Lepers

I’ll tell you something about this Gospel lesson.

            I’ve preached on it a number of times 

                                                            over the 30 some years I have been a priest.

But one year a week before this particular reading came up in the lectionary

            I broke out in a rash.

I don’t know if it was in reaction to something in my environment

            or as a sympathetic association with these 10 lepers!

I went to the doctor.

She looked me over and declared that I had a rash,

            confirming my self-diagnosis.

The doctor prescribed hydrocortisone cream and sent me on my way.

No quarantine, 

no being sent off to a leper colony,

no isolation from others.

I didn’t have to cry out, “Unclean, unclean,” wherever I went,

            or carry bells around on a stick to ward other people off.

No going to wash in the Jordon River 7 times 

            like in the story about Elisha and the Syrian king Naaman.

And no elaborate rites and ceremonies to perform, sacrifices to make

            in order to be reinstated back into the community.

Ah, the benefits of modern medicine.

The story about the healing of the 10 lepers:

            This is a pretty straight forward story.

            The lepers come to Jesus but not too close; they know the rules.

            Jesus doesn’t even have to touch them.

            He just tells them to go show themselves to the priest,

                        which is what they were to do when their leprosy cleared up.

            And while they were on their way, 

not immediately, but after they there on their way, 

they found that they were indeed healed.

Only one, the Samaritan came back.

Have you ever wondered why?  Why him, and not any of the other 9?

I think it was that the rest were Jews following Jesus’ directions

                        about presenting themselves to the priest, 

going to the Temple in Jerusalem.

They were all heavily invested in their religion,

            and if you had leprosy and got better,

            then in order to be readmitted to the community 

and be reunited with your family,

            there were special rituals and rites that had to be performed.

If you’re interested in what they were, read Leviticus, chapter 14.

-       It’s really good bedtime reading.   – 

But the Samaritan – 

            he is outside of that religious system,

and therefore he is not as connected to the elaborate liturgy 

            involving sacrifices and washing 

and what we might think of as esoteric rituals.

In fact he might not have even been able to get into the Temple courtyard,

            it was so exclusive.

Instead he connects his healing from God with Jesus,

            and he comes to offer his thanks to God

                        NOT in the Temple in Jerusalem

                        but there at the feet of Jesus – the Living Temple of God,

                                    holy as God is holy,

                                    sacred ground and sacred being.

This just may be the point of the whole story.

This man healed of his leprosy saw the connection with God through Jesus.

This is, after all, the whole point about Christianity, about our faith,

            our purpose for being here in this place on a Sunday morning.

In the encounter with Jesus in whatever way that comes

-       and it can be in multitudes of ways – 

in that encounter with Jesus we meet God.

Jesus is God-with-us, Emmanuel.

That’s my gospel, my good news that I preach.

Like what Paul wrote to Timothy from the Epistle for today:

            “Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, … that’s my gospel.”

And Paul goes on in the passage to declare our baptismal faith:

            “If we have died with him, we will also live with him.”

That’s my Gospel, what I have experienced of the Good News of Jesus,

                        not theoretical or theological but for me a lived reality.

The word gospel means literally “good news,” in case we have forgotten that.

The question could then be asked:

            What do each of you identify as your gospel?

            What is your truth about Jesus?

            What have you experienced of Jesus?

            How is Jesus good news to you?

There is no one right answer.

            You will not be graded on this pop quiz.

But it is very important that we each answer these questions.

This is a crucial matter for everyone of us.

Now the encouragement is that, as the Epistle reading states,

            “the word of God is not chained.”

There is not just one way to express the Gospel,

            so we are exhorted “to avoid wrangling over words,”

                        literally in Greek, not to fight with words, 

not to use words as weapons.

And on the other hand this is not permission to be wishy-washy.

            

We have this directive from 1 Peter 3:15,

            “Always be prepared to answer to everyone asking you 

                        for a word, a reason concerning the hope in you.”

So if you haven’t thought much about this question, “What is your gospel?”,

            or the first thing out of your mouth in response is: 

Uhhh … and a long pause, 

then you have some work to do,

                        some personal reflection,

                        some meditation!

                        some seeking.

So the Epistle, 2 Timothy, tells us how:

                                                            “present yourself to God.”

After all, 

Life ultimately does not depend on how we present ourselves to others - 

            mostly that is costuming,

            masking over what we would rather not be seen.

Rather than how we present ourselves to others,

                                                            instead present yourself to God.

And that’s easy,

            because you already are in God’s Presence, 

                        with nothing hidden,

                        no chance to check on how we look in the mirror,

            fully known, fully loved, fully accepted.

That’s how the leper came to realize where the best place for him was to be.

Now I have to say that those with the greatest needs

               usually are able to recognize and articulate what the good news is for them,

                        far better than most of us.

If we consider ourselves to be pretty self sufficient, it’s harder.

            That’s why I can actually be thankful about my inadequacies 

                                                                        and even my mess ups and outright sins,

because like the Apostle Paul I too can say that God’s grace is what is sufficient

            and power is made perfect in weakness (1 Cor. 12:9).

So in order to be able to articulate what the Gospel good news is to you,

                        a perennial problem for Episcopalians,

look to see if you have an “inner leper,”

            that part of yourself that keeps you guaranteed/alienated from others,

and then when that is realized, come to recognize, 

            that at the same time you are very much in God’s Presence,

                        in a holy place. 

And in that glorious space 

            of being present to and aware of the Divine,

ask for the Word, the reason concerning the hope that lies within you,

so that the Gospel good news for you may come crystal clear,

                        your faith may be enlivened,

            and your hearts overflowing with thanksgiving and unspeakable joy.