Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Gratitude Is a Must
In our text today Jesus encountered ten men who were considered outcasts in their society. Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, through a region between Samaria and Galilee. As Jesus entered a village, ten lepers called out to him from afar. The ten included lepers from Samaria and Galilee. Since they were bonded by their misery, their national and other prejudices disappeared. “In the common tragedy of their leprosy, they had forgotten they were Jews and Samaritans and remembered only they were men in need.”* Jesus’ response to their cry for mercy was to send them to show themselves to the priests. The priest would affirm that they were healed and could return to their normal life.
The second half of the text brings into focus the human issue of gratefulness. Only one of the ten healed lepers returned giving gratitude to Jesus. Jesus’ response to him confronts us as a people who are many times calling out to Jesus for one intervention or another. Where were the other nine? Why had they not returned to give thanks? The one person who showed gratitude to Jesus was a non-Jew, a Samaritan.
Who is most likely to be grateful after receiving a gift? Who is most likely to be ungrateful? The Samaritan represents those who request something from God, and receive it, and realize that the favor granted from God is unmerited. His natural response is gratitude to God. Gratitude is a must. The other nine, perceived to be Jews, feel entitled. As the chosen people of God, they expect God’s favor. The intentional focus that they had when crying for help disappears once they are healed. Gratitude was not in their conscious thought. They did not remember to say thanks to God.
The text calls us to be more like the Samaritan giving gratitude in response to God’s grace.
Kevin Marshall, pastor, First Moravian Church and Covenant Moravian Church, York, Pennsylvania
* William Barclay, The Gospel of Luke (Edinburgh: St. Andrews Press, 1953), 226