Body

"Show and Tell"

(Luke 17:11-19)

Rev. Billy D. Strayhorn

INTRODUCTION:

In an old peanuts, Charlie Brown, Linus, and Lucy are on their way to school. Lucy asks Linus if he remembered to bring something for show-and-tell that day.

Linus answers, "Yes, I have a couple of things to show the class." He then unfolds some papers. "These are copies I've been making of some of the Dead Sea scrolls." Holding them up for Charlie Brown and Lucy to inspect, he continues. "This is a duplicate of the scroll of Isaiah, chapters 38-40. It was made from 17 pieces of sheep skin and was found in a cave by a Bedouin shepherd."

Pulling out another piece of paper he says, "Here I have made a copy of the earliest known fragment ever found. It's a portion of I Samuel 23:9-16. I'll try to explain to the class how these manuscripts have influenced modern scholarship."

Lucy responds, "Very interesting, Linus." Then she turns to Charlie Brown, who is very frustrated, and asks, "Are you bringing something for show and tell, Charlie Brown?"

A now dejected Charlie Brown says, "Well, I had a little red fire engine here but I think I'll just forget it." (1)

Do you remember "Show and Tell Time" in school? Did they have that where you went to school? The whole idea was to bring something from home to show to the class and tell about it. I know I participated like all the other kids. I seem to remember it being every Friday but I don't remember anything that I ever brought to "Show and Tell". And I really don't remember very many of the things other kids brought, either. As a matter of fact I can only remember two.

The first was a rock. One of the other boys in the class brought a rock. I don't remember why. I don't remember where it was from or what purpose it served or why it was so important to him. All I remember is that one of the boys in the class brought a rock.

The other was a little more exciting. One of the girls in the class brought her pet to "Show and Tell". It was a white and black rat. And if that wasn't exciting enough, the thing I remember about the rat is that while she was holding it and petting it and telling us all about it, it got away. I remember more about the commotion that rat caused than anything at all about the rat itself.

I. THE LEPERS:

Here in this passage from Luke, we have another sort of show and tell. The passage tells us that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem and just outside of the region of Samaria. Both of those are significant in the importance of this passage. Jesus wasn't on his way to Jerusalem just for another visit. Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem for a very specific reason. He knew what awaited him there and it wasn't the welcome wagon. Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem to take up the cross.

On the way to his destiny Jesus encountered these ten sons of sorrow; these ten men with leprosy. For some strange reason, this brotherhood of pain, this outcast grunge band strikes a chord with Jesus. Jesus was moved by the harmony of the plea: "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us?" Only the Disciples called him Master. And these men didn't cry out for healing. They asked for "mercy". Their song of suffering pierced Jesus' heart.

And it wasn't just the hearing. Luke very pointedly reports, "When he saw them . . ." Do you know what they looked like? Leviticus 13:45-46 gives a pretty good description. Listen:

"The person who has the leprous disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head be disheveled; and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, "Unclean, unclean." He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease; he is unclean. He shall live alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp." (NRSV)

That's what everybody else saw. But "When Jesus saw them" He saw something else. He saw these ten men as a legion of loneliness. "And Jesus said to them, 'Go and show yourselves to the priests.'" And while they were going, while they were on their way, Jesus showed the greatest act of mercy possible. These ten men who probably wouldn't have had anything to do with each other in polite society were healed. All because Jesus spoke it.

II. ONLY ONE CAME BACK?:

A. Now here's the strange part. We expect the healing. But Jesus has the same response that we have when only one of the 10 comes back. I don't think Jesus was really expecting a big show of gratitude. That's not why Jesus did the things Jesus did. What surprised him though was that only ONE of the ten came back. And he was a Samaritan.

If you remember, to the Jew, Samaritans were outcasts. They had their own Torah, the first five books of the Bible and they said it was older than the Jewish Torah. And they worshipped not only God but the gods of their ancestors in their own Temple which they had built on Mt. Gerizim.

Within this band of lepers, the Samaritan was an outcast among outcasts. Yet he's the one who came back and gave thanks. What happened to the other nine? It even bumfuzzled Jesus.

B. We can only speculate. I want to be lenient. Maybe there was a good reason. According to one source, the whole process with the priest, the ritual of cleansing and healing that each man would have to go through, took over a week. (2) Maybe they wanted to get it started as soon as possible. Like us squeezing the last minute of sleep out of the short night and hitting the floor running without taking time to begin the day in prayer or simply giving thanks for life and health and rest.

Maybe one of them just didn't know how to say thanks. Some people are like that. They grow up and get their education in the school of hard knocks. They work hard for everything they ever have. No one ever gives them anything. As a consequence they never learn to say thank you. Maybe one of these men was like that.

Maybe one of them was just so excited to be healed and so excited about being able to hold his wife and children again. the knowledge of being able to touch and be touched again. It was almost like Christmas. To be able to put on new clothes. To take a bath and comb his hair. The joy and excitement of simply being normal again, just pushed all thoughts of giving thanks right out of his head.

Maybe one of them just put it off until later. Like the others he was excited and wanted to start the process. He ran to show and tell the priest with every intention of coming back. He was just like us putting off writing that note to a friend. Or making a phone call and thanking someone for their kindness. He intended to do, he just put it off for a little while.

Whatever the case, it was only the Samaritan man who came back to say thank you. And when he did, he was healed at a deeper level. The Message puts Luke 17:19 this way: "Then Jesus said to him, 'Get up. On your way. Your faith has healed and saved you.'" The other nine experienced physical healing, but this Samaritan received healing and salvation. The other nine were reconnected with life and their families. This Samaritan was reconnected with the Author and Giver of life and assured of his eternal place in God's family, through the Grace and Mercy of Christ.

III. SO WHAT?:

A. You may be saying to yourself, "Well, so what?" And that would actually be a very good question. It's a question we should ask of all Scripture. It's a question we should ask of our faith. So what? What does this have to do with my faith? What does this have to do with my daily walk with Christ?

I think this passage has two very distinct implications for us as Christians.

First, it's a passage about giving thanks. It's a passage about taking time to say "Thank you," to God. It's a passage about putting time with God as a top priority.

Giving thanks is important. It reminds us of the created order. God is in control, not us. We have to do our part but it is God who has made all that we have and all that we are possible. Giving thanks keeps our perspective on God and not us. It's easy to turn that view of life around. That's the biggest temptation of life, looking only through our eyes and defining everything by our wants and desires. Giving thanks helps us stay focused on looking through God's eyes and seeing what God desires.

Giving thanks is a powerful way of experiencing God's love. You've heard the old saying to count your blessings, well that's not a bad idea. Sometimes we just need to sit down and begin listing all of the good things in our life. I mean that literally, write out all of those things and persons and activities that make life easier, more loving, more meaningful, more fun; that make life worth living. Write them out and then spend time giving thanks for each one of them and feel the love.

Giving thanks is also a powerful way of expressing OUR love for God. We're not called to prostrate ourselves at God's feet like the Samaritan with leprosy did. But we are called to have the same thankful spirit of love which he had. Taking time to give thanks is a wonderful to express that love.

B. Secondly, this is also a passage about humility and faith and God's great mercy. With the knowledge of that mercy, we are given the same command as these ten sons of sorrow who shared a brotherhood of pain. It's the command to "Show and tell".

Jesus told these men to go and show the priests what had been done for them. We are called to do the same. We're called to show and tell others what God through Christ has done for us. We're called to show and tell the Good News of new life and salvation. That doesn't mean you have to be a street corner evangelist, or go door to door passing out tracts or wear a sandwich board with John 3:16 written out on it or even put the little fish symbol on your vehicle. All it means is that you should live the faith and not be ashamed or afraid to talk about it with others.

CONCLUSION:

Ten men cried out for mercy that day. And Ten men were healed. But only one came back to say, "Thank you, Sir, for making me whole." We're called to be like the Samaritan with leprosy, we're called to give thanks and to "Show and Tell". Our challenge is to not be like the nine. But to be like the one.

This is the Word of the Lord for this day.

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Bibliography

1. King's Treasury of Illustrations, Disk Version, Loser.

2. Aida Bensançon Spencer, Lectionary Homiletics, Volume IX, Number 11, October 1998, (Lectionary Homiletics, Inc. Midlotian, VA) p. 11.

Other References Consulted

Dynamic Preaching, October/November/December 1998 Vol XIII, No. 4. (Seven Worlds Publishing, Knoxville, TN)

Preaching Magazine, July/August 1998, Vlume 14, Number 1. (Preaching Resources, Jackson, TN)

The Clergy Journal, July:1998, Volume LXXIV, Number 8. (Logos Productions, Inc., Inver Grove Heights, MN)

Emphasis, September-October 1998, volume 28, Number 3. (CSS Publishing, Lima, OH)

Homiletics, September/October 1998, Volume 10, Number 5. (Communications Resources, Inc., Canton, OH)