Sermon: October 12, 2025
Reading Luke 17:11-19
Although today’s gospel is often seen as a healing miracle, the story goes beyond that. Because Jesus teaches us about faith, as shown in gratitude for God’s mercy, and we are made whole. As children of God, we must embody that faith, expressing it through gratitude in how we live, in what we say, and in what we do, because it’s what we believe.
Yet gratitude is not always easy. The social systems and structures that once labeled lepers as “unclean” continue to operate today, causing people to be judged as “unclean,” challenging us to demonstrate our faith and gratitude.
Being grateful can be even harder when God’s children are viewed as unclean, as hatred and fear divide us further, and legislators pass dehumanizing laws targeting the LGBTQ community or support the inhumane treatment of immigrants, refugees, and people of color. Or when these same legislators eliminate programs that provide basic care for those in need simply out of political revenge, revealing their true priorities. All of this happens while God's children cry out like the lepers did, “Have mercy.”
Jesus calls us to rise. To rise above, to rise in love. To rise resurrected in our faith as we embrace a life of gratitude for God’s blessings in our lives and join our voices with others opposing those who unfairly and wrongly declare our siblings in Christ as unclean and unworthy. Every human being is a child of God, whom we are called to show love, compassion, and mercy.
We begin to rise above by being mindful and recognizing God’s sacred touch in everyday, ordinary things: the air we breathe, the dawning of a new day, the people who walk with us and enrich our lives, and the beauty of nature. The smallest things all point to God’s extravagant love. Nothing is insignificant; God’s blessings are everywhere if we take the time to see them, and when we do, we are to give thanks to God, for it is God’s grace that sustains us, guiding us through the stormy waters of those dark waves.
We live our faith by living our gratitude. And it starts with small acts of kindness, in words of appreciation, and in gestures of love for all of God’s creation. And by doing so, the kindness, love, and mercy we extend spreads from one person to another, and to another, and to another, so we all may be healed.
We’re not always cured, but healed—spiritually, emotionally, eternally, healed by the touch of Christ, who calls us to rise resurrected into a new life and healed by the power of divine love, which makes us whole.
May we live out our faith in gratitude, listening for the sacred voice of Jesus Christ whispering through the chaos: “Rise up, go on your way, your faith has made you well.” Let us rise. Let us rise in faith. Let us rise in gratitude. Let us rise in love.
