Dcn Brigid Waszczak

“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. Then Jesus asked, "Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?"  Luke 17: 15-18 

Dear Friends,

In this familiar story of the ten lepers healed by Jesus, his questions are rhetorical. He doesn’t wait for or expect an answer. He simply blesses the leper who returned and sends him on his way. 

But we often answer the questions, don’t we? Ingrates! Thankless, unappreciative, rude wretches! Even though we don’t know that for sure! We need to recover the shock and surprise that Luke’s original listeners had that even ONE leper returned to thank Jesus, and that leper was a Samaritan, a race hated by the Jews.  

The story is short on details; what happens with the other nine is not written. We make assumptions about the nine no-shows without really knowing their stories or their hearts. We attribute to them faulty character; take inventory of their behavior and assume we would have returned had this happened to us. It makes us feel superior to the nine absentees. 

Luther suggested that the 8th commandment meant more than not telling lies about, slandering, or hurting people. It enjoins us to defend, speak well of, and even explain and imagine the actions of others in the most generous ways possible.   

The ten were healed without condition. Their healing was a gift. Gratitude was optional, not mandatory. Jesus did not take the healing back just because they didn’t return. Perhaps the nine were so surprised to find themselves physically restored that they were carried away by the knowledge that they would be able to rejoin their families and community, and return to work and social interaction. Imagine their joy after so many years of being ostracized, treated as already dead!   

Have you ever thought about the first thing you’d do if you were healed of a chronic illness? Had a long-lost relationship restored? Got your dream job? Or even won the lottery? Does gratitude to God hold a place in those plans? Is it the first thing you’d do? Maybe we should see these nine no-shows more compassionately?

Peace,

Dcn Brigid