How can we be thankful, amidst this dark unknown?
For starters, we can remember that this is not the year to
get everything you want but to appreciate everything you have.
We can remember that “God
so loved the world that He gave His only Son…” -John 3:16.
Jesus entered this world to live a perfect life for you. He
bore your sin as His own all the way to the blessed cross to die in your place
and then victoriously rise from the dead on the third day to give you His life.
His resurrection brings hope of an eternal future for those who trust in Him.
Because of His work you are free – to help and serve your
neighbor in love. We have a glorious future with the Savior! Even as we face this microbial foe; remember
that, “He who did not spare His Son but
gave Him up for us all, will He not also with Him graciously give us all things.”
-Romans 8:32
We can remind ourselves that “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust” -Psalm 91:2
We can take comfort in knowing that, “If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the
sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast”
-Psalm 139:9-10
We can chide ourselves into wakefulness, asking, “Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so
disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior
and my God.” -Psalm 42:5
We can follow the example of the Apostle Paul, who, in his
time of trial, told the Philippians, “Do
not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with
thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which
transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
-Philippians 4:6-7
Still the question lingers. How can we be thankful, in the midst
of this pandemic?
We can be thankful in truly knowing and calling upon that
same “peace of God” that Paul
knew—the mysterious peace which comes through faith in the Father’s providence.
This is the same peace that Jesus left to His disciples. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. -John.14:27;
that Paul called a “fruit of the Spirit” -Galatians 5:22;
the peace that the Savior gives to those whose minds are fixed on God -Isaiah 26:3-4;
the peace of which Jesus spoke when He said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and
burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For
my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” -Matthew 11:28-30
Give Christ your fears and He will engulf you with His peace.
Rest on His love and providence. In the midst of fear, recall the empty tomb
and the words of Jesus to His disciples: “In
the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” -John 16:33 b
Especially at this difficult hour - turn to Jesus. Throughout
the most trying of times in human history-wars, famines, plagues, oppression
and persecution-Christians have found solace in the Savior. They have
discovered His strength when theirs failed. They found comfort in His presence
and calming rest in His promises. They endured because of His example. They
overcame because He guided them through.
And isn’t that the point with the healing of the ten lepers?
They literally had nothing. No home. No income. No future. Nothing.
Ten lepers cry out to Jesus with one voice: “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” All
ten share in the same condition. They are all leprous. They are all outcasts. Cut
off from society. All of them. Yet they
all had faith in Jesus to heal them. “Have
mercy on us!”
"Ten" is
a perfect number. All together they cry out for mercy but at a distance. They
had nothing left to lose.
Lepers were like death-row inmates. They were as good as
dead. - Dead men walking. For death itself, was in their flesh. Lesions, sores,
and scabs, bore witness to their decay as living symbols of death. They were
unclean.
As such, they were shunned from society. They were cast out
of the community; barred access to home, market and synagogue.
Their leprosy made them dead to family and friends. Leprosy
made them dead to religious practice. Only a cure for their leprosy could bring
them life. But cures were rare. So rare, in fact, that the rabbis of the day
considered the cure of a leper equal with raising a person from the dead.
Lepers were the living dead.
The men in today’s
Gospel reading didn’t call out to Jesus just to say “Hello.” They called out because
they were sick. In fact, they were dying a very slow death.
And it is precisely
those people whom our Lord came to rescue. Perhaps the greatest virtue of the
Samaritan was his sense of self. The man knew precisely what he was. And what
he needed. More to the point, he knew where to get it.[1]
So, above all, give thanks for Christ; for grace, for faith and for the Father’s everlasting love.
In the meantime, continue to love and serve others in
response to the Savior's love for you. “By
this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten
Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that
we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for
our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. -1 John
4:9-11
Find safe ways to reach out to those who are struggling amid
the economic uncertainties that are accompanying the pandemic. “For I was hungry, and you gave Me something
to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger,
and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited
Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.” -Mathew. 25:35-36.
Recite the Lord's Prayer and/or the Twenty-third Psalm in
those times of anxiety that will surely come. Hasten to the words of the
Apostle Peter: "Humble yourselves,
therefore, under God's mighty hand, that He may life you up in due time. Cast
all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you" -1 Peter 5:6-7
And finally, "Pray
continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you
in Christ Jesus." -1Thessalonians
5:17-18
The Bible assures us: God will be with us in the pandemic and
God will see us through. God is great...all the time! Thank be to God! And yes,
Happy Thanksgiving!
Passive Sentences-2%
Readability – 83.3%
Reading Level – 4.3
The Ten Lepers copyright © Ed Riojas, Higher Things
[1] From a sermon delivered by Pr. Ken Kelly Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity posted 9.18.2019 via facebookTM
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