"Your Faith Has Made You Well"

Rev. Ryan McDermott

St. Peter Lutheran Church

Elma, IA

Proper 24C – 10 October 2010

Text: Luke 17:11-19

“Your Faith Has Made You Well”

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

As Jesus was traveling toward Jerusalem, ten lepers met Him. Standing afar off as prescribed by the Law, they called out to Him “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” And Jesus had mercy on them. He sent them to the priests to be pronounced clean. As they went, they became cleansed. But only one, a Samaritan, saw and returned to thank Jesus for His miraculous gift. Seeing his faith, Jesus said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

All ten men were cleansed. All received the same blessing of healing. All could have been satisfied by simply going to the priests and being pronounced ritually clean, and then going back to their homes and families. But the one returned to Jesus, fell down on his face, and praised God, giving thanks to Jesus. And this one was a Samaritan.

Why did this man return to Jesus? To give thanks, of course. It was the appropriate response for the gift given. Why do you write thank-you notes? Because it is the polite thing to do. Because your mother told you that that is what good, polite, Christian folks do when they receive a gift. And that is true. You ought to thank God for His gifts.

Why do you return to God? Is it to give thanks for His gifts to you? Many people come to church on any given Sunday because they feel an obligation to God. He gives us all that we need to support this body and life, and so we are obliged to say “Thanks” by showing up at His house regularly. Kind of like Grandma, or old Aunt Martha. And that is fine. Grandma likes your cards and visits. God likes your prayers and your presence in His house.

Like old Aunt Martha, God also is saddened when you stay away from His house and His family gatherings. However, God does not need your visits or your contributions. God can get along just fine without you. His house will not collapse without your presence. The Church of God has existed long before you came here, and it will continue long after you are gone from this place, however you depart. God does not need your money, either. The amount you throw in the plate will not make or break the one holy catholic and apostolic Church, nor will it greatly affect the exercise of the Office of the Holy Ministry. So if you are putting your money in simply out of guilt or because it's the polite thing to do – keep it. God does not need your guilt-money. He will provide for His Church in this place, one way or another. God does not intend to pry your two cents from your unwilling fist. All His benefits are yours; what will you render to Him?

Rather, your worship and your offerings must come from a heart truly thankful for all the blessings God has given. Why did the Samaritan return to Jesus? Because through faith, he was made well. He had no need for the establishment to walk him through some human ceremony. He had the Word of God proclaimed to him, which did what it said. And he believed it. He believed that God does what He says. He believed that Jesus really did cleanse him, not just from his leprosy, but from all his ills of body and soul.

Likewise, you have been bespoken clean and well. On the cross, Jesus said, “It is finished.” In His death, Jesus broke the hold of sin and death over you. By the flood of water and blood from His pierced side, Jesus washed you and made you whiter than snow. He has called you out of the leper-caves and sick-houses. He has called you out of the darkness and the shadow of death. “For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

He has removed your leprous, rotting heart of sin, and has given you a strong, beating, heart of flesh, coursing with the life of Christ. He sanctifies you in the one true faith in body and soul unto life everlasting. He gives you all the gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation in His Name. Our Lord Jesus Christ bespeaks you righteous, and your faith makes you well. Faith receives the Words of our Lord and applies them to you. Faith takes “God so loved the world” and makes it “for you, for the forgiveness of your sins”.

So give thanks with a grateful heart. Fall down before the Author and Perfector of your faith, then lift up your hearts and hands and voices in praise to the God of Israel. Join in the song of the faithful:

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel

for He has visited and redeemed His people

and has raised up a horn of salvation for us

in the house of His servant David,

as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old,

that we should be saved from our enemies,

and from the hand of all who hate us;

to show the mercy promised to our fathers

and to remember His holy covenant.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.