Brief synopsis of the readings: In the 2nd book of Kings we read that Naaman, on the word of the prophet Elisha, plunged seven times in the River Jordan and he was cleansed of his leprosy. He was so grateful that he and his soldiers returned to Elisha and proclaimed belief in God. He also offered a gift but Elisha refused it. Naaman then asked for two mule-loads of earth “for I will no longer offer holocaust or sacrifice to any other god except the Lord.” Luke’s Gospel recounts a time when Jesus, traveling through Samaria and Galilee, was approached by ten lepers who asked Jesus to have pity on them. He instructed them to show themselves to the priests and en route they were cleansed. Of the ten only one, who was a Samaritan, returned to Jesus and fell at the feat of Jesus and offered praise. Jesus replied, asking about the other nine. Jesus then said to the Samaritan: “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.”

Before we begin let me assure you this won’t be a sermon about writing thank you notes before spending the money grandma sent you for your birthday. There is a great deal going on with these readings but I think sometimes we get so caught up with the ingratitude of the nine lepers who didn’t return to Jesus that we don’t pay attention to anything else.

Today we look at leprosy differently; it’s now called Hansen’s Disease and is easily treated with antibiotics. But we’ve used antibiotics for less than 100 years, and as we found out with polio and AIDS in the 20th Century, any disease with no cure terrifies us. Additionally leprosy can make a person’s skin unsightly and it’s easy to see how it was viewed as a curse from God, almost as if the lesions were a sign to avoid someone. Little wonder that lepers would band together as other lepers were the only people who would get close to them.

Leprosy was also a disease that could go away on its own but at the time of Jesus if someone had been “marked” by leprosy he could only be declared cured by one of the priests; it wasn’t enough to show that it had disappeared. That’s why Jesus told the ten to go show themselves to the priest: only then could they rejoin society. Interesting that they noticed on the way to the priest that they had been cured; it never says explicitly that they made it to the priests. Perhaps the nine continued on their journey and the Samaritan decided instead to turn around and express his thanks to Jesus.

So what did Jesus think about all this? I think most of us would have been angry or at least irritated that only one out of ten showed up, especially if they gave their thanks to the priests who proclaimed them cured. We’ve all had experiences where we’ve felt unappreciated and resentful. We make a suggestion at a staff meeting that the boss then takes credit for. We let a car go ahead of us in a traffic jam and don’t get “the wave.” In fairness there are times when it does really matter. The person whose ideas are routinely ignored at staff meetings can rightly fear being marginalized and needs to stand up for himself; on the other hand we really don’t suffer if we don’t get a wave in traffic.

I hope that Jesus didn’t react with anger; in his healings Jesus recognized that the source of the healing was God, not himself. That’s perhaps more explicit in our first reading as Elisha refused a gift when Naaman was healed. When Naaman went to see Elisha he took with him 10 silver talents, 6000 gold pieces and 10 festal garments. I know I’m reading into this but if Elisha recognized that the healing came from God he decided not to take credit.

So let’s look at the times we are able to be a vehicle of healing or take the opportunity to be generous. If we look closely we can often see that we are in the position to do good because of God’s blessing. Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1929 and opened the door to antibiotics and saved countless lives in the 20th Century and I hope we can all agree that his genius was a God given gift. Twice in my life I’ve talked with someone who was contemplating suicide and they both later expressed their gratitude; I don’t know if I saved their lives but they thought so. Whatever words I said were accompanied by fervent prayers to God to guide me through this and I’ll never forget how grateful (and exhausted) I was.

And even simple acts of kindness and generosity are gifts we’ve been given. Holding open a door for someone pushing a baby stroller shows that we have accepted the gift of kindness. Tipping generously at a restaurant recognizes the gift that gave us the ability to be generous as well as the gift of recognizing the good we can do.

At the end of the day the healings we read about clearly benefited Naaman and the 10 lepers, that’s obvious. But like the rings that form in a pond when a stone is dropped, they grow to benefit others. Naaman commanded the Aram (Syrian) army and his healing pointed to God’s power and mercy and no doubt affected the men under his command. Even though only the Samaritan thanked Jesus, we can assume the priests who declared the others healed learned how it happened and perhaps saw Jesus in a new light.

If we tip generously we give the server the opportunity to “pay forward” our generosity. When I was a teenager I saw that my father was a frequent blood donor and made a note of it. When I was in college I saw a bloodmobile and decided I would do the same. I’ve been donating to the San Diego Blood bank since 1995 and last week I reached a total of 30 gallons donated (yes, dad, I was paying attention).

If these readings tell us anything they tell us that healing is possible, that God is the source of all healing, and we are often blessed with the opportunity be an agent of that healing.