Spirited Word
By God's Word proclaimed, the Holy Spirit works faith in God's grace in Jesus, when and where he pleases. Sermons by Pastor Adrian Kitson, Lutheran Church of Australia.
St Petri Lutheran Church, Nuriootpa, Barossa Valley, South Australia.
www.stpetri.org.au
Spirited Word
Can You See?
We come across a familiar account of a 1 in 10 chance today. Ten very unwell and isolated people receive way more than they bargained for from Jesus but only one of them really ‘sees’ Jesus and responds wholeheartedly. It is the story of the 10 lepers. Even though it is a miraculous moment, Luke tells it in a way that at first seems fairly ‘standard’ for those around Jesus. They had seen this before.
Person cries out to Jesus for healing a disease. Jesus responds positively.
He tells them to head to the medical and legal people (priests at the temple) to confirm that they are now clean and OK to return to their life with family, work, friends, home…
But there is a new thing… One person really gets what has been given. One person really sees Jesus for who he actually is and he gains much more than mere physical healing.
He is so changed by what he sees that he does a 180 turn and heads back out to the borderland from where he came and does something extraordinary on two counts. He prostrated himself in the dirt at Jesus feet in an act of worship and he just happens to be non-Jewish.
So, we have a total outsider as the only one in this border country who really sees who Jesus is – the new place of worship – not Mt Gerazim in Samaria or even Mt Zion in Jerusalem. The new place of life and hope and healing of the whole person is now a person. Not a place.
Can you see?
Pastor Adrian