Pentecost 21
“Rise and Go!”
Text: Luke 17:11-19
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
“And Jesus said to him, ‘Rise and go your way; your
faith has saved you.’ ”
Rise and go.
No sweeter words had ever been spoken to this Samaritan leper. He was free.
Cleansed and free from his leprosy.
Forgiven and free from his sin. He was free to go. . . .
How sweet and welcome were those words!
Like a man on trial, when the charges are dismissed, or the verdict of not guilty is announced, and the judge
says, “You are free to go.” He is free
from his captivity. Free from his
fear. Free from his burden. Absolutely free.
Rise and go. We
take that for granted, because we do it everyday. We rise and go to work or school. We rise and go run errands. This morning you arose and came to
church. . . . But lepers couldn’t do that. They couldn’t just up and go wherever they
wanted. They were outcasts. There were rules and restrictions. They couldn’t go too close to other people,
lest they spread their infection. They
couldn’t go to church, to the
And so rise and go – that was a big deal! It meant not only freedom, but a new life.
So when this ten-man leper colony saw Jesus
approaching one day, they call out to Him (from the appropriate distance): “Jesus,
master, mercy us!” They seem to
know who He is. Perhaps they had heard
of His teaching and miracles. Perhaps
they had heard He was a prophet, and they knew the story of Elijah and the
healing of the leprous Naaman. In any
case, they ask for mercy, because they know that here is the one who can
provide such mercy. This is a cry not
just of hope, but of faith. And Jesus
does not disappoint. “Go
and show yourselves to the priests” at first sounds like a
brush-off. As if Jesus is saying, “They are the ones who can declare
you clean; not me. Go show yourselves to
them.” But there was something
more. Because they weren’t clean. He knew
it. They knew it. And so if Jesus is directing them to go and
show themselves . . . So at His Word and
command, they go. What’s going to
happen, how, when? They don’t know. But faith hears the Word, and trusts. Mercy doesn’t always come as we expect it!
So they begin on their way, and they don’t get very
far (it seems) before they are cleansed.
And when the one leper sees and realizes what has happened to him, he
begins yelling and screaming, with a loud voice praising God, and he runs back
to Jesus and falls on his face at His feet.
Giving thanks, yes, but not only that. He prostrates himself, for this is the
posture of worship. His praising God and
giving thanks to Jesus are really not two separate acts, but one. For here is God in the flesh. God, whose Word does
what it says. God, who
gives mercy, even to Samaritans like him.
The other nine, we’re not told what they did. Perhaps they ran too, to the
Rise and go. He finally could. He was free.
He had been given a new life.
You know, lots of people today ask God for all kinds
of things. For mercy,
for physical healing, and lots more.
And like with these ten lepers, God gives many of these things for which
we ask! He showers blessings on
believers and unbelievers alike. “Clothing and shoes, food and drink, house
and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all that I have. He daily and richly provides me with all that
I need to support this body and life.” (Small
Catechism, explanation of the First Article) And He wants
to! He wants to give. It’s who God is, and what He does. And He doesn’t begrudge us and seek to take
back from us when we, like the nine lepers, do not return to give Him
thanks. They were healed and I’m sure
they stayed healed. And we receive much
even though we too often forget to give thanks.
But the physical blessings are not the main point
here. And when Jesus asks, “Where
are the nine?” it is not because He wants the thanks that He has coming, and He’s angry that He’s not getting it! No, He’s really sad. For
He wants to give more than just physical healing. He wants to give them forgiveness, life, and
salvation. He wants to set them free
from all their bondage – including their bondage to sin, Satan, death,
and hell. He wants to keep giving . . . but the nine,
presumably Jews, His own countrymen, don’t return. Only the one, the foreigner, the Samaritan,
comes to receive. It is what will also
happen in
“Rise and go . . . your faith has saved you.” How sad
that only one leper got to hear those incredible words! And yet how wonderful that one leper got to hear those words! Those words spoken from the
lips of God Himself. By God, who
so loved this world of lepers, that He came in the flesh, not only to speak
those words, but to make them true. To make them true by hanging on the cross for the sin of the world,
for the life of the world.
And those are the words that are spoken to you
today. The words of
the greater gift. The gift greater than the things of this world. The gift greater than
physical health and well being. The words of eternal life.
And so we lepers of sin have once again gathered in our colony here that
we call St. Athanasius. And we cry the
prayer of faith, “Jesus, master, mercy us!”
We are unclean. We are filled
with sin. The sins of
deeds done and left undone; of evil thoughts, impure desires, and hurtful and
angry words. We have not loved
God with our whole heart. We have not
loved our neighbors as ourselves. We’re
dying in our sins.
But Jesus is here.
For He has promised to be here. “Wherever two or three are gathered in my name,
there am I in the midst of them.” (Mt
18:20) He is here in the flesh. And He is here for us. He doesn’t stay afar off, but comes to us
right here. For He is
the God of the unclean, the Saviour of the sinner, the cleanser of lepers. And here, in heart and mind, we fall on our
faces at His feet. At
His cross. At
His altar. We fall before Him in
repentance and worship – not two separate acts, but one and the same. And from Him we hear those same wonderful
words of release: “I forgive you all your
sins. . . . Take eat; take drink. This is my body, this
is my blood. Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins.” “Rise and go, your faith has saved you.”
And do you see?
We’re free! His Word does what it
says! We are forgiven. We are free to go. Free to go and live, not fearing punishment,
not fearing our sins, not fearing our failures, not fearing the accusations of
Satan – but confident that I have been released from my sin, from my bondage,
from my burden, and free to live (like Ruth) where God has put me. As a father, mother, son,
daughter, husband, wife, worker, friend, or neighbor. I need not worry, I
don’t have to look over my shoulder! I
can’t go back to the old life. I have
been set free. Rise and go, He
said. So I will rise and go. And live.
His Word does what it says.
For, in fact, this is what Jesus Himself did. He rose to life. This is why He was on His way to
Rise and go. Perhaps we take that for granted. We hear it every week. We receive Holy Communion every week. We hear it in God’s Word every day. But remember who you are, O fellow
lepers! Remember who you are without God
and His Word. Remember the misery you
would still be in if Christ had not set you free. Remember that apart from Him, you could not
rise and go. But your Saviour has
come to you, and had mercy on you. He is
here for you, just a real as that day on the border of
In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen.
Now the peace of God which passes all understanding,
keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.