On the Way to Wonder

First Reading: 2 Kings 5:1-3, 7-15c

¹Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man and in high favor with his master, because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from leprosy. ²Now the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. ³She said to her mistress, “If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” ⁷When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to give death or life, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Just look and see how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me.”
 ⁸But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel.” ⁹So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and halted at the entrance of Elisha’s house. ¹⁰Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean.” ¹¹But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, “I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy! ¹²Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?” He turned and went away in a rage. ¹³But his servants approached and said to him, “Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” ¹⁴So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean.
 ^15a-cThen he returned to the man of God, he and all his company; he came and stood before him and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel.”

Psalm: Psalm 111

 ¹Hallelujah! I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,
  in the assembly of the upright, in the congregation.
 ²Great are your works, O Lord,
  pondered by all who delight in them.
 ³Majesty and splendor mark your deeds,
  and your righteousness endures forever.
 ⁴You cause your wonders to be remembered;
  you are gracious and full of compassion.
 ⁵You give food to those who fear you,
  remembering forever your covenant.
 ⁶You have shown your people the power of your works
  in giving them the lands of the nations.
 ⁷The works of your hands are faithfulness and justice;
  all of your precepts are sure.
 ⁸They stand fast forever and ever,
  because they are done in truth and equity.
 ⁹You sent redemption to your people and commanded your covenant     forever; holy and awesome is your name.
 ¹⁰The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
  all who practice this have a good understanding. God’s praise          endures forever.

Second Reading: 2 Timothy 2:8-15

⁸Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David—that is my gospel, ⁹for which I suffer hardship, even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But the word of God is not chained. ¹⁰Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, so that they may also obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. ¹¹The saying is sure:
 If we have died with him, we will also live with him;
 ¹²if we endure, we will also reign with him;
 if we deny him, he will also deny us;
 ¹³if we are faithless, he remains faithful—
 for he cannot deny himself.

 ¹⁴Remind them of this, and warn them before God that they are to avoid wrangling over words, which does no good but only ruins those who are listening. ¹⁵Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth.

Gospel: Luke 17:11-19

¹¹On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. ¹²As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, ¹³they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” ¹⁴When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. ¹⁵Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. ¹⁶He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. ¹⁷Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? ¹⁸Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” ¹⁹Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”

CHILDREN’S SERMON:  Today we talk about borders.  I found on the Internet statistics about people coming to the United States.  Refugees to the USA in 2021 came from Burma, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Syria, and Ukraine. Afghanastan is not included. Which group do you think has the most people fleeing?  Share with your neighbor.

Answer:

 (“The top 5 countries of origin for recent refugees coming to the U.S.?

#5: Ukraine (7% of refugees), #4: Burma (7.5% of refugees), #3: Sudan (8.5% of refugees), #2: Syria (23% of refugees),#1: Democratic Republic of the Congo (25% of refugees)The Afghans who recently evacuated to the U.S. aren’t classified as refugees because most don’t have permanent status.”)

Let us pray.  Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, my Rock and my Redeemer.

SERMON:  The Borderlands

In our text today, Jesus is on the move.  He is on his way south to Jerusalem with his disciples…and us.  To get from Galilee to Jerusalem, they must pass through Samaria.  During Pentecost we talk about life in the borderlands, that space between the kingdom of this world and the kingdom of heaven, or how those two worlds overlap and impact our lives.  Luke is taking us on a journey through this borderland time in our lives.  We live between worlds and like the ten lepers, we have an incurable disease, sin.  Our only hope is to cry for mercy from God.  The appropriate response is praise and thanksgiving.

“Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee”

         Borderlands are interesting places.  We think of the southern border between Mexico and the United States.  Refugees from all over the world flee to borders, hoping for a future they know is not possible in their homes. Last Saturday, after the hurricane here in Florida, I went from visiting my husband at the nursing home to Walmart for food.  I walked in and the whole fresh vegetable section was void of food!  Empty!  No milk.  No eggs.  Shelves were stripped bare and boxes were stacked around for restocking.   We were not hit directly by the hurricane but we were in a borderland impacted by the anxiety of that unknown.  I next went to the gas station where prices had dropped from $3.29 per gallon to $3.03.  I was not on empty but under a half tank.  I entered to find all the nozzles covered with plastic bags.  My debit card was of no avail.  I am in a borderland.  Resources are impacted.  My ability to function is impacted.  Sunday I returned to visit my husband who has Parkinsons only to meet the nurse who had the phone in her hand to call me to tell me that he had fallen.  Not hurt but definitely humbled.  Perhaps your borderland is not a hurricane or the impact of disease that leaves you compromised.  Maybe you live in the mortgage shadow of owning but not quite.  Perhaps you have most of that college degree done but the job market is dicey.  Borderlands are not just geographical between Galilee and Judah or ethnic between Samaritans and Jews.  We know this journey and need to open our ears this morning.  Luke is not talking about the line in the sand between Hades and Abraham’s Bosom.  He is now talking about those areas in our life where our feet straddle two worlds. We today walk in borderlands with Jesus!

         Jesus was going through.  Please note that Jesus was not just riding through in his 4WD jeep like a tourist with a camera around his neck to record his impressions of humanity.  Incarnation was not about observation, it was about traveling through.   I think we often suspect that God is up in the heavens caring about the major disasters and troubles in our world and that he has little empathy with our dilemma. How many times does the evil one whisper in our ear that our concern is so tiny compared to the issues of the universe that we best not bother God with it?  We forget what a powerful tool prayer is in the borderlands. 

         Borderlands are also similar to what we call “thin spaces.”  These are places where the spiritual can cross over into the physical and we have spiritual experiences.  These thin places or borderlands are permeable.  Interactions can take place in these places like between the lepers and Jesus.  We forget that the Holy Spirit is walking through our day, right beside us, not off in the heavenlies. 

         Jesus went through but he also entered a village.  He did not avoid people, the Samaritans.  He did not stick to the bypass or detour to go around.  I wonder how many times we think of prayer and faith as ways to go around the messes of life.  Last week our text said that with the faith of a mustard seed we can tell a mulberry tree to be planted in the ocean.  We are tempted to hear that faith resolves discomfort.  Our commercials convince us that if we take the right pill, use the right goop, see the right doctor, go to the right school or vote for the right politicians then we will return to glory and life will be comfortable.  I see no promise like that in the Bible.  Jesus walked with the disciples in the borderlands and through villages with all their problems.  Jesus walks with us today.

“Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

         Sure enough, in the towns of life we meet the ugliness of life.  Ten lepers approach Jesus but stand at a distance and cry, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” Lepers were social outcasts with no social capital and no “right to be heard.”  We may not admit we have leprosy but perhaps we can identify with those moments of despair when we feel worthless and undeserving of whatever goodies this life is refusing us.  We sometimes call it a “moment of truth.”  What we are doing is not going to get us where we want to go.  That line in the sand just seems to keep moving out of reach.  Not all prayers are like that but when we are in the borderlands of life, that sense of struggling between two worlds impacts us.  For our ten men, it was leprosy that defined their limitations.  But other factors make us desperate too.  We stand at a distance and cry “Jesus.”

         The men cry out, “Jesus, Master.”  Hmmmm.  I suspect we are more comfortable with titles like “father,” “savior,” or “Lord.”  These men name the reality with no sugar coating or hint of relationship. There is a level of honesty in this interaction that does not sound like a formal prayer said at bedtime or mealtime.  This is a heart to heart with the God of the universe between nobodies, outcasts and their creator.  There is an approachability and transparency here that does not sound like an angry judge condemning his creation but a God who is open to relationship.

         The men did not ask for healing but mercy.  Mercy is defined on the Internet dictionary as “compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one’s power to punish or harm.”  I suspect that often when we pray, we have decided just how God ought to answer.  These men leave the solution in Jesus’ hands.  They don’t ask for healing but for mercy.  This story is interesting also because Jesus tells the men to go to the priest as required by the law and as they are on the way, they are healed.  What!  Before the miracle occurred, the men started their journey and obeyed Jesus.  Borderlands work to grow our faith.

         We are told to forgive before the other has asked for forgiveness only because God has forgiven us.  We are told to turn the other cheek.  We are told to love our enemy.  We are told to tithe before we know we have enough money to make it through the month.  Moses stepped into the Red Sea and then it parted.  These men started to the priest and then were healed.  Friends, we are to live out our Christianity because Jesus said so, while we still have leprosy, in the midst of the borderland before we reach Jerusalem.  Calling on God’s compassion and forgiveness because he has the power, we don’t, is always a powerful prayer.  Today we pray, “Lord, have mercy on our world and on our lives!”  Did I hear an “amen!”? 

“Go and show yourselves to the priests.”

         The Jewish law from the Old Testament required that anyone with a skin disease must go to the priests who decided if they were contagious and needed to quarantine.  In the same way, the law required a return to the priests to be declared clean, cured.  Jesus tells them to do what the law required, return to the priests.  It was on the journey to the priests that the men were healed. The declaration of the priest would free these men from the geographic isolation but it would also return then to society. 

         Luther in his small catechism called this forgiveness, the Office of Keys and Confession. Catholics go to “confession” and a priest assigns a certain number of repentant acts.  Luther would say that we can go to any fellow Christian and unburden the issues weighing our hearts down.  We have the ability to tell another their sin is forgiven.  I suspect this is a forgotten aspect of modern Christianity.  We have the power to forgive or retain sin.  We pray this in the Lord’s Prayer every Sunday – forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.  At the opening of our service we have a time of confession and the pastor says, “As an appointed minister of the church, I declare unto you the full forgiveness of your sins.”  At communion we kneel at the altar and receive forgiveness.  I suspect we often breeze by this but those are powerful and true words that we need to hear because we live in the borderlands between the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of earth.

         Perhaps we need to do a skin test today like when we go to our annual dermatology inspection.  Do we have a spot of leprosy that needs to be frozen?  But perhaps more seriously we need to scan our memory banks to ask if we are holding someone else’s sin against them and denying them forgiveness.  As the ten men started the journey to the priest, they were lepers seeking mercy.  They did not get healed and then go to the priest.  They first asked Jesus for mercy, obeyed and were healed enroute. Is there a sickness you need to deal with today?  Jesus is the source of mercy!

“your faith has made you well”

         Luke does not end the story here.  Ten men were healed as they went but only one returned to fall at Jesus’ feet in thanksgiving.  It is indeed surprising that the man was a Samaritan but I don’t think that is the point to focus on.  God works outside our boxes.  But maybe because this Samaritan was outside the religious system, he had eyes to see.  Ten men were healed but this man was declared “well” or “whole” in some translations.  To me this man went from calling Jesus “Master” to calling him “Lord.”  He asked for mercy because of his disease and not only was he healed but he was made whole as he praised God.  He had not gone to the priest yet to be declared clean but he had seen past the law the priest represented to the giver of grace, Jesus.

         So where are we today?  We are all journeying in the borderlands between the kingdoms of heaven and earth, struggling with the diseases that plague each of us, that make us stand at a distance, separated from God and each other.  All of us are in need of mercy from God, the Master and Creator, and from each other.  We all need to step out in faith to obey Jesus’ commands for dealing with our situations.  As we help each other see and praise the hand of God on our journey, we are made well.

Let the people of God say, “Amen” Let it be so Lord!

We want to be whole, Lord!

 

First Reading: Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4

¹The oracle that the prophet Habakkuk saw.

 ²O Lord, how long shall I cry for help,
  and you will not listen?
 Or cry to you “Violence!”
  and you will not save?
 ³Why do you make me see wrongdoing
  and look at trouble?
 Destruction and violence are before me;
  strife and contention arise.
 ⁴So the law becomes slack
  and justice never prevails.
 The wicked surround the righteous—
  therefore judgment comes forth perverted.

 ^2:1I will stand at my watchpost,
  and station myself on the rampart;
 I will keep watch to see what he will say to me,
  and what he will answer concerning my complaint.
 ²Then the Lord answered me and said:
 Write the vision;
  make it plain on tablets,
  so that a runner may read it.
 ³For there is still a vision for the appointed time;
  it speaks of the end, and does not lie.
 If it seems to tarry, wait for it;
  it will surely come, it will not delay.
 ⁴Look at the proud!
  Their spirit is not right in them,
  but the righteous live by their faith.

Psalm: Psalm 37:1-9

 ¹Do not be provoked by evildoers;
  do not be jealous of those who do wrong.
 ²For they shall soon wither like the grass,
  and like the green grass fade away.
 ³Put your trust in the Lord and do good;
  dwell in the land and find safe pasture.
 ⁴Take delight in the Lord,
  who shall give you your heart’s desire.
 ⁵Commit your way to the Lord; put your trust in the Lord,
  and see what God will do.
 ⁶The Lord will make your vindication as clear as the light
  and the justice of your case like the noonday sun.
 ⁷Be still before the Lord and wait patiently.
  Do not be provoked by the one who prospers, the one who succeeds in evil schemes.
 ⁸Refrain from anger, leave rage alone;
  do not be provoked; it leads only to evil.
 ⁹For evildoers shall be cut off,
  but those who hope in the Lord shall possess the land.

Second Reading: 2 Timothy 1:1-14

¹Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, for the sake of the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,
 ²To Timothy, my beloved child:
  Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

 ³I am grateful to God—whom I worship with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did—when I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. ⁴Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy. ⁵I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you. ⁶For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; ⁷for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.
 ⁸Do not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God, ⁹who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace. This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, ¹⁰but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. ¹¹For this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher, ¹²and for this reason I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard until that day what I have entrusted to him. ¹³Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁴Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.

Gospel: Luke 17:5-10

calls his disciples to adopt the attitude of servants whose actions are responses to their identity rather than works seeking reward.

⁵The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” ⁶The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
 ⁷“Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here at once and take your place at the table’? ⁸Would you not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink’? ⁹Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? ¹⁰So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!’ ”

CHILDREN’S SERMON

         I love the story of a little child who spent a lot of time making a boat.  With great pride the boat was set a float in the river.  To the child’s dismay the boat floated away and disappeared.  One day the child saw the boat sitting in the window of a thrift store.  The child immediately ran for his piggy bank and returned and redeemed his beloved creation.  We are God’s beloved creation.  Turn to your neighbor and say, “You are God’s beloved creation!”

Let us pray:  Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, my Rock and my Redeemer.

SERMON

Our text opens with a request from the disciples to Jesus. “Increase our faith!”  Now where did that request come from?  When I think of requests made of Jesus I think of the disciples asking to be taught to pray probably because they saw the effects of prayer in Jesus’ life.  I think of James and John asking to sit at Jesus’ right and left hand when he comes into his glory.  Probably because they were listening to the parables about the coming kingdom and wanted to be there in the leadership.  I think of the multitudes coming with their sick and broken family and friends.  I think of the father who goes to Jesus after the Mount of Transfiguration for his son, “Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.”  Luke is now shifting from focusing on the parables about the Kingdom of God.  Last week in our text, Jesus drew a “line in the sand.”  There may be gates in the kingdom of this world that we try to work our way through but once we die there is a chasm between Lazarus and the rich man, between those in the bosom of Abraham and those in Hades and that chasm cannot be crossed.  The disciples plea, “Increase our faith!”  They do not want to end up with the rich man in Hades.  Nor do we.

It’s not a matter of size!

“If you had faith the size of a mustard seed,…”

         The kingdom of this world asks if we want small, medium, or large.  Do we want to supersize or a combo meal?  A house on an acre of land obviously is more valuable than a shack on the wrong side of town.  We believe there should not be areas of poverty in the United States.  We hear the news of protests and bills and know in our gut it is true.  To “downsize” is a sign of aging and signifies loss somewhere in the depths of our soul.  TV evangelists encourage us to lay our hand on the TV while they pray and just believe.  If we just have faith the size of a mustard seed then we could pray in a miracle and step across that line in the sand.  But reality does not match the promise.  We pray, the miracle does not happen and we doubt that our faith is the right size.

         Not only are we convinced our faith is inadequate, but we are tempted to believe that the people up front have better faith and talents so we abdicate and don’t even try to pray.  We begin to believe we are those of little faith and become grasshoppers in our own eyes.  The kingdom of this world convinces us that the talented, the highly educated, the politically powerful are the movers and shakers of reality.  We could return our country to its former glory if only we…. You name it and armies march for it.  And for sure we do not have the goodies of life we deserve because the other country is selfish, colonialist, invading, more powerful. Not only is our faith too small, the other guys faith is enormous.

         The verbiage about size is very toxic and corrosive.  It has been twisted and corrupted!  Jesus did not say that with more faith we could accomplish more and be happier getting our wants fulfilled!  Only the tiniest of faith works miracles.  Why?  Because it is not our faith that works the miracle but God’s power.  Faith is like the key fob that turns on the engine of the car.  The size is not the issue.  We carry the fob in our pocket or heart and it activates the engine in the car.  Our faith communicates with God but does not control God.   The key does not tell the car where to go.  The example has flaws but challenges us to question if we are looking at our faith or at God’s power and wisdom.  We may not get what we want when we pray but we will always get God’s best.

         Paul said it this way in Hebrews 11  “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible. …”  Faith is trusting that God is listening and acting on the concerns of my heart even if I do not see the mulberry bush uprooted and planted in the sea.

It’s not a matter of reward!

^“9Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded?” 

         Jesus then gives an example of a slave coming in from field-work.  The master does not reward him by telling him to sit and rest so the master can serve the slave.  The slave washes, puts on the apron and serves the master.  The worker is a slave! God does not owe us because we believe in him and our blessings are not rewards for our faith.  Many truly believe we have the right to freedom, liberty, clean water, pampers, schooling, a garage with two cars and a chicken in the pot.  Blessings from God come from God as love, not as rewards for good works by us. 

         “Slave” is a word our whole culture, the kingdom of this world, rebels against.  We prefer to see ourselves as a “child of God” and not as a slave.  Using that analogy, though, I can testify that I did not change diapers, I did not pay college bills, and I did not give Christmas gifts because my children had earned clean diapers, college, or gifts as a reward for good behavior.  Faith does not guarantee a life without trouble.  Bad things happen to good people.  Hebrews 11 tells of all the heroes and martyrs of the faith for whom “the world was not worthy.”  Again, the request to increase our faith is not what motivates us to obey God.  We accept that God is God and his way is right or we struggle.  More faith does not make more obedience.  We understand that he is God and doing what is best for us or we struggle in our relationship with him.  I do not think greater faith erases times of doubt and struggle. We believe, we trust, we have faith or we do not.  Faith puts God first, not our own desires.

It’s a matter of grace and love

‘We are worthless slaves;

we have done only what we ought to have done!’ 

         Faith does not come in many sizes.  It is not something we increase.  As we get older we have more examples to draw on as we trust God in faith but we do not necessarily have more faith.  Secondly, answers to faith are not rewards for our good deeds and our service to God.  The rich man did not go to Hades because of his wealth nor did Lazarus go to the bosom of Abraham because of his poverty.  So where does that leave us?  We are the creatures and God is our creator and redeemer.  We fall on our face and marvel at his grace.  In the final analysis we confess that we cannot by our own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ our Lord or come to him but the Holy Spirit has called us through the Gospel, enlightened us and led us because of his grace and love.

         We look back over the parables about the kingdom of heaven.  We are invited to the banquet by a God who desires all to be saved and enter his banquet hall.  He does not just prepare for the “right people.” He will send his servants to the highways and byways to make sure his hall is full.  He knows the seat of honor we deserve.  He gives the banquet not to impress us and win our love but because he is love.  He is also like a shepherd who goes looking for his lost sheep, realizing we cannot find our way home by ourselves.   He rescues us and puts us on his shoulders and carries us to his kingdom.  As sheep in his flock, we are not sent back to earth to earn our wings or to do good deeds as someone else’s request.  We are secure in his love.  The trick is not to have more faith but to keep our eyes and hearts and ears focused on God who hears our prayers and acts for our best.

         In the children’s sermon, the child redeemed the boat, not because of the great faith of the boat but because of the child’s love for his creation.  We are save by grace and that not of ourselves.  It is a gift of God and not of works.

Let the people of God say, “AMEN!”