FIRST (SCOTS) SERMONS
“ONE TURNED BACK”
Scripture Lessons: Psalm 66:1-4; Luke 17:11-19
This sermon was preached by Dr. Joseph S. Harvard III on Sunday, October 16, 2016
at First (Scots) Presbyterian Church in Charleston, South Carolina.
Dear God, you make yourself known to us in so many ways: the beauty of the world, the love of our friends, the great music of our faith, the words of scripture. But often we are too busy, too distracted, to hear and see and know you. So now startle us once again with your truth and your living presence through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Can you keep a secret? I want to share a secret with you this morning. What we say in First (Scots) stays in First (Scots). It is something that those of us who spent lots of time studying the Bible, trying to teach and preach the Bible know. As I was preparing for this sermon, I heard voices from two stories talking to each other, interacting. See why we don’t talk about it in public? Before you dismiss this idea and conclude that I have lost it, please let me explain.
When I first discovered this, I found it a little strange but fascinating. A special and valuable way the Holy Spirit opens the Word of the Lord to us. Let me give you an example: One familiar voice in Scripture is Psalm 23: “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures.”
Listen to the Psalm that immediately precedes Psalm 23, the 22nd Psalm: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer. And by night, but find no rest.” It is the assurance of God’s presence and comfort right beside the cry from the human experience, most likely from the same human being who is finding God absent.
I hear these Psalms in conversation and they mirror my experience. The Bible is a mirror of identity that shows us who God is, and who and whose we are. By the way, this is not a secret but an insight that has helped me and which I hope will be valuable to you on your faith journey.
Let me show you how it helped me in preparing this sermon. The text was the story of Jesus healing the ten lepers. It has surprises. The first surprise has to do with its context in Luke’s Gospel. It comes right after that passage in which the disciples ask Jesus for more faith.
Then Jesus tells a story about some slaves who were doing their job and didn’t expect much appreciation for it. He said they were only doing what they should have done; they didn’t expect to be invited to the table first. They should wait until the people they were working for had eaten, and then they would come to the table. After all, they were only doing their job. Does the master thank the servants because the servants did what was commanded or expected? No.
Right after that he tells another story about the lepers who were healed. And one of them responds; one turns around and says, “Thank you.” He falls on his knees and cries out, “Thank you!” Jesus says, “Wait a minute, weren’t there ten lepers? Where are the other nine?” Good question. I’ve often asked the same question.
This is where those two stories come together. The other nine were like the master who didn’t thank the servants because they were doing what they were supposed to be doing; they were only doing their job. Can’t you hear those other lepers as they were going back from being healed? “Well, it’s about time; we’ve been waiting a long time for this healing thing to come along. What took God so long? We’re only getting what we deserve for goodness sake!”
There is a theology floating around that says it is God’s business to take care of us. Therefore, if we are getting what we want, if we are healthy, hopeful and prosperous then God is doing his job. If things are not going well, then something’s wrong with God. God’s job description is to see that we get what we need and deserve. God’s job is to bless us, for goodness sake! So then if we are blessed, then God is doing God’s job, why would we need to express any gratitude? But the minute we don’t get what we deserve, then God must be asleep at the wheel and we don’t like it!
Only that was not the way that the Samaritan looked at things. The Samaritan had a different theological perspective. The Samaritan turns around and goes back to say, “Thank you.” This is the second surprise. The Samaritan was a two-time loser. He was an outsider, called a half-breed. He had the most dreaded disease in that culture, leprosy. If you came into a village, you had to come in with other lepers, ring a bell and shout, “Unclean, unclean, I am unclean.” Not only did he have the disease which made him a social outcast, he was a foreigner.
Did you notice what Jesus said to him? “Your faith has made you well.” Seems unusual doesn’t it; all of them were healed. But your faith, your sense of gratitude, an integral part of faith, has made you whole. The others didn’t get it. But the Samaritan got it. It’s interesting how easy it is to be grateful when things are going well. But when things are not going well, it’s not as easy.
One of my enjoyable experiences here in Charleston is when I walk down the street to go and mail a letter at the Post Office box in front of the federal building. I pass these ladies out on the street that are selling sweetgrass baskets. I often speak to them and ask them how they’re doing. They say, “I’m having a great day. I’m thankful to be alive.” They come out of the tradition that has a prayer that goes like this, “Oh God, you didn’t have to give us this day. We didn’t do anything to earn it; this day is a gift. Don’t let us take this day for granted.” Every day is a bonus, a gift. How often do we stop and say, “Thank you?” Some times out of suffering and pain people learn even better the sense of gratitude.
In a few minutes we will sing one of my favorite hymns, “Now thank we all our God, with hearts and hands and voices, who wondrous things have done, in whom the world rejoices.” This beautiful hymn of gratitude was written during the most difficult periods of plaques that Eastern Europe had ever known.The pastor who wrote it was officiating at multiple funerals every day for friends and loved ones who were victims of the plague. It was a song of gratitude written in the midst of crisis.
Every time we come to this table, remember the words we recite: On the night he was betrayed, handed over to be crucified, Jesus took bread and after giving thanks, he broke it. In the face of death, he gave thanks!
There was a woman who lived in Princeton, New Jersey and was a member of the Nassau Presbyterian Church. In practicing her faith, she volunteered at a soup kitchen in nearby Trenton, New Jersey. She liked to do it because it was fulfilling. But she almost quit. She said it drove her crazy the way the folks would come down the line and get their cup of soup or a sandwich. Then they would look up and they would say “Thank you, thank you.” She said, “I wanted to shout back at them, ‘Don’t thank me. I mean, you’re wearing those Salvation Army shoes. I’ve got a closet full of shoes at home. Don’t thank me!’” But then she said, “I realized they were thanking me, but not just me. They were grateful for the food I was giving them and they were saying something that their empty stomach’s revealed to them that my packed refrigerator was hiding from me.”
Every piece of bread we eat, every breath we draw, and everything we have comes from you, Oh Lord. Only one turned back. A despised Samaritan, who took nothing for granted and thus accepted the gift of healing with grace and thanksgiving. He was the one who was made whole.
Gratitude is central to what it means to be a Christian. We do not take God’s goodness for granted. We practice giving thanks. Let us be open today to the surprising presence of God in our lives as God works to make us whole. And yes, let us join the one who turned around to give thanks.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
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