Thankful for What?

 

Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. (St. Luke 17:17-18)

 

 

          I suppose I was hooked at an early age, but I’ve become something of a fireworks-show connoisseur. The colors, of course, entrance me with all of their variety; but in recent years I’ve grown to appreciate the arrangement of a fireworks display. Who can’t tip his hat to a well-timed fireworks show that begins strong, builds to a crescendo and has a fitting conclusion?

          Fireworks displays are just plain fun. They’re considerably more fun than watching the “orange-glow” wall furnace in my study. My furnace is fiery, so to speak, but it sure isn’t flashy.

When it comes to a chilly night, though, I can assure you I’ll pick consistent over flashy any day. Fireworks might be enjoyable, but they can’t keep me warm!

 

          Our lesson tonight is really a contrast – and a disturbing one at that – of two kinds of responses to Jesus. Two kinds of faith, if you will: “firecracker ‘faith’” and “furnace faith.” And only the latter is true, saving faith through which Jesus imparts eternal life.

          Jesus was traveling to Jerusalem, traversing the border between Samaria and Galilee. (Most likely, scholars tell us, he didn’t venture directly through Samaria because he as a Jew would have faced a hostile reception from the Samaritans, whose bloodlines were mixed). As he came to a village, 10 lepers met him from a distance (as the Levitical law required) and, almost as if they had rehearsed the scene, cried out to Jesus in unison for help.

          Notice how “churchy” they appeared: they met Jesus, clearly believing to some extent that he had the power to heal them. They cried to him – they wanted to be sure he heard them. They referred to him as “Master,” the same term of respect with which the disciples addressed Jesus in Luke’s gospel. They begged for his mercy (whatever that request might have entailed). When he told them to show themselves to the priests, they obeyed him and were cleansed of their leprosy.

          Firecrackers.

         

          One of them – the Greek highlights the solitary actions of this one Samaritan – returned to Jesus. Only one. He returned and gave thanks to Jesus. That’s nice, but who wouldn’t? More important, we’re told twice in this passage, was that he glorified God.

          This is “furnace faith.”

          He wasn’t the most-likely candidate for true, saving faith in Jesus. The man was a mixed-breed, a Samaritan; and while he had some legitimate claim to an Israelite heritage, he was considered a religious outcast by those Jews across the border. Even Jesus observed the unlikely reverence of this Samaritan by referring to him as a “foreigner.” Foreigner though he was, this healed leper was something more special: he was forgiven of his sins and made whole by Jesus.

          “Your faith has made you whole,” the Lord pronounced to this Samaritan. Not just happier or healthier, but whole: set right with God forever. You see, this man didn’t just view Jesus as a powerful person who could help him in a bind. He saw Jesus as the Son of God, the Savior of sinners, who could deliver him from his ultimate problem: his sin, which made him liable to Hell. This Samaritan knew that he deserved something far worse than leprosy, and that Jesus had given him something far greater than healing.

 

          Scary, isn’t it?

          Living here in Greene County, you and I see a lot of “firecracker faith,” which is nothing more than the fear and trembling of the demons before Jesus. It wouldn’t be hard to find nine homes tomorrow in which people will talk about Jesus, even call him “Lord,” even try to behave in a certain manner, even attend church – but they don’t really know Jesus as Savior. They think he’s powerful, but they’re not concerned about their true problem, sin, and about Christ’s ability to save them from Hell. And as soon as Jesus doesn’t deliver them from their bind, they’ll no longer be thankful.

          Yet by God’s grace, we also meet the one person who sees forgiveness in Jesus as incomparably greater than a bountiful table or healing from staph infection or that surprise $500 check that’s going to get him through the holidays.

         

Firecrackers dazzle you and me. They look so fiery, so awesome. They look like the real deal.

          Then they fizzle – and show themselves to be false fires.

          What about your Thanksgiving? For what, or for whom, are you thankful? Ask yourself who Jesus is to you, and why you’re ostensibly giving him thanks. This holiday will be a true test of your faith: are you a firecracker or a furnace?