'Cause God Is On The Move And One Came Back

For fun this morning, let us imagine Luke standing in the pulpit before his congregation and sharing this story with his congregation. Also, this sermon includes a lot of singing.

“And one came back, that is how this story goes,” he says.

Luke uses a preaching trick in which he identifies key characters with the sole intention of shocking his congregation. He draws the congregation in, raises their expectations, and then he shocks them. Luke did this earlier in the parable of the Good Samaritan, upon hearing that a priest and Levite walk by a certain beaten man, their level of expectations rise, they believe the priest and the Levite will stop and aid the person laying in the gutter. Luke shocks them, gives them a heart attack, when they pass the man by. How could they do that? They’re good church-folk, they should know better. Luke then presses the subject by introducing a third, and Jesus says, “And then a Samaritan happens by…”

The crowd is on edge, already the Priest and Levite have walked by, certainly the Samaritan will not stop, and Luke shocks the crowd, “And”, he preaches, “the Samaritan stopped…” Luke uses the same technique as he tells the story of the Ten Lepers.

“On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered the city, a group of ten lepers, standing at a distance, yells, ‘Jesus, Master! Have mercy on us!’ When he saw them he yells back, ‘Okay, go show yourselves to the Priests!’ And as they were going, they were cured. Now one of them, realizing he was cured, turned around and shouted, ‘Praise God! Praise God!’ Then he fell before Jesus and thanked him. This particular man was…”

The congregation is on pins and needles. They are anxiously waiting. “Who is the man?” They mutter amongst themselves. “Surely, he must be a good Virginia Baptist.”

“This man was a Samaritan.” Luke says. The congregation gasps once again. Luke tells us that Jesus didn't harp on the other nine. He simply asks his disciples a rhetorical question, “Were there not ten made clean? Where are the other nine? Was none of them found to return and praise God but this foreigner, this Samaritan? Get up and go on your way. Your faith has made you well.”

The other nine did nothing wrong. Luke is pretty clear they obeyed Jesus. They had faith he would heal them, after all they called out to him. He answered and they did as they were told. So why does Luke tell his congregation about the one who came back? Why is Luke specific about the one who comes back? Because Luke wants his congregation to know who Jesus is. Jesus is one who heals and does not demand anything in return. He wants them to know Jesus is one who does not chastise the other nine, who are not doubt praising God, they did just get their health back, instead he acknowledges the one who returned. Jesus accepts the man’s praise and tells him, “Get up and go on your way. Your faith has made you well.” Luke is specific about who the man is because he wants his congregation to know, God is on the move.

In the children story, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Mr. Beaver huddles Peter, Susan, Edmond, and Lucy together, so close they can feel the tickle of his whiskers, and said in a low whisper, “They say Aslan is on the move.” A curious thing happened, at the sound of the name Aslan, each one of the children felt something jump in its inside. “Edmund felt a sensation of mysterious horror. Peter suddenly felt brave and adventures. Susan felt as if some delicious smell or some delightful strain of music had just floated by her. And Lucy got the feeling you have when you wake up in the morning, and realize that it is the beginning of the holidays or the beginning of summer.” (Lewis, CS. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe pg. 141).

At the sight of Jesus, Luke says, something stirs within the ten lepers, the ten outcasts, the ten who are exiled until they are cleaned, and they shout out to him, “Jesus! Master! Help us!” and Jesus returns the shout, “Go and show yourselves to the priests!” And they go. They obey. All ten shout to Jesus, “Have mercy on is!”. All ten show faith as they get up and go into the city. All ten are healed as they walk to the city gates. One returns. One returns to Jesus, throwing himself before the feet of Jesus, singing, “Praise God from all whom blessings flow. Praise him all creatures here below. Praise him above ye heavenly host. Praise him Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!” and Jesus says, “Get up and go on your way. Your faith has made you well. Let your light shine.” And the foreigner, the Samaritan, the outcast, the leper, left praising, “This little light of mine. I’m gonna let it shine. This little of mine, I’m gonna let it shine. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.”

Luke wants his congregation to know what happens when God is on the move. You see when God is on the move lepers get healed. Lepers get their lives back. Lepers are returned to their families. Lepers are made clean, are made whole. When God is on the move Jesus shows up and the unexpected foreigner returns because they have discovered that faith is the inability to stay away from Jesus. When God is on the move, the poor will be blessed, the mourning will be comforted, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound.” The vile are found singing, “That saved a wretch like me”, the lost will be found singing, “I once was last but now I’m found”, When God is on the move the blind will see singing, “Was blind, but now I see”. When God is on the move the captives are set free singing, “My chains are gone, I’ve been set free. My God, my savior has ransomed me.”

When God is on the move the lame are found singing, “Lord, lift me up and let me stand, by faith on heaven’s tableland. A higher plane than I have found; Lord, plant my feet on higher ground”, the deaf will sing, “Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy, Do you hear what I hear? Ringing through the sky, shepherd boy? Do you hear what I hear? A song, a song, high above the trees with a voice as big as the sea, with a voice as big as the sea”, and the mute will sing, “I’m gonna sing, sing, sing, I’m gonna shout, shout, shout. I’m gonna sing, I’m gonna shout, “Praise the Lord!” When them gates are open wide, I’m gonna sit by Jesus side. I’m gonna sing. I’m gonna shout, “Praise the Lord!”

And God is on the move, Luke says. Would you like to know a secret? God is on the move, here today.

Yes, indeed, God is on the move and the foreign leper is returning praising, and showing us what faith looks like. It is the leper who reminds us of the light our faith shines. It is not the good Virginia Baptist, but the outsider who gets us singing, “Well now Jesus gave me light, I’m gonna let shine. Well now Jesus gave me light, I’m gonna let it shine. I’m gonna let it shine, let shine, let it shine, let shine.” It is the stranger who gets us to the feet of Jesus. Yes, God is on the move and when God is on the move all heaven is breaking loose. When God is on the move we cannot help but return because we are unable to simply stay away. And that is faith; and that is why Luke tells us who came back.

Would like to know another little secret? 

God is on the move in King and Queen County. God is on the loose in Bruington Baptist Church. God is on the loose in the lives of our teenagers and children. God is on the loose in the lives our young and old. God is on the loose in our Sunday school classes. God is on the loose in the lives of our Deacons. I know this not because a budget is being met but by the lives being saved, because of the mouths being fed, because of the mourners who are comforted, because of the sick who visited, because of the thirsty who are finding the everlasting water. I know this because I am hearing rumors of some people who cannot keep from singing, “This little light of mine…”

God is indeed on the move. And we cannot help but return forour lives have been made whole and we simply cannot stay away from Jesus. “Ourlight will not go out”, Luke says, “Cause God is on the move and one came back.”