MADE WELL MADE WHOLE

#1 · November 3, 2003, 1:16 pm

Quote from Forum Archives on November 3, 2003, 1:16 pm
Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>

MADE WELL; MADE WHOLE
November 2, 2003
Evening Service

Text: Luke 17:11-19

I recall a pastor telling his story of how the simple act of being
courteous is becoming a lost art. He and some others were in a restaurant
in a large city. The waitress came around with water, coffee, and tea
refills, and they all told her thank you. A little while later, she was
back again with more refills, and again, they told her thanks. After a
while, it became obvious the pastor and others that their waitress was
really singling his table out as she kept coming around to ensure that
their glasses and cups were filled. As the pastor and his party got up to
leave, their waitress came over one more time and stopped them to say, "I
just want you to know that I've served a lot of people over the years,
and that politeness has been becoming more and more a thing of the past.
I really appreciate the politeness and courteousness that you showed me
today." (Source unknown)

It is a sad thing that we have to remember and work so hard at being
thankful. I usually don't mean to be impolite or discourteous or
unthankful at times when I am, but sometimes I can be so preoccupied with
various thoughts that I "forget" to respond with appropriate
thanksgiving. This same malady affects others, too.

But we do have to remind ourselves to be thankful. We have a national
holiday - time set aside - to remind us to be thankful. We need to be
reminded because, at some time, during times good or bad, we either
forget to offer thanks, or we don't feel like offering thanks. And then
we find ourselves in the same situation as this passage about the ten
lepers. Sometimes we are the ones shamed by the question, "Where are the
other nine?"

An overall perspective to keep in mind while dealing with this passage is
that, while it does include the idea of thanksgiving, it is more than an
ordinary thanksgiving testimony. It is a testimony of a person's response
to God.

"One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a
loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him..." One of
the wonderful subtleties we miss in having to refer to a translated
reading is that the word used for thanks in verse 16 is a verb form of
"eucharist." This is a Greek word meaning "to be thankful." Jesus gave
thanks for the bread and the cup during the upper room discourse, and so,
the term Eucharist is used by many Christians to refer to the Lord's
Supper.

One leper out of ten returned to express his thanks to the one who healed
him. He came back not mumbling a thanks, either, like the child who was
given the cookie and has to be prompted by the parents to say thank you.
No, this leper came back "praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself
at Jesus' feet and thanked him..." One commentator has written that the
"hallelujah's" that were used could almost be translated "hurrah for
Yahweh!" I think that such outbursts and displays of raw, joyful emotion
disturb some of us. They do me, sometimes, because my nature and
personality tends toward being subdued. But that does not mean that there
aren't times that such outbursts aren't appropriate. After all, we're
talking about responding to God's gift of grace.

And just because I tend toward the quiet side doesn't mean that I don't
get excited about God's word and works. I am usually very excited when
working on a sermon or studying a theology. God's presence fills me with
indescribable wonder and joy. So there are many times that responding to
our Lord with outbursts of joyful thanksgiving are dearly appropriate.

Look at the leper. He was healed of his disease by Jesus. He was one of
the ten who called out, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!" His prayer was
wonderfully answered! As they went to the priest, they were cleansed.
Isn't that worth returning to Jesus and giving thanks in a loud voice of
praise? I think so.

The New Testament is full of outbursts of praise. Written by and about a
group of people who were constantly facing perils of persecution from
Roman and Jewish authorities, we consistently bump into these explosions
of thanksgiving, as in 1 Corinthians 15:57, "But thanks be to God! He
gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Have we today cried out to our God any less than these lepers? Have we
been healed any less? Have we been saved any less than Paul and the
others? Has Jesus refused to bring us His "peace which passeth all
understanding?" I have cried out to God; I have been healed - and am
being healed; I have been saved and have received His peace. Hallelujah!
Hurrah for Yahweh! I thank my God for His mercies to me. Thanksgiving is
a proper and necessary response to Jesus Christ our Lord.

How necessary is giving thanks to God? It is critical. Take a look at the
final response from Jesus. "Rise and go; your faith has made you well."
The word translated here as "well" or "whole" opens up an absolutely
wondrous response from Jesus. By the way, even though the translation I
use a lot, the New International Version, uses "well" here, I prefer the
word "whole" found in some of the other translations.

The curious point about Jesus' comment to the Samaritan is that all ten
were already cleansed. They were healed as they went to show themselves
to the priest. Jesus' power had already affected their lives. Yet, here
stands Jesus, telling the one who returned with thanks and praise, "Rise
and go; your faith has made you well."

Does this mean that the other nine had a relapse? That Jesus rescinded
his healing miracle and caused them to return to their former state? I
don't think so. That cannot be inferred from the text and is unfair to
read into it such a conclusion. It's unfair to Jesus' ministry and
witness. The idea of Jesus taking back his blessings is not found in the
gospels and, indeed, is foreign to the testimonies about him. Even the
utterance on the cross, "Father forgive them, for they know not what they
do," is amazingly inclusive. He did not withhold his forgiveness from
anyone there - Jewish authority, Roman soldier, or devoted follower. No,
there is no basis upon which to draw the conclusion that the other nine
were "unhealed."

The key is in the word "whole" or "well." It is the most important word
in this passage of Scripture. The Greek word is rich in meaning here. So
rich that it occupies over thirty pages in a prominent theological word
dictionary. And its use here also gives us a glimpse of the proper
application of faith in the New Testament.

"In the healings of Jesus, [whole] never refers to a single member of the
body but always to the whole man, and it is especially significant in
view of the important phrase 'thy faith hath saved thee.' The choice of
the word leaves room for the view that the healing power of Jesus and the
saving power of faith go beyond physical life. This is particularly clear
in the fact that [your faith has made you whole], which perhaps finds its
original locus in the story of the woman with [an issue of blood], is
also said to the woman who is a great sinner in Luke 7:50 - [the woman
who wipes Jesus' feet with her hair] - even though there has been no
preceding cure in this case." (Gerhard Kittel, ed., Theological Word
Dictionary of the New Testament, v. VII, p 990)

In the physical realm of life, faith played a different role in healing
than it did in the spiritual realm. Sometimes faith in Jesus was not a
prerequisite for receiving Jesus' healing of the body. Consider John 5,
where we encounter the man beside the pool of Bethesda, or Bethsaida. The
man, who had been an invalid for 38 years, neither called out to Jesus
nor showed any sign of even recognizing him. Yet, Jesus came to him:
"When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this
condition for a long time, he asked him, 'Do you want to get well?'
'Sir,' the invalid replied, 'I have no one to help me into the pool when
the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down
ahead of me.' Then Jesus said to him, 'Get up! Pick up your mat and
walk.' At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked."

No preliminary faith on the part of the invalid. In fact, no faith at all
that he would ever be healed by any source, as his response to Jesus'
question was evasive and full of hopelessness. Yet, Jesus healed him just
as if he had been the one who reached out to touch him as the crowd
pressed around; as if he were the one who had faith that if Jesus could
be but touched, then the affliction would go away. While faith in healing
help us today, just as they helped those then, such faith is not a
prerequisite to being healed. A great many people who do not know or do
not believe in Jesus are healed today.

So, while these ten lepers called out, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!",
I do not think that they were recognizing Jesus as the Incarnation. They
recognized him as a healer or, perhaps, as a great and well-known
rabbinic teacher. They wanted pity - mercy - which could have meant
cleansing. It could also have meant just to be noticed. "Oh Jesus, we're
lepers and considered unclean. But stop and teach us, too! Thrill us,
too, with your teaching of truth." And Jesus did, indeed, give them
attention and did cleanse them.

But this cleansing also made known to them a different kind of faith and
this faith demanded a response. In the cleansing, God made himself known.
He became present and alive in their lives of misery and abandonment. God
spoke to them and acted for them, just as He had done with all of Israel
so many times. And the faith which became known in their souls that day
through this act of cleansing demanded a response. Complete healing,
physical and spiritual, was not accomplished until the Messiah was
responded to by worship. Only one of the ten did that. And only one of
the ten was made whole - was cleansed in both body and spirit.

Does that mean that only this one of the ten was saved that day? I think
it does. Maybe at some later time the others "returned and gave praise to
God." I hope so. But, as the account stands, while ten were cleansed that
day, only one received salvation from the Messiah.

There is a contingency present in this account that should be bothersome
to us. We, who have been filled with the idea of "free grace," are not
used to hearing that faith, in order for it to bring salvation, has to be
acted upon. Had the Samaritan not returned to worship the Christ,
regardless of the amount of faith he had, he would not have been made
whole. Yet because of his response to faith - his action - he alone was
saved.

I'll let Dr. William Herzog clarify the issue. Or, perhaps, add more
confusion. Anyway, in a Bible study on Colossians, he had occasion to
say, "...the transaction of faith, no more and no less than any other
social transaction in the Mediterranean world, was placed in the context
of patron-client relations. Patrons would bestow favors upon clients. In
this case, God is viewed as the patron who bestows redemption upon the
clients, the Church, who would not presume to say they deserved them. In
return, however, clients are obligated to offer loyalty, labor,
obedience, or service in return. Nothing was unconditional in the ancient
world. What we call unconditional grace is a fiction of the modern
imagination which has led us into the paradox of saying that as long as
we're saved by God we can do whatever we want. The ancient folks - Paul
and his kin - would never have understood that way of thinking. It's a
product of our peculiar individualism; it does not belong in the Bible of
the ancient world. Gods patronage always carries with it obligation and
responsibility - the life of discipleship. The only issue is the nature
of the relationship in which favors and returns were exchanged -
exploitive or mutual; oppressive or liberating." (Dr. William Herzog II,
1989 ABC Biennial, Thursday Bible study)

This was true in the days of the kingdom of Israel. God demanded response
from His people. Israel could not go her own way and be made whole. God's
redemptive covenant allowed no such thing. The nine cleansed lepers could
not go their own way and be made whole. The people of God today - us
together - cannot go our own way and be made whole. Christ's
compassionate love and mercy allows no such thing. Christ the Lord
demands that we throw ourselves at His feet and thank Him. Faith demands
the response of discipleship to be made effective.

Does this mean, then, that we cannot be sure of salvation? That we cannot
know from moment to moment whether we have done the right work for
salvation? Or that if we don't enough works that we will lose salvation?
No, it most certainly does not. The Samaritan was made whole not because
he deserved it or because he worked his way up to it, but because he
responded to the faith that had already been given him. I liken it to
this situation: suppose I am approached on the street by someone who is
in poverty; he has no money and has not eaten for days. Now, I have
already made arrangements with a local restaurant to pay for anyone's
meal I send to them; I will reimburse them. So I tell this man to go to
that restaurant, to order anything, and to eat as much as he wants. I
have, in effect, saved him with my grace; he does not have to starve to
death. If he goes, then his faith in my promise has made him whole. But
if he does not go, he will not be made whole. However, my grace still
remains with him. I do not remove it just because he fails to act.
However, in his failure to act, regardless of whether he says or thinks
that he believes me, he cannot be made whole.

So those who live in fear that they have not attained salvation, or those
who fear that they may lose their salvation, do not understand the nature
and promise of the Living God. We will never be perfect in our obedience
and service to Him, but perfection is not what He demands for wholeness.
Recognizing the faith that His grace evokes in us and responding to that
faith in a life of discipleship is what makes effective the wholeness -
the salvation - that God has given to us. God is doing His work already.
God is cleansing us already. We have been given enough of the image of
God to know whether we are serving God or not. Are we wise enough to
respond? To go to His banquet table prepared for us so that we hunger and
thirst no more? To return and throw ourselves at His feet with praise and
thanksgiving? This is no capricious, childish, cat-and-mouse game that
God gives us; it is life. It is His life full of the grace, mercy, and
gift of forgiveness, redemption, and salvation. Have you responded in
faith to this faith? Don't be satisfied with being just made well;
respond to Christ and be made whole.

Rev. Charles A. Layne, pastor, First Baptist Church, Bunker Hill, IN

________________________________________________________________
The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand!
Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER!
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Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>

MADE WELL; MADE WHOLE
November 2, 2003
Evening Service

Text: Luke 17:11-19

I recall a pastor telling his story of how the simple act of being
courteous is becoming a lost art. He and some others were in a restaurant
in a large city. The waitress came around with water, coffee, and tea
refills, and they all told her thank you. A little while later, she was
back again with more refills, and again, they told her thanks. After a
while, it became obvious the pastor and others that their waitress was
really singling his table out as she kept coming around to ensure that
their glasses and cups were filled. As the pastor and his party got up to
leave, their waitress came over one more time and stopped them to say, "I
just want you to know that I've served a lot of people over the years,
and that politeness has been becoming more and more a thing of the past.
I really appreciate the politeness and courteousness that you showed me
today." (Source unknown)

It is a sad thing that we have to remember and work so hard at being
thankful. I usually don't mean to be impolite or discourteous or
unthankful at times when I am, but sometimes I can be so preoccupied with
various thoughts that I "forget" to respond with appropriate
thanksgiving. This same malady affects others, too.

But we do have to remind ourselves to be thankful. We have a national
holiday - time set aside - to remind us to be thankful. We need to be
reminded because, at some time, during times good or bad, we either
forget to offer thanks, or we don't feel like offering thanks. And then
we find ourselves in the same situation as this passage about the ten
lepers. Sometimes we are the ones shamed by the question, "Where are the
other nine?"

An overall perspective to keep in mind while dealing with this passage is
that, while it does include the idea of thanksgiving, it is more than an
ordinary thanksgiving testimony. It is a testimony of a person's response
to God.

"One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a
loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him..." One of
the wonderful subtleties we miss in having to refer to a translated
reading is that the word used for thanks in verse 16 is a verb form of
"eucharist." This is a Greek word meaning "to be thankful." Jesus gave
thanks for the bread and the cup during the upper room discourse, and so,
the term Eucharist is used by many Christians to refer to the Lord's
Supper.

One leper out of ten returned to express his thanks to the one who healed
him. He came back not mumbling a thanks, either, like the child who was
given the cookie and has to be prompted by the parents to say thank you.
No, this leper came back "praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself
at Jesus' feet and thanked him..." One commentator has written that the
"hallelujah's" that were used could almost be translated "hurrah for
Yahweh!" I think that such outbursts and displays of raw, joyful emotion
disturb some of us. They do me, sometimes, because my nature and
personality tends toward being subdued. But that does not mean that there
aren't times that such outbursts aren't appropriate. After all, we're
talking about responding to God's gift of grace.

And just because I tend toward the quiet side doesn't mean that I don't
get excited about God's word and works. I am usually very excited when
working on a sermon or studying a theology. God's presence fills me with
indescribable wonder and joy. So there are many times that responding to
our Lord with outbursts of joyful thanksgiving are dearly appropriate.

Look at the leper. He was healed of his disease by Jesus. He was one of
the ten who called out, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!" His prayer was
wonderfully answered! As they went to the priest, they were cleansed.
Isn't that worth returning to Jesus and giving thanks in a loud voice of
praise? I think so.

The New Testament is full of outbursts of praise. Written by and about a
group of people who were constantly facing perils of persecution from
Roman and Jewish authorities, we consistently bump into these explosions
of thanksgiving, as in 1 Corinthians 15:57, "But thanks be to God! He
gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Have we today cried out to our God any less than these lepers? Have we
been healed any less? Have we been saved any less than Paul and the
others? Has Jesus refused to bring us His "peace which passeth all
understanding?" I have cried out to God; I have been healed - and am
being healed; I have been saved and have received His peace. Hallelujah!
Hurrah for Yahweh! I thank my God for His mercies to me. Thanksgiving is
a proper and necessary response to Jesus Christ our Lord.

How necessary is giving thanks to God? It is critical. Take a look at the
final response from Jesus. "Rise and go; your faith has made you well."
The word translated here as "well" or "whole" opens up an absolutely
wondrous response from Jesus. By the way, even though the translation I
use a lot, the New International Version, uses "well" here, I prefer the
word "whole" found in some of the other translations.

The curious point about Jesus' comment to the Samaritan is that all ten
were already cleansed. They were healed as they went to show themselves
to the priest. Jesus' power had already affected their lives. Yet, here
stands Jesus, telling the one who returned with thanks and praise, "Rise
and go; your faith has made you well."

Does this mean that the other nine had a relapse? That Jesus rescinded
his healing miracle and caused them to return to their former state? I
don't think so. That cannot be inferred from the text and is unfair to
read into it such a conclusion. It's unfair to Jesus' ministry and
witness. The idea of Jesus taking back his blessings is not found in the
gospels and, indeed, is foreign to the testimonies about him. Even the
utterance on the cross, "Father forgive them, for they know not what they
do," is amazingly inclusive. He did not withhold his forgiveness from
anyone there - Jewish authority, Roman soldier, or devoted follower. No,
there is no basis upon which to draw the conclusion that the other nine
were "unhealed."

The key is in the word "whole" or "well." It is the most important word
in this passage of Scripture. The Greek word is rich in meaning here. So
rich that it occupies over thirty pages in a prominent theological word
dictionary. And its use here also gives us a glimpse of the proper
application of faith in the New Testament.

"In the healings of Jesus, [whole] never refers to a single member of the
body but always to the whole man, and it is especially significant in
view of the important phrase 'thy faith hath saved thee.' The choice of
the word leaves room for the view that the healing power of Jesus and the
saving power of faith go beyond physical life. This is particularly clear
in the fact that [your faith has made you whole], which perhaps finds its
original locus in the story of the woman with [an issue of blood], is
also said to the woman who is a great sinner in Luke 7:50 - [the woman
who wipes Jesus' feet with her hair] - even though there has been no
preceding cure in this case." (Gerhard Kittel, ed., Theological Word
Dictionary of the New Testament, v. VII, p 990)

In the physical realm of life, faith played a different role in healing
than it did in the spiritual realm. Sometimes faith in Jesus was not a
prerequisite for receiving Jesus' healing of the body. Consider John 5,
where we encounter the man beside the pool of Bethesda, or Bethsaida. The
man, who had been an invalid for 38 years, neither called out to Jesus
nor showed any sign of even recognizing him. Yet, Jesus came to him:
"When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this
condition for a long time, he asked him, 'Do you want to get well?'
'Sir,' the invalid replied, 'I have no one to help me into the pool when
the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down
ahead of me.' Then Jesus said to him, 'Get up! Pick up your mat and
walk.' At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked."

No preliminary faith on the part of the invalid. In fact, no faith at all
that he would ever be healed by any source, as his response to Jesus'
question was evasive and full of hopelessness. Yet, Jesus healed him just
as if he had been the one who reached out to touch him as the crowd
pressed around; as if he were the one who had faith that if Jesus could
be but touched, then the affliction would go away. While faith in healing
help us today, just as they helped those then, such faith is not a
prerequisite to being healed. A great many people who do not know or do
not believe in Jesus are healed today.

So, while these ten lepers called out, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!",
I do not think that they were recognizing Jesus as the Incarnation. They
recognized him as a healer or, perhaps, as a great and well-known
rabbinic teacher. They wanted pity - mercy - which could have meant
cleansing. It could also have meant just to be noticed. "Oh Jesus, we're
lepers and considered unclean. But stop and teach us, too! Thrill us,
too, with your teaching of truth." And Jesus did, indeed, give them
attention and did cleanse them.

But this cleansing also made known to them a different kind of faith and
this faith demanded a response. In the cleansing, God made himself known.
He became present and alive in their lives of misery and abandonment. God
spoke to them and acted for them, just as He had done with all of Israel
so many times. And the faith which became known in their souls that day
through this act of cleansing demanded a response. Complete healing,
physical and spiritual, was not accomplished until the Messiah was
responded to by worship. Only one of the ten did that. And only one of
the ten was made whole - was cleansed in both body and spirit.

Does that mean that only this one of the ten was saved that day? I think
it does. Maybe at some later time the others "returned and gave praise to
God." I hope so. But, as the account stands, while ten were cleansed that
day, only one received salvation from the Messiah.

There is a contingency present in this account that should be bothersome
to us. We, who have been filled with the idea of "free grace," are not
used to hearing that faith, in order for it to bring salvation, has to be
acted upon. Had the Samaritan not returned to worship the Christ,
regardless of the amount of faith he had, he would not have been made
whole. Yet because of his response to faith - his action - he alone was
saved.

I'll let Dr. William Herzog clarify the issue. Or, perhaps, add more
confusion. Anyway, in a Bible study on Colossians, he had occasion to
say, "...the transaction of faith, no more and no less than any other
social transaction in the Mediterranean world, was placed in the context
of patron-client relations. Patrons would bestow favors upon clients. In
this case, God is viewed as the patron who bestows redemption upon the
clients, the Church, who would not presume to say they deserved them. In
return, however, clients are obligated to offer loyalty, labor,
obedience, or service in return. Nothing was unconditional in the ancient
world. What we call unconditional grace is a fiction of the modern
imagination which has led us into the paradox of saying that as long as
we're saved by God we can do whatever we want. The ancient folks - Paul
and his kin - would never have understood that way of thinking. It's a
product of our peculiar individualism; it does not belong in the Bible of
the ancient world. Gods patronage always carries with it obligation and
responsibility - the life of discipleship. The only issue is the nature
of the relationship in which favors and returns were exchanged -
exploitive or mutual; oppressive or liberating." (Dr. William Herzog II,
1989 ABC Biennial, Thursday Bible study)

This was true in the days of the kingdom of Israel. God demanded response
from His people. Israel could not go her own way and be made whole. God's
redemptive covenant allowed no such thing. The nine cleansed lepers could
not go their own way and be made whole. The people of God today - us
together - cannot go our own way and be made whole. Christ's
compassionate love and mercy allows no such thing. Christ the Lord
demands that we throw ourselves at His feet and thank Him. Faith demands
the response of discipleship to be made effective.

Does this mean, then, that we cannot be sure of salvation? That we cannot
know from moment to moment whether we have done the right work for
salvation? Or that if we don't enough works that we will lose salvation?
No, it most certainly does not. The Samaritan was made whole not because
he deserved it or because he worked his way up to it, but because he
responded to the faith that had already been given him. I liken it to
this situation: suppose I am approached on the street by someone who is
in poverty; he has no money and has not eaten for days. Now, I have
already made arrangements with a local restaurant to pay for anyone's
meal I send to them; I will reimburse them. So I tell this man to go to
that restaurant, to order anything, and to eat as much as he wants. I
have, in effect, saved him with my grace; he does not have to starve to
death. If he goes, then his faith in my promise has made him whole. But
if he does not go, he will not be made whole. However, my grace still
remains with him. I do not remove it just because he fails to act.
However, in his failure to act, regardless of whether he says or thinks
that he believes me, he cannot be made whole.

So those who live in fear that they have not attained salvation, or those
who fear that they may lose their salvation, do not understand the nature
and promise of the Living God. We will never be perfect in our obedience
and service to Him, but perfection is not what He demands for wholeness.
Recognizing the faith that His grace evokes in us and responding to that
faith in a life of discipleship is what makes effective the wholeness -
the salvation - that God has given to us. God is doing His work already.
God is cleansing us already. We have been given enough of the image of
God to know whether we are serving God or not. Are we wise enough to
respond? To go to His banquet table prepared for us so that we hunger and
thirst no more? To return and throw ourselves at His feet with praise and
thanksgiving? This is no capricious, childish, cat-and-mouse game that
God gives us; it is life. It is His life full of the grace, mercy, and
gift of forgiveness, redemption, and salvation. Have you responded in
faith to this faith? Don't be satisfied with being just made well;
respond to Christ and be made whole.

Rev. Charles A. Layne, pastor, First Baptist Church, Bunker Hill, IN

________________________________________________________________
The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand!
Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER!
Only $14.95/ month - visit http://www.juno.com to sign up today!