Readings for Proper 23C can be found here
Affirmation
If I were to pick music for the grateful
leper, this would be the piece. This simple Taize refrain which pairs gratitude
and rejoicing, proclamation and courage.
The Lord is near. At all times and in all
places, the Lord is near.
In times of isolation and fear, the Lord is
near.
In times of celebration and thanksgiving, the
Lord is near.
And, this gives me life. This gives me hope.
The message we hear that we are not alone and that the God of our salvation is
a God who is present with us. A companion in sorrow, sharing our suffering,
loving us to the end. This gives me life.
This gives me hope. Because, in the incarnation,
the universal nature of the divine creator is brought home. Brought into this
space, into our sphere, into this moment. The one who is far off, is brought
near. Today’s readings speak to this intimacy. Elisha’s invitation, “let him
come to me”; the Pauline authors repetition of the words, “with me”, the leper’s
approach and the Samaritan’s prostration. This is an enfleshed God, who abides.
Who shows up with us. Who dwells in our midst.
Again, and again in scripture, we are
reminded of God’s abiding presence. Of the fact that nothing can separate us
from the love of God and in this, we can boldly claim our power as power
derived from compassion and not exploitation. We hear only a part of the Second
Letter of Paul to Timothy today, but when read as a whole, we have the opportunity
to see that the words we hear today are merely one part of a fervent declaration
of who we are. Who we are defined by the love of the God who first loved us.
From the Second Letter of Paul to Timothy, “God
did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love
and of self-discipline.”
How is that for a morning refrain? “God did
not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and
of self-discipline!”
Repeat after me, “God did not give us a
spirit of cowardice” …
“but rather” …
“A spirit of power” …
“And of love” …
“And of self-discipline” …
And, yes, I know I’m sounding a bit like a
cheerleader here—and yes, I was a pee wee football cheerleader when I was 10.
But, I cannot help it. I cannot help it
because the knowledge of God’s presence and power—especially in times when God
has felt far off and I have felt powerless—this knowledge has saved me. Saved
me from despair. Saved me from apathy. Saved me from giving up, giving up on
myself and my fellow human beings.
If we
have died with him, we will also live with him;
if we endure, we will also reign with him;
if we endure, we will also reign with him;
Take that powers of evil in
the world! You can try to silence us, you can try to distract us, you can lie,
you can cheat…”
“But the word of God is not
chained”
The Word of God.
The Word that was in the
beginning with God. The word that is Christ. The Word that is us, the body of
Christ, declaring once again, that we will not be silent, we will not despair,
we will not be defined by the world, because we have been defined by the Word.
The unchained Word of God,
which has brought us and all creation into being.
And to live according to that Word? That my
friends, is true freedom.
The only one we bow before is God. The only
one to whom we owe our debt, God.
And, because the Lord cannot deny himself,
neither can we be denied.
God will have mercy.
And, for this mercy, we give thanks.
This is the mercy that we see extended in the
Gospel we heard today. The mercy of a God who releases us from debts and whose
Word overrides the authorities of this world.
“Then
one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a
loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him. And he was a
Samaritan.”
In the first century, it would have been
unusual for social equals to thank each other—their social equality would have
implied a degree of mutual need and ability and a clear expectation of reciprocity--you
scratch my back, I scratch yours.
So, when the Samaritan leper falls at Jesus’
feet in thanksgiving, he is doing more than offering verbal thanks. He is quite
literally, offering himself in service, because there is nothing that he can do
to properly repay Jesus for his healing.
Jesus’ admonition to get up and go…is an
upsetting of the Samaritan leper’s expectations. Not only does Jesus heal him,
Jesus releases him. Not only does Jesus release him, he ascribes to the
Samaritan leper, power.
Get up and go, your faith has made you well!
Your faith is the offering. Your faith is
enough. Your faith is sufficient.
Imagine, the world in which the Samaritan
leper lived. He is outcast for his skin disease. Considered impure, he has to
live at the margins of society with the other lepers. But, not only is he a
leper, he is a foreigner. He lives at the margins of the marginalized. And, yet,
here he is and here we are. In an upside-down world where the rules we thought
we knew, are overturned and those who’ve been rejected by the world are
embraced by the word. The Word of God, creative and liberating, pronouncing a
true freedom.
The Samaritan leper doesn’t need to present
himself to anyone but God in order to be set free.
We don’t need anyone’s permission to live. We
don’t need anyone’s approval to be. We don’t need to wait for the go ahead from
me or anyone else in order to turn towards God and transform the world!
How counter-cultural, how anti-authoritarian.
How Christian.
How Christian to turn towards Christ in
gratitude and offer ourselves in service to his Word.
How Christian to be defined by God’s love for
us and not by the hate we may encounter in the world!
Oh to be a Christian and to be free!
Over the past year, Presiding Bishop Michael
Curry has championed a rule of life called the “Way of Love”. Turn is one of
the seven practices that is espoused in this way.
The Presiding Bishop writes,
“With God’s help, we can turn from the powers of sin, hatred, fear, injustice,
and oppression toward the way of truth, love, hope, justice, and freedom. In
turning, we reorient our lives to Jesus Christ, falling in love again, again,
and again.”
Isn’t this what the
Samaritan is showing us, an act of turning? An act of turning away from the
world that would oppress us and towards a God who will empower us? But it isn’t
just the turning. For him and for us, there is the sending. “Go.” Jesus says, “Go.”
Go is another practice in
the “Way of Love”. From the Presiding Bishop,
“As Jesus went to the
highways and byways, he sends us beyond our circles and comfort, to witness to
the love, justice, and truth of God with our lips and with our lives. We go to
listen with humility and to join God in healing a hurting world. We go to
become Beloved Community, a people reconciled in love with God and one another.”
So, turn and go. Turn and go. In gratitude for the gift, and in
service to the world at the behest of the Word.
Repeat after me, “God did not give us a spirit of cowardice” …
“but rather” …
“A spirit of power” …
“And of love” …
“And of self-discipline” …
Amen.
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