Healing Rays of Righteousness

Read Luke 17:11-19

In the healing of the ten lepers, Jesus does not reach out and touch them.  He doesn’t say, “Be healed.”  He tells them “Go, show yourselves to the priests.”  He was telling them to believe that they could be and would be healed.  In faith they started out, and while on the way to the priests they were cleansed; that is, they were healed and the priests would declare them clean.

We can only imagine the joy that they must have felt in being cleansed of their skin ailment and now able to live, work, and play in their community again. It was a great new day in their life.

All ten lepers, who acted in faith, were cleansed and healed of leprosy, but only one of them “when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice.  He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him – and he was a Samaritan.”  After asking about the other nine, Jesus tells him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

Ten lepers were healed, but only one was “made well.”  The literal translation of the original Greek would indicate that the healing was more than physical.  I think we would agree that soul healing, that is, being made whole, is far more important then just being physically healed.

I think Jesus’ use of words in this story is consistent with the oft-repeated biblical teaching that unless genuine gratitude is a foundational part of our character and lifestyle, we can’t be “made well” people.  The other nine lepers were physically healed but not “made well;” and if, according to biblical teachings, ingratitude is more deadly than leprosy, then they were in worse spiritual shape than before.

Some years ago, I heard it said – “Ingratitude does not deny us God’s mercies – it denies us of relationship with Him.  Jesus did not punish the nine lepers for their ingratitude; He just left them with His miracle gift and themselves.”  We do well to ponder that statement.

Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed?  Where are the other nine?”  Why did he ask this?  We could assume his feelings were hurt because nine of the ten didn’t feel it necessary to thank him for their healing of leprosy.  But, I wonder if he wasn’t more disappointed than hurt – disappointed because he had so much more to give them.  He loved them, as he loves us, and wanted to give them, as he wants to give us, his wonderful, life-changing gift of being “made well”  – a gift that can be received and enjoyed only in an intimate 24/7 faith relationship with him.

Furthermore, remember that this healed Samaritan leper came back praising God even though he still had some very enormous problems and difficulties facing him.  He had been living as an outcast with no family, no job, and no status.  It would not be easy, and highly improbable, that he could go back into the community and quickly experience being warmly welcomed, fully accepted and trusted.  Even so, he is grateful and praising God.

Most likely many of you have a difficult, painful situation facing you right now.  I’m reasonably certain that nobody is problem-free.  Let’s listen to the apostle Paul as he exhorts us to praise God even in the midst of our problems:

“Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  (Eph.5: 19-20).  “Rejoice always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  (1 Thess. 5:16-18).

Listen to Helen Keller, who was blind and deaf, saying, “I thank God for my handicaps.  Through them I have found myself, my work, and my God.” 

It’s hard for me to imagine being Helen Keller, living with the two major difficulties of blindness and deafness.  Helen Keller was not healed of her blindness and deafness, but she was “made well” by her faith in Jesus, as evidenced by the many praise songs she wrote and that we still sing today.

In remembering Helen’s very difficult physical situation and her constant testimony of God’s blessings in her life, I’m led to conclude that it is in our thanksgiving and praise that God’s healing power is released in the most dramatic ways.

Many of us are quick to say “Thank you, God” for the big things in life, but forget to thank God for the little things in life, taking them for granted.  The Scriptures repeatedly tell us that a grateful heart gives thanks for all things, big and little.

In these days leading up to Thanksgiving Day, I challenge you to count your blessings, large and small, significant and common, and like the returning leper, “praise God in a loud voice,” who is the source of every good and gracious gift.  Remember, we don’t deserve a thing, so our every day should be filled with thanksgiving and praise to God.

“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – November 7, 2018