The Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity – Pr. Anderson sermon
St. Luke 17:11-19 “The One Who Returns”
September 1, 2024 | Christ Lutheran Church
In Nomine Iesu
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Lord God, heavenly Father, by Your blessed Word and Your holy Baptism You have mercifully cleansed all who believe from the fearful leprosy of sin, and You daily grant us Your gracious help in all our need: We beseech You so to enlighten our hearts by Your Holy Spirit, that we may never forget these Your blessings, but ever live in Your fear, and, trusting fully in Your grace, with thankful hearts continually praise and glorify You; through Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one true God, now and forever. Amen. (Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary, by Veit Dietrich, p. 161)
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. (Rom. 1:7, etc.)
The sermon text for today is taken from the 17th chapter of the Gospel according to St. Luke. We read selected verses in Jesus’ name:
On the way to Jerusalem [Jesus] was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. And as He entered a village, He was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.”
When He saw them He said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed.
Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving Him thanks.
These are Your words, heavenly Father. Sanctify us by Your truth, Your Word is truth. Amen. (Joh. 17:17)
In Christ Jesus, who you glorify with your prayers and hymns of thanks and praise, because He is just like you have been told, dear fellow redeemed:
When you think of great returns back from something, who do you think of? Some returns I can think of are sports returns. I witnessed the return of Brett Farve, and the return of Tom Brady. The Kansas City Chiefs will be making a return this season to chase their third Super Bowl in a row. What other returns can you think of? How about the return of Israel from Egypt to the promised land, the return of the remnant from Babylon, or the return of our Lord on the last day. In Scripture we see many “returns” take place. Jesus teaches parables on this subject and with our text, we see that it happened in His life all the time. People returned to Him. This is great news, but the devil sees this and he does not like it. He does all that he can and he succeeds in leading many astray from this glorious return. As we are always in imminent danger in this life, these dangers can distract us from the reason this return is possible. So, we gather together to hear about the One who returns and we rejoice because like the leper, Jesus returns to cure us of our disease.
Now the disease of leprosy was well known to the people of Jesus’ day. The cases of it in our text are found in the countryside. On the way to Jerusalem [Jesus] was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. And as He entered a village, He was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” These ten men are following what the law says. As harsh as it is, leprosy, a skin eating disease, could spread from those infected to those who are healthy. There was no cure to take. We will look at what happens if someone was cured by chance, and if they were, it was because of a miracle of God.
So, these men knowing they were infected and for the sake of the community, they were out in the country, waiting for the disease to run its course or take their lives, and they would shout at people who came by, “unclean, unclean.” From a distance, they saw the Man whose works had spread. The man Jesus was walking by and they didn’t want to miss this opportunity. They hollered out to Him to have mercy. A mercy that only God can give for the situation they are in. In searching for this mercy, they also had to trust that what they heard about Jesus was true. They couldn’t go near Him. These men who are suffering terribly put all of their faith in Jesus to heal them. There is no other way for them to leave this place if He can’t.
Jesus hears their shouting. When He saw them He said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. Jesus only told them to do one thing. He didn’t tell them they were healed. But they headed to the priest anyway because Jesus said to. By going to the priest, there was a lot to be done to prove they had been healed. Then, if the case of leprous disease is healed in the leprous person, the priest shall command them to take for him who is to be cleansed two live clean birds and cedarwood and scarlet yarn and hyssop. And the priest shall command them to kill one of the birds in an earthenware vessel over fresh water. He shall take the live bird with the cedarwood and the scarlet yarn and the hyssop, and dip them and the live bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the fresh water. And he shall sprinkle it seven times on him who is to be cleansed of the leprous disease. Then he shall pronounce him clean and shall let the living bird go into the open field (Leviticus 14:3b-7). This is only the beginning. These men didn’t care what they had to do. All they knew was that the master Jesus had given them a command and they were going to follow it.
If only we would follow what Jesus says with such certainty every time. There may be times where it seems like it comes easier than others to turn back, but for the most part we do not hear His command and go running to it. Like the men, we are searching for a miraculous healing for our spiritual disease. They had the disease of leprosy. We have the disease of sin. Our sins cling to us and intertwine within us like the flesh-eating disease. Sin dwells in us from our birth and the devil will use temptations to get us to carry it out. When we are caught in them, the devil wants us to think there is no way out. We have committed far too many and we are not redeemable. When we search God’s laws, we see His judgment against us as St. Paul writes, “for the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression” (Romans 4:15). God’s law is for us to see our sins, as hard as it is to stomach, and we are to turn from our ways. If we push His law away, our sin continues to fester. The wrath is there hanging over us and we will do everything in our power to not be held to account. Like the lepers, who’s disease would most likely kill them, we cry to Jesus for mercy as our sins will kill us, and in His mercy, we are able to return.
Jesus did have mercy on them. He instructed them what to do. When He saw them He said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. Jesus did not have to lay His hands on them to heal them. His all-powerful Word took away their physical and sinful condition. We see the joy in the one who realized what Jesus had done. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving Him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. What a joyous day for this man who had to leave his home and family! As we heard last week, Samaritans and Jews did not get along, but this man couldn’t run away without giving thanks to the One who was responsible for his healing. It didn’t matter to him. He realized what he couldn’t do and what Jesus could do. He sees the love of God for all mankind laid out in front of him and he is truly grateful.
As he returns to give all glory to God who conquers his troubles, in this text we hear the words of the Psalmist who reminds the people to “call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me” (Psalm 50:15). The Samaritan sees this deliverance in the vocation of the great Deliverer. If he was not delivered, he would not return to give thanks to God. It is in this deliverance the Samaritan can rejoice. With praise to God, those who witnessed this great miracle witnessed how Jesus will deliver them all.
Everyone who returns through the work of the Deliverer hears why they have returned. And He said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.” It is the faith the man had in the Savior. When sin is paralyzing, no one is able to stand, unless they are picked up off the ground. There are times we do not have a problem identifying when we need to be picked up. We know the sins that are dear to our sinful hearts and we know that all we can do is ask for mercy. We have tried to bail ourselves out of our problems and we will never get out far enough. As we sit with sin eating us to the point of death, Jesus hears us calling out. As we pray and know that Jesus can heal our physical aches and pains like He did with the lepers, what is sweet to our ears is hearing the spiritual disease eating away at us is also cured. It was His life’s work to take on all that we have done. As we shout, “unclean, unclean,” Jesus tells us to return to Him.
He tells you to return because He comes to you with the mercy which cures you of your leprosy. This is the same mercy given to the Samaritan. St. Paul comforts you by this mercy when he writes, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4-5). You are saved through the work of your Savior, who took on your diseases, pains, sins, and died your death on the cross. Eternal death is where the leprosy of sin leads, but eternal life is bestowed on you through the Means of Grace and the cross. You return to Him, as you hear the Gospel over and over, believing in the powerful Word, and you receive it as your Savior comes to you in the Word and Sacraments. You hear Him say, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well,” you see it in the waters of your Baptism, and you feel it on your tongue in the Supper.
Jesus reminds you of your return because with your return to Him the world sees it in your actions. “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” You are here today not because you are forced. You are here today because your Savior comes down to you, hearing your confession, forgiving your sins, and bestowing on you life and salvation. He hears you as you say, “Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD!” (Psalm 130:1) As you witness Him this very moment hear your cries and come to you, you give thanks for all He has done with your prayers and songs of joy. He deserves all praise and glory for His mercy endures forever. And while you and your brothers and sisters continue to struggle in this life with leprosy, you don’t have to wait for once a week to hear your Savior’s absolution. You go to one another. “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld” (John 20:23). The Samaritan returned giving all glory to God for all He has done. And here you are today, rejoicing and praising God for all you have heard and seen, just like him. Amen.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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