"Leap of Faith" | By Rev. Dr. Jack R. Miller
 
Our gospel story begins with Jesus traveling through the region between Samaria and Galilee, on his way to Jerusalem. Jesus enters an unnamed village and encounters ten people with leprosy. Scholars feel this unnamed village was probably Burqin, located about ninety minutes north of Jerusalem. The town still exists, and the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George, known as the Church of the Ten Lepers, is located there. The church is built over the site where tradition claims the miracle occurred.
 
The lesson in our Gospel story is often misinterpreted to be about gratitude. Ten people with leprosy were cured, and only one returned to thank Jesus for being healed. But its meaning goes much deeper than one person with leprosy being grateful.
 
There are many parallels between this story and the story of Naaman in our first reading. Both Naaman and the Samaritan person with leprosy were foreigners who came to a Godly Jew for healing. Both were asked to perform a small, seemingly irrelevant action before the healing could take place. Elisha, the successor to Elijah the prophet, told Naaman to bathe in the river Jordan seven times. Jesus told the ten people with leprosy to show themselves to a priest, as required by Jewish law. In both stories, healing took place only after they obeyed; only after they took a leap of faith and did what they were asked to do.
 
When Jesus asked the ten people with leprosy to step out in faith and start down the road to find a priest, I wonder if they remembered the Jewish legend about Moses and the parting of the Red Sea. The legend said that when Moses first lifted his staff and stretched out his hand to divide the sea, nothing happened. That is, until one man stepped into the sea; until one man took a leap of faith.
 
It was only when Naaman bathed, and the ten people with leprosy walked away, that they were healed. It was a leap of faith that made the difference, and in this, our lesson is revealed. It is only when we are willing to step out in faith that Christ will lead us to the blessings we seek. Jesus, who is always faithful to us, asks us to respond by being loyal to him; faithful in all things, both great and small.
 
It takes a leap of faith to obey Jesus when he tells us to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us. But when we do that, when we step out in faith, we find our lives suddenly changed as the burden of our own bitterness is lifted. It takes a leap of faith to believe Jesus when he tells us that it is more blessed to give than to receive. It isn't easy, but when we try, when we give of ourselves instead of serving ourselves, we learn once again that Jesus was right. Once we step out in faith and start acting generously, lovingly, and with kindness and compassion, we find that the blessings we bestow on others come back to us.
 
Reform Rabbi and author Laurence Kushner tells this story. A rabbi asked the prophet, “Where shall I find the Messiah?” He responded, “At the city gates among the lepers.”  “What is he doing there?” the Rabbi asked. The prophet answered, “he is changing their bandages.”
 
We may not be asked to go to the city gates and change bandages for the people with leprosy there, but Jesus will ask us to step out of our comfort zone as we follow the pathway of service he sets before us. That is difficult for many of us to do. But Jesus assures us that if we have faith and trust in him, we will find the strength; we, like the people with leprosy in our stories, will be healed, made whole, cleansed, and restored to completeness in his hope and love. All we must do is take that first step, that leap of faith.
 
Amen? Amen!