Pentecost 20
“Unfailing Mercy”
Text: Luke 17:11-19 (Ruth 1:1-19a; 2 Timothy
2:1-13)
Grace, mercy,
and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ. Amen.
God does nothing by accident. Perhaps we hear the story of the ten lepers
and think, “What a happy coincidence for
those ten that Jesus happened by that day.”
No. That is not the way of things
with God. No accidents. No “happy coincidences.” God came in flesh and blood in the person of
Jesus of Nazareth on a mission of mercy. He came to bring life to those who have no
life – whether they be first century Palestinian
lepers, or 21st century residents of
So what is it for you? What is it that today is causing you to cry “Lord, have mercy?” For yourself or for others. For big problems or small
problems. Physical
problems, spiritual problems, emotional problems, financial problems. Problems at home, or work,
or school. Family
problems, personal problems. What
has caused you doubts and fears? What
has overcome you or overwhelmed you?
What is robbing you of life and hope?
What have you gotten yourself into that you cannot get yourself out
of? What is it that is eating away at
you? And I know it is something. For as long as we live as Christians in this
world, you will be in the devil’s crosshairs, who will attack you in one way or
another. To rob you of
your faith, your life, your hope.
Trying to take away those very things that Christ has come to give! For He is the very
anti-Christ, who wants you for himself.
And so it is good that we “modern-day
lepers” have banded together in this place again today, to cry out with one
voice “Lord, have mercy!” It
is good, for how often did we fail as
individuals to do that very thing this week? Ignoring our neighbor in
his (or her) need. Taking our struggles upon ourselves. Getting so wrapped up in
the things of this world and life that we forget about everything else. That we forget about our Lord’s promised
mercy.
And so our Lord comes here – not
by accident or happy coincidence; and not that He wasn’t there for us to hear
our prayers during the week! – but He comes here, today, in this place, that we
might come. He remembers us that we might remember Him. Not because He needs it, but because we
do. He comes and calls to us that we
might call to Him, “Lord have mercy.” And as
we did so in our liturgy, our liturgy puts right our wrong, our weekly failure
is undone, and we are back where we belong.
Calling out for, and receiving, our Lord’s promised mercy.
For despite our failure, our Lord does
not withhold His mercy. He does not
chastise us for our lack of faith during the week. As we heard in Paul’s letter to
Timothy, “if we are faithless, He
remains faithful – for He cannot deny Himself.” He remains faithful and gives mercy because
to fail to do so would be against who He is.
He remains faithful and gives mercy because to fail to do so would be to
deny His own name which was placed upon you in Holy Baptism. And this He does not do. This He cannot
do!
And so even though we may be slow to
seek Him; even
though we may be quick to turn away from Him, or even to turn on Him;
even though we fail to pray; even
though we fall into the same pits again and again; even though we doubt His Word, His presence,
and His goodness; even though we forget
Him . . . His mercy never fails. And it is not conditional. Jesus did not “unheal” the nine lepers that
did not return to Him to give thanks.
And He does not take His mercy away from us. For He is not like us. We may stop giving gifts when we do not
receive thank you notes. We may hold a
grudge against those who take advantage of us, and those who are
ungrateful. But not
our Father. Not our Saviour. Not the Spirit who lives and dwells with us
and in us. If we are faithless, He remains
faithful. And how good that He
is!
And so Jesus was
on the road that day, passing between
Never in doubt,
because the seal of the tomb was broken on Easter morning. There is no power greater than our
Saviour. No sin, no death, no demon, no
grave, can hold Him in its power. And so nor can they hold us! For as
And having received in faith all that
our Lord has to give, like the leper, we rise and go. We rise and go, blessed in the journey, now
free to have mercy on, and be a blessing to, others. We rise and go, secure in our Saviour’s
mercy. For as he came in flesh and blood
in the Bethlehem manger, so He comes today in flesh and blood in the manger of
bread and wine, and so He has promised to come again in flesh and blood in
glory, when we will finally see Him face to face. When what we now believe will then be revealed
for all to see.
Until then, we rise and go. It may not be easy, but we know that it is
good. Or as we pray in one of our church’s collects: in
this life, we go “on ventures of which we
cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. [So] [G]ive us faith to go out with good
courage, not knowing where we go but only that Your hand is leading us and Your
love [Your mercy] supporting us; through
Jesus Christ, our Lord . . . ” (LW
p 262, Collect for Evening Prayer)
In
the name of the Father and of the (+) Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Now the peace of God which passes all
understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, our
Lord. Amen.