October 13, 2022

In last Sunday’s Gospel reading, Luke 17:11-19, Jesus heals ten people with leprosy. He makes them well – cured of their illness even as they simply walk toward the priests and follow the Word that Christ speaks to them.

And then one, but only one, of the ten, turns back toward Christ and offers thanks to God in Christ for this work for this opportunity for wholeness. In doing so, Jesus proclaims that the man’s faith has made him well.

In Sunday’s I shared about the ways God is at work in the border spaces and among people who are different from us yet, like us, find themselves in the in-between times and spaces and on the borders of what was and what will be and how Christ comes alongside us all to bring healing and wholeness.

Today, I’d like to ask us to reflect on another truth of this gospel encounter: the power of turning to Christ in worship, praise, and thanksgiving.

You see, Jesus cures the man of his illness, but it is in his faithful response of both doing what Jesus instructed and turning to Christ in gratitude, praise, and worship that Jesus proclaims the man is made well. And that the Samaritan man’s faith, his trust in the Lord, played a crucial role in that wellness and wholeness. 

God’s grace comes to us freely. 
God’s Living Word – Jesus Christ – speaks to us and shows us the way.
That powerful address of God’s Living Word makes us new and turns us again toward Christ. When we trust that Word, when we remember that our being made new and being set free from what ails us is not our own doing but comes as a free gift from God through Christ. When we let that powerful word of grace turn us toward Christ then we are made well – put into right relationship with God, self, neighbor, and all creation.

How might you turn and return to Christ in praise, prayer, and worship this week?
Will we dare to trust in the free gift of grace in Christ?

The gift will be given no matter what we do, but the invitation stands to be made new. To experience the steadfast love of God and life abundant and everlasting in Christ.

Grace & Peace,
Pastor Drew