• 2 Kings 5:14-17
• Psalm 98:1-4
• 2 Timothy 2:8-13
• Luke 17:11-19

How much money do you need to receive the gift that God offers? Put the question like that, and we can immediately see how absurd it is; God’s love for us is so overwhelming that he longs to give the gift, and there is nothing that we can do to buy it, still less to deserve it. Nevertheless, we still persist in thinking that we must somehow earn it, or can write a cheque for it.

This is what happens to Naaman, the leprous Syrian general. Rather against his better judgement, he is persuaded to bathe seven times in the Jordan, and is, remarkably, cured of his leprosy, “and his flesh was restored, like the flesh of a little child”. So he does what many wealthy religious people have done before, and reaches for his credit card: “Please accept a gift from your servant”. Elisha sternly refuses (to the evident disapproval of his assistant Gehazi – you must read on a few verses in this chapter, and see what happened to him!) to accept anything of the kind; and now the boot is on the other foot, for Naaman finds himself instead begging for a gift of “two mule-loads of earth” and permission to worship God in the Temple of the pagan god Rimmon. What has happened to Naaman is what must happen to each of us – he has recognised the overriding claims of the one true God, and is prepared to act accordingly. Gratitude is an excellent rule of life.

The psalmist has no difficulty with this, indeed, and next Sunday’s psalm is an exuberant invitation to “sing a new song to YHWH – for he has worked wonders; his right hand and his holy arm have brought about his victory”. And why? “YHWH has made known his victory in the sight of the nations”. It is a charming song of gratitude, this: “He has remembered his love and his fidelity towards the house of Israel”, and our bit of the psalm concludes, “Shout aloud to YHWH, all the earth; break into joyous songs of praise”.

Paul in the second reading is able to keep his eyes on the power of God (“Jesus Christ raised from the dead”) in order to cope with the grim reality of his present existence: “I am suffering bad things in prison like a criminal – but God’s word is not handcuffed”. So he is happy to put up with all this “on account of those who are chosen”. And because of God’s power, “if we died with [Jesus] we shall live with [him]. If we put up with it, we shall reign with [him].”

Paul’s gratitude, and that of the psalmist, is a model for us, rebuking our notion that God’s gift is for sale. That is the point of the beautiful story that is next Sunday’s gospel. Once again Luke is careful to set it in the context of Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem, though if you look closely at a map you will see that the geography is a bit confused. Perhaps Samaria is only mentioned in order to prepare us for the prominent role played by one of Luke’s beloved Samaritans.

Anyway, it is a lovely healing-story; ten lepers stand at an appropriate distance (the disease was highly contagious, and made them ritually impure), and shout to him, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us”. Jesus performs the healing at a distance, simply telling them, “Show yourselves to the priests”. Remarkably, “as they went, they were cleansed”. But it does not stop here, for there is just one of them (and he is a Samaritan, of all people!) who makes the appropriate response. He does not ask “how much?”, but “seeing he was cured, returned with a loud voice, glorifying God, and fell on his face at his feet, thanking him”. Jesus’ response is a sad one, “Where are the nine? Was none but this foreigner found to return and give glory to God?” Now notice what Jesus says to this grateful Samaritan: “Arise – and on your way. Your faith has saved you.” Let us pray this week to hear those words addressed to us.