St. Paul’s Sermon 2004

The Nineteenth Sunday of Pentecost - October 10, 2004

Lessons: 2 Kings 5:1-3, 7-15; 2 Tim. 2:8-15; Luke 17:11-19

“Covenant, Healing, Chesed and Grace”

I) Leprosy in the New Testament

The story of the Ten Lepers is a remarkable story. Jesus is up in Northern Israel, not far from where he grew up. He’s in the border region between Galilee and Samaria. The Jews and Samaritans hated each other. It was an area of conflict then, as it is today. In these border lands, both the Jews of Galilee and the Samaritans had driven the poor lepers.

Leprosy was a disease which was greatly feared in that day. It was considered very contagious and those who contracted it were forced to leave their families, their homes, their work, their villages, and live out away from everyone else. They probably lived in shanty communities outside of the villages, away from the towns, perhaps subsisting on the meager garbage thrown out. With their sickened bodies, with no support from anyone but other sick lepers, it was a pitiful life.

People like you and me, who one day developed this strange disease, and immediately they were driven away from all they had and sent out as the living dead. They could probably see their own homes; they could see their families from a distance, but their families were cut off.

II) Calling Upon Chesed

Now do we understand how desperate these lepers were? They cried out to Jesus, (Luke 17:13) "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" If we pick that sentence apart, word-for-word, I think it’s going to surprise us. It literally says, “Jesus, Lord, have mercy on us!” In Greek, that phrase became the basis for the liturgical prayer prayed in Christian churches for 2,000 years- “Lord, have mercy on us!”

But let’s go deeper. They say, “Jesus” then they equate that with “Lord”- something a devout Jew would not do- because “Lord” is a title they reserved for their God, and used it in place of his name, YAHWEH. Are they recognizing his Divinity- that he was God? Nobody else in Luke’s gospel has gotten that right yet, except Peter, once.

Let’s look at the next words- “have mercy on us.” Mercy in our language means something like “pity,” but that’s not what this word means, and it’s a very, very poor translation in English. These are word repeated over and over again in the OT. YAHWEH was the one who showed this word “mercy.” That’s the main Greek word the writers of the Old Testament used to translate the Hebrew word “Chesed.”

Chesed is the most powerful word in the OT, after the name of YAHWEH himself. It is translated in various English translations as “lovingkindness” or “steadfast love.” If you go through the OT with a Hebrew concordance, you find it over and over again. It’s not consistently translated in English. It describes the love God has for his people- sometimes its translated as “love” or even “grace.” It describes our love for God. It also describes the love and responsibility of people who are in covenant relationship to each other. The best translation I can see for chesed is “covenant love.” It is a powerful word that underlies New Testament words like God’s grace and love for us, as well as our love for God, love for each other and our trust in God. All of those ideas are caught up in the one single word, “chesed.” And that’s the word the lepers are shouting at Jesus: Jesus, YAHWEH, remember your covenant love.”

Jesus tells them to go show themselves to the priests, be inspected for healing, and they were healed as they went. BUT- one returned to thank him. He had called out to Jesus to remember his covenant love; now, this one man was remembering his covenant love. He returned to thank Jesus. Jesus said that his faith- his expression of covenant love had made him whole- his covenant relationship with God was proven to be made whole- because he returned to give thanks.

That’s our story. It’s a powerful story. It’s a story of “Covenant, Healing, Chesed and Grace”

III) Covenant Grace Compels Us

Now, if we leave it at that, we’ve had a nice Bible study, and you’ve had a review of an important Hebrew vocabulary word. It will give you a bit more knowledge next time you hear the word “steadfast love” or “mercy.” But is that it?

Where are you in that story? Can you relate to people who have lost everything, to become a living memory, only to be restored, hope against all hope? Can you allow yourself to feel, for just a second, the elation, the rush of joy of those who had just been given their lives back by a word of Jesus? These people, even more than Lazarus had been raised from the dead. They were the living dead.

Yet, hope against hope, they prayed, “YAHWEH, Jesus, remember your covenant love!” And one was made fully whole when he, the least likely, a Samaritan returned to Jesus. He was made truly whole. He returned the covenant love. Covenant love is shaped like a “U”- it is given to us and we return it back to God and to others.

It’s a story about responding to God in faith. It’s a story about gratefulness. And for 2,000 years its been seen as a story about our response of thankfulness to God.

For 16 years we’ve talked very, very little about stewardship at St. Paul’s. We’ve had no pledging. We’ve sent you letters a few times a year to let everyone know what our financial picture is. About once a year in a sermon I’ve thanked you for your faithfulness. Your leaders have been very, very careful not to burden the tender consciences of some who are giving at a sacrificial rate we worry about. We have asked you to pray and ask God to lead you as to how you might be involved in supporting your church. And you have always been faithful.

At the same time, we have not given you enough Scriptural teaching about God’s promises. We’ve not been teaching those who are new to the faith about the goodness and faithfulness of God. This needs to be taught in every generation. We need to hear God’s promises. A couple weeks ago I mentioned that I believe that God calls us to respond to him in giving, so that as he blesses us, returning our gifts to us as blessings, we learn of his nature.

It’s interesting that throughout the OT God always called upon his people to return to him their “first fruits.”At every harvest, before the farmers knew how the rest of the crop would turn out, they were to bring the first fruits as an offering. Not just any percentage, but their first fruits- even though they didn’t know if a hailstorm, or a fire, or locusts or a freak rainstorm would destroy their crop. They were to bring the first fruits as an act of trust.

This principle runs deep, even today. A very high percentage of pastors are firstborns. God desires the first fruits in congregations- I remember how when my home church began to come into a renewal, many of the first people to hear God’s call ended up being trained and going forth. Many years later, I heard my pastor say how disappointed he was in some ways, because this whole first crop of people he had discipled had gone off to be missionaries, church workers and pastors! None were left to lead the congregation, and my poor pastor had to start all over again. He ended up producing a little church called North Heights.

In my first years here, so many heard God’s call- John Spaulding, Gloria Sauck, Nancy Linn and others- folks who we could have really used around here as leaders- but God claimed them. And God has graced us with great new leaders who have come to help us rebuild this congregation. God claimed the first fruits, now God is sending the congregation its portion, the crop that will give a future, like the farmer’s crop.

The response of a grateful heart is rare in this world, but it’s something the Gospel does. The best explanation about giving I’ve ever seen is that there are five levels of reasons for people two give.

The bottom two are sub-Christian; the bottom three are law; the top two are based on the Gospel:

1) Giving out of fear of what God might do to me if I don’t.

2) Bargaining with God- to get something

3) Responsibility/Need

4) Responding to God in gratitude

5) Giving for the sheer joy of seeing what God can do with my gift.

Giving back to God is the same response as the one leper who turned back to thank Jesus. Jesus said it showed that he had truly been made whole. His relationship with God had been fully restored. That was the proof.

As I said two weeks ago, “God doesn’t need your money. He has all he needs. God will somehow provide for his church and the work it needs to do. But will you be blessed? Will you learn what God has for you? Will you experience the kind of relationship that he desires? Trusting and returning our first fruits to him are very critical ways in which we learn about his nature and his ability to keep promises. If you test him and he doesn’t come through and provide you with all you need, then you know he’s false. But he keeps his promises, otherwise the church of Jesus Christ wouldn’t be here 2000 years later.“

Giving back to God in response to his love is about pure Gospel- it’s about Good News, that God desires to set us free in the midst of a culture that’s obsessed with possessions and wealth, and promises to provide us with everything we need. Giving is not about obligation, nor need, nor responsibility. Giving is about grace. It’s about gratitude. It’s about responding in chesed as did Abraham, and David and the Samaritan leper.

As we offer God our first fruits, we see how God finds so many ways to bless us and take care of us. We see a supernatural God who desires to reveal himself to us. And it’s all pure grace, because he loves you.

Amen. Invitation

The Nineteenth Sunday After Pentecost- October 10, 2004

2 Kings 5:1-3, 7-15

Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the LORD had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.

[2] Now bands from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman's wife. [3] She said to her mistress, "If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy."

As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, "Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!"

[8] When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: "Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel." [9] So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha's house. [10] Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, "Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed."

[11] But Naaman went away angry and said, "I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. [12] Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than any of the waters of Israel? Couldn't I wash in them and be cleansed?" So he turned and went off in a rage.

[13] Naaman's servants went to him and said, "My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, 'Wash and be cleansed'!" [14] So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.

[15] Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God. He stood before him and said, "Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. Please accept now a gift from your servant."

2 Tim. 2:8-15

Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, [9] for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God's word is not chained. [10] Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.

[11] Here is a trustworthy saying:

If we died with him, we will also live with him;

[12] if we endure, we will also reign with him.

If we disown him, he will also disown us;

[13] if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.

[14] Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. [15] Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

Luke 17:11-19

Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. [12] As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance [13] and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!"

[14] When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed.

[15] One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. [16] He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him--and he was a Samaritan.

[17] Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? [18] Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" [19] Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well."