Luke 17:11-13 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled
along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who
had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice,
“Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
Notice that the men stood at a distance from Jesus. In those days lepers had to stay in less
populated areas, keep their faces covered and call out , “Unclean, unclean” as
they moved about. Family members would
leave food for them at agreed upon areas.
They were outcasts from society through no fault of their own.
I took a couple of days off from writing over
Thanksgiving. We had a blessed day with
family and friends and hope you did, too.
Yesterday instead of writing, Joe and I both were in the doctor’s office
getting prescription antibiotics and cough medicine for these lingering bad
colds. I coughed through most of my
sermon Sunday and have not had much relief since from the coughing. I tried to keep a distance from people, not
hugging or shaking hands as I usually would.
And I have felt some empathy for these lepers. People haven’t wanted to be near me; I’ve
been told to stay away. And I discovered that even though it’s certainly
understandable, it really hurt my feelings, too. It’s hurtful to be rejected. I comforted myself with the knowledge that I
will soon be over this cold and will no longer be treated like Typhoid
Annie. Yet there are other people in our
society who are shunned for who they are instead of some contagion they may be
carrying. Teens and gays and people of
color are bullied and rejected and some even subjected to hate crimes. Have you
ever been rejected? I hope you came away
with a more tender heart towards others who suffer the same thing.
Holy God, As I pray for healing for our colds, I also pray
for those who are rejected by others.
Help us to grow in our kindness towards others, even those who are
different. We pray in the name of the
one who reached out to heal others, even lepers. Amen.
Peace,
Paige
Paige
Modified and used for Franklin Press and Thursday Musings 12-1 & 12-2 2021
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