The Unauthorized Homily

By Bill Dunn

A commentary on the Scripture readings from the Sunday Lectionary

(Scripture readings for Sunday, October 14th: 2 Kings 5:14-17; 2 Timothy 2:8-13; Luke 17:11-19)

THE ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE

In this week’s gospel reading, Jesus met ten lepers who pleaded with Him for help. Jesus did not immediately heal them, but instructed them to go and show themselves to the priests. According to Jewish law only the priests could declare a person “clean” and allow him to re-enter society.

These lepers, still ravaged by the disease, left to find the priests. What a tremendous expression of faith. No healing had taken place, and yet they believed in Jesus so much they did what He commanded.

As they traveled they were miraculously healed. It was their faith in Jesus’ words that did it.

But that is only part of the story. One of the ten lepers, when he realized he had been cured, came back to find Jesus. (This leper, by the way, was a Samaritan, which made him a double outcast.) When he found the Lord, the leper praised God in a loud voice and threw himself at the feet of Jesus in worship.

Jesus said, “Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?”

The reading this week offers us an important lesson about gratitude. Last week’s gospel made the point that God does not owe us gratitude for simply doing our duty. We are the ones who have received the undeserved gift of salvation. Therefore, we, and not God, should be the ones expressing gratitude.

Today’s reading directly follows last week’s in the 17th chapter of Luke. It is meant to reinforce the concept of gratitude by showing us a clear-cut example.

All ten lepers had a certain amount of faith in Jesus. They all did as He instructed before any healing had occurred. It was this faith—this trust in what was yet unseen—that removed their disease.

But having faith in Jesus, though the first and most important aspect of our Christian life, is only part of the whole experience. Offering praise and thanksgiving and gratitude to God for what He has done also is crucial.

It is only common sense that we thank someone if they have given us a priceless gift. Yes, faith is key, and those of us who believe in God and put our faith in Jesus’ atoning death and Resurrection will receive eternal life.

But does it really make much sense to receive such a tremendous gift and then express little or no thanks and gratitude? The opposite of showing gratitude is being ungrateful. Calling someone an ingrate is one of the harshest insults possible. Are we being ingrates when it comes to God?

How often do we thank God for the blessings of each day? Do we take these things for granted? Our life, our health, our families, our prosperity, our freedom, our knowledge of the Gospel? Are we merely faith-filled ingrates (which means, most likely, that whatever faith we have is pretty weak)?

Are we the type of people who believe in God and ask Jesus to save us from sin and death, and then immediately whip out our list of demands and read them off, item by item, like a spoiled brat reciting from a long scroll atop Santa’s lap?

When we pray, do we start right in with requests, as if God is the local deejay during the “You say’em, we play’em” show? After all He has done for us, wouldn’t it be better first to offer God praise and thanksgiving for all His blessings? Then, after we’ve reflected a bit on what we already have, we can move into our petitions and requests.

(By the way, don’t take this as a preachy sermon. No one needs to hear this message and take it to heart more than I do. When commenting on the foibles and failings of the Christian walk, I can do most of my research by looking in the mirror rather than looking out at the world at large.)

This week’s reading makes it clear that we are not talking about a matter of mere protocol or etiquette. We are not just being polite to God when we show Him gratitude. We receive profound spiritual benefits when we express thanks and praise toward God.

All ten lepers were healed physically, even the ingrates, but only the one Samaritan was also healed spiritually. His gratitude healed his soul after his faithful trip to the priests had healed his body.

Since our souls are eternal while our bodies are only temporary, you could make the case that spiritual ingratitude is a worse condition than physical leprosy.

We should model the Samaritan leper’s behavior. If it has been a while since we praised God in a loud voice and threw ourselves at the feet of Jesus in worship, maybe we should try it. We will benefit the most.

©2007