Shepherd of the Springs
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod

          (Jesus said) “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” And he said to him, “Rise and you your way, your faith has made you well.”

           Leprosy, or Hanson’s Disease is a strange affliction that was misunderstood and mis-diagnosed for hundreds and hundreds of years. This in some measure was due to a basic misunderstanding of what causes its advanced outward symptoms. Those afflicted with the disease experience a gradual wasting away of the tissues of the body particularly those that surround one’s appendages - fingers, toes, nose, ears and the like. Up until about 50 years ago, it was thought that leprosy was caused by an infection that directly attacks and wastes away the skin and then the underlying tissues of the body. And since it was also thought erroneously to be highly contagious, leper colonies to quarantine its victims have been created going back to ancient times.  Some still exist today in parts of India. More recently, however, leprosy has been understood to be not very contagious; but more importantly, it was discovered to be a disease that primarily attacks the bodies nerve endings, shutting down one’s sensitivity to not only touch and pressure, but also pain.  The damage done to the skin and tissues of appendages from advanced cases of the disease is caused by its victims literally abusing themselves unknowingly by the lack of sensation and feeling. They do violence to their own bodies, especially their appendages, because they can feel no pain when they do so.

          Our text reports about ten men suffering from this disease who sought the mercy of Jesus as He entered their village. They begged Him to be merciful to them and Jesus obliged: he healed them on the spot. How do we explain the fact, however, that only one of those healed returned to give thanks, and He was a double outcast. Yes, a double outcaste. He was an outcaste because he was a leper, but then he was also an outcaste because he was a Samaritan. Do you have any ideas about just why the other nine, ostensibly Jews, were not also moved to give thanks to Jesus for their healing? Our text gives no indication and the matter at the time seems also to have been perplexing to Jesus who asked; where are the nine? 

          Gratitude, the presence or lack of it, can often be a perplexing thing. Yet, it can be a helpful thing to understand in our own lives . . . especially when it comes to the mercy and gifts of our Lord. How might we reasonably account for a sense of gratefulness: its presence, degree. . . or even its absence? Perhaps it would be reasonable to think that gratitude for receiving some gift or mercy would be commensurate with the size or value of the gift?  We might expect lots of thankfulness for a gift or blessing of great value, but not so much if it were small. Or, maybe we might think it to be proportionate with the unexpectedness of the gift or some degree of worthiness or lack thereof. That is to say, if we thought a gift or mercy to be of small consequence . . . or if we thought ourselves very deserving - our level of heartfelt gratitude might be on the low side, suppose?  While by the same logic, if you thought yourself completely undeserving and you thought the gift or mercy to be of great consequence and very unexpected to boot . . . the thankfulness and gratitude meter might be expected to measure very high. Well, about all this concerning the nine healed lepers who did not return to give thanks to Jesus - the Scriptures do not tell us the reason for their low level of gratitude, so we just don’t know. . . about them. So . . . our reflection on this text is going to have focus more on each of us.

          There are parallels in our text to do some personal reflecting this morning. We too have a very serious sickness . . . yes, one that is flows from the curse of the ground that takes its toll on our physical well-being in so many ways. We may not be afflicted with leprosy, but we each have our stories to tell about how that curse of the ground has and perhaps even now is afflicting us; and we know, of course, it will continue to do so right up to the moment of our dying breath.  But more importantly, we also know this sickness has brought us a spiritual affliction. An affliction that brings with it a complete wasting away of the human soul; one that we have inherited from our parents going right back to Adam’s fall into sin. While it is a much more serious problem then leprosy or our physical ailments, it is a problem that is easy to become complacent about and cause us no particular alarm.

          A potential problem for us that may cause complacency is that we cannot remember some time when we were free of our sin problem. Unlike many but not all maladies or physical problems we cannot remember back what it was like before we had the affliction. We cannot remember when we were perfectly spiritually upright and in perfect harmony with God’s will for our life. We cannot experience in our own lives the difference between being completely righteous in our character, like Adam before the Fall, and being as we are unto ourselves, dead in our trespasses. Total spiritual depravity, experientially speaking, feels so very normal most of the time, doesn’t it? It may not be easy to get used to the depravity of others as they act on it against us, but it is quite easy to get used to our own where it cause us little alarm. And the major problem of about all this is that a small awareness and appreciation of the magnitude of our sinfulness can cause us also to loose an appreciation of the riches and preciousness of God’s grace.  And lacking much appreciation for the spiritual healing of the forgiveness we have in Christ . . . our gratitude and thankfulness for it can become rather weak and shallow. Yes, I know I am forgiven . . . pass the salt.

          It is important for us to understand, that this can be a very serious spiritual problem . . . feeling little gratitude about the saving work and blessings of our Lord that are ours day in and day out. On one level - and that which is reflected in our text by the nine healed who did not return to give thanks - we can feel a sense of guilt from the moral conviction that we OUGHT to feel more grateful than we do - especially when we reflect on the great sacrifice that our Lord made on the cross to win for us our forgiveness of sin and the cleansing from all unrighteousness. We can imagine that if we were among those healed by Jesus who did not return to give thanks - we might be feeling guilty if confronted by this failure. We know that when we receive gifts, especially great important ones, we ought to respond with great expressions of thankfulness in return.

          But, there is something here about experiencing a low level of gratitude that is much more important than the obligation to return thanks. The larger issue is the matter of having a grateful heart in itself. A healthy sense of gratitude for the Lord’s blessings is tied not simply to an understanding of our need, but even more so, an immediate awareness and appreciation of our need. A flagging awareness and appreciation of our sinful sickness unto death curbs a grateful heart and that in turn curbs our appetite for the bread of life that comes to us in the Divine Service of our Lord. We know that when it comes to food for our bodies, a poor appetite can lead to a whole host of physical problems. Those who have a poor appetite, or no appetite at all, pick at their food, eat little, and over time can become sick. You can die in restaurants from malnutrition of you do not eat.  In like manner, when we do not feel very thankful about the saving work and blessings of Christ that have been ours since the day we were baptized, our appetite to receive them, to feed on the means of grace can become weak . . .and well . . . we just don’t feed. Our minds and hearts during absolution, the preaching of the Gospel and the receiving of forgiveness with the body and blood of the Lord has us thinking about most anything but the riches of God’s grace that is coming to us again and again. Parallel to lepers with their bodies, we abuse ourselves spiritually.

          So as a remedy to keep us from becoming ungratefully bored with his saving gifts, God has given us crosses to bear in life to experience some of the depths of sin out there . . . and then He slams us up against His Law to expose the magnitude of our own sin within. In these ways, He works in our lives to keep our appetite for his saving gifts and blessings strong - to come to His Divine Service hungry and ready to feed on the riches of his grace and to produce a thankful heart to receiving them again and again. What a great and wonderful God we have! He gives us both saving food that gives us life in His Name and the appetite to feed on it. And for that, you may be grateful!

          In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. A-men!