Ten Lepers.

Father, we come now to think upon your word.

We ask, Father, that your Holy Spirit would move and work in our lives

so that the very best of our minds, Father, might come to listen and attend to your word,

that we might have a humble spirit, Father, so that you might teach us,

that we might learn, that we might, if necessary, be rebuked, change how we think.

We ask, Father, that you help us to use the best of our mind.

We ask that you humble our minds so that our mind might be changed.

We ask that you make us hungry to know more of you and know more of your truth.

And at the same time, Father, we ask that you would grant us that even deeper humility, Father,

that acknowledges that unless you draw us to yourselves,

even the most brilliant mind will not understand you or know you in a saving way.

So, Father, we ask that you would do this wonderful work in our lives as we think upon your word,

and now all these things we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.

Please be seated.

So, it's good to be back.

If God wanted people to believe in him, why doesn't he do more to prove it to them?

Why doesn't he do miracles?

Why doesn't he show up?

Why doesn't he reveal himself?

And it's a very, very common idea, and I have to confess that for a long time I sort of thought that as well.

I sort of wish that God would show up in some particular way,

that there'd be some dramatic miracle that would make it easier for me to believe in him

or maybe help me to start to believe him for the very first time.

It's a very common thing.

Maybe some of you have thought that.

Maybe some of you are thinking that right now.

The Bible story that we're going to look at today has some interesting things to say about that, believe it or not.

Sort of some interesting observations in the form of a story.

So, it'd be a great help to me.

The words will be on the screen.

We're doing a sermon series called Real Jesus, Real Miracles.

We're going to look at a miracle story,

so something where Jesus shows up, where he does a remarkable miracle,

and we see how that impacts different people.

So, it'd be a great help if you have your own Bibles to open them up

because it can be very helpful to make notes in your own Bible

or just to see it in the one that you actually use yourself for reading.

And it's Luke chapter 17, verses 11 to 19.

Luke 17:11–19

That's the story that we're going to look at.

And it's interesting.

All of the other miracle stories that we've been looking at,

that we will look at over this series, are in several Gospels.

This story is only told in Luke.

Luke, but if you are an old Anglican, old in spirit, maybe not in body,

and you're used to the old lectionary,

this story actually is one of the stories that's read every year

in the cycle of the readings.

So, the prayer book thought it was an important story,

and that's one of the reasons I put it down,

even though it's the only miracle story we'll look at

that's only found in one of the Gospels, not all of them.

And just before we look at this story as well,

just to understand a little bit about it,

what we're looking at now,

you know, I love saying this,

you probably start to fade out when I start to say it.

It now is in the Bible,

and it all looks fancy and fancy paper,

but what we're reading when we're reading the Gospel of Luke,

look at how it begins, look at how Acts begins.

There was a doctor who was a pagan,

who became a Christian,

and he decided that he would write a biography of Jesus

based on eyewitness testimony.

And that's what we have in front of us.

It was probably written in the mid to late 60s,

so it was written within 30 years of the death and resurrection of Jesus.

It was written while there were many eyewitnesses around.

You could have just said,

sorry, but that's not right.

You got that wrong.

That didn't happen.

And it's an eyewitness biography

written while many eyewitnesses were alive,

and that's what we're reading,

and here it goes with verse 11 of chapter 17.

It starts this way.

It says,

on the way to Jerusalem,

Jesus was passing along between Samaria and Galilee.

Now, just pause here for a second.

If you go back, remember this is a story.

It's a biography.

It's a story.

And the way that Luke writes the Gospel,

the story,

is that in chapter 9,

Jesus reveals to his disciples,

he's been with them for a couple of years,

but he reveals to them in chapter 9

that he's going to start going to Jerusalem,

and that he's going to go to Jerusalem,

and this time when he goes to Jerusalem,

something very different is going to happen.

This time when he goes to Jerusalem,

he's going to be captured,

he's going to die on the cross,

and he's going to rise from the dead.

And everything that happens in the Gospel,

in this story from Luke chapter 9,

Luke 9 · chapter mention

right up until he actually gets to Jerusalem,

it's all Jesus walking towards Jerusalem.

And it's all,

it's going to be reiterated time and time and time again

to the disciples.

By the way,

we're going to Jerusalem.

In Jerusalem,

I'm going to die on the cross,

and I'm going to rise from the dead.

And so he's on his way to Jerusalem.

And there's an interesting thing here,

which isn't translated into the English,

and it happens twice in this story.

There's a word,

a phrase,

in the story,

which isn't translated into English,

because it messes up the flow of the English.

But what it is,

is it says,

it happened that.

I was just,

on Friday,

when I was working in a certain coffee shop,

on my sermon,

one of the people who talks to me regularly,

come up and says,

well,

what are you preaching on this week?

And so I started to tell him the story

that I was going to be preaching on.

And he said,

well,

we know that that can't happen.

There's no miracles can't happen.

So is it an allegory?

Is it a myth?

Like,

what's going on?

And I just paused.

I said,

like,

one moment here.

Here's the ground rule.

This fellow that talked to me,

he's written several books

of a sort of a cultural analysis.

Those are the types of books that he's written.

And so I said to him,

listen here,

hold on for a second here.

You have to understand something.

And he had one of his books

right with him on the table.

I said,

if I took that book of yours

and started reading it

and said to you,

this is wonderful poetry,

you'd be offended.

You'd say,

it's not poetry.

You don't know how to read.

It's a work of cultural criticism.

Or if I said,

this is a wonderful myth.

He said,

no,

no,

it's not a myth.

I'm giving you history.

I'm giving you sociological facts.

It's not a myth.

You'd be offended

if I said that it was a type of writing

that it isn't.

So I said,

what you need to do

is you need to extend that

same

respect

to the story.

And I can tell you that Luke,

and I said,

you go back,

just the same thing

I just said to you.

69 times

in the Gospel of Luke,

he says,

and it happened that.

It's a marker to say

that I'm writing history.

It's not once upon a time,

it's,

and it happened that.

And if you read the beginning

of the book,

he says he's writing a biography.

So here's the thing.

I almost said his name.

Here's the thing,

Bob.

You might say that he's full of bleep.

You might say that he's a liar.

You might say all sorts of things,

but what you can't say

is that it's a myth or an allegory.

He's claiming he's writing history,

and you have to deal with it

on that level.

And this is one of those times

he nodded and said,

well,

that makes a bit of sense.

I mean, he's a writer.

He understands that.

So he still thinks

it's a bunch of hooey.

He thinks it's wrong,

but at least he now understands

that it's history.

And so that's what happens here.

Luke is recording this story.

And once again,

on the way to Jerusalem,

and because you haven't been reading

from the beginning,

you don't,

there's this reminder why

the first time Jesus said

he was going to Jerusalem,

he told them,

I'm going there to die.

So now,

okay,

he's going there to die.

And he was passing along

between Samaria and Galilee.

Verse 12,

and as Jesus entered a village,

he was met by 10 lepers

who stood at a distance

and lifted up their voices saying,

Jesus,

master,

have mercy on us.

Now,

just sort of,

you want to pause.

I don't know if there's any lepers

in Ottawa.

I mean,

like literal lepers.

There's lots of social lepers

in Ottawa,

but that's a separate type of thing.

People who aren't sort of welcome

in polite society.

And,

but,

there's still,

I think it's,

I looked it up on the internet,

so it has to be true.

I think it said something

about somewhere between,

actually,

it's one of those things

that has to be true,

but I saw two different numbers

on the internet.

There you go.

100 to 200,000 cases

of leprosy

are diagnosed

every year.

New cases are diagnosed

every year

in the United States of America.

United States.

All in the southern states.

And there's a,

I can't remember what it was,

but it was like

several million new cases

of leprosy

are diagnosed every year.

Over half of them

in India.

But it's a,

it's a terrible disease.

It's now curable.

And in fact,

the World Health Organization

funded through

richer countries,

primarily the United States,

of course,

but also probably Canada

in a small way.

Anywhere in the world

that a person's diagnosed

with leprosy,

all the medication,

drugs are free.

And it doesn't reverse

the problem,

but it will at least

heal the problem.

But in the ancient society,

and it would be

probably the same now

if you've seen pictures

of lepers

with their blindness,

the disfigurement

of their fingers,

the disfigurement

on their feet,

maybe missing limbs

as well altogether,

they were outcasts.

They weren't allowed

to be part,

and especially in this Jewish

and in Samaritan culture,

they weren't allowed

to really be part

of the community.

They had to live separate.

They could no longer

live with their wives,

their wife or their kids.

They couldn't go to events.

They couldn't go to parties.

They had to live separate.

They were unclean,

not able to be part of society.

So when they're standing there

from a distance,

it's not because

they're just sort of like

heckling Jesus

as he walks by,

you know,

hey, dude,

you know,

or anything.

No, it's not like that.

They're just,

they're respecting

the social norm

because bad things

would happen to them

if they disregarded it.

And it's very interesting.

It's important to the story.

Remember I said how this,

I began by saying

how people

sort of think,

why doesn't God

just show up

in a very powerful way?

And if he did,

then I'd believe in him.

And in this particular case here,

they say,

it's a very odd thing.

They say,

Jesus, Master,

have mercy on us.

And it's the only place

in all of the New Testament

that the word Master

is found,

but it's a completely

non-religious term.

It's boss.

Hey, boss.

Boss man.

Hey, boss.

Have mercy on us.

And have mercy on us

is an indirect

and polite way

of saying,

could you heal us?

They've heard about him.

They're not making any claim

that he's a rabbi,

that he's special.

They're just calling him boss.

Very neutral term.

And they ask indirectly

that he'd heal them.

I don't know how many of you

have seen a wedding

that I've done.

I have lots of fun

at the rehearsal

when I explain something

to the couple

that's getting married.

And if you've been

in the wedding,

sometimes I say something,

sometimes I don't.

But I like to say

that there's an Anglican

polite,

indirect way

of saying,

you may kiss the bride.

And I say,

if you've ever heard

a wedding that I've done,

I'll say,

you may now greet each other,

which means kiss.

But it's just,

it's a bit of an indirect,

it's a very old

prayer book

way of referring to it.

And here,

they're indirectly

making a request

for healing.

And obviously,

if he's going to heal them,

it's going to be

an act of mercy

on his part,

that he's paying attention

to them,

he's showing them mercy.

But they're asking

for healing.

So what does Jesus do?

Does he go over?

Does he touch them?

What does he do?

No, he keeps

the same distance

in this particular case.

Look what happens

in verse 14.

When Jesus saw them,

he said to them,

he would have had

to yell back,

go and show yourselves

to the priests.

And as they went,

they were cleansed.

Now,

they hear what

he asked them to do

and they go.

Now,

they've asked for healing

in an indirect type of way.

And Jesus says,

I'm going to heal you

in an indirect way.

Because what they would

have known

is that the only way

that they could rejoin

society,

that they could go back

to making money,

having businesses,

getting married,

playing sports,

going to the temple,

going to whatever,

the synagogue,

the only way

they could do that

is if a priest

authenticates

that the leprosy

is gone.

So they would hear

Jesus saying,

go to the priests

and show yourselves.

And they would take it.

But that means

that somehow or another,

they don't know how,

that they'll be healed

as they go.

And as they go,

they're cleansed.

You'll see in a moment

that that also means healed.

That actually,

they're healed

the leprosy is gone

and that they're now

clean.

They're now able

to rejoin society.

That's what Jesus

does for them.

Now you might wonder,

how is it that they know

they were cleansed?

How did they know?

Well, there's two things

that went on here probably.

And the first thing,

which had to be there,

it has to be there.

If it's not there,

it's not a healing

or a cleansing.

And this is actually sort of,

if you just try to picture it,

I don't know if you have

an imagination

that you could try to picture

what would happen,

it would be that

they're walking along

and all of a sudden

as they're walking along,

I'll take off my sand,

all of a sudden

as they're walking along

they hit something

and they go,

ow!

And then there'd be

this pause.

And one of them said,

did you just say ow?

And you go,

my foot hurts.

I'm healed.

Experiencing pain

would show them

that they'd been healed.

Over a third of all people

with leprosy,

loose,

have numbness

and no longer feel pain

on their face,

their arms,

and their legs.

It's one of the main reasons

why they end up

having stumps for fingers

and losing limbs

because they can have

their hand in the fire

and not feel the fire.

They can drop a large rock

on their foot

and not feel it.

They won't feel

the pain of the infection

to have it clean.

They don't feel pain.

And so,

incontrovertibly,

one of the ways

that they would know

as they're walking

that they'd been healed

is when they go,

ouch!

In fact,

it could have been

a very, very funny situation.

It could be that

all of a sudden

you'd see them,

you try it!

And they kick a rock,

ouch!

That hurts!

And before you know it,

they're crying with the pain

and laughing

and it would look like

the weirdest thing

in the world.

Ten guys hurting themselves

and cheering

and high-fiving

and laughing

because they're healed.

They feel pain.

The leprosy's gone.

The leprosy's gone.

Now, it could very well be

as well

that at the same time

that they feel pain

that Jesus does

this other miracle

as well

that

the fingers

that were gone

are there.

The toes

that were gone

are there.

The eye

that was blind

can now see.

The Bible's not clear.

It could very well be

that that's also part

of what the miracle is.

But it's also really important

to understand

that if

their fingers

were regrown

and their eye

was remade

and their foot

was regrown

but there was no pain,

they would only be

in deeper despair.

Because how much despair

would it be

to have your fingers

regrow

but you know

that the leprosy

is still there

and you're going

to be banging

your finger

and banging your toe

and before you know it

you're back

to all of the disfigurement.

You haven't been healed.

So whether or not

Jesus actually

regrows fingers,

I think he did.

I think he,

all of a sudden

there were fingers,

there were toes,

there was an eye

but at the same time

to cure the leprosy

there was

the restoration

of the nerve endings,

the disease is gone,

they feel pain.

That's what they do.

Remember I said to you

that what Luke

is writing here

is he's claiming

this is a true story.

This is something

that really happened.

If Luke was able

to come

and be here

amongst Canadians

he would say

that if you could have

a time machine

and go back in time

you would see this

happen yourself as well.

If I took you

to the right village

you would see

this happen yourself.

This really happened.

It's a remarkable miracle.

It's not a spell.

It's not medicine.

It's not prayer.

Jesus doesn't say

Father heal them.

He doesn't come

and touch them.

He doesn't do anything.

He doesn't do anything

like the magicians

and the sorcerers do

that would have been

present in Jewish

and Samaritan

and pagan culture.

He doesn't do anything

that a doctor

would have done.

He doesn't even do anything

like an Old Testament saint

or you and I

would do where we pray.

He merely wills it

from a distance

and the leprosy

is gone

the nerve endings

are restored

and quite likely

the limbs

are remade

all merely

by willing it

and it

is so.

Remember I said

why doesn't God

just show up

and do a remarkable miracle?

I've shared the gospel

with so many people

and they don't seem

to come to faith

right then.

Like why isn't it

that he just doesn't

give me that ability

that I could say

here cut off your fingers

I'm going to pray for you

they're going to grow

right back.

You know

why doesn't he do

something like that?

Like you know

surely if he did

something like that

all sorts of people

would become Christians

and that's what we think

but what happens

in the story?

Well let's see

what happens

in the story

verse 15

then one of them

remember ten of them

are healed

one of them

out of the ten

one of them

when he saw

that he was healed

turned back

praising God

with a loud voice

and he fell on his face

at Jesus' feet

giving him thanks

now he was a Samaritan

only one

and it's very very

interesting

in the language here

the three things

he's giving thanks

praising God

and the falling on his face

is an act of worship

he praises God

he starts to

to worship Jesus

and giving him thanks

I think it's like 37

the word for thanks

there is the word

that we get Eucharist from

and all the way

through the New Testament

it's only

that word is only used

when it's in a reference

to God

it's one of the small

indirect ways

that the Bible

affirms that Jesus is God

he praises God

he worships Jesus

and he gives thanks

to God

for what's happened

and he's a Samaritan

now we're all

very well instructed

in the Bible

but one of the things

you have to remember

if you ever tell a story

like this to a non-Christian

is that for non-Christians

when they hear

the word Samaritan

if they understand it at all

they're liable to think

that Samaritans

are the good guys

why?

because one of the few

Bible stories

that most non-Christians

might know

is the story

of the good Samaritan

Samaritans are good

and so one of the things

you have to understand

about this is

and this is a Canadian

analogy here

I'm not making this

as

I'm not making any type

of political content

but this is just how

most Canadians think

okay

so the analogy

I would say

no you have to understand

that from a Jewish perspective

Samaritans are the bad guys

that's the whole point

of the story

they're the unclean

they're the unwashed

they're the ones

you don't want to go near

they're the ones

who are confused

they're heretics

they don't think

the right way

it's a story

of you know

a really really good

social justice warrior

getting hurt

and by the side

of the road

and you know

the liberal

goes by

and the NDP

goes by

and the Green Party

person goes by

and then

a good old boy

with a big fat gut

with a

I love Trump

and an NRA sticker

on his truck

he stops

and helps

the social justice warrior

for Canadians

that's the Samaritan

the good old boy

Trump loving

NRA supporter

for a Canadian

we don't like

those people

that's a Samaritan

it's a shock

but one person

out of ten

the other nine

they go on

they

they go to

get cleansed

so they can go

and start making money

so they can start

making babies

so that they can

they can get back

to worship

that they can go

traveling

that they can play sports

like whatever it is

all those things

good things

in and of themselves

they go on

to do all those things

it's only one person

and it's the worst

possible person

out of the ten

who comes back

and acknowledges

Jesus as God

and gives him thanks

as if he's God

so what does Jesus say

verse

six

verse 17

then Jesus answered

we're not ten

cleansed

Jesus makes the point

if we've forgotten

that nine of them

saw something remarkable

it's saying something

very important

about our heart

that what we can

understand is this

and there's constant

stories like this

in the Bible

time after time

after time

after time

after time

the thing that

keeps us from Jesus

isn't that God

doesn't do a miracle

in front of us

now the rest of the

gospel is going to

talk about that more

but in a powerful

story level

it makes it very

clear to us

for nine of the ten

ninety percent of them

the miracle made no

difference in their

lives whatsoever

zero

zilch

verse 17

again

then Jesus answered

we're not ten

cleansed

where are the nine

was no one found

to return and give

praise to God

except this

foreigner

now just sort of

pause there

that word

foreigner is the

only place in the

New Testament

that that word is

found

and it sounds a

little bit like

it's a bit of a

racist thing for a

lot of Canadians

when they hear it

it sounds like a

bit of a put down

but it's actually a

really significant

word

because

Josephus reports

and the Jewish

readers of this

gospel would have

understood

that if you went

to the temple

to pray

you come to an

important gate

and it would say

no foreigners

allowed to enter

and the exact

same word

that bars

non-Jews

is the word

that Jesus

uses here

and so

Jesus

well look what

he says in

verse 19

he said

rise and go

your way

your faith

has saved

you

your faith

has saved

you

it's talking

about some

completely new

thing that God

is doing

in a sense

it's not a new

thing

it's just really

going back

to what God

had said he was

going to do

through Abraham

if you read

Genesis 12

Genesis 12:1–3

verses 1 to 3

it's not that

salvation is going

to come through

the Jews

for the entire

world

and we see

this Jewish

boy Jesus

and through

him and what

he has done

and what he

accomplishes

it is through

him that a

foreigner

who before

is kept

far from

God

is now

able to

come and

be at the

very feet

of Jesus

and to be

made right

with God

it's not a

put down

word

it's a

word that

for Jewish

readers at

the time

would have

gobsmacked

them

Jesus

carefully

picks the

word that

was on the

walls of

the temple

and says

this person

is saved

now what

do some

of these

things all

sort of

mean for

us

you know

I was having

a conversation

with somebody

this week

and one

of the

things I

tried to

get across

to him

is this

he was

having

here's the

thing I was

trying to

get across

to him

I said

to him

you know

what

if life

and death

are both

natural

why is it

that you

that we

all sense

that life

is good

but not

death

if health

and sickness

are both

natural

why is it

that we

pay lots

of money

to doctors

to heal

people

but if there

was somebody

else

in fact

there's a

case in

the paper

right now

about a

man who

was intentionally

having

unprotected

sex

with other

men

intentionally

to give

them AIDS

to make

them HIV

positive

so why

is it

we throw

that guy

in jail

but we

give the

doctor

and the

nurse

lots of

money

but if

they're both

natural

because that

isn't that

true like

in nature

you have

health

and you

have

sickness

you have

life

and you

have

death

you have

light

and you

have

darkness

you have

kindness

and you

have

hatred

it's

all

natural

so if

these things

are all

natural

why is it

in a sense

that we

sense that

there's

something on

one hand

that's good

and proper

and right

and good

and the

other we

want to

say

shouldn't

be

like why

is that

have you

stopped to

think about

it

and he

tried to

then make

this claim

that from a

Christian point

of view

he said

George you

can say

that but

the problem

is that

that means

that God

has created

all those

evil things

and I

said no

no it's

not like

that

in fact

we had

this odd

conversation

and here's

one of the

things to

encourage you

I wish I

could tell

you he

said that

and right

away I

had this

perfect

reply

and before

you know

it he

was in

tears

and fell

on his

knees

in the

Starbucks

and gave

his life

to Jesus

and we

all go

hooray

no that's

not how

it worked

we did

have a

conversation

but it

was only

when I

was driving

home that

I came

up with

the analogy

that I

should have

given him

and the

analogy that

I should

have given

him is

that I

said you're

trying to

the mistake

you're making

is this

it's as if

I invite

my son

maybe who's

come from

another city

and he's

come back

from Calgary

my son

Jacob

and I

say I

got two

cottages

and you

can have

your choice

of one

cottage

or the

other

and in

one

cottage

everything's

broken

the fridge

is filled

with meat

and the

meat's

all rancid

and all

the vegetables

are rotten

and you

could choose

that cottage

you can choose

this other

cottage

and this other

cottage

everything works

there's air

conditioning

the lights

work

there's stocked

with great

food

you just

choose which

one of them

I've made

both of them

for you

you just

go ahead

and choose

and I said

that's not

how it works

you see

what the

Bible says

is this

is that the

Bible understands

and teaches

that God

that in a sense

if you think

about it

that all

things

I did use

this part

of it

that all

things came

to be as a

result of

light

life

and love

the Father

the Son

and the Holy Spirit

John's Gospel

compares them

with love

with life

with light

and light

life

and love

creates

all things

and one of the

reasons that

God made

human beings

is that so

we would love

him

that we would

have companionship

with him

and you can't

have love

and you can't

have companionship

without freedom

and if you

give somebody

freedom

there is

always a choice

that they will

use their freedom

not for love

not for companionship

for something

very different

I did use

this analogy

I didn't think

of the cottage

analogy

which is what

I should have

thought of

so I said

this is what

I would say

now if I could

go back in time

I'd say

so what you

have to understand

is it would

be like my son

Jacob coming

to spend

some time

and I say

oh you can

go use this

cottage for a week

and in the cottage

it's all perfect

the air conditioning

works

and the water

is clean

and the fridge

is stocked

with great food

and stuff

to drink

and then

Jacob goes

and he turns

off the fridge

and he makes

all the meat

rancid

and he pisses

in the stuff

and he makes

everything broken

and he doesn't

have anything

which is good

but I made

it all good

and you

threw out

the good

you made

the good

foul

you broke

things

and I said

that's

how it is

we've used

our freedom

and so

what we see

in this story

if you could

put up

the first point

is that

we now know

that we live

in a world

with brokenness

and evil

and death

on one hand

it's completely

natural

but we know

that it's not

really natural

it's not good

and so

what we see

in this story

is this

only health

himself

can do

what Jesus

did

only life

himself

can do

what the man

Jesus

did

and it's

really interesting

because when I

was writing

these things

I had to

keep fighting

I was writing

himself

but as I'm

writing himself

I want to

not make it

himself

I want to

make it

impersonal

I want to

say only

health

itself

can do

what Jesus

did

only life

itself

can do

what Jesus

did

as if

it's

something

impersonal

and I'm

greater

because a

person

a human

being

is greater

than the

impersonal

I'm

greater

than

electricity

I have

mind

intelligence

and I

want to

keep

putting

in

itself

but what

is being

revealed

here

only

health

himself

can see

a leper

and merely

by willing

make the

leper

well

only

life

and it's

not in

itself

health

is revealed

as a

person

life

is revealed

as a

person

and if

this story

really

happened

it means

that life

himself

stood

before the

lepers

health

himself

stood

before

the lepers

if you could

put up the

next point

and so

what we see

in this

story

is that

life

himself

has invaded

his dying

creation

to begin

to put

things right

and deliver

his fallen

image bearers

health

himself

has invaded

his sick

creation

to begin

to put

things right

and deliver

his fallen

image bearers

that's what

we see

that's

you see

the bible

is in

the course

of the

story

through a

narrative

the bible

through a

narrative

I mean

like in the

book of

romans

it might

just give

you certain

doctrinal

points very

clearly

but what

the story

does

is the

story

helps us

changes

our

imagination

our

consciousness

our

categories

in a way

that just

having like a

creed

doesn't do

it

and that

as we

realize

that's what

happened

you see

life

invading

life

himself

invades

and when

life

himself

invades

his dying

creation

he gives

life

he gives

health

he begins

to put

that right

now

how should

we then

live

we're just

going to

close with

the next

couple of

minutes

about a

couple of

very important

things

this first

point

or the

third

point

if you

could put

it up

right now

Andrew

this is

really

important

for us

as

Christians

I think

it's

statistics

are that

2-3%

of Ottawa

the population

of Ottawa

are evangelicals

and I

you know

if you're

a guest

here

and you're

non-Christian

and this

might be

a bit

of a

surprise

to you

but let

me tell

you

often

if I

was to

say to

people

that I'm

an

evangelical

Christian

at a

party

of my

neighbors

they

smirk

or they

get

like

often

in lots

of

settings

I'm

a

leper

so what

should

we do

so in

this city

should we

just say

ah the

heck

with them

you know

let them

all go

to hell

in a

hand

basket

let

everything

fall

apart

like why

should I

do any

no no

or should

we just

like

only if

we want to

feed the

poor

do you

only feed

the poor

who are

actually going

to listen

to the

god

no

what does

this gospel

text tell

us

in this gospel

text

Jesus heals

ten people

nine of whom

have no regard

for him

whatsoever

afterwards

and he

doesn't say

well I'm going to

take it back

I'm not going

to do that

again

the story

teaches

this in a

very significant

way

it teaches

us

it teaches

us

that if

Jesus

bestows

blessing

and grace

on those

who do

not trust

in him

or have

regard

for him

so will

I

in a

very

powerful

way

this

story

is

saying

you know

what

if you

start

a

business

do

your

business

really

really

well

if

you

work

in

the

government

work

really

really

well

be

the

man

or the

woman

in your

office

or in

your

that

really

cares

about

your

employees

who

cares

for

the

other

people

who

are

with

you

do

the

best

you

can

if

you

do

a

business

start

a

business

go ahead

we want

you to

make

money

but at

the

same

time

do

make

business

in

such

a

way