Preface for Pastors and Parents
This is my children’s sermon on Luke 17:11-19, which is the Gospel reading for “Proper 23(28)” in Year C of the lectionary.
It is a story that is at once simple and mysterious; plain and enigmatic.
Ten people with leprosy approach Jesus. Jesus tells them to present themselves to the priest. They go to do what he says, only to find that they have been miraculously healed. One, but only one, returns to give thanks to Jesus.
Pretty straightforward, right? A healing. The importance of giving thanks.
There are good preachable bits all through it, and some of them are a little puzzling.
Luke points out that Jesus really looks at them. Why? To me that’s a picture of him really attending to the rejected and forgotten.
Jesus, instead of declaring them healed, tells them to present themselves to the priest. Why? That’s what you are supposed to do according to the Law if you believe you have recovered from leprosy.
It is in their obedience to this very ordinary bit of divine guidance — go do what the law said to do — that they are healed. What’s that about? I think there’s something important there, about the wonder of what happens when we obey.
The real puzzler, I think, is Jesus’ response to the Samaritan man. He seems critical of the nine who went to present themselves to the priest, exactly as he said to do.
I think this last one is both the thing preachers are most likely to focus on and the least important of all. In fact, I wonder if it really ended the way I present it in my children’s sermon on Luke 17:11-19.
A Children’s Sermon on Luke 17:11-19
Good morning kids! I’m so glad to see you this morning. Thanks for coming up to hear the children’s sermon.
Our story from the Gospel this morning includes one unfamiliar word. The story includes some people with a disease called “leprosy.” Leprosy is a skin disease that people found very scary back in Bible times. Nobody wanted to catch leprosy. People with leprosy had to stay far away from healthy people.
Ten People with Leprosy
One day Jesus was out walking with his friends. There was a row of bushes beside the road. Jesus heard some rustling behind the bushes. Then he heard some low voices muttering.
“You ask him!” said one.
“No, you ask him!” said another.
“It was your idea!” said the first voice.
“Hey fellas,” Jesus called, “Why don’t you come out from behind the bushes?”
A pause. Then a voice said, “We can’t!”
“Why not?” said Jesus.
“Believe me,” said the voice, “you do not want us to come out there.”
“How come?” asked Jesus.
“Because…” said the voice. “We have leprosy.”
“Eew! Gross!” said Peter.
“Peter,” said Jesus quietly, “I want you to be kind to my friends.”
“What friends?” Peter asked, “They have leprosy!”
Jesus answered, “They are made in the image of God, and I love them.”
“Oh come on!” complained Peter. “Lepers?”
A Request
Jesus turned back to the bushes, ignoring Peter.
“Seriously,” he said. “Come on out so we can talk.”
“Couldn’t we just talk to you from here in the bushes?” they asked.
“I’d really like to see you,” Jesus said.
Slowly, slowly, they came out into the open. One. Two. Tthree. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. Ten people with leprosy. Some were men. Some were women. All were dressed in dirty rags. All had terrible sores on their faces and hands.
Jesus looked at them, his big brown eyes all full of love.
“Ew! Gross!” said Peter.
“Peter,” said Jesus.
“Sorry, Jesus,” said Peter.
“You should say ‘sorry’ to my friends here,” said Jesus.
Peter looked up and saw all the sadness and hurt in the ten people’s eyes.
“I’m sorry,” he said. Then he shuffled to the back of the crowd.
“So…” Jesus said, “what did you want to ask me?”
“Help us!” said one
“Have mercy!” said another. “It’s so hard when everyone hates us!”
“Could you please heal us?” asked a third. “We’ve heard that you can heal people.”
A Plan
Jesus smiled warmly, and said, “Of course. Here’s what I want you to do. Head up to Jerusalem. Go to the temple. Find one of the priests, and show yourselves to him.”
“But Jesus,” said one man, his eyes looking down, “I can’t go to the Temple. I’m — I’m a Samaritan. They won’t want to talk to me.”
Jesus said, “Don’t tell them you’re from Samaria. Just find the priest and show yourself.”
“But Jesus,” said another, “why do we have to go to the Temple? Why do we have to see a priest?”
Jesus said “Because that’s what Moses says in the law. When you are cured of leprosy, you have to show yourself to a priest.”
“But Jesus!” said another. “We still have leprosy! You haven’t cured us yet!”
“Well,” said Jesus with a twinkle in his eye, “I wonder what might happen if you did what I told you to do?”
To Jerusalem
And so, a bit reluctantly at first, they all headed down the road toward Jerusalem.
Soon one of them looked down at her hands. “Hey!” she cried out. “I think my sores are getting smaller!”
“Mine too!” said another.
As they walked further, one by one they noticed the changes. Their hands and arms looked healthy again.
“Hey stop!” one said. “Look at my face! How do I look?”
“Wow! Your nose is fine again!” someone told her. “Look at mine!”
“Your ears look great now!” she said.
So they all unwrapped their rags. All of them were healthy again.
“We’d better get going!” said one. “We need to get to the temple and find a priest.”
So nine of the former lepers headed off to Jerusalem. But one of them, the man from Samaria, turned around and ran all the way back to Jesus.
A Big Thank You.
When he saw Jesus ahead the Samaritan ran up and threw his arms around him. “Oh Jesus!” he said, “Thank you thank you thank you! Look! I’m healed — just like you said!”
Jesus laughed, and hugged the man back.
Then he said, “But where are the rest? Weren’t all ten of you healed? How come only you came to say ‘Thank You’? And aren’t you the Samaritan?”
“Yes, Lord,” said the man. “They’re still on the way to the Temple, just as you said. But I just had to come back first and thank you. You gave me my life back!”
“I’m glad you came back.” Jesus said
“But now I’ve got to go!” said the man. “I’ve got to catch up with the others before they get to the Temple!”
Wondering
I wonder if there is anyone we treat the way Peter treated the people with leprosy?
I wonder what those ten people did after they showed the priest they were healed?
I wonder if there’s anything you might like to say ‘Thank you!’ to Jesus for?
++++++++++++
You are, of course, free to use this children’s sermon, or adapt it as you find most useful. But, if you use it, please do one (or more!) of the following.
- You can let me know that you are using it, either in the comments below, or using the contact form above.
- You can put a little notice in your church bulletin that your children’s sermon is adapted from one published on GaryNealHansen.com.
- You can support my work over on Patreon. (Just $1 per month brings my children’s sermons straight to your inbox about two minutes after they go live. And every little bit keeps me going…)
Leave a Reply