The Moral of the Story - 16th Sunday After Trinity

This Sunday I have the joy of being part of the Harvest Festival in another church in the deanery. It is an All Age Service and the Gospel reading for the day is the Story of the Ten Lepers (Luke 17.11-19).

The well-known bible story tells us about ten people who are all suffering with leprosy, a chronic infectious disease. They approach Jesus and ask for his mercy and Jesus heals them. They are ALL “made clean”. Then ONE of them returns to Jesus and gives thanks “with a loud voice”

And so, the moral of the story is on the importance of giving thanks, modelling the example of the one leper who returned.

Always say thanks. Out loud. That’s the moral.

Or is it?

Before I go on, I think I should say that I am not saying that we should not give thanks. Our daily worship invites us to give thanks; to give thanks for the gift of the new day, to give thanks for the beauty of creation, and ultimately, to give thanks for the love of our Creator God. I do truly believe it is important to give thanks.

Certainly, for me, when life becomes very difficult, the situation can sometimes feel hopeless. At such times, I find it even more significant (and helpful) to reflect on God’s goodness and on the things that I am grateful or thankful for.

However, I do wonder if there is more to this story.

Firstly, I wonder what this story teaches us about our Creator God, who, without any expectation of a return, heals the ten lepers.

For me, this underlines that there are just no transactions to be made when it comes to God’s love. We are all loved in equal measure. No matter what. No matter what we do, no matter who we are.

Perhaps that might give us hope, especially if we are not feeling the love today.

Secondly, I wonder if there is a message here about “turning back”.

Once healed, the leper turned back. I think sometimes our lives can be so focused on moving forwards, on “progress” that we can overlook the importance of reflection, of looking back, of giving thanks for the achievements we have made and for how far we have come.

Finally, I wonder if we are being invited to reflect on the “other nine lepers”.

Jesus asks, “the other nine, where are they?”

Where are they?

It doesn’t say.

Well, they must have gone somewhere. But we do not know where.

Does this mean these nine are now unimportant? That seems a bit strange.

Moreover, does this mean that it’s now down to the one leper to change the world?

What a pressure.

What do you think?

Maybe, just maybe, these nine lepers showed their gratitude in other ways. Maybe they went off and spent hours alongside other people, comforting them and bringing hope. Or maybe they quietly donated money or made clothes or handed out food.

Maybe their love is equally as transforming. But we just do not hear about it.

We don’t know.

But do we know that love is spoken and lived out in many ways.

There are words and there are actions.

There is the love that we see and the love that we do not see.

The world is full of hidden treasures. So let us give thanks.

Becky