Todd A. Peperkorn, STM
Messiah Lutheran Church
Kenosha, Wisconsin
Trinity 14 (August 24, 2008)
Luke 17:11-19 The Ten Lepers
For an audio MP3 of this sermon, CLICK HERE

TITLE: “Faith Made Well”

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text for this morning is from the Gospel lesson just read from Luke chapter 17, the words of the lepers, Your faith has made you well.

Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem. Now like a good Jew, he is skirting the edge of Galilee and Samaria, on his way down to the Jordan river and Jericho before coming up the Kidron Valley into Jerusalem. Salvation is for everyone, but all things have their proper time. In God’s divine order, salvation first went to the Jews, the chosen people. Then it went to Samaria, and from there it was to go out to the uttermost parts of the earth. Even Kenosha.

But in this text it seems as though even God isn’t always patient with His own plans. While Jesus is traveling through a certain village, ten leprous men stood at a distance and cried out to Him, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us! Jesus then, being a good Jew as well as the Son of God, instructs them to do as the Law commands: Go, show yourselves to the priests, he tells them. He tells them this in fulfillment of God’s Law. If a man or woman suffered from leprosy, they were highly contagious. The whole community could be at risk of disease and death. So simply telling people you weren’t sick any more wasn’t enough; someone had to vouch for you. And that someone was a priest. So Jesus, in a sense, invites them to go on the journey together with Him. After all, where do you find priests? In Jerusalem. They are doing what Jesus asked, and are probably on their way to Jerusalem to see the priests.

While they are on the way, they are cleansed of their leprosy. Wonder of wonders! Jesus told Nicodemus that in order to gain eternal life that he must be born again. Well, these men now look like they did go back through their mother’s womb and came out whole on the other side! It’s hard to imagine for us what kind of joy that must have brought.

So of the ten, one of them puts it all together. One of them recognizes that it was Jesus who healed them. Maybe the others recognized it, too. Maybe they are on their way to the priests because that is, after all, what Jesus told them to do. But one of them seems to have a greater understanding of what has happened. That one is a Samaritan.

This Samaritan is doubly cursed. The lepers were cast off from the community. They could not associate with others who weren’t sick, and so they formed sort of a sick club, only those who were truly sick could get in. But one of them was doubly cast off. This Samaritan was shunned because he was a leper, but also because he was a Samaritan! Remember from last week how despised the Samaritans were? Imagine now having one with a highly contagious, incurable disease. There could hardly be a more sad or pathetic person alive.

And this is who Jesus heals. The Samaritan connects the dots. He recognizes that Jesus not only healed him, but that Jesus is the true priest. Jesus is the true priest of Israel, who intercedes on behalf of the people before God, healing their diseases and taking on their infirmities. The Samaritan came back and gave thanks to God, to Jesus, for what he had done. That word for give thanks, eucharisto, is the same word that we have for Eucharist, one of the most ancient names for the Lord’s Supper.

So now let’s get at the heart of this text. This text is usually held up as a thankfulness and ingratitude text. There were ten who were healed, but only one of the ten returned and give thanks. The message should be obvious: do what your mother told you, and thank people when they give you something. Well, you should listen to your mother, but that isn’t the point of the text.

Jesus tells us the point of the text at the end, when He says, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.” (Luke 17:19 ESV) This text, dear friends, is about faith. Faith and it’s cousin, worship, is about receiving what God has given to you. The Large Catechism puts it this way:

“True worship and service of God takes place when your heart directs all its trust and confidence only toward God and does not let itself be torn away from Him. It consists in risking everything on earth for Him and abandoning it all for His sake.” (Large Catechism)

That gives us an insight into what Jesus is getting at here. Faith and trust involve risk, dear friends. Faith means that you won’t trust yourself and your own devices to gain heaven and eternal life. Faith means that your life is in God’s hands, and furthermore, that you know it.

Jesus held up the faith of the Samaritan, and this day He gives that same faith to you. In His Holy Supper He heals you of all your sicknesses and diseases. Oh, you may not be able to tell yet. Your body will probably ache and hurt as much before and after. But make no mistake about it. Jesus has healed you. He has healed your soul, refreshed your heart of stone and put in a heart of flesh. Jesus has redeemed you with His blood. All of this will be yours, in His time and in His way.

Trust in our Lord’s promises this day. He will not disappoint you. His mercy extends to all, and that means to you. As you journey to Jerusalem and God’s mighty city, believe that He will be with you on the way, will pick you up, will heal, and will deliver you home to be with our heavenly Father. Believe it for Jesus’ sake. Amen

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in true faith, unto life everlasting. Amen.

Todd A. Peperkorn, STM
Messiah Lutheran Church
Kenosha, Wisconsin
Trinity 13 (August 17, 2008)
Luke 10:23-37 – The Good Samaritan

For an audio MP3 of this sermon, CLICK HERE

TITLE: “Jesus reaches down to save you”

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus. Amen. Our text for this morning is from Luke 10, with focus on the words, Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.

It was a lonely road, from Jerusalem to Jericho. We don’t know why the man was making the journey. It was a notorious journey amongst the Jews. This was how you went from Jerusalem to anywhere in the north, like Galilee. You couldn’t go straight north from Jerusalem, because that was Samaria. No Jew would set foot in Samaria unless things were really desperate. So you went the long way, fifteen miles or so, down the mountains into the desert where Jericho resides. There was always something a little sad on this journey for the Jew. If you took this trip, you were leaving God’s city, Jerusalem. That is where God dwells. So taking this trip from Jerusalem to Jericho was almost a signal of spiritual distress. You were leaving God’s presence and going into the desert, lonely and alone.

This is the trip our man takes in Jesus’ parable. Jesus is trying to teach a young lawyer what it means to be a neighbor. This young lawyer, who knows his bible, seeks to tempt Jesus, much like Satan did in the wilderness not far from where they were. Who is my neighbor, the lawyer asked. Jesus answer tells us a lot more about God than it does about the lawyer, and it is a blessed thing for us.

The man goes down the lonely road from Jerusalem to Jericho, and on the way, he is beset by robbers. The beat him, take all of his possessions, and left him for dead. It’s hard to imagine a more pathetic and tragic picture. St. Paul tries to when He says that were are dead in trespasses and sins, at enmity with God, blind to God’s mercy and deaf to His Word. So this man is at the end. His life is over. He might as well be dead.

Then a priest comes along the way. The priest takes one look at him, and passes by on the other side of the road. He has more important things to do. He, after all, is probably on his way to Jerusalem to do service in the Lord’s house. He doesn’t have time for dead men lying on the road. He might become ritually unclean, and be unable to serve in God’s house. Surely God wouldn’t want him to risk not being able to do his duty as a priest in the Lord’s house?

The next man comes along, a Levite. He’s not a priest, but he is of the priestly family. He comes a little closer to this man, lying in the road. He goes over and looks at him. But he can hardly shame the priest right before him, by helping when the priest wouldn’t. Besides, he had things to do in Jerusalem as well. While the man may not be dead, he’s pretty close, and frankly, why risk it? He passes by.

Then along comes a Samaritan. A Samaritan in Jesus’ day was the lowest of the low to the Jew. Here in America we pride ourselves in not being prejudice. They had no such illusions in Jesus’ day. Jews did not interact with Samaritans. Ever. They were despised, because they had rejected God’s Word, and considered some other city besides Jerusalem to be holy. So this despised Samaritan comes along, and sees the man on the road. When he does this, he has compassion on the man. Compassion is that great word that means the man’s guts were moved to help the half-dead man on the road.

Like any good physician, the Samaritan has many remedies at his disposal. He pours on oil to soothe his hurts, and he pours in wine to cleanse the wound. The Samaritan even lifts him up onto his own animal and brings him to an inn. While they are at the inn, the Samaritan says to the innkeeper, take care of him, and whatever more the cost is, I will pay for it.

Now what is the point of this parable that our Lord tells the young lawyer? There are two points, a Law point and most importantly a Gospel point.

The Law point is simple. Your neighbor is everyone with whom you come in contact. To act as a neighbor to someone is to think of what is best for them, not for you. Did this Samaritan expect to get repaid? No. Did he have any reason to help the man? No. The only reason was compassion. That’s it. In our dealing with one another, whether we are talking about family, friends, classmates, colleagues at work, or someone off the street, we operate with the presumption of tit-for-tat. If I help them, then they will help me someday. Or they helped me once, so now it’s my turn to pay them back. That is the way of the world, but that is not God’s way. God does not look to receive anything in return for His love and compassion. We don’t work that way. We look at skin, money, friends, social status, and a thousand other things when it comes to who we help and who we don’t. Thank God that He doesn’t work like us.

The Gospel point is also simple. God loves you. He loves you not because you try hard, because you have a good family or haven’t gotten into too much trouble lately. No, God loves you because that’s who He is. He has compassion on you. You are that man lying in the road. You are dead in trespasses and sins, helpless apart from the mercy of God. But God does have mercy on you. He pours in the oil and win of His holy sacraments. He sets you on His Word, and by that Word He carries you to the inn, His Church, where you are fed and nourished back to life. This is what God does in Jesus Christ, because this is who He is.

The lawyer asked the question at the beginning, what must I do to inherit eternal life? The answer is that you be perfect, act as neighbor to one and all, and show compassion where no one else would. But you can’t do it. However, God is merciful, and sent His Son to do what you could not. He is the merciful one, who is neighbor to you, but much more than simply a neighbor. He is the one who will bring you to the eternal mansions in heaven, where there is no more sorrow or pain, only eternal friendship and love in Him. Believe it for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in true faith, unto life everlasting. Amen.