Community Church Sermons

Nineteenth Sunday After Pentecost, Year C – October 14, 2001

"One Out Of Ten”

Luke 17:11-19

There were ten of them who encountered Jesus that day. Ten lepers. Ten poor souls suffering from one of life’s most debilitating and socially unacceptable diseases. Ten men forced to live outside the bounds of the community, depending upon the charity of others to survive. Perhaps you can picture them in your mind. Ten lepers, calling out, “Jesus, Lord, have mercy on us!”

And in some mysterious way – far beyond our comprehension – Jesus conveys to them some gift of the Spirit – some power of healing – some touch of wholeness. And through the redemptive love of God, they are miraculously cleansed of the leprosy. All ten of them. And Jesus tells them to go to the priests to show their healing, and to be readmitted to the community.

And off they go, running as fast as they can. It is not only the first day of the rest of their lives, it is the BEST day of their lives! You can almost hear their laughter, their excited conversation, their shouts of joy as they dash toward the village. Ten of God’s children, running and jumping and doing cartwheels because of what God has done for them!

But suddenly, one of their number slows. He is running ahead, but looking backward at the same time. Out in front of him is his new future – a life to be lived and experienced and enjoyed. But behind him is the one who gave him the gift. And so his run slows to a walk, and his walk to a long moment of standing still – looking back and forth between his own new goals and needs, and the Source of his new life. And he stops. And turns around. And starts walking, and then running, toward Jesus!

One out of ten.

I was serving my first parish and some of the women in the church were upset. They were such devoted people, and they worked extremely hard to do what they could to make it possible for the church to do its job of ministering to the community. They raised a lot of money for the church. But this one year, they were frustrated. There was so much work to do. And so few people to do it. Why does all the work come down to just this small handful of us, they asked? Where are all the others – all the people who benefit from the church’s ministry?

Once I was at a nominating committee meeting. It was the night before the Annual Meeting and there were still many positions of responsibility to be filled. Telephone calls were made, hoping to convince some who were not involved to become involved. But without much success. When all was said and done, several of the people who were the most involved took additional responsibilities. If we don’t do it, who will, they asked?

These are questions that always circulate in the life of the church. I’ve heard them asked in a dozen different forms hundreds of times during the course of my ministry. Why does it always come down to us? The same old few. The old dependables.

In the story from Luke, there were ten who received the blessing. But only one who returned to express his thanks by giving himself to the work of Jesus.

One out of ten.

When the doors of our church open on a Sunday morning, you know, you usually find them there. And when there’s something that needs to be done at the Good Samaritan Center or Habitat For Humanity, you’ll find them there, too. They’re running the dishwasher for the Regional Meeting on a Saturday morning when so much else is going on in the world. They’re sacrificially giving their money to support and extend God’s work, even when the market is down and times are tough. They work with the youth, and almost never receive thanks. They sing in the choir, and serve on the Council, and pray on the Prayer Chain, and teach in the Sunday School, and when the newsletter needs to go out at the last minute, they come and fold and staple and stamp.

You see them in every church, you know. The old dependables. The same old few. The one out of ten.

This is one of the realities of life, you know. And it’s important for us to recognize and understand it. Most people who receive the blessings of God, take them and run.

So there they are - these ten newly healed lepers. And they are joyfully running back to their lives, to their interests, to their needs, to their goals, to their hopes, to their life-long aspirations. They see the blessing they’ve received only in terms of themselves. Just like it happens in the church today.

But then one of them turns around. Just one. Maybe what he has received is not for him only. Maybe its been given to serve a greater purpose! And so he runs back to Jesus, and devotes himself to serve!

You know, these are amazing times in which we live! Martin Marty writes that campus chaplains today are reporting that special worship services have been filling sanctuaries on university campuses all over the nation. Pews that once gathered dust have become crowded with students who usually pass the churches by. They meditate, and cry, and pray, and seek closeness with God. And it’s not just on campuses, but all over the nation. In big cities and small towns, churches are being sought out by folks who never thought it was important before. But now, life has taken a turn. And people are seeking God. And they are turning to the church.

There is a spiritual hunger in America today, because we intuitively sense that the war we are facing is more than one of military might, diplomatic skill, economic strategy, and political ability. There is a spiritual dimension to what we are facing. And people are seeking God. People are turning to the church.

And here we are. Arms wide open. Hearts ready to love. Hands ready to serve. Faith ready to share. Prayer ready to offer. Blessing ready to give!

And why are we able to be here for the world, and to serve those who need us?

Because before this crisis ever dawned and the nine out of ten started coming home - back when the dust was collecting, in those days before the pews were filled - the ONE OUT OF TEN paid the bills that kept the lights on, and built the buildings where the prayers are offered, and formed the programs that produce the help to the community, and developed the skills to care for people in Jesus’ name, and worked faithfully and diligently and relentlessly to build the church!

Oh, the one in ten!!!

They are the most important people of all!

Martin Marty says it well: “Think of the usual loneliness of the church – on campus, downtown, in suburbs and small towns – a church quietly, patiently, prosaically heroic in prayer, worship and love in times when there is no crisis. That prosaic heroism in the face of neglect, allows the church to welcome all who seek sanctuary in times of crisis.”

One out of ten.

That’s all it takes to make the church a powerful force for good and for God in the lives of many!

To all of you who are already our one-in-ten, I say – “Thanks be to God for you!” You will never know the full extent of the good you do for others, but one day, God will show it to you! And to those of you who are thinking that it’s time to BECOME one of the one in ten, I invite you to join us! There is no more important work to be about than building the church to “be there” for the world today!

As “Trails Through Tellico – 2002” begins this week, I encourage you to ask the question, “Which of the ten shall I be, in times like these?