Sermon

GETTING OUR PRIORITIES RIGHT

Luke 17:11 - 19

I wonder how many of you have seen the super sweet film Chocolat? It is a story that has some parallels with today’s Gospel. It is about a very unconventional woman and her daughter who arrive in a very staid community to open a chocolaterie. The community do all they can to exclude her but her goodness eventually wins through and she is accepted to the benefit of all. We don’t normally give homework in sermons but you might enjoy looking at the DVD.
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Let me refresh your memory about the Gospel reading …
Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem and somewhere between Samaria and Galilee he came across a group of ten lepers on the outskirts of a village. They called out to him, “Hey, Jesus! Master! Show us your loving kindness!” Jesus called back, “Go and show yourselves to the priests as the law requires – they’ll certify that you are clean.” So they went on their way talking about their strange encounter with Jesus.

At some stage all their hopes were realized. They knew that they were no longer lepers. One of them didn’t continue on with the others. He turned and ran all the way back to Jesus praising God the whole way. He fell on his knees and thanked Jesus from the bottom of his heart. He was a Samaritan. Jesus said to him, “All ten of you were made clean. Where are the others? Is the only one to return and praise God a foreigner? Get up and go on your way rejoicing. Your trust and confidence have healed you.”
The thing that strikes us about this story is that it is about being thankful – thankful for coming through a difficult or even life-threatening time. We really don’t know what the ‘leprosy’ of the Bible actually was apart from the fact that it was a skin disorder. This doesn’t matter. The important thing is that according to the ‘purity laws’, lepers were ‘unclean’ and therefore contagious. The sufferers were excluded from society. (Even today we have the expression ‘being treated like a leper’.) Let me explain about being ‘unclean’. The Torah or ‘Law’ is the first five books of the Hebrew texts. The ‘purity laws’ were that part given over to social and ritual regulations. These are clearly specific to a particular time and place. The story is about lepers but this is not a story about recovery from sickness. This is a ‘healing’ story about being made ‘whole’; of being restored or reconciled; of being accepted.

So, what would people of the time make of this story?

One word would stand out like a beacon to those in first century Palestine. The word ‘Samaritan’! The Jews and the Samaritans completely detested one another at this time. Many people would find this story absolutely outrageous.

Do you remember the other story about a Samaritan? There was a man who had been severely beaten by robbers and was now in need of assistance. A priest and a Levite did not stop to help. They didn’t stop because to do so would break the purity laws and they would then become unclean. They would have to undergo ritual cleansing which may take many days during which time they could not fulfil their priestly duties. The Samaritan stops and is the true ‘neighbour’. Jesus points out in this story that it is possible to be so tied up with the letter of the law that one can miss the secondary rule of the Torah – the love of neighbour.

And now, in today’s story Jesus points out that it is possible to be so tied up with our own concerns that we can miss the prime rule of the Torah – the love of God. When Jesus was asked which was the greatest commandment he said love of God and love of neighbour. “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” Jesus stresses that these are about love. This shifts the emphasis from law to relationship. The Samaritans in both cases appreciate this.

God is always around us and within us. This is not a God who demands obedience; it is a God who invites. Whatever we do, we do as a partnership with God. The faith we have is the trust and confidence that we are accepted. We cannot escape God’s grace; all we can do is respond with gratitude.

The whole point of these two Samaritan stories is that those who see themselves as part of the preferred group have got it wrong! The one whom they reject has understood what really counts.

Jesus’ question “Where are the others?” is an invitation to us all to get our priorities right. It is an invitation to all of us to confront our prejudices and to test them against what matters most to God.
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I now want to look at three healing stories which have certain characteristics in common. They are all about the liberating power of gratitude at being accepted in the face of prejudice.

First – a story of a Sudanese member of the Uniting Church.

When I wrote this two weeks ago, it was a simple story about a young person being grateful for being granted refuge in Australia. The events of the last week have given this an added poignancy. The Minister for Immigration’s comment that Sudanese refugees are not ‘fitting into Australian society’ has not been helpful. He then linked this to the reason for a reduced intake of Sudanese next year. I do not know that there is any real evidence that they are not fitting in. But even if it were true, it is not a reason for reducing numbers; it is a reason for providing more support. Besides, granting refuge is not about what’s convenient for society – it is about helping the needy and desperate.

The great tragedy about this comment is that it has focussed media attention on a group that has an enormous amount of adjustment to do. This scrutiny can fuel prejudice in some sections of the wider community and make things harder. It could even reopen old wounds in those refugees who were persecuted in their homeland.

What we must always try to do is to see people as individuals and not as a stereotype. When we do that, we have got our priorities the right way round.

I want to tell you about Peter Ajak who told his story on the ‘7.30 Report’ earlier this year.
Peter was born in the Sudan at a time of great political upheaval. By the time he was eight there was great strife in his country and his family was desperate. There was little food and no permanent home. Peter left his mother and siblings and headed south across the border into Kenya. He spent the next ten years living in a refugee camp. There was no one to look after him and he coped as well as he could. Eventually, Peter and his two half-brothers were accepted into the Australian Refugee program and they soon arrived in Melbourne. They had seen and suffered appalling things. They could not speak English. And, not surprisingly, they were still fearful of anyone who wore a uniform.

When Peter arrived he was welcomed into the Sudanese community. He received much help from the people in his church and from various other organisations. Peter learnt English and joined the Ethnic Youth Council at the Migrant Resource Centre. He completed his VCE and is now at University in country Victoria. He gives thanks to God at his Uniting Church every Sunday for his opportunity to build a new life. He wants to become a leader in his community and to help other refugees in Melbourne find their feet.
Second – a story about a diverse group of people who are on the margines of Melbourne society but have been rescued in a unique and wonderful way.

I imagine there is no one here who is not aware of the Choir of Hard Knocks. The lives of these people are very hard and they were brought together by Jonathon Welch to sing. Jonathon says this...
“The formation of the Choir of Hard Knocks has given me the opportunity to use the musical gifts I have been blessed with and wonderful experiences I have had as a professional singer and conductor, to bring pleasure and a sense of belonging and self esteem to those who've joined this exciting new project.

As many of the participants come from marginalized and often financially difficult backgrounds, it is my hope that the joy and euphoria that music making in a group dynamic will give a sense of purpose, structure and respect to their lives and help them look forward to belonging to a 'family' – albeit a musical one!

Choir of Hard Knocks also gives the audience and public at large an opportunity to see the other side of those who are disadvantaged and discover the powerful and moving stories of those who will be given a voice, in more ways than one. To be recognised, appreciated and applauded for what we do in life has to be the essence of any human being's sense of self respect and self worth.”
Finally, another example that is similar to the previous one. It also is about a choir formed by people who still suffer some discrimination. But the acceptance has come from one of our churches. Despite legislation, the attitudes of some individuals and groups in our society towards homosexuality continue to be negative and even hurtful. Some legal discrimination in certain areas remains as well. Many Churches are extremely intolerant and, it must be said, our own Uniting Church has not fully resolved the issue.
I think you all know that I went to the Progressive Christianity conference in Sydney some weeks ago. The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Choir sang before the public lecture given by Bishop John Shelby Spong. There were two reasons that made this event an incredibly moving experience for everyone present. First, Bishop Spong is the highest profile church leader in the world who has tirelessly campaigned for the acceptance of gay, lesbian, bi and transgender people by the Christian Church. Second, Pitt Street Uniting Church, where the conference was held, has been in the vanguard of individual churches which not only declare that they are an open, inclusive church; but they actively demonstrate it as well.

The gratitude of the choir to Bishop Spong and to Pitt Street came through in their singing. The fact that they could sing in a church where they were truly accepted for who they were made their singing an absolutely wonderful experience. But the real highlight came at the end. As you would expect, the members all come from different Churches and faith traditions or no tradition. In the last musical piece, many put on an item that represented their own tradition. And here they were, all together, expressing their joy and thanks in a celebration of life.
And this brings me straight back to the Gospel. Luke has placed this story of healing and of getting our priorities right immediately before a discussion of the ‘Kingdom of God’ or the 'imperial reign of God'. This is a much debated term but in essence it means ‘what things would be like if Love ruled the world.’ In this passage Jesus criticises those who want to search for the coming of the imperial reign of God. Jesus says “People will tell you that the imperial reign of God is over there, or over there. No!” he says, “the imperial reign of God, is right here within you!” The equivalent passage in the Gospel of Thomas puts it this way, “The Father’s imperial rule is spread out upon the earth, and people don’t see it.”
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I began by talking about the film Chocolat. I will finish with Père Henri’s Easter sermon from the same film.
“I want to talk about Christ’s humanity. I mean how he lived his life on earth: his kindness, his tolerance. We must measure our goodness, not by what we don’t do, what we deny ourselves, what we resist, or who we exclude. Instead, we should measure ourselves by what we embrace, what we create, and who we include.”

AMEN to that!
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A sermon presented by Robert Sanderson at St Aidan's Uniting Church North Balwyn, on 14th October, 2007

IT MAY BE REPRODUCED WITH ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF AUTHORSHIP.




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Page updated  16/10/07