The Turn Toward Gratitude -- Luke 17:11-19 (Thanksgiving Sunday)
- Scott Clark
- 2 days ago
- 11 min read
Photo credit: Aaron Burden, used with permission via Unsplash
The Bible is full of healing stories. God comes near to us in our deep hurt, and heals us, makes us whole. There are healing stories throughout the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament). And, healing is one of the main things that Jesus does. Between birth and baptism and crucifixion and Resurrection, Jesus travels around the countryside; he teaches and tells parables; he gathers folks at table – he feeds and nourishes; and
he heals, he heals people who are hurting in body and in spirit. Again and again.
And people tell those stories. This healing is what folks remembered, what was passed on to us. These healing stories are at the heart of the gospels. And, we know, these healing stories have a pattern (we’ve talked about this before): (1) there is a need; (2) the need is voiced; and (3) the need is met.[1] They all have that pattern. What’s interesting is how each bit of that happens in each particular story, and the meaning we find there.
This morning’s gospel text is the story of Jesus healing 10 men who have leprosy – and it chock full of detail and meaning.[2] So, I thought what we’d do is just walk through it verse by verse. Take our time. Soak it in. I’ve put it in front of you so you have the text there. Let’s enter into this story and spend some time there, together.
The story starts in verse 11. Jesus is on the road, with the disciples in tow, and he enters into the border region between Galilee and Samaria. He is in a borderland space. There are sharp divisions between the Jewish people and the Samaritan people – socially imposed separations grounded in a shared and uncomfortable history. They don’t like each other much. The Jewish communities that Jesus and the disciples belonged to would have seen Samaritans as other, unclean, not to be welcomed at table, or touched, or approached. We know this from other stories – the parable of the Good Samaritan (where the Samaritan is the unlikely hero in a Jewish story) or the story of Jesus sitting at the well with the Samaritan woman, sharing sips of water on a dry dusty day. Scandalous.
Jesus and the disciples wander into that border region – where Jewish people and Samaritan people live in proximity – where the tensions are always high. As Gloria Anzaldúa, a Chicana activist puts it, a “borderland is a vague and undetermined place created by the emotional residue of an unnatural boundary ... the prohibited and forbidden are its inhabitants.”[3] But we are with Jesus, whom Francisco García calls “the ultimate border crosser.”[4]
Verse 12. As Jesus enters a village there, 10 men who have leprosy approach him, but stand at a distance. What they meant with the word “leprosy” back then would have included a number of skin diseases we know today.[5] It might have included the skin cancers that I have removed, every now and then, eczema, and so on. Those who had any of those skin diseases were by the rule of Scripture excluded from community. They had to stay outside the camp, outside the village. Those who had leprosy were charged with enforcing their own separation. When someone approached, they had to warn them, they had to call out “Unclean! Unclean!” They had to stay separate and apart – they couldn’t touch or be touched by their family and loved ones. If their skin condition happened to clear up, there was a process for them to go to the priest, and maybe their exile would be lifted.
Notice here that the 10 men with leprosy approach Jesus, and then stand at a distance. Notice the tension in those two movements – they approach, but, and, stand at a distance.[6]There they are – in their bodies – standing at a distance the community imposes on them. (1) There is a need here – a need for healing. Their bodies (2) voice the need, and then they shout it out, verse 13, these 10 men call out to Jesus from a distance. “Master! Have mercy on us.”
When Jesus sees them, he tells them to go and show themselves to the priest – that thing that people with leprosy do when they are healed – in hope that they might be welcomed back in. Jesus sees them. Jesus sees their hurt; Jesus sees their exile, their separation from community. Jesus sees the opportunity for kindness, healing, and mercy.[7] Jesus sees them whole.
And as they go – we’re in verse 14 – they are made clean – they are healed – the separation vanishes. A need; the need is voiced; notice (3) how their need is met. Jesus heals them at a distance. That’s important – the distance and separation they have to keep from community – that doesn’t stop Jesus – it is no barrier to him. It is no barrier to healing. As they go, they are made whole. Distance notwithstanding.
In verse 15, one of them sees that he has been healed. And look at what he does. First thing, he praises God, in a loud voice. Remember how Jesus saw them. This One now sees – not only that he has been healed – but that this healing experience is a gift from a loving God. He sees that he has experienced this God-given healing in Jesus. And he turns – this One turns back to give thanks. He praises God in a loud voice as he goes. Imagine this commotion – this One known for having leprosy – is dancing through the streets – shouting praise – healed and whole. He gets to Jesus and throws himself at Jesus feet and thanks him. Pretty wild and dramatic stuff.
And then there is the big reveal. “And he was a Samaritan.” This is the “Wait! What?” moment. To the first-century ears that first heard this story, they would have said, “Wait! What?” This guy is a Samaritan? He’s one of them? He is not only a man who has had leprosy, he is a Samaritan – doubly disdained, doubly reviled, doubly separated and excluded from community.
In verse 17, Jesus asks three questions to drive that point home: “Wait, weren’t there 10 of you? Where are the other 9? Are none of them to be found – just this one you call foreigner?” He is the one – the one who came back to give thanks. Hmmm. Do you see what Jesus did there? He just snuck in a little living parable.[8] This is not at all the way you would have thought the story would go, is it? Hmmm.
And then, Jesus addresses this man who is a Samaritan, who formerly had leprosy, doubly disdained, now healed, now throwing himself before Jesus, giving thanks. It’s just Jesus and this One, giving thanks. And Jesus says to him, “Rise up. Your faith – your trust – your faithful seeing – has healed you. Go on your way.” Rise up – that’s the Greek resurrection world. The one we say on Easter. Christ is Risen! At the end of this story, this man is too – standing there, risen. Risen indeed! Go on your way. Live.
What a great story! There is so much there!
Let’s just spend one more moment, though, with that moment where the man sees that he is healed – and turns. Let’s spend one more moment with his turning – toward Jesus – to give thanks.
You see, this story, gives us all three of the essential parts of a healing story – there is a need; the need is voiced; the need is met. And then, this story gives us a fourth – 4, the one healed responds. We get to see what happens next. We get a first glimpse of how the one who is healed lives that healing out. And here, this one who has been healed – he responds, with a turn toward gratitude.
Now, I don’t fault the other nine.[9] They have gone on to the priest. Like Jesus told them to – so that the priest could inspect them; declare them disease-free; lift their exclusion; and restore them to community. They have gone to the priest – so that they could then go and hug their family. Lord only knows how long it has been. I’m not going to judge.
But this one – this Samaritan – he puts that off.[10] Wow. Before he embraces his family, he turns to give thanks. And look what results. He gets this moment with Jesus – he gets the full joy of seeing the love of a loving God – embodied right here and now – in his body – in his encounter with Jesus. This One doesn’t miss out on seeing any bit of goodness and blessing in what has happened here. He gets to see who he is in and with Jesus – fully human, healed and whole. He gets risen, raised up, by Jesus into life. This turn back toward Jesus – this turn toward gratitude – it is a turn toward life.
Now, we talk about the practice of gratitude a good bit here. You know I am a fan. But not just me. There’s science that says that gratitude is good for you. Religions around the world and down through time consistently center gratitude as a practice that brings us to life. I’ve said that all before. So, I’ve gone back through some of my gratitude sermons, and I’ve put together this handout you can take home.We want a spirituality that we can use – that can make a difference in our lives, in our world. It’s got some gratitude prompts – you can set a time to practice gratitude each day, OR, you can do this practice when you feel gratitude arising in you.
This past week, you may know, I went to Louisville for a few days to attend the National Gathering of Queer Presbyterians. It was the first such gathering – the first time that our denomination – the PCUSA – has ever invited queer folks to come together, and to talk with the denomination about what queer folks experience in the church. There we were – lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, and more – older, younger – Black, white, LatinX – many of us, serving in a church – deacons, elders, ministers – regular church folk. There we were gathered in the PCUSA headquarters. I remember not long ago, standing in protest outside those very walls, because we were not welcomed in. I remember in judicial cases coming to argue to a church that would not welcome us, coming to argue for the full dignity of LGBTQIA+ people and our families – a community of witness – now gathered, invited in.
We had conversations, we worshipped, we observed Trans Day of Remembrance – how our world – our government continues to do violence to Trans folks. There we were. I’m grateful for moments of actual liberation that feel quite ordinary, for time with friends, and for a safe journey home.
In a world of chaos and hurt, there are moments of good – large and small, all the time. It is right and fitting and healthy that we not rush by. That we stop, and turn, and give thanks. For what this week – or in this past year – are you grateful? Right now, in this moment?
This story from Scripture is about seeing and giving thanks. Jesus sees this man’s hurt; sees the opportunity for kindness, mercy, and healing; sees this man healed and whole. And as the man goes, he sees – he sees that he has been healed – he turns toward gratitude and gives thanks – he sees the embodied love of a loving God, show up and come to life in his own flesh and bones. The practice of gratitude helps us see what matters most. This text asks us: What do you see? And then it also asks: And what will you now do with what you have seen?
This story has the three elements common to all healing stories: 1, there’s a need; 2, the need is voiced; 3, the need is met. It then also offers a fourth: 4, the one healed responds – here, with thanks. But – and – I think it also suggests a 5th – a 5th element to every healing story: The one healed, giving thanks, then goes and lives it out. Did you see that last part, just after the “rise up”?... “And now go on your way. Go, live out this healing.”
Imagine with me, for a moment, what happens next: Jesus says, Rise up and go. And the One who has been healed goes. He goes to the priest, presents himself, and the priest sees his healing, and lifts the separation. And this one who has been healed – says thanks, we know he says thank you – and then, he runs as fast as he can to his home. And he walks through that door. And his family sees him, healed and whole. And they embrace. After all these years, they embrace.
And I wonder, in a day or two, does he go and catch up with the other 9 guys? There were 10, this community of 10, sharing the same hurt, the same exclusion, begging for alms to support themselves. They have shared some life together. Do they meet back up, and let all this sink in? The 10 of them, Jewish folks and Samaritan, together – do they now see, in their experience of healing, a world in Jesus Christ that knows no separation – a world with one creation healed and whole.
At that conference, Rev. Brooke Scott – who is a young, Black, queer woman and pastor – and one of the speakers said: “Stewardship is using all that God has given us”. It is celebrating the good, and giving thanks, and wisely, lovingly, joyfully living out the good and the healing that we see in the world.
I’ve shared that prayer of gratitude that I’ve heard often in African-American church traditions: Thank you God for getting me up this morning. We weren’t promised this day, but we are glad to receive it. Bishop Yvette Flunder – the keynoter at that conference, a Black queer bishop – she offered a variation of that: “I’m glad and grateful for another day to be in the service.”
We say Together We Serve a good bit in this community. You/we have embraced it as a tagline, as a mantra, as a statement of who we are, together – there’s even a song in the hymnal. So let me wrap all this up with this one last prayer of gratitude and invitation: I’m glad and grateful for another day to be in the service, together, with you.
With all that we have seen – all the ways we have seen God moving – even in these days of chaos and hurt – what will we now do with what we have seen? This gratitude we embrace – how will we now live that out? That’s the question we get to live out together. Thanks be to God.
© 2025 Scott Clark
[1] See Antoinette Clark Wire, Holy Lives, Holy Deaths: A Close Hearing of Early Jewish Storytellers (Society of Biblical Literature, Atlanta, GA: 2002).
[2] For general background on this passage and on the Gospel of Luke, see R. Alan Culpepper, “The Gospel of Luke,” New Interpreters’ Bible Commentary, vol. ix (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1995); Justo L. González, Luke (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010); Sharon Ringe, Luke (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1995); James W. Voelz, Commentary in Connections, Year C, vol. 3 (Louisville, KY; Westminster John Knox Press, 2018); Francisco J. García , Commentary on Working Preacher at https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-28-3/commentary-on-luke-1711-19-5
[3] Quoted in Francisco J. García , at https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-28-3/commentary-on-luke-1711-19-5
[4] See id.
[5] For the biblical restrictions on those with skin conditions, see Culpepper, p.325; González, pp. 204-05.
[6] See Voelz, p.386.
[7] See Culpepper, p. 326.
[8] See Voelz, p.388.
[9] See Voelz, p.389
[10] See González, p.205.