Grace and Gratefulness in Exile
(Free Version) Eighteenth Sunday After Pentecost- Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7; 2 Timothy 2:8-15; Luke 17:11-19
Find this week’s readings here. This week, in our “Deep Dive,” we look more at the disorienting power of exile, what it meant for Israel and what moments of disorientation look like in our world. We look to words from Walter Brueggemann and Eugene Peterson in the Jeremiah reading. We have quotes from John Chrysostom and Theodoret of Cyr on the Timothy reading. We give some important cautions in speaking of “purity codes” in the gospel reading, and look to some recent scholarship on leprosy in the first century. We also include quotes from Pope Benedict the 16th and Luke Timothy Johnson.
Our Jeremiah reading (29:1, 4-7) is about what happens when your unfortunate stop over turns out to be your new home. God calls the people of Israel, not to pine for their home back in Jerusalem, always wondering and waiting for when they can get back to being the empire they once were. The word from the prophet is that it is time to unpack your bags, to settle in. This turns out to be a word of hope both for God’s people and the community which surrounds them.
Our epistle reading (2 Timothy 2:8-15) is a proclamation of the good news. Timothy is exhorted to remember Jesus Christ, his resurrection, and that he descended from David. In other words, Jesus has changed everything and this change is a fulfillment of Israel’s identity and mission. It is also a strong reminder that those who are in Christ are forever connected with God. The first three clauses are conditional “If…then,” clauses. If we do certain things, God will do certain things. However, the fourth clause is unconditional, “if we are faithless, he remains faithful.” God’s faithfulness always has the final word.
In our gospel reading (Luke 17:11-19), ten men with leprosy approach Jesus begging for mercy. He sends them to the priest to be checked, calling the men to have faith that he will heal them before they see the results. All of the men are healed, but only one returns to thank Jesus. He is a Samaritan, a “foreigner.” This is yet another example of Jesus commending the faith of someone from an “outsider.” The man is told that his faith, expressed in gratitude, has made him well. We are not sure of the difference between the “cleansing” the other nine received, and the salvation this man received, other than the fact that his gratitude has changed him.
My prayer for my congregation this week is that God would open our eyes to see him at work in places which seem unlikely to us: in foreign places which we hoped would be a temporary season in our lives but which turn out to be a place of settling, flourishing, and prayer; and in the seemingly unlikely ones who lead us by their faith and thankfulness.
God is at work in the painful times, the boring times, the disorienting seasons. St. John of the Cross suggested that it is when we do not feel God’s presence at all that God is most at work.There is no place that is “foreign" to Christ. Likewise, there are no people too far away for Him. There is nothing too unclean to outweigh his healing touch.
May this realization move us towards gratitude. When we are sick, may we acknowledge the pain of sickness while also recognizing God’s presence in the community that surrounds us in the midst of our sickness. When money is tight, may we recognize God’s work in providing our “daily bread.” When business is notbooming, may we recognize God’s work in redirecting our attention away from obsession with worldly success towards the things that last. In tragedy, may we fully lament, knowing that God is with us. May we see our neighborhoods in new lights. The people who surround us are created in the image of God and God is already at work in their midst.
In the end, may we acknowledge the source of all that is good and the one who desires our good.