Living in the Spirit

October 9, 2022

Scripture Reading: Luke 17:11-19
On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!’ When he saw them, he said to them, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’ And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, ‘Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?’ Then he said to him, ‘Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.’

Jesus weaves many lessons into simple stories. Here he deals with racism while ostensibly addressing the need to thank God for God’s blessings. We humans do not like to be confronted directly with our prejudices. We all have them, and we all do not recognize them as judging people by some preconceived idea of who they are. Have you ever wondered why we seem to have such easy access to Canada and they to us, but have the need to build walls between the USA and Mexico? Racism is a relatively new concept, with 19th-century origins perhaps evolving from the aftermaths of the Civil War. What we classify as racism in the Bible was more like tribalism not based on skin color or other physical traits. Bigotry by any other name is just as discriminatory.

In this scripture, Jesus demonstrated that he judged people as Martin Luther King stated: “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

Prayer: Lord, open our hearts and minds to see people for who they are not some preconceived notion handed down to us through history. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.