18th Sunday after Pentecost

Do we lack gratitude?  Do we care for our elderly parents in the way that they cared for us?  Do we look after our friends in the way that they would look after us?  Do we thank God for what he has done for us?  The Gospel passage assigned to this week is fundamentally about gratitude.  Jesus sees ten lepers between Samaria and Galilee on his way to Jerusalem.  The lepers were far off as was the required custom.  In his great compassion Jesus heals them but only one returns to say thank you.  90% don’t return to show their gratitude.  Currently about 90% of people don’t go to church in our country. Do we show gratitude as a nation? Do we show gratitude as individuals?  The man who returns to Jesus is not a Jew; he is a Samaritan.  Although Jews and Samaritans never mix, it is therefore quite clear that in their desperate illness, the 10 lepers, ignored this and stuck together.  It would be hoped that humanity in its desperate need of God would, in turn, group together.  There is one final twist to this story.  When the Samaritan returns in gratitude to God, he is already healed but Jesus says to him, “Your faith has made you well!”  Beyond the physical healing there is something even more important and that is a relationship with Jesus which brings eternal life.  This, above all else, warrants our gratitude.