The first reading was 2 Kings 5:1-15c.
The
holy gospel according to Luke (17:11-19)
11On
the way to Jerusalem
Jesus was going
through the region between Samaria and Galilee.
12As
he entered a village,
ten
people who had leprosy approached him.
Keeping
their distance,
13they
called out, saying,
“Jesus,
Master, have mercy on us!”
14When
he saw them, he said to them,
“Go
and show yourselves to the priests.”
And
as they went, they were made clean.
15Then
one of them,
when
he saw that he was healed,
turned
back,
praising
God with a loud voice.
16He
prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him.
And
he was a Samaritan.
17Then
Jesus asked,
“Were
not ten made clean?
But
the other nine, where are they?
18Was
none of them found to return
and
give praise to God except this foreigner?”
19Then
Jesus said to the Samaritan,
“Get
up and go on your way;
your
faith has made you well.” [greek: your faith has saved you]
The
gospel of the Lord.
-----
Today
we encounter Jesus “going through the region between Samaria and Galilee,” on
his way to Jerusalem where the cross awaits. In this space between, on the
journey and not yet there, an encounter takes place. Because where else but in the space between Samaria and
Galilee would a Samaritan with leprosy spend time with 9 Jews with
leprosy?
So
often we think about Jesus as the one who brings together disparate groups and
forms community, but in today’s readings the disparate groups are already there
and together. The 10 people with
leprosy gather together in this village. While in their culture, Jews and
Samaritans would be enemies of the highest degree, because
all 10 are outcast for their leprosy, they connect on a level otherwise impossible.
As
they find themselves at the margins, in this village between places, the people
with leprosy find some community, even as they seek the deeper healing Jesus
will provide.
In
our first reading as well, it is only when those who are foreign encounter each
other that a path to healing is discovered. Namaan is powerful. He is commander of King Aram’s army,
which means not only power and authority, but also considerable wealth.
Unlike
the people with leprosy in the gospel, Namaan has enough wealth and power that
even his leprosy doesn’t earn him the role of outcast. The leprosy still plagues Namaan, but
it’s not until a young girl speaks up that Namaan finds hope for healing. The
young girl, a foreigner to Namaan, since she was taken captive and enslaved during
an Aramean raid in the land of Israel, is at the lowest of positions, serving
those who captured her. And yet
she is the one to point Namaan to healing.
And
so, in these spaces of encounter between estranged groups and even enemies, between
foreigners and long-time inhabitants of the land, new experiences of the
divine, chances for healing, take place.
A
couple of weeks ago we had our first bilingual dinner church. We gathered as people who only spoke
English, only spoke Spanish, and spoke some amount of both. We were not enemies coming together,
but we were people from different cultures and countries, different stations in
life, and different languages gathering together. We made food, ate, and talked together. We drew pictures, showed pictures, made
hand motions, and used translation apps on our fancy phones.
Y’all
reached outside of your comfort zones.
You made intentional decisions to be ok sounding funny, making mistakes,
and even being laughed at, because you would be laughing too. These months that we, both collectively
and individually, have gotten to know folks who work locally on the farms, have
been exciting, and regular.
Like
Namaan we have stretched ourselves and our expectations. We have learned a
lot. Sometimes the simplest things
have worked the best. As we have
grown and gotten to know our neighbors, the foreigners in our midst, we have
found life together. Like our
dinner church experience, it has been boisterous and full of laughter and good
food.
This
is the gift that God provides when we let down our guard, put away our “ten
talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of garments,” the
markers of our status that can too often define us. When we do this, we open ourselves up to God’s unexpected
presence—discovering the simpler and smaller ways that God shows up. When we reject our assumptions about
the “right way” to do things—from worship to community, to language and even
politics, God shows up and surprises us.
The
holy moments surprise us in making food and cleaning up together, in wandering
school halls during breaks in ESL classes, and in trying our hand at
communicating and learning even with language barriers. It is in these moments that the
presence of the Divine becomes more palpable.
And
it’s amazing the healing and wholeness that takes place. In those shared spaces and moments of
lowered walls, Jesus shows up and gives us another glimpse of community, of
friendship, and of neighbors.
Jesus greets the people with leprosy and affirms the faith of the
foreigner, the one despised by his own people. Namaan’s healing comes from the foreigner in his midst, the young
girl captured and enslaved, and yet she is the one who knows where God’s
healing can be found.
God
shows up in the
margins, the in between spaces.
God
shows up and upsets our expectations.
God
upsets our expectations and opens us to new life, community, and even
healing.
Jesus
gathers community in new and powerful ways
and
God will always gather us anew—
today at Chicken
and Biscuit dinner,
Tuesday at sewing
and ESL,
and forever,
because
that’s what God does.
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