Trinity 14 9/13/09 Luke 17:11-19

            Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Dearly beloved,

            When the Samaritan leper returned to Jesus to give praise to God Jesus tells him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.” But just what is this thing called faith?

            In Hebrews 11 we hear, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” This clearly means that faith holds fast to what it does not see, feel, or experience, either in body or soul. But, as it has firm trust in God it commits itself to and relies upon it without any doubt but that its hope will be realized.

            Faith allows no merits or works. It will not purchase the grace of God with works, like the doubters and hypocrites do, but brings with it pure unworthiness. Faith clings to and depends completely on the unmerited favor of God.

            Did not all of these lepers have faith? They all cried out for mercy and a cry for mercy is not an offer to pay with money or works or any such thing. No, the one who seeks mercy seeks pure grace and mercy, as one unworthy of it and having deserved the contrary.

            And it is further shown that they had faith in that when Jesus spoke to them to go show themselves to the priest they went promptly. If they had doubted they certainly would not have gone, and yet they had here no clear promise, but believing they went.

            So, what happened to the faith of the nine non-returning lepers? Somehow the honor that they gave to Jesus Christ was diverted away from them. It may be that as they went to the priests they were falsely taught that their offering and their obedience to the law was what healed them. Thus, they would thank God that He had regard for their offerings and the prayers of the priests and heard them and on account of these cleansed them rather than on account of Christ. It all sounds so good for they still attribute their cleansing to God, BUT as obtained by virtue of their offering and works and not by Christ and His pure grace. That’s not faith in God, that’s faith in themselves and they can’t save themselves.

            All of this drew the faith of the lepers away from Christ and so they fell into spiritual leprosy. And this false teaching puts themselves in place of Christ in their hearts. This same false teaching on faith is rampant today.

            It would be wrong to say, “I was cured by something special in me; my healing came from within me; my praying and my spirituality caused me to be made well.” This wrong thinking, this false belief totally misunderstands what faith is, for it places the focus and emphasis on the believer rather than on the One who is believed in. It locates the ability to save in man’s doing rather than in God’s doing. It gives glory and credit to the one who has faith rather than to the One to whom faith clings.

            Faith by itself is nothing. The power of faith comes from that in which it trusts. Faith is defined not by what it is, but by what it receives and trusts in. For the Christian, faith relies on Christ alone. It is not the faith itself but what the faith holds on to, what or who you believe in that really matters. It is the content of your faith, what it contains and embraces, that is most important. The essential thing is not your trust, but where your trust is directed.

            That is why your trust is located in Christ alone, for only He can deliver you from sin, death, and the devil. Only Christ can make you His child in Holy Baptism. Only Christ can forgive your sins through Holy Absolution from the pastor as from God Himself. Only Christ can forgive you in His body and blood in Holy Communion. When your faith is rightly focused on Christ and His gifts, you will always be returning thanks to God from whom all blessing flow.

            And that brings us back to the Samaritan leper, the one who returned to Jesus to give thanks and praise to God. He would not let himself be drawn away from Christ; he remained steadfast and overcame all the assaults of faith. There was nothing in this Samaritan that made him any different from the other nine lepers who were healed that day. There’s nothing in him that made him different from you and me. The Samaritan’s faith, that is the Samaritan’s Jesus, saved him. Your faith, your Jesus saves you too. Faith isn’t something inside of you that makes you more desirable to God. No, faith receives gifts from Jesus.

            Ten lepers stood far off and cried for mercy. They wanted a cure for leprosy, the restoration of their flesh, health, reunion with their friends and family, a place in society. He gave them all of that. But their desire was too small. They did not understand their own prayer: “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” His mercy would go further. It would not stop until they were completely healed. He would clean their souls, adopt them as sons, keep them safe in His perfect love. His mercy would not fail or come short. It would drive Him to the cross to exchange His life for theirs. There is nothing He would not give those ten lepers, nothing He would keep from them, nothing was too good for them. For He loved them. He loved them before and without their prayer. He loved them before and without their thanksgiving. And He took care of everything for them. He cares no less for you.

            We leprous ones also stand before Jesus and cry, “Lord have mercy upon us. Christ have mercy upon us. Lord have mercy upon us.” Jesus, with a Word, forgives our sins and cleanses us from all unrighteousness. We are restored to the family. We are restored to the people of God.

            God has given our leprosy to His Son who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree. His own Son was thrust outside the City of God, holy Jerusalem, and made a public display. The sinless One displayed as the Unclean One. The Righteous One wounded for our transgressions. The Pure One marked with our bruises and punishment. His holy wounds heal

us in soul and body.

            Your sin is put to death in Jesus. Believe it. Your Old nature is crucified with Christ. Your death is put to death in Him. Your enemy is bound up and you are set free. Your fears are laid to rest and a new hope and confidence has risen in its place. Do not be afraid. Do not

let your hearts be troubled. Your sins are forgiven.

            And this is what we want to instill through all the educational opportunities in our school and in our church, whether it be in Sunday School or our catechism classes, whether it be in our Lutheran Day School or in our Bible Studies, whether it be in the LLL or any of the ladies groups, and especially here in the Divine Service of Word and Sacrament.

            We ask the Almighty God, the fount of all wisdom, by His Holy Spirit to enlighten those who teach and those who learn that, rejoicing in the knowledge of the joyous truth of the Gospel they may worship and serve Him from generation to generation. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

            Now the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.