Proper 23 C + Faith on earth + 10.12.25
M. Campbell-Langdell
All Santos, Oxnard
(Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7; Psalm 66:1-11; 2 Timothy 2:8-15; Luke 17:11-19)
“When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
Skipping forward to next week, we hear this question, which
seems to resonate with today’s gospel lesson. The readings for today speak in
various ways to the interactions between those of different backgrounds. In the
reading from Jeremiah, the people of Israel are told to “seek the welfare of
the city” in which they find themselves. They are foreigners dedicated to
improving their adopted community's lives. In the reading from 2nd
Timothy, the believers may not be in an alien land, but they sometimes feel oppressed
and are being counseled to remain true in the face of the lack of acceptance of
Christianity. In the gospel reading, those that Jesus heals are lepers,
probably not folks with Hansen’s disease, but people who have a disfiguring
condition that makes them look almost dead- just in time for spooky season! And
they are Samaritans, or people who are also indigenous to the land but are
considered a different people group than the Israelites.
All to say that many cultures are colliding in this week’s readings, and we are
reminded that, when the Son of Man comes, he won’t be looking for people to
have the same culture or practices as him. He will be looking for faith.
This makes me think of a book I have just finished, The
Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber (2014). In it, a man named Peter
journeys to another planet, called Oasis by the earthlings, and he has a
special job. He is called to be a pastor to the Oasens. Now, his job is almost
too easy. The natives have all heard of Jesus and already love Jesus. So much
so that they, somewhat comically, call themselves Jesus Lover One, two, etc.,
as if they are in an online chat room. Please tune out if you want to avoid a
spoiler, but Peter learns that the Oasens cannot heal. And he feels he has been
misleading them, leading to a crisis of faith. He points out that humans can
heal almost miraculously, whereas the Oasens die if injured or ill.
Thinking of this book, I could not help but think of my mother’s trip many
years ago to the island of Molokai, and the leper colony there. Though it no
longer exists as it did, a community evolved, and she mentioned the sheer joy
of the faith she experienced after being transported by mule into the small
leper colony area. Father Damian and Mother Marianne suffered due to their
ministry among those who could not heal, but the faith of all was inspired.
Why was it inspired? Surely, we derive an awful lot of
inspiration from Jesus’ healing stories in the Bible, and from how he healed
the 10 Samaritans here. But I think we as Christians aren’t just focused on
physical healing. Those who work in disability or “crip” theology remind us
time after time that physically perfected bodies are not the end-all, be-all of
existence. A lot of beauty and knowledge is borne in seemingly imperfect flesh.
So what does the one Samaritan “get” that the others don’t?
Towards the end of The Book of Strange Things, Peter converses with
Jesus Lover Five, his favorite parishioner amongst the aliens, who is probably
dying. And she acknowledges his need to go home and rest for a while, not to
carry the weight of ministry as he tends to his family. However, I think she has
more faith than he does, because she still seems to have faith and hope in God,
even though she may be physically failing.
It is this kind of faith that Jesus says heals the Samaritan, not just in a
physical way, but also emotionally and spiritually. It is this faith that we
seek.
All of us are living on borrowed time. Even as miraculously
self-healing as many of our human bodies are, we must remember that there is a
physical healing, and we can ask for that healing from Jesus. But there is also
another level of healing, and that part comes from the faith we have when we
don’t know the road ahead, but still follow Jesus. That is the faith that will
bring us to everlasting life, and before that, can release us from some of the
anxiety associated with the suffering of simply being alive.
Wherever we are, we are aliens and sojourners just passing
through this earthly journey. We try our best, and we fail sometimes. Pushing
back on the 2nd Timothy passage this week, Cindy says that she feels
that Jesus will never deny us. While I understand the source of this passage, I
agree. We keep stumbling forward in our own way, one step at a time, in faith, seeking
the welfare of the city in which we live, walking forward in faith, even when
we don’t know the way forward. Jesus will be there with us. Jesus doesn’t just
show his love by healing us; he also shows his love by walking the path with us
and empowering us to walk it with each other.
For me, this is very heartening when I see our community
experiencing both the joy of new birth and losses- life will cycle and we will
sorrow and be joyful, but Jesus is with us through it all.
Jesus will walk that way with us and give us peace.
Amen.
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