In this coming Sunday's Gospel lesson from Luke 17:11-19 ten lepers approach Jesus. They cry out, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" Upon seeing their disease Jesus tells the lepers to go and show themselves to the priests. As they go upon their way they are made clean; however, something remarkable happens in the aftermath of this spiritual cleansing.
Only one of the ten lepers returns to Jesus to give thanks to God once he has realized he has been healed. Maybe we could get a little frustrated with Jesus who has been sounding harsher and harsher as he travels closer and closer to Jerusalem, but at least to my ears he has a point. When something benefits us in our lives, do we merely look in the mirror and think how fantastic we are, or do we take a least a moment to pause and reflect? Do we just keep on going or do we stop to thank the source of the healing or help that has come our way? Only one of the ten lepers returns to Jesus, and he is the only one who is made well.
As all ten lepers went to show themselves to the priests, they were made clean. As a leper that was a very good thing. Instead of being seen as an outcast, they could be restored to the community where they lived, but cleanliness is not the same thing as wellness. When I take a shower if I am sick with a head cold I might feel momentarily better, but to be made well that is my true hope when feeling ill. So in this passage Jesus amazingly connects full healing with turning around and giving thanks to the one who brings health and healing into this world!
We have busy lives. I know this because I feel this in my own life. There is never enough time to do everything I need or want to do. And yet, if I spend my entire life blazing through whatever is happening without having some time built into my day to pause, reflect, and give thanks what am I experiencing? Perhaps I feel clean of the responsibilities that I have completed, but do I feel the healing power of God? Do I feel fully restored to my essential self? Jesus connects the leper's turning thanks with having true faith in God.
God shows us in this witness of the one leper that our faithful response to Jesus' loving presence in our lives is to turn around and give thanks. How do you thank God? Do you start your morning saying, "Thank you God for another day!"? Do you pause and reflect before your head hits the pillow at night counting up all the things for which you are grateful? If not, do you create an appreciation journal in which you list all that God has given you, and could you create a new list every day? There are multitudinous practices of gratitude. The hope is to develop a thankful heart that instinctively turns around to show appreciation for the source of all goodness. This one thankful leper teaches us to turn around and give thanks for all that God does, for that is the image of true faith!
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