Luke 17:11-19 - The Poll Results Are In - October 9, 2022

It’s election season and therefore it’s also polling season. Politicians and pundits place great value on polling data. I’m not sure I agree with them. Not only because polls have been proven to be very wrong in the recent past, not only because over 60% of Americans do not even have land-lines [1], but because right now many people will outright lie to a pollster – to just go along with the popular opinion that they don’t believe to protect themselves from being “canceled” from society. I doubt how accurate any poll can be. What does this have to do with the 10 lepers before us? Well, I think that there are some things we can learn from polling these ten lepers – a poll not based on phone calls but on Luke’s inspired record of their words and actions.

Luke tells us that as Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, he was passing along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As Jesus was traveling through this region, ten men with leprosy met him. Standing at a distance, they called out loudly, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” It might not be obvious to we NT Christians just how bold and even radical this behavior was. In Leviticus, God had given his people this command regarding those who were afflicted with leprosy: the person with the skin disease who has an infection on him must wear torn clothes and let his hair be disheveled. He must cover his upper lip and cry out, “Unclean! Unclean!” For as long as the infection is on him he shall remain unclean. He is unclean. He must live alone in a place outside the camp (Leviticus 13:45-46). The clear majority – 10 out of 10 – of these lepers broke with OT protocol to approach Jesus and, instead of crying out “Unclean!” they cried out for mercy. Actually, their plea was stronger than a cry. It was a command: “Jesus, Master, you must have mercy on us!” A bold demand from a group that was considered society’s outcasts, right?

The question is: why? Why did 10 out of 10 of these lepers boldly break with protocol and confidently – almost brashly – demand that Jesus have mercy on them? Let’s start with what did not lead them to this action and these words. It was not because they believed they deserved healing. That comes out by their use of the word mercy. Mercy is kindness shown to someone who doesn’t deserve it. If you are pleading for mercy, then, you are admitting that you don’t deserve to have whatever you’re asking for. The criminal who pleads for mercy from the judge knows they don’t deserve it; the cheating wife who pleads for her husband not to leave knows she doesn’t deserve it. So it is here: 10 out of 10 lepers know they don’t deserve Jesus’ kindness but they demand it anyway. Why? Well, if it’s not because of something in them – then it must be something in Jesus. What did they know about Jesus? Well, they knew that Jesus had healed many, including a leper (Luke 5:12-15). They demanded that Jesus have mercy on them – only because they were unanimous in their belief that Jesus was merciful in nature! And in this case, the majority was right.

What would a similar poll taken of those of us gathered here today reveal? Would it reveal that while we all confessed earlier that [we] do not deserve to be called your child, there’s a little part of us that believes we do; that we’re just a little better than all the people out there who have been things to do than come to church; that by our sacrifices of time, money and effort we have earned God’s favor? Just realize what that would mean: it would gut the entire idea of mercy. Mercy which is earned or deserved is not mercy at all. It is a business transaction. And, the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18:9-14) shows that no one who believes that they deserve mercy will receive it. What does the poll of your heart reveal?

More importantly, what does that poll of your heart reveal about what you believe about Jesus? Do you come to him in your daily prayers boldly – even brashly – demanding that he live up to his reputation and have mercy on you? Or have doubts about Jesus’ reputation slipped into your heart and mind? Do you pray only rarely – do you maintain a safe distance away from him – because you don’t really believe that he will listen? Do you pray only for small things because you don’t believe that he’s really capable of solving your big problems – like an incurable disease? I’m not going to ask for a show of hands – but you know, and God knows, the results of that poll. This poll of these 10 lepers demonstrates with perfect accuracy that we should boldly expect God to be merciful to us – not because we deserve it, because we don’t – but because he is merciful (Psalm 136).

There was a second poll taken of these 10 lepers. When [Jesus] saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” As they went away they were cleansed. 10 out of 10 of these lepers took Jesus at his word and set out for the nearest priest to be examined and to be declared clean. Again, realize how radical and almost ridiculous this was. Jesus didn’t explicitly promise that they would be cleansed like he did with the leper in Luke 5. He didn’t lay his hands on them to cleanse them. He didn’t tell them to go wash in the Jordan River like Elisha did with Naaman in the OT (2 Kings 5). He just told them to go…and they went. These lepers were unanimous in their trust of Jesus’ mercy and in obedience to his rather unusual command.

How about us? Do we truly believe that Jesus gives us unusual and difficult commands in his Word he promises to bless our obedience? Do we trust that his reputation as merciful is more than enough reason to do whatever he commands – even if it seems radical and ridiculous in today’s world? Jesus calls us to pray for those in authority – yes, even and especially those who not only condone but even support and mandate behavior that is contrary to God’s will – do we go and do it (1 Timothy 2:1-2)? Jesus commands parents to make training in the Word of God the absolute highest priority for their children (Ephesians 6:4) – but how many other factors, activities and priorities have gotten in the way of doing that? Jesus commands us to speak up and speak out against injustice, against immorality, against anything that is against his will (Proverbs 31:8-9), and yet how often haven’t we kept quiet out of fear of offending our families or friends or the risk of losing our jobs or reputations? While the obedience of these ten lepers may put us to shame – and rightfully lead us to repentance – may it also lead us to trust that when our merciful God gives us a command he also promises to bless us when we obey it (Deuteronomy 11:26-28).

There’s one final poll taken in our text this morning. But, in contrast to the two previous polls, in this one the majority is dead wrong. One of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice. He fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, thanking him. And he was a Samaritan. Jesus responded, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give glory to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Get up and go your way. Your faith has saved you.” I’m sure we’ve all heard a Thanksgiving sermon on this text which make the main point of this story the lack of gratitude on the part of 9 of the 10 lepers. Is that accurate? Jesus doesn’t question their gratitude – I mean, only a psychopath could fail to be thankful for the curing of an incurable disease – but that they did not return and give glory to God. In other words, while it’s a stretch to argue that they weren’t grateful to for their healing, it’s that they didn’t return because they failed to recognize two things: 1) they failed to recognize that the God they were to worship was standing right in front of them in the flesh and blood of Jesus; and 2) they failed to realize that their need for mercy extended deeper than their skin – that while their rotten flesh had been healed they still needed healing for their rotten hearts.

What can we learn from this poll where the majority is wrong? The old saying is that there are no atheists in fox holes – meaning that when things get really bad, when there seems to be no hope, when there is nowhere else to turn, when your life is in danger, most, if not all people turn to God for help (kind of like 10 of 10 of these lepers did). While I doubt that that adage is true 100% of the time – especially in our society where God has all but been removed from the public discourse – isn’t it uncanny how many people seem to “find God” at the very moment when their lives have been shattered by some kind of tragedy, disaster or illness? We saw it on a nation-wide level when churches were packed after the 9/11 terror attack. We see it when politicians who seem to have little regard for God’s will in their policy-making suddenly announce that their thoughts and prayers are with the victims of some man-made or natural disaster. You might see it in your personal life when a friend or family member who hasn’t been to church for years asks for your prayers as they face some difficult situation. And, you know what? In many cases God does provide the healing, the help and the resources those people are seeking. Look at the legions of electrical linemen and Coast Guard personnel and Red Cross volunteers who traveled to Florida to help people in the wake of Hurricane Ian. Look at the doctors and nurses who provide help and healing on a daily basis at hospitals around the world. While we may not agree with every social safety net program our government operates, isn’t it incredible how there is no reason for anyone in our nation to starve? All of this help, all of this healing, all of these acts of mercy come from God – and in the moment of crisis, the majority usually recognizes that.

But…how many, once their prayers, their requests for mercy have been answered return to Jesus to praise him as the one, true God and glorify him for his mercy? And, more importantly, how many return to him seeking the one thing that neither the Coast Guard nor the Red Cross can provide: the forgiveness of sins? Sadly, in our country the majority of those who don’t is growing and the minority who do is shrinking by the day. Again, I don’t think the issue is one of gratitude. If you’ve seen the videos of people who’ve been rescued from their rooftops or had a tanker truck show up to fill their generators, I don’t think that there’s any doubt that they are grateful. The issue is that even though they have found relief in this particular situation – they fail to recognize that they continue to be rotten beggars in need of continued mercy from the only one who can provide it; they fail to return to Jesus – who provided the mercy in the first place.

If this story is all about gratitude and ingratitude, then mercy is reduced to a transaction – like when your mom would say “Now, what do you say…” when someone gave you a gift. Is God merciful because we are grateful? Never, because then it wouldn’t be mercy! In a strange way that can only be divine, God is merciful to us – not just to get a “thank you” out of us – but in order to lead us to beg for even more mercy! Paul puts it this way: do you have so little regard for his rich kindness, his restraint, and his patience, that you ignore the fact that the purpose of God’s kindness is to lead you to repentance? (Romans 2:4) In other words, God is merciful to us so that we would come to Jesus and seek even more mercy from him!

And how do we do this? Where do we find Jesus today to beg him for even more mercy? In Baptism. Paul says: as many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ (Galatians 3:27). In Absolution, where Jesus promises: whenever you forgive people’s sins, they are forgiven (John 20:23). In the Lord’s Supper, where the same Jesus who cleansed those lepers of their rotten skin promises that his true body and blood are present to cleanse our rotten hearts of sin (Matthew 26:26-28). These are the places you find Jesus, these are the places you find God, these are the places – the only places – where you will ever hear get up and go your way. Your faith has saved you. The majority may have received healing for their bodies; only the minority, only one received healing for his soul.

I don’t place much trust in political polling today. But I hope we all have learned something from one conducted on these 10 lepers. The majority can be right, but it can also be wrong. Where are the other nine? Polls can’t tell you, but if they’re not here at Jesus’ feet, you know where they’re headed. May the Lord help us to be found in the minority, where we recognize that the best way to thank Jesus for his mercy is to keep coming back for more! Amen.

[1] https://www.digitalinformationworld.com/2021/05/data-shows-625-percent-of-american.html