No Escape?

Read: Luke 17: 11-19

Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost - October 13, 2013

Lay Assistant Ray Huff

Namaan was an extremely fortunate individual. He was commander of the Syrian army and waged war well. He was described as a leper. History may argue with his disease as something else ... but in any case, he was a very fortunate leper as we shall see. He had a wife and was in great favor of the king.

We know the story of the slave girl's conversation with Namaan's wife and the subsequent trip to the king of Israel, the clothes' tearing, Elisha's messenger, and the cleansing in the Jordan River. Namaan was upset and questioned how people and places in low stations (in his eyes) could cure him, but he is extremely grateful with the result.

I must repeat- Namaan was extremely fortunate. Notice the prestige and life that he had despite his leprosy.

Leprosy is a horrible disease. Lepers don't have wives, social standing, and responsibility for others. They have nothing ... absolutely nothing.

It's the worst disease in much of history. Leprosy attacks the body, leaving sores, missing fingers, missing toes, and damaged limbs. In many cases, the initial pain gives way to something more terrible that that- a loss of sensation in nerve endings, leading to more damage to more body parts. The disease can take 30 years to run its course, and in that time span, entire limbs can simply fall off. (Andy Cook)

Even in our time, lepers are isolated at Carville, Louisiana and Father Damien's mission at Molokai, Hawaii until a cure is found. Today we have a cure; not so in Biblical times.

Lepers were absolutely, positively, outside any circle of society or humanity. Their lives were, in a word, hell.

We don't talk too much about Hell anymore. I certainly heard more about it when I was younger. .. maybe someone was trying to tell me something. Maybe we need to revisit the locale through the eyes of the great poet, Dante Alighieri.

In his greatest work, The Divine Comedy, he takes the reader through his version of Hell. Above the entrance to Hell are these words:

"Through me you pass into the city of woe:

Through me you pass into eternal pain:

. . . .

Eternal. and eternal I endure.

Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.

That was the welcoming sign to Hell. Lots of nasty things occurred in Dante's work. Let's think about that sign again. Abandon all hope; it's gone; there is absolutely none and nothing that you c n do about it. You are absolutely worthless ... despised . .. and alone with no hope of any relief in your situation. The only human contact was with other lepers as they kept together as they roamed for food and assistance. Since they couldn't get close to people, they would have to yell to be heard.

That's exactly what was in store for the 10 lepers for the rest of their miserable lives. No family, no hope, no future other than misery .

.. . and then they meet Jesus! They yelled at Jesus to be heard. The screamed at Jesus that they wanted to be well! In a perfect world, Jesus would have healed them on the spot, but Jesus asks them to show themselves to the priests.

Not the answer that they wanted, but they obeyed and were healed along the way. Ten were healed; ten were given hope; ten were cured of their pain and worthless lives. What a gift ; what a miracle! ... and one returned. A Samaritan, at that! We should have had 10 lepers leaping, but we had one return. He came back and praised Jesus in a loud voice. He probably yelled his thanks. What about the other nine? Well, what about us?

We're a mess. We have 613 Mitzvot (laws/rules/commandments) in the Old Testament. We all have trouble with the Top Ten in some way or another, but throw in the others and we are toast. Yep, toast as in burnt bread. Toast as in becoming hard, brittle, and having no softness left. Toast as what's going to happen when we enter Hell's entrance.

Talk about hopelessness. There 's no way that we can observe all the laws. We're human; we fail. We're lost, not physically as were the lepers, but legally under the Mitzvot. Check all 613 laws on the internet and see how many times you fail.

Now that we realize how hopeless we are, we need to cry out for Jesus to make us well. We do it at home; we do it in prayer; and we do it in church in our weekly confession.

We confess that we are in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves ... For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ,. have mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us, and lead us, so that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways, to the glory of your holy name. Amen. LBW, p 56.

Now comes the good part, the Naaman part, the 10 leper part. Pastor stands and tells us that Almighty God, in his mercy , has given his Son to die for us and, for his sake, forgives us all our sins. As a called and ordained minister of the Church of Christ, and by his authority, I therefore declare to you the entire forgiveness of all your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

The returning leper praised God with a loud (he shouted) voice. Do we think about what just happened or do we turn to the first hymn? Our sins have been forgiven! Maybe next week we should shout out our joy for our forgiveness. We have hope where there was none. We have eternal life, and hope, and love. Jesus has done this for us, and we don 't deserve one speck of this love.

We are saved! Hallelujah! Thank you God, for Jesus! Thank you, Jesus, for your sacrifice.

This is huge stuff. While we are thanking and praising, let's tell others about the Good News as well. As our second reading states: Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth. We have been changed forever, and forever has been changed by God.

We have been changed; we are saved. Let's take the leap and tell others the good news.

Amen.