It is not a coincidence that on the tenth day of the tenth month of 2010 we are hearing the reading about the tenth leper. There is something important going on here.
I believe the message is very clear. We are called to be like that tenth leper. The Gospel of the tenth leper isn't simply about a miraculous healing. Healing someone of leprosy was giving them a new life. Lepers were outcasts. Jesus gives all ten lepers new life and like them we have been given new life.
And so we say, "Thank you." Just like the tenth leper. And that is our salvation.
It is also not a coincidence that this weekend we renew our stewardship commitment. As we walked forward and placed our card on the altar, we offer thanks. Thank you for the ability to pray, to serve, and to share. The altar is the place where we give thanks to God just as the tenth leper returned to Jesus to give thanks. And in giving thanks, we find salvation.
Our stewardship commitment is two-fold. It is a commitment to our community, but it is also an offering of thanksgiving to our God for all we have and are. The commitment we have made and the thanksgiving that we offer this weekend have the power to give us new life and salvation as we continue to live as good stewards and
- Receive all that God has given us with grateful hearts
- cultivate the gift of our life
- Share ourselves generously in justice and love, and
- Return and give thanks to God for all we have and are.
May the thanksgiving we offer today empower us, like the tenth leper, to "Stand up and go; your faith has saved you" (Lk. 17:11-19) for our salvation is in our thanksgiving.
Peace,
Lincoln
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