A Meditation for Trinity 17 2025
Collect
Almighty God, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you:
Teach us to offer ourselves to your service, that here we may have your peace,
and in the world to come may see you face to face; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
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.
Hands up if you enjoyed receiving Christmas and Birthday presents when you were a child. Keep your hands up if you enjoyed writing Thankyou letters afterwards.
Thought so.
It’s much easier now than it used to be. If you search the Internet for Children’s Thankyou letters, you will be presented with lots of templates to print out.
The sincerity is profound and genuine – Not. I wouldn’t be surprised if were possible to also include a digital signature or buy a rubber stamp with your name on to save the trouble of finding a pen.
And if your Mum didn’t keep reminding you (with increasing menace), you probably just conveniently forgot. Yes, I do speak from experience.
You have to wonder if forgetting to say thank you (and mean it) is part of human nature. It was certainly the case in Biblical times. We read about the healing of the ten lepers whose miserable life was restored to a place in Society by Jesus, and it’s no wonder that they rejoiced when they were pronounced clean by the Priest – and it’s also no surprise that they were so excited that they forgot to thank their healer. Only one bothered – and he was a Samaritan! An outcast, not even a Jewish Galilean, but an alien.
We live in comfort, in safety, in freedom, accepted in our community. I wonder how often we send a Thank you to the One who sets us free? Or do we just take it for granted that Grandma will always buy us nice presents whether we ever handwrite a thank you letter or not?
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These things are worth meditation and thought, as we enter this Holy Week – but the even more important question that we can only answer for ourselves, is embodied in twelve straightforward words written by Charles Wesley.
How can it be, That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
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Simeon, though, didn’t just hear about the Messiah being incarnate in the child – he also knew that the child’s destiny would involve pain and suffering in order to fulfil His mission. And Mary knew too. The consolation of Israel – of the world – would cost her the life of her child.
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And in turn, we are challenged to become messengers ourselves, however unsuitable or ill-equipped we might feel.