Outcast Faith

0:00 Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! The Holy Gospel according to St. Luke, 17th chapter. Glory to you, O Lord. Jesus' mission includes making people clean again. Unexpectedly, a Samaritan healed of leprosy becomes a model for those who would praise and worship God and give thanks for God's mercy. The scripture says, On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten men with a skin disease approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.

0:47 When he saw them, he said to them, Go and show yourselves to the priest. As they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, Praising God with a loud voice, he prostrated himself at Jesus' feet and thanked Jesus. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, Were not ten made clean? So where are the other nine? Did none of them return to give glory to God except this foreigner? Then he said to him, Get up, go on your way.

1:18 Your faith has made you well. The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Christ. Allow me to pray. Good and gracious God, may the words of my mouth and the meditations upon all our hearts be acceptable to you, our Lord and our Savior. Amen. You may be seated. Rhonda, thank you so much for that wonderful song. Perfect. You too. You did a great job. Yes. Good selection. Well, so this morning, we'll start off with a little bit of a brief story and joke. It's about a brilliant physicist and a janitor.

2:00 One day, a professor of quantum physics was struggling with an impossible complex equation. For months, this physicist toiled away. He was covering whiteboards all over, but something was just missing. And this whole department of brilliant minds, they were also stumped. They couldn't help. Finally, one night, he sees the late-night janitor, a quiet man named Frank, and he's wiping down other whiteboards. And the physicist says to Frank, Frank, we can't figure it out. This equation for a unified theory of everything is missing a key component. Frank paused, looked at the board, and he said, did you remember to carry the one?

2:43 The professor stared. He runs back. He looks it over. He sees a single forgotten digit. And in that moment, everything snapped into place. Friends, this joke is a reminder that perhaps the least likely person could be more important to understanding something than we think. So, friends, today, here's what I'd like us to consider. Perhaps this Samaritan leper, who is an outcast, perhaps they, this outcast, can teach us something about faith, about true faith. That's why I've titled this Outcast Faith. So, to begin, we're going to look a little bit about the verses 11, 12, and kind of seeing what Luke is describing as he's touching on things.

3:29 He's sort of subtle to begin, but then it kind of comes on thick. And I'll touch this first. In verse 11, Jesus decides to scroll through the region in between Samaria and Galilee. And that's a really interesting choice of directions that he decides to go. But if you're not familiar and you've not heard this story before, there's some context and cultural things that we need to be mindful of. The Samaritans were a group to the Jewish people of Jesus' day that they were not looked at kindly.

4:00 The Samaritans were different. They were viewed as a corruption in many ways, but two stand out. The first is matters of bloodline. Samaritans were Jewish, but they continue to marry outside of the Jewish bloodline. And then second, there was the matter of worship. Samaritans and Jewish people viewed the temple worship differently, specifically where true worship would be done. The Jewish folks felt there was the temple in Jerusalem is where God was. And then in Samaritans, they felt it was the temple in Gerizim in Samaritan territory where true worship was to be had.

4:41 And if you're familiar with Jesus, with the woman at the well, there's a discussion in John chapter four about this exact thing. For the sake of time, suffice it to say that Jesus is a Jewish man. He's a holy man at that. And he's pushing the cultural envelope by walking in this region. And then Luke notes it in verse 11, because he amps it up to say, not only is he walking in this territory, he's also around lepers. And you would not want to be around either of those in the Samaritan territory and around lepers.

5:17 It's Jesus sort of doubling things down. Are you with me? Now, to bring this closer to home, I'm going to try to attempt to offend everyone in this room. Are you ready? Yeah. Okay. First of all, you and I, we are all lepers in some way. We represent a Samaritan leper to probably someone. To someone in our culture, in our society, for views of politics, of theology, of church views, maybe even food, we are a Samaritan leper to some. In return, we probably distance ourselves from people that we can't stand their views on things like social views, political views, views of sexuality, views on the church, and other things.

6:12 So, I'm going to use some humor to hopefully continue the offense. Do you all remember Jeff Foxworthy? He had that show. Can you? Yeah. I love him. Yeah. Okay. Well, he had a whole bit about, you might be a redneck if. Okay. Well, to make my point, I'm going to amend that. You might be someone's Samaritan leper if, okay? And we'll figure it out here. So, you might be someone's Samaritan leper if you can't stand to hear or see when Fox News is on. You might be someone's Samaritan leper if you believe CNN is fake news.

6:55 You might be someone's Samaritan leper if you believe the Astros didn't cheat in 2019. You might be someone's Samaritan leper if you can't stand it when someone calls it global warming instead of climate change. You might be someone's Samaritan leper if you believe in pro-choice. You might be someone's Samaritan leper if you're a Raiders fan. Raiders fans. Raiders fans. You might be someone's Samaritan leper if you believe women can be ministers. You might be someone's Samaritan leper if you wear a MAGA hat. You might be someone's Samaritan leper if you vote Democrat.

7:51 And finally, you might be someone's Samaritan leper if you're preaching today. Oh, enough of that. But you might be thinking, okay, wait a minute. That's a little bit much. That's, that's, it might be funny, but too far, Pastor. Okay. Well, I just bring this up because I think we have to wonder, do you have friends who might be like that? How many of those people do you talk with regularly and hopefully peacefully? How close are you with these Samaritan lepers of our world today? The sermon will make no sense if we don't take the time to think and attach that Samaritan leper to someone in your family, a co-worker, a person that you see on Facebook, a person that you see at a different church where you live and drive by, the person or this group of people that if you were honest, you wish they were not around.

8:55 And this is because this is because this is what Jesus is doing. He's going into a place where it was not just, it was offensive to be in those places and around those types of people. But Jesus apparently had a plan with that. And that's the power of the story is that Jesus is saying those people, that leper who's outside, they don't have to be distant anymore since Jesus is around. And now I don't really want to talk about these types of things, but again, Jesus is driving a point here with what he's doing and how, where he is.

9:34 Because in Jesus's day, the Samaritan, to the view of most Jewish people of that day, that they were wrong, that they were inbred or they were corrupted. They were worshiping wrong. They had a wrong view of God and they were dangerous to the religious, the social and the political goals of those groups of people in that time period. They believed, as we probably do in our own way, if those lepers, if those Samaritans came over here, they would infect us with their views. So a leper is one thing, but a Samaritan leper is, again, Jesus going the extra mile to show us that he's a real boundary breaker.

10:17 And I take this as Jesus pointing out to each of us that whatever side of the aisle you might be on, he has come for all people. Are you with me? Well, Jesus is showing us that this outcast, this person with much different views, the people that we keep at a distance, they can somehow show us that Jesus, with Jesus, they can give us a wonderful picture about faith. It's very crazy, I know, but let me elaborate in verses 13 and 16. In verses 13, these lepers believe, even from a distance, that Jesus has the power to do something for them.

10:57 They've heard the stories about this Jesus. And it's so interesting. And look at how the lepers, they call out to Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. They believe he has the power and the authority to heal. And I love Jesus' sort of posture in this. He's just strolling casually, and he hears the request, and he nonchalantly says, just go, see the priest. And on the way, they are healed. And the point I want to make here is this. These dirty, disgusting lepers, insert your common day analog here, they come to Jesus and get healed.

11:42 And what does this healed leper do? Immediately, the one turns back, rushes to Jesus. He's exuberant. He's yelling. This is a lottery ticket moment. If your people play the lottery, they play those numbers all the time. And all of a sudden, they look at their ticket, they look at the screen, they go, what? No way. And they've won. It would be silly for them not to just jump in joy and just hug random people. Or for folks with hospital issues, health issues. You were told you had six months to live.

12:13 The doctor comes back in the room a few months later and says, you know what? The cancer's gone. We don't know how, but it's gone. It would be a joke if you just said, well, I guess that's good news then. No, you'd go nuts. You'd go all out. You'd hug people. You'd probably kiss the doctor. Who knows what you'd do? So our leper shows us what it's like to go all out. He falls at Jesus' feet. And at the end of verse 16, Luke again points it out.

12:44 If you didn't realize, this is a Samaritan healed leper. And again, we learn from this outcast that somehow faith and praise are connected, no matter your background. And the best response is a true expression, an uninhibited expression of love and thanksgiving. A recognition that when you're healed by Jesus, who cares who's looking? Who cares who is hearing it? You're focused on him. So some questions for you as you think about this. When was the last time you came to worship and you just went all out?

13:26 When was the last time you cried in recognition over the immense power and love and grace and mercy that Jesus has shown to you? Friends, I start off with saying we're all lepers. And this might be a reason you're not filled with exuberance. Maybe you're like the leper who's believed they're just far away from God or society. Maybe you're a leper who's self-exiled with your views, whether they be conservative or liberal or whatever they might be. Are you, with your views, keeping yourself away from Jesus as an outcast?

14:10 Think of it, picture in your mind, you're looking, you're seeing Jesus walking through the parking lot. Is what's keeping you from looking at Jesus, yelling to him, pursuing him? Do you want to be healed and set free? But you just keep your distance for some reason. Recall that Jesus is walking by. And again, they cried out the lepers to get his attention. Is today the day that Jesus is walking by for you? And are you willing to cry out from that distance place? If so, don't let me stop you.

14:48 Run to him in prayer. Run to him in the songs that we're going to sing. I asked Eliud to choose Amazing Grace when we get to sing. I think it's a great song that really brings a lot of emotion and reminder of how we are in need of such grace. So hopefully you'll do that then. But I'll give you an example. My own self. Jesus. Yeah, you, Jesus. I need you. I need you. Give me what I need. Or maybe this person in your mind, the Samaritan, maybe it's a Democrat leper.

15:22 If they were healed, what would their response look like? From their views, from their perspective, what would they look like to give God thanks? Or if it's the reverse, it's a Samaritan maga leper. Imagining that, what does it do to help you see that that person comes and runs to Jesus? Jesus cares that we are going to him and coming to him. Jesus is the Lord and the master. Are you with me? I'm so encouraged by this story because it's a reminder that Jesus looks beyond our earthly barriers, straight into the heart of a person.

16:06 Jesus will work on your views and my views between Jesus and you. Again, Jesus will work with you on you and your views. So I illustrate it to say, Jesus, thank you for being so close to me. Thank you. Jesus, forgive me that I've distanced myself from you or people. Friends, today, I hope you draw close to Jesus and you thank him. You yell to him. Do something that shows him you want to experience the healing. Are you with me? Yes. Well, let's turn to something kind of fascinating as we finish up here.

16:50 Jesus celebrates people who are bold enough to come close and praise God for things. This is what we see in verses 17, 18, and 19. In verse 17, Jesus notes, only one of them came back. And the one who came back was a foreigner. I love that. Jesus points it out. In my opinion, this is Jesus saying to us, the insiders, the believers, look at this outcast. Look at this outsider. Look at how this one is at the feet of the master. The most unlikely one, the ones that we keep distant, look how close they are to the feet of the master.

17:35 Jesus is pointing that out. It's like Jesus saying to you and to me, hey, Christian, where are you? Hey, Bryant, where are you? Friends, it's a call and reminder to us as the insiders. Perhaps we are more of outsiders than we think. And the point I want to share here is how this verse closes the story that Jesus is not just teaching, but he's honoring something about this Samaritan, this Samaritan leper. And there's a key point in how the trust and the faith and the belief that this Samaritan leper showed and the process of being healed and experiencing God.

18:20 And Jesus is pointing this out. He's being honored for this man. This is Samaritan as well. He's applauding that this Samaritan as a great example of faith. Jesus points out that rise, go, your faith has made you well. Jesus wants us to believe that when we take our energy, our crazy belief that if we run to him, something will happen with it. Jesus is pointing out that you do need to put your skin faith into the game. You need to go all in on your bet.

18:58 Just go all in and see what happens and what the payout will be like with Jesus with your deepest desire. So if you stopped and considered perhaps a reason you have not been noticed by Jesus is because you haven't come back and gone nuts with Thanksgiving. Are you more concerned about your group and their views or Jesus and his view? Or maybe you need to be a little more elaborate with your Thanksgiving, whatever that looks like for you. Maybe you need to spend some time saying, I'm going to do a big thank you to Jesus.

19:43 Maybe it'll help. Because if not, in the meantime, you might just still be a foreigner who's still far off. Friends, are you an insider who can learn from this outcast? I think Jesus thinks so. And that's why this Samaritan leper story is here. Who can you learn from that's different than you about Jesus? Well, consider with your views politically, theologically, culturally, socially, whatever they might be. Come to Jesus and approach him. Raise your voice. Get his attention. We can learn a lot about our faith from these people, these outsiders.

20:25 And we can learn a lot that there are lepers all around us, foreigners that we keep at a distance. But Jesus does not. And thank God for that. If you want to grow in your faith, you want a true experience, raise your voice. Thank God extravagantly. This is what the outcast did. And I finish with one final joke with this sermon. You might be a Samaritan leper. And guess what? Jesus loves you. It's the best punchline. Amen. Amen.