So have you heard that one before? Everybody knows the story of the ten lepers. And my gosh, but those nine lepers have suffered a very bad reputation for over 2,000 years. So this morning, I'd like to assume the role of their Defense Attorney: defense attorney for the nine alleged ungrateful lepers.
Take a closer look at their story…
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I ask you to consider the Case of the Ten Lepers - and please don't presume you already know all the facts. For instance, how many of you have always assumed that the ten lepers in question were all - men? Hmm. Indeed, St. Luke, only tells us the gender of one of them, the one who came back to give thanks.
And when these ten lepers approached the Lord and begged him for a cure - what did Jesus tell them? He said, "Go away. Go to the priests.” He sent them away because Jewish law required that a person healed of something must go to a priest for a formal declaration of the cure.
Is it not possible, is it not probable that these nine lepers, after realizing they had been cured, want to see the priests just as Jesus had told them to do and as the law required? Why, then, do we favor the one who didn't do what Jesus said, the one who broke the law?
No evidence has been introduced to the contrary, and so we have no reason to doubt that my clients did indeed go to the priests and returned later to Jesus - to thank him. St. Luke is mute on that point. He offers no evidence.
Now, members of the jury, you may think it unfair of me to apply the norms of contemporary jurisprudence to this ancient case. But I do so because it's my obligation to apply the lesson of this ancient case to contemporary circumstances.
And with that I'll take off my defense attorney hat and put on my preacher hat again!
Today's gospel is so important for us to hear, to consider, because we live in a culture where we seem never satisfied with what we have. We always want more.
We want what's bigger and better. We want what's newer and sleeker. We want what's easier and faster. We want what's sexier and more expensive.
And the more we find ourselves feeling incomplete, unsatisfied, deficient, unfulfilled, wanting and disappointed - the less likely it is that we will be moved to a sense of indebtedness, obligation, gratitude, depreciation, acknowledgment, and thanksgiving.
Perhaps as a way of getting at this, I might ask myself, “When I pray, do I spend more time thanking God for all that I have, for all I've had, for all the gifts and blessings I know and have known in my life? OR… do I spend more time asking God for what I need, for what I want, for what I desire?
You know, of all the things the Lord might say to me when I come to the end of my life, the thing I fear him saying the most would be this: “Oh, Austin, you took so much for granted…”
I fear that - because I know it's true… I do. I take too much for granted… And taking something for granted is the exact opposite of being grateful.
I think that's why I enjoy being the defense attorney for the Nine Lepers - because I'm one of them - many times.
Too often far, too often I take my life for granted. I take my happiness for granted. I take my personal liberty for granted. I take for granted the home I live in, the clothes I wear, the food I eat, the safety of the community in which I live.
I take God for granted! I take my faith for granted. I take my freedom to worship here this morning for granted. I take God's love for granted. And most dangerously -- I take God's mercy for granted…
Taking my life and my gifts and blessings for granted is the exact opposite of being faith grateful for all I've been given and all I have.
I need to be less concerned about where those nine lepers went and what they did - and more concerned about where I'm going and how along the way I give thanks to God for all God has given me.
I need to develop the practice of having an attitude of gratitude.
I need to develop that habit of examining my life, consciously examining my life for the signs of God's grace, the signs that slip by me - because I take them for granted.
I need to learn to count my blessings before complaining about my burdens.
I need to remind myself often that all good gifts come from God: not from my ingenuity or creativity, not from my hard work, not from my planning, not from my sweat, not from my invention.
No… All good gifts in my life - and in yours - come from God, to whom we owe a debt of gratitude.
Let me share with you something I've been doing recently that's been very helpful in this regard. Back in August, I read that in war-torn Ukraine. every morning, at 9 a.m., everybody stops what they're doing, whatever they're doing, wherever they are - to observe a moment of silence: to pray for peace, and to remember those who have died in the war.
The whole nation stops. Traffic stops. People get out of their cars in the street. People at home, at work, at school – everyone - stops what they're doing for a moment of time of silence.
When I read that, I said, “I'd like to I'd like to join the Ukrainians in this. I'd like to be in solidarity with them.” But when it's 9 o’clock in the morning in the Ukraine, it's 2:00 in the morning here! So here's what I do. I set an alarm on my phone for 3 p.m. every day. So every afternoon, my phone rings, and I'm reminded to spend a moment in silence in solidarity with the people of Ukraine.
But here's the added bonus I've discovered. My phone rings wherever I am, whatever I'm doing. And it never fails to make me gratefully aware of the freedom in which I live, of the safety of the community in which I live, of the small and great blessings I easily take for granted.
Very often, my phone rings at 3 o'clock while I'm sitting at Starbucks, with a small black Pike and a croissant - with my laptop, writing… And in the comfort of that situation, I need to stop and remember the people of Ukraine. And, oh, my God, it makes me grateful.
Perhaps you might choose a time to set your phone or an alarm clock, to remind you to stop and simply be grateful once a day, for a minute, for all you've have. for all you’ve had, for all the gifts and blessings in your life.
Every Sunday, like the ten lepers in this gospel story, we come to the temple and present ourselves to our high priest, Jesus. Jesus who gives us again the gift of his life in the bread and cup of Communion, that we might be healed of all our sins, saved by faith, and draw closer to Jesus, the giver of all good gifts.
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