Spiritual Hiccups - Presumptuous Faith

If you've ever raised children, or if you've ever been a child (hopefully that covers everyone), you likely realize that young children do not often appreciate the care and nurture they receive from parents.  Providing food, shelter, clothing, and a variety and activities and entertainment is simply what parents are supposed to do, so overt displays of gratitude are rare.  Adult relationships can fall into the same sort of pattern, taking partners or spouses for granted.  But I think this is the norm with children.  Parents are doing their job when they provide for their children.

A similar dynamic can occur in the life of faith.  People of faith can easily perceive God in a manner similar to the way small children see their parents.  It is God's job to care for and provide for them.  After all, they are members of the faith family.  God is Father, and that's what fathers do.

That seems to be what is going on in today's verses from Luke.  The story is a bit sparse on details, but Jesus encounters 10 lepers who ask for healing.  Jesus sends them to the priests, a command that assumes a healing.  (The priests had to certify as clean those whose illnesses previously made them unclean.  Then they could reenter community life.)  When all 10 are healed along the way, one comes back to give thanks and praise, while the others precede on to the priest, and presumably back to their everyday lives.

As I said, the story is short on details, but it seems to imply that the other 9 are Jews while the one who returned is a Samaritan, a groups generally despised by the Jews.  For some reason, only this outsider, "this foreigner," as Jesus calls him, is moved to come back.  And this prompts Jesus to say to him, "Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well."


At least that's what my Bible translation says.  But all 10 were made well.  Surely Jesus means something more.  And in fact, the word Jesus uses literally means "saved."  And I am convinced that Jesus is saying that this outsider, this one who apparently is surprised enough by his healing that he must come back, has experienced something more profound than a healing.

In this story, the outsider seems to have the advantage, because the outsider doesn't presume as much.  This outsider doesn't presume a special relationship with God by virtue of his religion.  And so this outsider sees his healing as a wonderful gift.

Jesus speaks often of sinners and tax collectors going into the Kingdom ahead of the good, religious folk.  And perhaps this is one reason why.  Like children from nice homes who their care for granted, religious people are more prone to take God's love for granted, and so displays of gratitude are rare.

Often times when children grow up, they look back with regret on how little they appreciated their parents.  But I'm not sure that happens nearly so often in the lives of people of faith.  And I'm not really sure why.

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