A LESSON FROM LEPERS

Luke 17:12-13 “As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!"

Have you ever had a totally lousy day? I read about a man who was sitting in a bar, looking at his drink. He stayed like that for half-an-hour. Then, a big trouble-making truck driver stepped up next to him, grabbed the drink from him, and gulped it down in one swallow. At that, the man burst into tears. The truck driver said, “Come on man, I was just joking. Here, I’ll buy you another drink. I just can’t stand to see a grown man crying.” “No, it’s not that.” The guy said, “Today day is the worst of my life. First, I overslept and was late to an important meeting. My boss was outraged and he fired me. When I left the office, I discovered my car had been stolen, and the police said there was nothing they could do. I took a cab home, and as he drove off I realized I left my wallet in the back seat of the taxi. I thought it couldn’t get any worse, but when I walked into my house I found my wife in the arms of another man–and she told me to leave. So I stopped by a chemical store, and then came here. I’ve been sitting here thinking about taking my life…when you come in and drink all my poison!”That’s a bad day–for both of them. The Bible never promises our lives will be free from pain and difficulties, instead the Bible promises we will have many trials and tribulations in this life. The secret to a successful life is in knowing where to turn for help when you have a problem.

Our scripture offers us an example of ten men that had it pretty bad. But they were certain that Jesus could help them. In biblical times, leprosy was a terrible problem. The word was often used to describe a variety of skin diseases, but doctors believe most of the people suffered with what we now call Hansen’s Disease. It starts with a white patch of skin that becomes numb, so much so that the victims cannot even feel a needle piercing the spot. The patch begins to spread all over the body and often manifests itself on the face, so the disease is impossible to hide. It then begins to form spongy tumors on the face and, at the same time, attacks the internal organs as well. The nerve endings become numb so the victim cannot tell when something is hurting him, like fire burning his hand. The leprosy itself was not fatal, but more lepers died from other diseases they contracted because of their weakened condition. Lepers were called “the walking dead,” and were kicked out of their homes and villages and forced to live in colonies with other lepers. They couldn’t work or worship at the temple.

These ten men banded together and decided they wouldn’t just give up and die, so they got up and headed toward Jesus. When they found Jesus they didn’t talk about the weather, Jewish politics or chariot races; they cried out as one voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”It would have been easy for these ten lepers to look at each other and think, “We’re not so bad, we’re all in the same condition.” One of them could have said, “My leprosy is not as bad as his, so I’m doing okay.” Instead, they said, “We’ve got a big problem! We’re going to die! We need to get some help!”

We are no different. We all have things we need from God. We have choices. We can sit by and pretend that we are okay and that we are content. Or, we can faithfully proclaim our need for God and our belief that he will bless us. Take your cue from the ten lepers. When you find yourself in need, call out to him. He is sure to hear you.