Proper 23

Preparation

    Please begin by reading Luke 17:11-19 in your Bible. If you do not have one at hand, we have provided that text for you at the end of this reflection.

Reflection--Borderlands and Margins

   Jesus’ healing of the ten lepers is a story of borderlands and margins.  It is set at the border between Galilee and Samaria, as Jesus heads toward Jerusalem.  The story deals with persons who embody “marginality.” 

The story can be seen as an example of many of the stories of Jesus’ healing, preaching and exorcising that show him crossing borders, tearing down barriers and questioning the status quo and conventional way of thinking of his society.

In this story, Jesus heals not only lepers, those who were ritually impure regardless of whether they were suffering from Hansen’s disease or some other disfiguring medical condition, but also one who is a Samaritan, someone who is marginalized once again by Jewish society.  The Samaritan was scorned for his status as in between, not considered truly Jewish but by the same token, not totally a foreigner.  Since one could not be half Jewish, Samaritans suffered on the margins of Jewish society. 

Because they were marginalized as a group, lepers among themselves recognize no other divisions, therefore the Samaritan is among the nine Jewish lepers who once healed by Jesus go to the priest for a rite of certification, which will remove their marginal status and allow for their return to Jewish society.

But for our Samaritan, the healing of the physical illness will not remove his marginal status, for leprosy is but one reason he is on the margins of society.

By the healing Jesus performs, he also made the statement to the Samaritan that it was by his faith that he was made well.  This implies that the Samaritan was able to be counted among those who have been returned to relationship with God.  His faith has led to his salvation.

The story of the twice marginalized who had been returned to wholeness, both physically and spiritually forces us to recognize that just as the religious marginality recognized by the Jewish people was overturned in the healing story, God overturns our categories of marginality and divisions by showing no partiality and making salvation available to all.  God remains at the center where there is no special recognition of a particular social world or particular group.

This reading made me think of those who are treated on the margins of our society.  Just as the Jewish society of Jesus’ day, we treat as "lepers" certain groups and individuals among us.

I particularly think of those who practice a different religion than us, look at all that is happening to the Muslims among us as we hear of reprisals, threats and even murder being committed on these we have pushed to the margins of our society. 

How many of us can warmly embrace as brother or sister those who are born of mixed racial marriage or those who have an obvious mental or physical condition which sets them apart?  Do we feel uncomfortable and perhaps ashamed to be seen in the company of someone who is physically different in their dress or mannerism, even though we may claim to be brothers or sisters in Christ?

Maw Barker

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Luke 17:11-19

         On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee.  As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him.  Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!"

    When he saw them, he said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were made clean.

    Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice.  He prostrated himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan.

 [NRSV]