We were not so much different lepers not long ago. In the midst of the pandemic, we were a people who were bitter than our old good life had been stolen from us, were trying to find some compassion along with toilet paper and canned goods, and were met by people afraid of catching from us what we were afraid of catching from then. But we had it good enough so that our internet still worked, Uber Eats still delivered, Wal-Mart brought everything out to the car, Amazon put it on our doorstep, and the government sent us checks so we could pay for it all. Now that some if not all of it is over, we are still in search of the good life we had.
Most folks would say that the good life is not the Church. The day is long over when the Church was the place where people went for answers. Most Christians today go to Church for some humor, a little inspiration, a few practical helps for life, and to meet friends. I suspect that we are no different than those lepers in this regard. When Jesus met the ten and told them to “go show yourselves to the priests,” they were as disappointed as you would be if in the midst of your illness, pain, and discontent somebody asked you if you had gone to Church. It was the priests who had confirmed their unclean condition which left them isolated from life, community, friends, and family. Why would they go back there to find an answer to their grief and pain?
No, traditionally people think of the Church as the one trying to take away the good life. Just when society lightens up about things, the Church is there to throw cold water on the party. Who wants to hear it? Love your neighbor, be honest, respect marriage, do not given into desire, be careful with your words, do not harm anyone ever, and do not give into envy. Yup, that is going to make you feel better – all those “no’s” to the things we want permission to do whenever we please. Why would going to Church help when it is the Church that calls out sin and calls the sinner to repentance?
Where is the good life? Jesus answers the question for the lepers and for you. Go to the priest. In other words, the good life begins and ends with the House of God. Yes, you heard me right. We have so screwed this up that we think of the Church as an impediment to the good life – working against our happiness instead of for it. But that lie is what Satan whispered into the ears of nine lepers long ago and you and me today. For nearly all of us, the Church is not the beginning or end of anything. It is a rest stop on our busy highway of life, a momentary diversion to distract us from other problems, a duty to perform, and perhaps a competitor for the few free hours of our days and nights. It is the job of the pastor to come up with a good reason for going to Church because we all have plenty of good reasons for not going. So the burden of proof is for God to show us why we ought to give up our precious time or attention for anything to do with Church.
It is no wonder that the Church loses kids when the parents have communicated well to their children that Church is the enemy of your happiness – not an ally and certainly not a means. But that is the devil talking. Jesus says, “Go, show yourself to the priest.” In other words, the Church is where happiness begins. Wait, did I just say that?! Of course, I did. Church and the faith cannot add anything to your secular lives – they are not optional ingredients to an otherwise good life. Just the opposite. There is no such thing as the good life as long as sin reigns and death comes through sin and in between is disease, divorce, despair, and death. Those outside the Kingdom have no good life at all and the most miserable person in the Church has it better than any of those who do not know Christ or His House. All of this is because of the forgiveness of sins, the bestowal of life stronger than death, and the salvation of the lost to a heavenly promise of reunion and glory.
Even Jesus seems surprised when a Samaritan came back to express this truth. The Jewish lepers had surely seen they were being healed as they walked to the priest but they now were people who has places to go and people to see. They had no time for Jesus because they thought that their good life had just begun. But the real good life begins kneeling at the feet of Jesus, offering Him thanks and praise to Him for giving us what we do not deserve and withholding from us what we do. Jesus asked, “Where are the nine?” The Samaritan did not know. Perhaps they looked at themselves and ran back to their old pre-pandemic lives because that was all that mattered – getting back a semblance of their lost past. What the Samaritan did know is that Jesus did it – He healed them with forgiving grace and they would never be the same again.
My friends, that is where you are. You are a sinful leper for whom the world cares nothing. Apart from Christ your life is an empty path leading you away from the only thing that matters. But the Lord intervened and revealed Himself as Savior. In baptismal water He washed you clean. Through the voice of His Word He called you to renounce the devil, the world, and the flesh and to walk in His light forever. At the table of the Lord He feeds you heavenly food because your end goal is not a better today but an eternal tomorrow. Death has no claim on you and neither will your memories pull you back to every guilty word or sinful act. You belong to Christ the healer.
Jesus is not the means to the good life – He IS the good life – the way, the truth, and the life and no one gets out of this hell whole of a life lived in a shadow of death EXCEPT by way of Jesus. The nine lepers figured that Jesus was merely a tool to get what you want. The Samaritan alone got it right – there is nothing that does not begin at the feet of Jesus, rejoicing in His mercy, living by faith the new life only He can give. Jesus does not whisper the secret to the good life into willing ears but loudly proclaims Himself that good life -- the Way, the Truth, and the Life!
Don’t be foolish. Don’t try to use the faith or the Church to get what you want. Either you want what Jesus wants and trust Him by faith or it is all a ruse, a sham, a hypocrisy, and a scam. Don’t turn up your nose at the Church it does not fit your bill. Here where Jesus has promised to be, doing what He said He would do, bestowing what only He can give – all through the Word and Sacraments. Go show yourselves to the priests. Pretty good advice. Christ is here. All His gifts are here. You are here. What more could we want? Or have?
No, my friends, Jesus is not the one who directs you to the good life. He is your good life. Trust in Him, rejoice in Him, follow Him. The good life waits for you in Jesus. Though today we have our doubts and anxieties, the day will come when that will be clear as day and the only thing that matters. Jesus is your good life. The Samaritan leper got it just right and kneeling before the Lord Jesus in grateful praise, his good life began and so it does for us. In the holy name of Jesus. Amen.
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