The Eve of Thanksgiving
Text: Luke 11:11-17
Going home is somewhat of a Thanksgiving tradition. With Thanksgiving always on the fourth Thursday of November, it’s hard for families that live afar not to plan a journey to see family. What is it about these homecomings that are so special? Is it seeing a brother or sister from the military returning home on leave? Maybe it’s the smells and aroma wafting from grandma’s kitchen as she cooks the bird and whips the potatoes. Or perhaps the stories being repeated by a father or grandfather too. The football game is also undoubtedly on TV.
But more, Thanksgiving is a yearly reminder that you are part of a tribe, a clan, a family. Being home provides comfort, a reminder of what we see as truth in the world, and a steady aspect of normalcy for many.
But for others, Thanksgiving is a yearly reminder that they are alone, isolated, and cut off from family and friends.
The lepers in the Gospel tonight share in these feelings of loneliness and isolation. They, too, have been living apart from the world, isolated from their village, people, family and friends.
These ten men have leprosy, a disease that renders them unclean, casts them out of their village, and isolates them from those who are pure, clean, and enjoy the fellowship of community.
When one thinks of leprosy in the Old Testament, it should bring to mind a disease that ravages and eats away the flesh of a man. But is leprosy simply an external disease? What about the conscience and the soul of the leper?
The leper had to stand at a distance from everyone else. This is why the lepers greet Jesus outside the city. They are not welcome inside the village gate they so desperately wish to rejoin. According to the purity laws of the Old Testament, they must be separated as outcasts of filth.
Whenever someone passed near them, they had to declare their condition by saying, “unclean.” Over time, their voices would become hoarse, and eventually, the only ones who would hear these words of judgment were the lepers themselves.
But when they see Jesus, all they can do is call out to Him. To lift up their voices to be heard, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” Their desire is mercy, not to simply be made clean, but to be saved.
While leprosy is not seen ravaging us or our neighbors today, we are still devastated by the disease and leprosy of sin.
The evil thoughts toward our families we have been cut off from, our neighbors whom we fail to see eye to eye with, or leaders whom we feel have led us astray. Like the ten lepers, the leprosy of sin penetrates beyond our flesh; it consumes our hearts, filling our thoughts with evil and spilling forth from our mouths.
However, tonight, the lepers show us the way of faith and point us to the true source of salvation. Their cries for mercy are our cries for mercy. The lepers cannot heal themselves but must rely upon the Son of Man to deliver them, grant them salvation, and return them to their community.
But isn’t this something? It always amazes me how the ten are healed by Jesus and sent on their way to the temple to have their cleansing verified by the priests so that they could rejoin their family, friends, and community once again. But just the one leper returns on bended knees and with prayers of thanksgiving. Just one recognizes Jesus as the giver and source of salvation.
We often gloss over salvation, but salvation is the deliverance from the trials, disasters, or physical and mental ailments of this life. An earthly king or president may be able to grant a form of salvation to save man from a lengthened prison sentence or by forgiving a debt. But, the salvation of man, the eternal rescuing of man, resides in the incarnate Son of God.
Jesus tells the leper who returned to thank him: "Your faith has made you well.”
Where is your faith this Thanksgiving? Is it located in Christ? Or is today just another reminder of the sin that separates you from family and friends?
Sin is ultimately our turning away from God, our departing from His presence. It’s not God that has separated us from Him, but we who have gone astray from Him.
People often say, “Home is where the heart is.” It’s often meant to comfort someone away from family and friends or who might move a lot. But, it’s true in the sense that where your heart is, there your faith will follow. This is not only your comfort but also your assurance this night. Your home is with Christ Jesus.
Have you separated yourself from your neighbor? Run to them and seek reconciliation. Are you one who is happier to avoid the gathering of family? Stop and thank God for giving you the gift of people to love and care for you in this life. Have you sinned and departed the grace and joys of your Baptism? Repent, turn back to Jesus, cry out with the lepers, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” and know that He hears you and will save you.
What a comfort this is for us to hear again this night. You have a Savior who hears your pleas for mercy, who died upon the cross and rose again for you so that you may have an eternal home with Him in heaven. So come and feast this night on the Holy Meal prepared for you upon this altar. In this bread and wine, you receive the flesh and blood of Christ, the medicine that heals your leprosy of sin, restoring you to Christ Jesus, and sends you home with thanksgiving. +NJ+
