Grateful Hearts

Grateful Hearts   Luke 17:11-19   Picture it. Jesus is going along, but he is not alone, he is traveling so he has the disciples and followers around or behind him. The Lepers followed the law of staying away and only calling to those they wanted to address, although they should not have addressed them at all. Remember at this time Lepers were dead to their society and their families. They were unclean and not permitted to be in mixed company. Jesus acknowledges them – he does not look past them or around them, but “sees” them. He knows them, he knows that one of them is a Samaritan, that the others are Galilean. He sees them in all of their incompleteness and tells them to go to the temple priest. They had off. This is the traditional way of beginning the cleansing process in order to be accepted back into the community and be able to rejoin their families and friends. This is the right way to do things.   We know that as they head to the priest, at least one notices the healing, probably all of them did, but one turns around to thank God. Let’s make sure we understand this. The others were doing what was prescribed by the religious law and their society. They were doing just what they were supposed to do in order to reclaim their lives. They needed to follow the steps. They needed to see the priest. The Samaritan would not be going to the temple for this. I am not sure what his religious ritual would have been exactly, but it would have been similar. He did not fit into the Galilean society no matter what – whether he was a leper or just a Samaritan. Being a Samaritan was just a small step up from being a leper to the Jews.   Yet this man stops, he turns an about face and goes back to first acknowledge Jesus for his role, praise God for the cure and offer himself indebted to Jesus. He knows he has no way to pay for this miracle, this new chance, this new day yet he is so grateful for it that he offers himself. Jesus then sends him on his way with the words “Get up and go; your faith has made...