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Lepers and Exiles ~ Proper 23 (C)

October 9, 2016

Introduction
The Prophet Jeremiah writes to a people in exile in Babylon. Jesus touches

people who are suffering from leprosy, living in their homeland but living apart from

others as if in exile. Both are essentially exiles, feeling uprooted, estranged, and

distanced. One has literally been taken away and the other have been pushed to the side.

There is a sense of a loss of home, of exclusion, loss of identity, and lack of

belonging.

Luke shares the theme of double exile ~ disease and that of another

ethnic group the Samaritan. One of the lepers is a Samaritan, a group despised

by the Jews. (Smith, 2016.) As you can see exile comes in many forms and it still goes

on today, taking its form in shame, judgment, prejudice, and condemnation.

Exile of Shame

We inherit shame from our world and others, feeling the subtle and not so subtle

messages of not being good enough, not measuring up, and not hitting the bar. What

happens is that we feel forced into exile hiding so others will not discover us or we do

things in this world in a desperate attempt to be loved while sabotaging ourselves at the

same time. Without realizing it, we are reinforcing the message we have been taught to

believe, that we are not lovable.

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Exile as a Loss of Identity

I had a student this week who is a lovely person, valued by friends, a good

mother, and a beautiful girl. But she was raised in a home where the expectations were

unreasonable and unrealistic. Mother was deeply wounded and drenched in shame, but

instead of dealing with it, she had her daughter carry it for her. This young woman sees

herself as a waste of a person and unlovable. You see that is the core of shame and

when we feel unworthy of love we are in exile from others, not knowing who

we truly are.

The book of Genesis holds part of the answer, to this question of identity. We are

told by St. Augustine we have Original Sin from Adam and Eve. What this should tell us

is that being human means not only we can but will make mistakes; it comes with the

package. But if we dig deeper into the text we will find something even more wonderful

~ we are also born with Original Blessing, for we are created in the image of God. We

may make mistakes but we have the potential for far greater. This Divine Image is an

important part of our identity, our bond with each other.

Healing & Return from Exile

I love Jesus teaching stories and one of my favorites is the parable of the lost

sheep. In that story, he talks about a flock of 100 sheep and one is lost. The shepherd

leaves the other 99 who are safe and goes in search of the one who is lost. He must do

this in order to return it to make the flock whole once again. That one lost sheep is that

important.

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The lepers did not come to Jesus denying their leprosy. My student did not come

to me denying the problems she had or the bad choices she had made. They all

embraced their problems. These were the dis-eases they all experienced. Shame can

only be exorcised in the absence of secrecy, criticism, and fear. It is healed by

embracing them. Like the parable of the lost sheep, they and we must seek out those

lost parts and bring them back to the flock to be understood, healed, forgiven, and loved.

Conclusion

This happens on an individual scale and on a community scale, too. Today we

come together to the Eucharistic Banquet ~ Holy Communion. We gather, lost sheep,

broken, messed up, and fragile. But we are also created in the Image of God with

Original Blessing. We gather as Center and Spring Grove United Methodist Churches

and standing here is Jesus. Through the Communion of Saints is Peter, John, Thomas,

Paul, Francis (his feast day was this past week) Mary the Magdalene, all of them are with

us. We will bring all parts of ourselves, just as they did and ask the Lord the bless us

and heal us, feed us with his body and blood. Our prayer is that when we leave we will

no longer be exiles but be grateful Samaritans who live out of hearts that love and serve

the Kingdom of God more fully. AMEN!