A Secret of Doctor Luke
Luke 17:11-19; Hebrews 11:1-3 & 12:12
St. John’s United Church of Christ
Greeley, Colorado
August 6, 2023
Rev. Allen Kallenbach
The account of Jesus and the Lepers is unique to the Gospel of Luke. No other Gospel writer reported this event in the life of Jesus. The account offers a secret for OUR LIVES. I call it a secret because I discovered a fresh insight not long ago as I read the passage. And I want to share the secret with you.
Consider Luke’s words. “As Jesus was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, ‘Jesus, Master, have pity on us!’ When he saw them, he said, ‘Go, show yourselves to the priest.’ And as they went, they were cleansed.”
The secret of Luke’s scripture is this: IN OUR LIVES, THE FULFILLMENT OF FAITH FIRST REQUIRES AN UNCERTAIN STEP. That may be difficult to grasp, so let me say it again: THE FULFILLMENT OF FAITH FIRST REQUIRES AN UNCERTAIN STEP.
I. THE TEN LEPERS
I would like for you to consider some people and situations to make this truth come alive. Let’s consider first, those ten lepers. No doubt for years they lived a life of total misery. One first-century rabbi had ruled that if the wind was blowing from the leper toward a healthy person, that person could not get closer than 50 yards. Lepers had to spend their lifetime in isolation. Should someone healthy approach, the leper was required to shout, “Beware---stay back---a leper.”
Leprosy destroys the nerves of feeling. There is no pain. Cuts to the feet or burns to the hand often go untreated, so before long infection causes the loss of fingers and toes. Other parts of the body become putrefied and the leper’s body covered with white blotches of dead skin, begins to scale and peel like the scab of a boil.
Those were ten miserable people! And there they stand on a hillside crying out, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us.”
What did Jesus do? He shouted across those 50 yards, “Take a hike, go see a priest.” Nothing spectacular, no definite promise: Simply, “Go see a priest.” IN OUR SPIRITUAL LIVES, THE FULFILLMENT OF FAITH FIRST REQUIRES AN UNCERTAIN STEP.
No doubt, those ten lepers had seen Jesus heal others. They had watched from a distance as he made the blind see and the lame walk. They cried out that day, “Master, have mercy on us.!” And Jesus said, “Take a walk!” Do you know what else? When those lepers took their first step, they still had leprosy.
Luke says that as they walked forward, their healing began. Can you picture it? Ten crippled, miserable men and all Rabbi Jesus did was yell, “Go see a priest.” It is so amazing. Those ten men responded in a faith that must have been uncertain.
Just picture it in your mind. They are hobbling along hoping for any change that might occur. As they approach the city, one of them says, “Hey, look! The patches of dead skin on my arms, they’re losing their whiteness.” Another says, “Look, my fingers—something’s happening to my fingers.” Yet another glances down at his feet and cries, “It looks like my toes are growing back.”
Suddenly, their shuffling walk changes to a stumbling run. And by the time they reach the city gates those ten men are running full steam ahead. They’re shouting to the people in the street, “Where’s the priest? Find me a priest! I’ve been healed.”
The healing didn’t come until the walk began. IN OUR SPRIRITUAL LIVES, THE FULFILLMENT OF FAITH FIRST REQUIRES AN UNCERTAIN STEP.
II. JOSHUA
To illustrate this secret further, let’s look at another Biblical character—Joshua. Joshua was the greatest military leader the nation of Israel ever produced. 1400 years before the birth of Jesus, he shared with his people in an amazing event. Earlier, Moses had led the nation from slavery in Egypt. Before his death, Moses appointed Joshua to assume leadership of the people to direct their conquest of Canaan.
The day has come to fulfill God’s promises. The nation stands on the east side of the Jordan River. The fortress of Jericho and the Promised Land are across the water. The river is running dangerously fast and deep. And God says the people are to arise, cross the river, and occupy the land he has promised to give them.
I can picture myself standing there that day in the shoes of Joshua. Before me on the hillside stand the people of Israel, waiting the command of their leaders. It’s a glorious picture I paint standing there. All of a sudden, I hear a little voice right at the back of my ear. “Joshua—Allen, go stand in the middle of the river, so the people can know that I am with you.” But I say, “God, the water’s deep, the water’s rough.” And the voice repeats, “Go stand in the middle of the river.”
In the third chapter of Joshua, the general cries out to the people and says in effect, “I want you to watch closely. You are going to see things today you have never seen before. And then he says to the priests, “Pick up the Ark of the Covenant which contains the stone tablets of the 10 Commandments. The priests place poles through the rings at the side of the Ark and lift this symbol of God’s presence to their shoulders:
They take their first step toward the Jordan and the waters still rage. They take the second step, and the river still roars. They walk right down to the bank of the Jordan and the torrents still foam before them.
The Bible says with their first step into the river, the waters recede.
One step at a time makes the waters retreat. The Bible reports the river was crossed on dry ground—one step at a time. IN OUR SPIRITUAL LIVES, THE FULFILLMENT OF FAITH FIRST REQUIRES AN UNCERTAIN STEP.
III. THREE MEN IN A FIERY FURNACE
What if it doesn’t work? What if you pray, take the step, and still miss the miracle? Let’s move on to another Biblical account which illustrates the secret given to us by Doctor Luke. It’s another Old Testament account that I love. It’s part of today’s secret. I heard it for the first time in Sunday School when I was 5 years old. It concerned three men in the Book of Daniel. Their names were Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
Remember the story? King Nebuchadnezzar built a golden image. The nation was instructed to worship and honor this new god. Anyone who refused to bow down would be burned alive in a furnace. The three heroes Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow before the statue. They were thrown into the furnace and through a miracle of God, they emerged unscathed.
As a young boy I thought this was the most amazing story. I remember an afternoon standing before a brush fire on which my father burned tree limbs. It was a hot blaze and I wondered if I had enough faith to stick my hand in the flame without singeing a hair. Fortunately, I recognized the limitation of my faith.
To me, the miracle of the account is not so much the furnace and God’s action in behalf of these three little men. The key is a little earlier in the story when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to the king, “Oh Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your hand.” And here is the key verse: “But even if he does not, we want you to know that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold that you have set up.”
That’s the uncertain step of faith all of us must take as we approach the miracles of God:
- It’s the faith to step out when all looks dark and hopeless.
- It’s the cry, “I believe God can do it. I believe God will!” But whether he does it or not, I’m stepping out.
- It’s the faith of ten lepers on a hillside.
- It’s the faith of a general by a raging river.
- It’s the faith of three heroes by the open door of a furnace.
- IT’S THE SECRET OF FAITH GOD HAS FOR EACH OF US.
Isn’t this in a nutshell the story of your life? It’s certainly the story of my life! Many miracles have occurred in each of our lives—miracles which have brought us to this August day in 2023. We’ve made mistakes. But we’ve done some things right! There were wrong choices, but a greater number of right choices. Each required a step forward in faith
When I look back over the years, I remember the day in high school when I decided to go to Purdue University to study engineering. The decision was made, and I felt good about it. I just knew when I took the step to leave home and go to college it was the right step and the last decision I’d ever have to make. But within a year I wrestled more than ever with a decision to enter the ministry. I responded in faith that it was the right choice. Six more years of college and seminary lay before me and scared me. But in faith I began the walk which would eventually lead to ordination. During those years I thought about marriage, a family, and a church to serve. Steps leading to these goals in life were made in faith but always with the hope that they were motivated by correct decisions.
I’m certain that the decision points in my life were reflective of my mother’s training. She’s been dead for 56 years, but I still listen to her voice. My mother and I didn’t go out to eat very often but when I went with her to a cafeteria she’d say, “I just can’t decide what to eat. There are too many choices.”
She couldn’t decide what to eat but she didn’t have any trouble making a greater decision when my father died. She said to her 12 and 14 year old boys, “We’re going to stay right here on the farm. It won’t be easy but the three of us together will make it work. Thus, two teenagers became responsible for their own livelihood. There were challenging and discouraging times but by taking one step at a time we made it!
When you look back upon your life where were the decision points? Weren’t there times when you stepped out in faith? You were uncertain about the future but like those 10 lepers you were willing to step out in faith knowing that God works good for those who love the Lord.
Weren’t there times in your life when the waters in the river of life were troubled? Death, sadness, and sickness invaded your life. And with hope for a brighter future, you moved ahead one step at a time?
Weren’t there times of darkness when you felt like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, you knew that God would rescue and save you?
Every time I see videos of the Allies landing on the beaches of Normandy or on the islands in the South Seas, I ask myself “How could those young men have faced the horror of enemy shelling? How could they leave their boats when they knew that death would certainly lay ahead? The answer comes from those who when interviewed years later, said, “We approached those landings with the confidence that whatever the enemy throws at us, we will make it.”
My friends, you and I don’t know what the future holds for us. We don’t know what our enemies will throw at us. But each of us knows the blessings God has brought to us in the past and we approach the unknown shores of our lives confident that God has wonderful plans for us, so we fall back on Lukes’ little secret: IN OUR SPIRITUAL LIVES, THE FULFILLMENT OF FAITH FIRST REQUIRES AN UNCERTAIN STEP. And then we take that uncertain step knowing that God is with us every step of the way.
Let us pray: O Lord, there are times in life when our faith wavers and we wonder if we have the strength and the courage to take another step into the unknown future. It is then that we pray those words of the hymnist,
Precious Lord, take my hand, lead me on, help me stand.
I am tired, I am weak, I am worn.
Through the storm, through the night, lead me on to the light.
Take my hand, Precious Lord, lead me home.
When my way grows drear, Precious Lord, linger near.
When my life is almost gone, hear my cry, hear my call.
Hold my hand lest I fall.
Take my hand Precious Lord,
lead me home. Amen