Case Study in Humility

Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost – Proper 25 (Year C)

Luke 18.9-14

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

One of the common ways to enter into a passage of Scripture is to identify with a character in the story. Sometimes it’s pretty easy to do, such as the story of Mary and Martha. Most of us can clearly identify with one or the other. Or lacking such identification, at least experience an internal struggle between qualities of both characters. But what about in today’s passage? The choice is not so easy. Do we identify with the Pharisee, who is respectable and looked up to but who misses the point of what it means to live a righteous life; or do we identify with the tax collector, whose appearance and actions are called into question, but seems to get it when it comes to his relationship with God? Neither is portrayed in a particularly flattering light. At least not when you consider the whole package presented by each.

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Truly Living a Life of Faith

Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost – Proper 23 (Year C)

Luke 17.11-19

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

What does it mean to live a life of faith? Not just to have faith, but to actually live out of that faith?

Today’s Gospel reading gives us some insight into what living a life of faith truly means. We hear the story of ten lepers coming to Jesus, imploring him to have mercy on them. Just to be clear, when the Bible talks about people suffering from leprosy, it does not necessarily mean that they have Hansen’s Disease—what we commonly call leprosy. In the Bible, leprosy is used as a generic term for a number of forms of skin disease. According to Jewish law, anyone with so called “leprosy” was thought to be contagious and was considered ritually unclean. They were required by law to stay away from others, including their own family and friends. And because of being considered unclean, they were not allowed to participate in Temple worship and the rituals that were central to their faith. Because religion was so central to Jewish society, to not be able to practice their faith would have meant that these men stood completely outside the community. They were persona non grata—alone, abandoned by society, and by their faith community. It is out of a sense of desperation—desperation not only to be healed, but also to be able to return to their community and to Temple worship—that the ten dare to approach Jesus. They have faith that he will be able to heal them.

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Increase Our Faith!

Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost – Proper 22 (Year C)

2 Timothy 1.1-14; Luke 17.5-10

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

“The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’” (Lk 17.5). To my analytically oriented mind, that begs the question, “how does one measure faith?” After all, you need to measure something to see what you have before you can determine if it needs to be increased.

This request from the apostles comes right after Jesus delivers a lesson on what true discipleship means. That those who are true disciples need to hold one another accountable, they are to repent of their sins as soon as they are aware of them, and they are to forgive one another. But I think what the real presenting issue for the apostles seeking an increase in faith is the slowly dawning realization that the end is near. This conversation with Jesus takes place as he is traveling toward Jerusalem. Toward his death. Before setting his face toward Jerusalem, Jesus told his apostles two times what would happen—that “The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised” (Lk 9.22). And on this journey to Jerusalem, Jesus took the opportunity to teach his disciples about the inner workings of his ministry and gave 70 of his followers some hands-on practice in engaging in this ministry (Lk 10.1-16). I think all of this was bubbling under the surface, and as they get closer and closer to Jerusalem, as they reflect on where they have been and what they have seen, the reality is starting to set in. Soon, they will be left without their Master. They will be the ones responsible for carrying on his work. And that undoubtedly raises questions—and anxieties—about their readiness for such a monumental task. A task that can only be completed by acting out of faith. And compared to their Master, they realize they come up short in the faith department, and as a result, feel inadequate.

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