Collect and Readings for the Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity – Jeremiah 29.1,4-7, 2 Kings 5.1-3, 7- 15c, Psalm 66.1-11, Psalm 111, 2 Timothy 2.8-15, Luke 17.11-19
The Prayer for today Almighty God, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you: pour your love into our hearts and draw us to yourself, and so bring us at last to your heavenly city where we shall see you face to face; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
The people of Jerusalem have been taken into exile and forced to live far from home in the city of Babylon. They are aware of the unpleasant truth that this is at least partly their own fault, and in his letter to them, speaking out the word of God, Jeremiah urges them to think and act positively, so that through their presence in Babylon the city may be blessed. We have probably all known at some time the misery of being rejected and isolated. Whether we are in that place through our own fault or through circumstances beyond our control, it is still a bleak and painful place to be.
Some of us will have known the haunting suspicion that we could infect others, either physically or emotionally; most of us can only guess at the terrible sense of chronic isolation and terror experienced by those with leprosy.
Jesus meets the ten lepers in their community of isolation, outside one of the villages, and all their years of suffering pour out poignantly as they plead for pity from their contamination zone. Jesus, ever practical, tells them not that they are healed, but that they are to go and do what healed lepers have to do by law – show themselves to the priest. It is typical of godly direction to use existing framework so as to bless as many people as possible.
Paul, writing to Timothy, is actually chained up in prison, but quite content to be there as anywhere else, because he knows that although he is chained, the good news is not, and can bring anyone blessing, wherever you happen to spread it.
This is rather heartening, because it means that all of us can blossom with God’s love where we are planted; we don’t have to wait until we are in a ‘better’ situation or get discouraged because we only meet those in the office or on the bus each day. The wholesome goodness of the Gospel can be brought to those we meet – by us!
Some things to reflect on:
• Is it acceptable for Christians to be sad and downhearted, or should their new life in Christ mean that they are always happy and rejoicing?
• How would you answer someone who was complaining that their prayers for healing had not been answered? (Is it just an answer that would be needed in the circumstances?)
God bless and stay safe and well.
Rev’d Fiona Robinson
