Trinity 14 September 22, 2019 The Sunday of the Ten Lepers

Trinity 14
Luke 17:11-19
September 22, 2019

“The Story of 100 Lepers”

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Why did the lepers stand far away from Jesus and call out for help? Yes, I know leprosy was contagious and they were separated from the rest of society and all of that. But this was Jesus. They thought Jesus was different. Why did they stand so far away and yell at Him? Because even Jesus, they thought, would be repelled and disgusted by them. How sad sin is.

Leprosy could definitely be repelling. It could be repulsive. It had the capacity to completely disfigure you. But imagine that—thinking that even Jesus would be disgusted and repelled by you. That’s, of course, exactly the case with our sin. We know we’re in bad shape when we think even Jesus would be turned away from us in disgust and repelled by us—because of what we’ve done. Because of the disfigurement of our souls.

But these lepers forgot that Jesus is a doctor. He’s the Great Doctor. And doctors and nurses, as we know, are different than the rest of us. In the exact times many of us would be repelled and turned away, doctors and nurses go in to help. Many of you have been in a hospital for a few days stay. When you first go into the hospital for surgery or whatever the case, you’re all cautious about that robe. “Where am I going to get dressed?” Making sure you’re always fully covered. Making sure no one is seeing your shameful parts. Making sure no one would be repelled or disgusted by you.

But what happens after a surgery and a few days in the hospital? You kind of forget that shame, right? You start to realize these doctors and nurses have already seen just about everything. They’re not repelled. They’re not disgusted by you. Instead, they’re the very ones who know how to help.

Jesus isn’t disgusted or repelled. In fact, the lepers could’ve come right up to Him. Because during an earlier time, a leper had come right up to Jesus asking for mercy and Jesus wasn’t afraid to even touch him. Jesus isn’t scared of sin. He’s not scared of how bad our souls look. You and I are. We’re ashamed. And well we should be. The angry thoughts and dirty thoughts that have gone through our minds, the words that have come from our mouths, the pictures and movies our eyes have taken in, the hatred we have carried in our heart—we should be ashamed.

A leper’s disease was on the outside. Everyone could see it. That’s why they were so ashamed. That’s why everyone was repelled by them. But our disease is primarily on the inside. Imagine if people could see that. Imagine that people could see your impurity, your jealousy, your anger, the works you’ve done in the night. Wouldn’t it be repulsive? Yet Jesus sees it all. And He’s not repulsed.

Jesus is the Great Doctor who has seen everything. Who knows everything. And He’s the only One who can cure your greatest ill. And your greatest ill is not that you’re too busy, or you’re too tired, or you’re bored, or there’s nothing good on TV, or you want a diet that works, or no one understands you, or you’re not appreciated enough. None of that. Your greatest ill is you’re a sinner. A repulsive one. So repulsive that Jesus had to be disfigured and nailed to a cross for you. Isaiah says of Him, “as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised.” And “his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind.”

But then Isaiah says, “But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.” We are healed. Just like the ten lepers. We are healed by the Great Doctor.

Jesus heals us with His Word. Remember that Jesus doesn’t use the typical surgeries or medicine of doctors. He just uses His Word. In the case of these ten lepers, He just says, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they go they’re healed. All it takes is His Word.

For us, it’s the Word we hear in Holy Scripture, the word we hear in Holy Baptism, and the Word we hear and receive in the Lord’s Supper. We call it the external Word to help us remember that it’s a Word that comes from outside of us. It’s not an internal word. You have to watch that internal word. The devil loves to try and get you to trust your internal word.

That internal word in you says, “I’m repulsive. I’m disgusting. No one can love me. I’m all alone. God will never be able to forgive me. Life is meaningless and empty. No one cares.” You can’t trust the internal word. That’s why we trust the external Word of Jesus. Jesus says, “I forgive you. I love you. You are not alone. I am with you. Believe in Me. Whoever believes in Me will not die.”

Jesus isn’t repulsed. He’s not repelled. Ever. Come near to Him. Cry out to Him, “Lord, have mercy.” And He is faithful and just to heal us. The Good Doctor.

Now the story of the ten lepers continues from there to how the ten react to their healing.  And it’s not a good story. How many of them come back to give glory to Jesus and give Him thanks? One. One out of ten. Ten percent.

Now let’s think for a minute for a minute about all that our parents did for us. They gave us life in the first place. We’re here because of our parents (and God, of course). Our mothers lugged us around for nine months. Mom and Dad fed us, changed all our dirty diapers—as repulsive as they were. They taught us to walk, to talk, to read, to write. They clothed us. Sheltered us. Taught us. Bandaged us. All of it. No imagine that you never, ever told your Mom or Dad thank you. Imagine you never acknowledged anything they did for you at all. Imagine you never even hardly talked to them. You completely ignored them. More than that, you acted as if they didn’t even exist at all. Sadly, some of you may know a story like this. At any rate, how do Mom and Dad feel?

Now it’s the exact same story, only a thousand times worse, when we show absolutely no thankfulness or acknowledgement to God for all that He has done for us. How many people are in a church somewhere on Sunday morning to give God thanks and glory for what He has done for us? Do you know the statistics? It’s a little better than 10% in America. But not much. On any given Sunday, the surveys show that about 20% of Americans are in Church. 20%!? So if we compare it to the ten lepers—wow, we got one more to come back and give thanks. Big deal!

And if you want to get even more repulsive—out of our own membership we get less than 30% of our people in church on Sunday morning. Even of the very people who say they believe in Christ we only get 3 out of 10.

Lord, have mercy. How can we not be here with Jesus on Sunday morning? How can we not be here? How can we not give Him glory and praise for all that He has done for us? All week long He’s there. Giving us light. Air to breathe. Keeping our heart beating and our lungs breathing. All week long He’s there protecting us from danger. Making all things work for our good. Every single thing we have is a gift from Him. All week long He’s there forgiving our sin and loving us despite how repulsive we truly are. And then it comes to Sunday morning and we ignore Him?

But you know what I see this morning? I see the story not of ten lepers, but the story of 100 lepers. I see not 10% or 20% or 30% thankfulness out there—I see 100%. 100% of you 100 lepers are here with that one Samaritan leper kneeling at Jesus feet giving Him glory for all that He has done for you.

And it’s absolutely true what Jesus says about the 100 of you here today—“Your faith has made you well.” God be praised that you are all here this morning. To give God glory for all that He has done for you. He has healed your soul. He’s given you everything you have. And we sing our praise to Him.

Your faith has made you well. Faith in Jesus Christ makes all of life well. It not only heals our repulsive and shameful souls. But it makes all of life better. Who do you think had a better life—that one leper or the nine that ran away? I guarantee the one leper that stayed with Jesus. Jesus makes life better. Being here every Sunday morning with Jesus makes life better.

Paul says in the Epistle today that this is the fruit of being with Jesus—the fruits of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. God grant all of you 100 lepers those fruits. God grant you to be here every Sunday to give God glory and thanks for all that He has done for you. And God grant you to live in His love, joy, peace, patience, and all other good things. In Jesus’ name. Amen.