Sermon: October 10, 2010

DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES?
Sermon Notes of The Reverend Canon Robert A. Picken
Cathedral of the Incarnation, Garden City
Twentieth Sunday after the Pentecost: Proper 23
October 10, 2010


Jesus asked, “Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”

+

Set in the midst international politics, the stories of General Naaman and of the Ten Lepers are miraculous stories of healing, humility, and God’s love for all.

Set in the midst of international politics, I’m reminded of the 1980 Winter Olympic Games. Maybe some of you remember it: the Cold War was still raging and the Olympics were being held right here in the State of New York. In one of the greatest upsets in sports history, the U.S. Ice Hockey team defeated the Soviet Union – the fiercest and best team in hockey at the time. The United States had no business winning, really: a bunch of college kids beating tried and true professionals. But, sports fans will long remember Al Michels famous question as the last few seconds ticked off the clock, ‘Do you believe in miracles?!’ Yes, I do.

Naaman was the commander of the army of the Arameans, who had invaded Israel. A skin disease plagued Naaman, and the young Israelite girl, who was a slave to Naaman’s wife, suggested that Elisha, a prophet in Samaria, could cure his leprosy. The King of Israel was insulted by the request, but Elisha sent for the general. He arrived with his entourage and Elisha, who never left his house to greet him, sent a messenger to tell him to go to the Jordan River to “wash and be clean.” It was seemingly too easy, and, furthermore, offensive to his national pride, ‘Are not our rivers in our own country better than this foreign river?’ His aides insisted that he just follow the commands. (I think they were annoyed that they traveled all this way and didn’t want to listen to his complaining all the way back.) Naaman washed and was made clean. And, he returned to Elisha, praising God for the miracle He had done.

In another story of healing, Jesus encounters ten lepers in the region between Samaria and Galilee. “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!,” they cried. They were made clean. One of ten, the Samaritan, turned back and “prais[ed] God in a loud voice.” Jesus asks, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?...[He says to the Samaritan], Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”

On the surface, this is a very simple story. Ten people were healed and only one returned to give thanks, and it was the Samaritan. If even someone like him could give thanks to God, we should as well.

However, there is much more to this encounter of Jesus’. “They were made clean.” Made clean can be better translated as, ‘cured.’ Medically speaking, these ten people had a skin disease that was cured. (As a side note, Hansen’s disease, what we call leprosy now, was not found in that region at this time. Leprosy meant something else – something as simple as a rash, even.) Either way, ‘made clean,’ is a medical term meaning ‘cured.’ The ten lepers were cured of their disease.

Who was the one who returned? It was the Samaritan. Samaritans were political, religious, and social enemies of Israel. It was a centuries-long and very bitter hatred. When he returned, he fell at Jesus’ feet praising God. Jesus said to him, “Get up, and go on your way; your faith has made you well.” ‘Made you well,’ is not the same as ‘cured;’ it means, ‘made whole or complete.’ In other words, it was his faith in God (not his physical wellness) that made him completely who he was called to be as a child of God.

And, what about the other nine? Where were they? I don’t believe that they were ungrateful; who could be ungrateful after being cured? They ran to show the priests, they ran to get back to their lives. They wanted to get on with their lives, cured now. They were socially acceptable again. In their minds, they were now whole and went back to their families, jobs, clubs, cocktail parties, and, so on. They didn’t think Jesus had more to offer and then went off in the other direction.

But, Jesus waited. Then, it was the foreigner – literally, ‘the one whose nature is different’ – who returned to praise God and who was restored to wholeness. Maybe the foreigner did not have as much to run back to; he had nothing to lose by returning, but everything to gain.

Karl Barth, one of the great theologians of this past century, suggested that people should read their Bibles with a copy of the newspaper in their hands. He realized that the Bible could challenge the way we view human life.

One of the above the fold headlines in the New York Times as I wrote this sermon was “Lured Into a Trap, Then Tortured for Being Gay.” This is on the heels of stories of suicides of young adults struggling with their sexual identity. Whatever your theological opinion may be, no one deserves to be objectified, bullied, harassed, or abused because ‘one’s nature is different.’ We are all part of the human family, children of God all of us.

Our world is suffering, I believe, from a skin disease, a leprosy of sorts, which is contagious and is systemic, and it will lead to our destruction. Simply put, it is sin. It is turning from God by failing to see Him in others. It’s not just the homophobia that has lead to unnecessary deaths and the all the pain that goes with it: But, it is in our vicious political culture; It is in our greedy business world; It is found every time someone is disrespected or disavowed because of their race, religion, or culture. (There was story on the CBS Morning News this week about how women need to keep that “perfect figure” to make better salaries in business. And, this is different for men. “I’m the fattest guy in my office and I make the most money,” said one man laughingly. We are running in the wrong direction when we treat people differently because of who they are, what they wear, how they look.)

So, what can we do to restore wholeness to the human family? We’re Christians, we make the Risen Christ known. We love our neighbors as ourselves.

In response to the recent suicides, an internet and YouTube project has begun, called The Trevor Project (named after the Rutger’s student who committed suicide). The Trevor Project uses the slogan, “It Gets Better.” I can’t say that I’ve watched any of the videos, honestly, but it is designed for older gay and lesbian men and women to assure high school students that ‘it gets better.’

I admire this project. But, frankly, it isn’t enough. We can’t just tell people who are bullied, oppressed, and harassed – for whatever reason – that ‘it gets better.’ As followers of the Christ who embraced the foreigner, the ‘one of a different nature,’ we need to work to ‘make it better.’

(I warned you in my first sermon that I’m prone to saying “Just going to church on Sunday and calling yourself a Christian is like standing in the garage and calling yourself a car.” Well, here you go.)

We encounter Christ in Word and Sacrament. If we dare to stand before God and receive Communion, the Body and Blood of Christ, then we must go and be that which we have received: the Body of Christ broken and shared with the world. We must use our various gifts, talents, and treasure to make our world a better place. Through our words and our actions, we show the world that Christ is alive and that in God’s kingdom, there are no foreigners.

Wouldn’t it be a miracle if we showed others that Jesus loved them, by the service of our lives? Wouldn’t it be a miracle if we set a good example for those around us, as we lived by Jesus’ commands? Wouldn’t it be a miracle if we restored wholeness in our world? Wouldn’t be a miracle if we experienced true reconciliation?

The Church is called to the work of reconciliation. True reconciliation is about working so that all people may be restored to ‘wholeness’ with the human family. “The reconciling ministry of the church today does not require blindness to the evil that infects humanity, but commitment to a long-term mission to free ourselves and those who would harm us from deep-seated hatreds and prejudice.”

This isn’t easy, and it won’t happen quickly. Like Naaman, it may be only one person at a time. First, though, it begins with each of us recognizing the miraculous work of God in our lives. It begins with each of us knowing that while we may at times feel different or outcast, we are loved by God nonetheless. None of you, none of us, are foreigners to God.

Al Michels asked that famous question, “Do you believe in miracles?” I do. I believe that God is working miracles in all our lives…yours and mine, all the time. We need to recognize God’s goodness in our lives, and, following the example of the Samaritan, return to God through Christ, giving thanks for His goodness. And, then not just saying but showing our thankfulness to God through the lives that we live: “striving for justice and peace, respecting the dignity of every human being, seeking and serving Christ in all persons, loving our neighbor as ourselves” and assuring people that they are not foreigners to God.

“Get up, go, your faith has made you well.”