The Park Road Pulpit
Sermons from Park Road Baptist Church
Russ and Amy Jacks Dean, Pastors
The Banks of the Ganges:
The Stewardship of Thankfulness
Luke 17:11-19
Amy Jacks Dean, October 14, 2001
In 1994, I traveled to India – all the way on the other side of our world – and I lived there for 5 weeks among the people – on a “Goodwill Tour.” I think about this trip often. When I hear anything about leprosy, I am drawn back to those famous steps on the banks of the Ganges River. The Ganges runs through the city of Varinasi. This is the holiest city for people of the Hindu faith. It is the oldest living city in the world. And the Ganges River – known as the Ganga to the people of India – is the holiest river. It is on the famous steps on the banks of the Ganges where people with leprosy beg. I know why those with skin diseases were ostracized. I understand the fear of “catching” something so seemingly contagious. I can relate to the avoidance of something so difficult to look at – something that you don’t want to see, yet your eyes are drawn to that very thing that you try to avoid.
It was on the banks of the Ganges that I know leprosy first hand, and I wish I didn’t. In this holiest of holy places is where those with leprosy beg. They follow you, making eye contact, where the crowds press in so closely that you feel as though you will suffocate – where the snake charmers woo their cobras out of their baskets for a rupee from the white tourist – and if you take a picture they feel honored and then you feel as though you have just contributed to the cycle of exploitation which keeps the people begging. But those with skin conditions are everywhere on the banks of the Ganges, praying for healing or money or a little of both.
Jesus must have known what I’m talking about. He was used to the crowds pressing in, touching him, wanting something from him. But today we find a slightly different account. As Jesus was entering a village, ten lepers called out to Jesus – but they kept their distance, as any good leper who knew his place would. They said “have mercy on us” and what they meant was heal us – please make this horrible disease go away – this thing that has not only taken over our bodies but also our lives. And Jesus had compassion and he sent them to the priest to show themselves clean. And sure enough, they were healed. But every good story has a little something out of the ordinary, a little something special, and this story does not let us down. This one story really is a 2-parter. First we have a classic story of healing – all the elements are there for a great healing, but it’s the second part of the story that we need to pay attention to this day. One of the now ex-lepers, upon presenting himself to the priest and seeing that he was indeed clean, returns to Jesus to say a simple “Thank you.” He falls flat on his face at the feet of Jesus and expresses his faith – again. His first expression of faith had been “Lord have mercy” (asking for help) and the second expression of faith was “Thank you.”
I think we usually see thankfulness as a response to faith. We have much for which we are grateful, and so we find ourselves offering a word of gratitude in reaction and in response to the happenings of our lives of faith. I want us to consider that a Stewardship of Thankfulness is, in and of itself, an act of faith.
From the first reading of our text for this week, I was struck at the sequence of happenings and sayings. Jesus sees and hears the needs and wishes of the 10 lepers – they are all healed, but only one returns with a word of thankfulness. Jesus responds to this one by saying “your faith has made you well.” Not healed, but well. That one had already been healed, but through his act of faith in thanksgiving, he was now made well. If I had the choice, I’d choose to be well over healed any day. Being made well is more miraculous than any healing of leprosy. Wellness is something down deep, way beyond our skin that happens deep within our souls. Yes, being healed is not enough, we need to be made well.
The interesting point about this one that came back to Jesus in thankfulness is that he was a Samaritan. We cannot fully appreciate the impact of that piece of the story. Samaritans were a mixed breed – they were dispersed Jews who had married folks of different religions and different races. They were from the wrong side of the tracks and every good Jew would have known it. For the story to be told that a Samaritan was the one to stop – notice that he had been healed – and return to Jesus to give thanks – that made the story unbelievable. The hero couldn’t be a Samaritan. Imagine – you are a person from Samaria (1st strike against you) and you have leprosy (strike 2) and you have nothing – no family, no job, no friends, no nothing (strike 3). All he had was a word of thanks and that is what he gave – he gave it willingly and he gave it freely.
Jesus obviously was at the least curious about the other nine – where they not healed too? Why did they not return to give thanks? But I am not concerned with them – I am interested in the one who did the right and best thing with what he had.
Some of you dread this Sunday of the year – the Sunday when we kick off our Stewardship campaign. You roll your eyes, you bristle, and you pray “O Lord, here we go about money.” I too have always dreaded this Sunday – especially as an Associate Pastor – the dreaded “raise the budget” season where the Pastor lectures and guilts the church into giving. Something has changed for me and in me in this last year. I don’t mind at all asking you to give money. I have come to realize that I believe in the Church (capitol C) in general and this church (PRBC) in particular enough to ask you to make your first investment here. And today I call on us to do that within the framework of a Stewardship of Thankfulness. If we truly understood that all of life is a gift for which our only response is thankfulness, then we would give willingly and we would give freely. Of all the places in which we need to be investing, it is the church. And you believe that too. The evidence of that is the fact that we had the largest Wednesday night crowd we’ve had in one year on Wednesday, September 12th, and the largest Sunday morning gathering this year (excluding Christmas and Easter and the 50th Anniversary Celebration) was the Sunday following September 11th. In crisis, when we don’t where else to go and we don’t know what else to do, we come here. But not only in crisis – also in celebration, we come here. We marry here, we dedicate parents to the raising of their children here. We celebrate profession of faith in those baptismal waters behind me. We gather here to worship and to study. This is a place of refuge and safety and rest – a place in which we grapple with God and our faith. A place where we need others who are making their way on the journey. This is a place to offer a word of thanks.
We should be giving simply because we are thankful. We need no other reason than that. Thankfulness is not a response to faith. Thankfulness is not a reaction to grace. Thankfulness is an act of faith. If the story of the leper teaches us anything, it teaches us the importance – the necessity – of thankfulness when we experience the grace of God. And it does not matter how bad you have it – how down and out you are – we all, if we are honest, known something about God’s grace. The moral of the story from today’s text is: you may be healed, but you’ll never be well until you live out your thankfulness. The other nine were healed, but were they well? We’ll never know. What we do know is that the one was made well in thankfulness.
In the coming weeks as we discuss other issues of stewardship, we’ll talk about other ways you can be thankful and give, other than money, but I am not sorry that today, I will speak only about money. You and I both know that this place cannot function without it. You pay your staff fairly, and we are grateful. We have lights and running water, and we are grateful. We have heat in the winter and air conditioning in the summer. We can communicate with each other and the world through modern technology. We have fun together and we study together. And we give beyond ourselves, believing that in following the ways of Jesus, we must show mercy to those in need. But we spend too much time and energy concerned that the church did not pledge what it voted to spend. We spend too much time and energy concerned that each week we do not take in what we need – and this year we are doing extremely well. Last year, we made our budget plus a little and we will do it again this year – I am confident of that.
What I am proposing is that from now on, we give – all of us – out of a Stewardship of Thankfulness. Would that not make a difference in the process? I believe it would. We have more potential in this one room to do some incredible things. We’ve got some things that we must do if we are to grow. We’ve got some things we must do if we are to follow a path set by Jesus. We’ve got some things we must do if we are to be all that the church must be in our world today. And it is going to take you and it is going to take your money to make it happen. And it’s going to take me and my money. There are good and exciting things happening here and more is to come. I believe that.
In these next 2 weeks as you consider what you will write on your pledge card, I pray that you will consider the Biblical standard – a tithe – 10% of your income. It’s a chunk of change, I know. But Russ and I believe in it, and we practice it. I don’t tell you that as a word of boasting. I tell you that as a word of conviction. What we give, financially to this church, is an act of faith, and we call on you to do the same. But don’t do it timidly. And don’t do it fearfully. And don’t do because of guilt. Do it out of sheer and utter Thankfulness. That’s how at least one was made well.
I spoke of my trip to India. I went back to my journal to see what I was feeling about all that I saw. One of the last few pages of the journal said this:
The things I have seen I shall never be able to describe. For the team, humor has helped us cope. I’m sure it will continue to do so as I tell people about my adventure. But tears also adequately convey my emotions. The faces of the lepers begging on the banks of the Ganges. The faces of literally hundreds of Indians staring at me in a small poor village – just staring. Not smiling, not talking to one another – no expression, no words – just staring. I felt guilty for being white. I felt guilty for being American. I felt guilty for being well-fed and clothed and for having clean water and a place to bathe and use the bathroom and wash my clothes. They just stared. I’d give anything to know what they were thinking.
The faces of people worshipping in the many temples. Their faith is strong – their traditions and rituals make up this society. Yet I have never felt so spiritually void in my whole life. So many questions and doubts arose for me. Where is God in India? To be everywhere, God seemed many times to be nowhere.
That particular journal entry was written as a letter to Russ, who did not accompany me on the journey. The letter closed with a word of thanksgiving – thankful to him for his encouragement of me and for the strength of our relationship – and a word of thanksgiving to God who is in all people, even when I can’t see it. But what we need today, in this church and in this world, is more than a word.
On the banks of the Ganges I was changed, and I pray I will never be the same. I will live life in Thankfulness. I pray that God will find that pleasing. May it be so.