Have you ever noticed that preachers just don’t preach Paul!
Most of us are scared to preach Paul
One reason is that to do it right…we are afraid it will need an hour!
Another reason is that unlike in the Gospels,
where it is easier to pluck out bits and stories
Letters are more unified…
There’s always an occasion that prompts a letter to be written
They are structured to be kept whole…
There is something about this second letter to Timothy that speaks to my heart today…
…but it will not take an hour!
So what kind of letter is this?
The occasion of this letter from Paul to his beloved Timothy
Is a kind of farewell speech
A last opportunity to say everything important that needs to be said
Paul is in Prison…death is approaching
A couple months ago
when Joseph was getting ready to leave home for good
…real job…real bills…real problems that will need to be dealt with on his own
Rob and I worried…
Have we given him the grounding he needs to make good choices?
To eat healthy food???
And date wisely???
To pay his bills on time???
To go to Church???
We didn’t write him farewell letters
But we did make a concerted effort to pounce on any opportune captive moments
To reiterate what we hoped we had given him
over his 20+ years in the shelter of 9307 Petersburg Road
Clearly…Paul’s situation is well…much more intense
But…I can feel some of the deep emotion behind this farewell letter.
The something of this letter that speaks to my heart is Paul plea to Timothy:
REMEMBER
Let’s step sideways for a moment and take a peek at the Gospel.
I find a connection is this very familiar story.
If you go to Church on Thanksgiving, chances are this is the Gospel you will hear.
“Being Thankful” on Thanksgiving the theme is a GIVEN;)
But it’s not Thanksgiving and…there is another power to this story
This episode takes place in an in-between place
Geographically speaking,
there actually isn’t a region between Samaria and Galilee
They are just next to each other
But if two peoples hate each other enough
Wherever the two places come together…well…
It’s going to be a kind of no-man’s land
Maybe it’s where people who don’t fit into either place can go
and not get shamed
And wouldn’t Lepers be just that kind of group?
Some Jews…at least one Samaritan
It’s not their Jewishness or their Samaritan-ism that identifies them…
It is their leprosy
Leprosy which makes them physically/socially/religiously…unclean
It is their leprosy that is their strongest identifier
UNCLEAN…UNclean and UNwelcome except in this no-man’s-land
A place where they can remain UNSEEN
The text says that the Lepers kept their distance…that was the law
What about Jesus?
Were the lepers surprised that Jesus was walking through their UNCLEAN village?
“Jesus, MASTER” they call out
(They most have heard about him…or sensed his power)
And then they are SEEN
In a place where they are meant to remain UNSEEN…Jesus SEES them
(No immediate healing in this story)
Still…They go as they are instructed and along the way they are made clean
The Samaritan notices that he is healed
(NOTICE the verb change…they have all been made clean.
But the Samaritan is healed, made whole, saved!)
He lets it sink in
And then…HE SEES!
HE SEES Jesus and he changes direction.
The ten are made clean
But one experiences something more
He SEES Jesus
Recognizes his blessing
He rejoices, gives thanks and praises God
He was seen
And now he sees
Before believing
or confessing
or helping
or doing
Before all that comes SEEING
This is the story’s invitation to us
It is the same now as then:
How and What we see makes a difference
The invitation might come as a series of questions:
In the face of want…What do I see? Human need or distant stranger?
When I look at God…Who do I see? Stern judge…loving parent…distant creator
When I look in the mirror…Who do I see? A failure…an orphan…a beloved child?
When I look to the future…What do I see? Fear, disaster, uncertainty…hopeful horizon?
Truthfully, I would answer all the above with “It depends on the day”
But the point is that WHAT we see…
And HOW we answer
shapes our whole lives
To these questions…Paul has a WORD for us.
REMEMBER JESUS CHRIST RAISED ROM THE DEAD
I know…a little churchy…and not very concrete!
Here is what I think it means to remember Jesus Christ Raised From the Dead:
Remember? that time you were rescued from making a bad decision
Remember? when a friend held your hands and lifted you out of a bad decision you made anyway
Remember? how in the midst of a recent loss the Holy Spirit was made known to you in surprising people and places
Remember? when you were lost and then you weren’t anymore
Remember? when you tasted liberation from anything that felt like death
Remember…
Remember rising from the dead???
What if we kept a journal titled MY RISINGS FROM THE DEAD???
What if we revisited it often???
What if we let it shape our SEEING???
The Gospel is LIFE
Life from death
And Paul says that it is not chained
He may be chained
but not the Gospel
This emotional letter
IS the unchained Gospel
And when we remember
JESUS CHRIST RAISED FROM THE DEAD
in our own myriad of ways
And when we allow that remembering to shape HOW and WHAT we see
We become the tenth leper…full of gratitude!
and…We join Paul…
becoming his companions…sharing the same UNCHAINED Gospel
Seeing and Remembering makes all the difference!
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