and I choose a private college – partially because New Jersey has no public colleges!

So I worked 40 hours a week or more while taking classes. Not many parties! And I took pride in what I accomplished. What I missed for many years is the many ways I was helped along the way. The boss who lent me $2000 in my junior year or I would have had to drop out. Big money in 1972! The tax payers who through the government paid the ‘work study’ salary. The many people I will never know who contributed to the school’s scholarship funds that I did get.

But most of all I missed that the brain I began to use was not something I earned. The body which held up through all this was not something I earned. I can be proud of using them well ... that’s fair. But have to admit they were, and are a gift.

Or the fact that my father was one of the those quiet men who taught responsibility above all else. You said you were going to do something you did it. The one time he visited here as I was doing the after service conversations he was picking up stray bulletins. Not because he had to but because he believed that if you saw something that needed doing, you did it. That training still causes me problems because when someone says “oh that needs to be done” my immediate reaction is “OK, when are you going to do it?”

I can be proud of the good things I took from my parents and the less good things I left behind. But I cannot take credit for them. I cannot take credit for the other people who helped me, mentored me, guided me. I can take pride in those attributes I took on, and should be embarrassed by those I did not — but I cannot take credit for them.

And when I messed up my first marriage. I am not taking all the blame but accepting my part. I apologized to God. Confessed to God. And I cannot take credit for being given a second chance. Being given the gift of a woman I do not deserve.

See the difference? The lepers could not take credit for the healing. They had to take credit, or blame for what they did with the healing. God gives us the tools. What we do with the tools is our choice.

I do want to glance at the Old Testament lesson which I believe is a great teaching. I think Naaman was correct. The rivers of Damascus were just as good as the Jordan. The issue was not the water in the river, the issue was obedience to God. And I don’t think it was a game on God’s part. It was Naaman’s way of saying he was obedient to God.

We sometimes don’t understand the instructions God gives us. We might even question that they are from God ... a reasonable question to ask! But we need to understand that the issue is not whether our great and wonderful brains can understand God! The issue is whether we are willing to obey God and have faith in God.

In this circumstance the word “faith” means “to trust”. Naaman finally trusted ... actually I suspect he was really testing God ... but he did as he was told. Can we trust God enough ... have enough faith in God to do what God tells us even when we don’t understand? Even when we question the wisdom of the action?

The reason it is important we thank God is NOT for God’s benefit. God does not need an ego boast! God does not need to be reminded what happened.

The reason for thanking God is to remind US of what happened. We thank God so we don’t forget all the God has done for us.

Have you ever reflected on the fact that very seldom in scripture is any follow-up recorded? The ten lepers are healed — what did they do the next year?

Over and over again we hear of demons being sent away, diseases healed, the lame walking ... and we never again hear about them. Lazarus is raised for the dead! And what did he do afterwards?

Maybe they went home and spoke about Jesus. Maybe their witness was the reason Christianity could later spread.

Or maybe they said a quick ‘thank you’ and went back to their old life. Maybe they thought about it from time to time, maybe even saying a prayerful ‘thank you’ again — but never really changed their lives. ... Which is closer to our personal history?

Here, I believe is the heart of the differences between those churches who preach we should fear God ... and those who speak about a loving God. Between those who preach we should obey OR ELSE ... and those who speak about responding to God’s love. The actions being described may be similar but the motivations are very different.

Here we speak about a loving God who we respond to because of that love. We do not repay God – that’s not possible. Oh, I paid the money back the man lent me but I could never pay back what that meant to me. Instead I worked harder to be worthy of his trust.

We cannot repay God but we can remind ourselves of all God has done and then seek to be worthy of those gifts. Seek to show our appreciation for those gifts. God tells us what is desired. To show our love of God through our generosity ... through our willing to “gift” others.

We can never match God’s generosity but we can seek to show our appreciation. Yes through money. That’s always important. But so are other things. Being generous in spirit to help heal the lonely person who society has ostracized. Being generous enough to speak with the person no one speaks to. Being generous enough of our time to visit a lonely person even if it means missing the ball game. (I have frequently thanked God for the gift of DVR so I can record those!)

The question then is whether we are grateful enough to God to respond. And, do we have enough trust in God to do what we are told, even if it is not our first choice, but trusting that not only does God know better but eventually we will be thankful we did obey?

AMEN

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CLICK HERE TO RESPOND: I would enjoy reading your comments about this sermon. Please feel free to discuss content or presentation. (If you wish to use another email system send your comments to: ken@st-christopher.com)