Faith & Grace of Conversion

A Sermon preached by the Rt. Rev. Allen K. Shin

Sunday, October 13th, 2019

In today’s Gospel story, Jesus was making his journey toward Jerusalem southward from Galilee where he had been carrying out his ministry of healing and teaching. He was somewhere between Galilee and Samaria. Suddenly, ten lepers appeared, and pleaded, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” Jesus simply replied, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” This sounds like a rather cold and impersonal reply. According to the ancient Jewish law, people who were deemed unclean or were in the class of sinners had to go to the priest and undergo examinations and a purification ritual. So, Jesus’ reply was not all that unusual. He was simply giving the usual instruction according to the Law. The ten lepers must have been rather disappointed. They came to Jesus because they heard about his miraculous healing power. They came hoping for a miracle. Yet, all they got is the usual instruction, “Go to the priests.”

The story does not tell us that they went to see the priests but simply says that they went. But, as they went, something extraordinary did happen; they were made clean. The original Greek word used here for “made well” is catharsis. Unexpectedly and unbeknownst to them, the ten lepers had a cathartic experience. Here we come to an important hidden detail: They, in fact, did not have to go to the priest for examination and purification in order to be declared clean. They simply asked Jesus for mercy, and they were made clean. This is the Gospel moment of the story. This reveals the generous grace of God which is freely and abundantly available to anyone who asks for his mercy. This is the Good News Jesus Christ came to reveal to the world.

With Jesus, the old ritual practice and ethos were turned upside down. The ritual act of purification became no longer necessary to receive God’s grace and mercy. Jesus personally fulfilled the Law, and the ritual act now became an act of thanksgiving for his grace and mercy which at least the one leper returned and carried out. When this one leper saw that he was made clean, that is, when he recognized the catharsis which just happened to him, he turned back, praising God, and prostrated himself before Jesus and thanked him. But here comes another interesting detail we must pay attention to. The one leper who returned was not the only one who was made clean but all the other nine were made clean also. It didn’t matter that the other nine did not return to thank Jesus. All ten lepers were made clean and remained so. This is the hidden pearl of the Good News of God’s grace through Jesus Christ. The generosity of God whose grace is freely and abundantly given to anyone who asks for God’s mercy and love.

Unfortunately, however, in their failure to see how they had been healed, the other nine lepers also failed to perceive and receive something even greater, the eternal salvation. Their catharsis remained skin-deep and superficial. They most likely continued with their lives as if nothing had changed, as if nothing cathartic had happened. But, the Samaritan leper’s recognition of the catharsis led to a genuine and lasting change in him. He was led to a whole new life and became a whole new person. That is the difference, and it is no small difference. Faith is the inner spiritual faculty which helps us to see the catharsis of God’s grace working in our lives. The inward and invisible grace of God is made visible to us by our faith.

The Samaritan leper recognized the catharsis in his life and remembered Jesus. Isn’t that precisely what we gather to do in the Eucharist? Having recognized God’s grace in our lives, we return to Jesus again and again to remember his grace and give thanks for the grace he has given us. The catharsis of God’s grace is not just skin deep. God works his grace not for superficial and temporary changes but for something greater and deeper. To the Samaritan leper who returned Jesus said, “Your faith has made you well.” Literally in Greek, your faith has “saved you.”

Faith assumes conversion, a deep spiritual change. We talk about faith a lot in the church, but we rarely talk about conversion, especially in the Episcopal Church. We think we are above the need of conversion and change. That’s for those evangelical believers who obviously don’t have the right faith like we do. But, if we say we believe in Jesus, and nothing is changed in our lives, it would be pretty hard to convince others to believe in what we profess to believe. In fact, that’s called hypocrisy. True faith begins with radical change to hand ourselves over to Jesus. But we often want everyone else to change and do not see the need or the value of change for ourselves.

Faith assumes conversion, a continuous, life-long spiritual conversion. And at the heart of conversion is God’s grace. It is by God’s grace and God’s grace alone that we are saved. Yet, we recognize grace only in hindsight or well into the process of navigating through difficult change. And then, it is grace that helps us make sense and find the meaning of the change we have experienced. The novelist, Flannery O’Connor once said, “All human nature vigorously resists grace because grace changes us and the change is painful.”

No matter how great the cost of pain and loss, no one can stop the work of God’s grace. No one can control God and control the movement of the Holy Spirit. God’s grace breaks into our lives whether we like it or not, whether we are ready for it or not. And this is where faith comes in. Faith holds us up together and helps us through difficult and challenging times of change. And are we living in a time of some difficult changes and uncertainties! We know that things don’t have to be the way they are. We don’t have to fear and hate one another but we can learn to live in peace and respect the dignity of every human being. We don’t have to resort to violence and hatred and greed to solve the problems of our society. But we can learn to live and work together toward the common good to build a civil society that helps every human being flourish.

“The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.” That is the prophet Isaiah’s vision of the kingdom of God here on earth. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” That is Jesus’ vision of the beloved community of God here on earth. And so we’ve got work to do. we’ve got some serious Gospel work to do, and it is urgent. But it begins with our own conversion of faith, deeper trusting in God’s grace and mercy, and handing ourselves over to the way of love Jesus has shown through his crucifixion and resurrection.

Faith is all about conversion. That was how it was with the first disciples who heard Jesus’ calling and dropped everything and followed him. That was how it was with the very people who were healed by Jesus. “Your faith has healed you,” Jesus said to them. That was how it was with the disciples in Jerusalem who experienced the fire of the Holy Spirit resting upon them on Pentecost. That is how it has been with the myriads of Christian witnesses ever since then. And that is how it is today. The fire of the Holy Spirit is still burning all around us, and we need to be fired up in our faith, in our conversion of life.

The conversion of faith is what we are celebrating today in the confirmation of four young people and two not so young people. Pray for them that they may be renewed by the Holy Spirit. It’s not just their renewal of faith but also renewal of all of us as we renew the baptismal vows together with them. They say that life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away. Dale, Erica, Shea, Hester, Fred and Geri, may your confirmation be the Gospel moment that takes your breath away! May today be the Gospel moment for all of you here present also! God bless each and every one of you!