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Address for
Proper 23 - Trinity 20
2 Kings
5.1-3,7-15c
Luke 17. 11-19
I am going to try and keep it extra short this week.... Not because
I don't want to preach - (although with this cold I probably
couldn't go on too long), But because this is 'Bells Run' Sunday!
And I am aware that half the congregation are already out there
in the damp and the mud and because I am asked to get myself
over to the finish line as soon after 11am as possible!
So I want to begin by asking if anyone here has had a birthday
this week? Month?.... Year????
If so, tell me what was the best gift you received?
Was that because of its value? Or because of who gave it to you?
Often, we think that the very best gift we can receive has no
monetary value at all. It might be the first proper smile of
a new baby... It might be that strange artistic offering that
our offspring have produced and brought proudly home from school...
It might be seeing a young adult graduate after all the years
of study and hard work ... it might be when your child presents
you with a child of their own, a first grandchild ....
In truth the thought and the person behind the gift matter far
more to us than the monetary value it might hold. And when someone
gives us a gift, what is our immediate response? We want to thank
them, sure (at least I hope we do!) and it is very human to want
to reciprocate. We give gifts to those who give us presents -
partly because we do not want to feel too indebted to them.
Sometimes of course we can never pay back someone for all the
love they have lavished on us. It is hard for a child ever to
really repay its parents for the sacrifices they probably have
willingly made to educate, nourish and care for them. But we
may be able to 'pay forward'. In other words, the love that a
parent lavishes on a child, we hope will in turn spur them on
to make even more sacrifices for their own children and so on
through the generations.
Our church life is all about gifts .... God's gift in Christ
expressed in so many ways through our worship - the gift of God's
love, the gift of Jesus, the gift of the Holy Spirit.
And we feel - quite rightly - that all the many gifts of God
should inspire us to be more giving ourselves. So our harvest
gifts have gone to help feed those who are suffering real hunger,
and part of our financial contribution to the Diocese goes to
help other churches and parishes that are struggling to serve
the needs of their community.
The ten lepers in our Gospel story (and Naaman in the OT passage)
all receive the gift of healing from God, mediated either by
Elisha or by Jesus himself. Naaman immediately seeks to discharge
his debt of healing, rather than accept it as a gift from the
Israelite God. And of the ten lepers that find they are healed,
only one realises the true significance of the gift they have
received. That sometimes it is more important who gives the gift,
than the gift itself.... however valuable.
One of our Diocesan aims is that of Practising Generosity. We
can do that by paying attention to the many gifts we receive
from God - not only the material benefits, but those of friendship,
health, loving families etc. and by responding accordingly -
giving back to God not only our financial resources (which are
important) but also our time and our talents in the service of
others. That is why those of our number out there on the course
this morning are also worshipping and serving God's purposes
- even if they do not always realise it!
So thank God for all that you have received and will receive
this coming week, and think what you might be able to pay back
(or even pay forward), so that we become caught up in a virtuous
circle of generous giving.... But I would be prepared to bet
that if we were really to practice what I am preaching this morning,
we will always get back far more than we give.... for that is
the nature of God Alleluia!
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