Collect: Proper 23

Lord, we pray that your grace may always precede and follow us, that we may continually be given to good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen

Jeremiah 29: 1-7. . . the prophet offers surprising counsel from Jerusalem to the elders, priest, and prophets now in exile in Babylon

Psalm 66:1-12 . . . A hymn of praise and thanksgiving

2 Timothy 2: 8-15 . . . Paul bids Timothy to be a faithful worker, reminding himself and others of Jesus’ resurrection and the new life that is to be known by him

Luke 17: 11-19 . . . Jesus’s command brings about the cleansing pf ten lepers, but only one, a Samaritan, returns to give thanks.

Sermon

In October, a month that often focuses on stewardship in churches, it could be tempting for a pastor to use today’s passage, Luke 17:11-19, the story of the ten lepers, to preach on tithing. Ten go out healed and only one comes back to offer thanks to Jesus. However, Jim Somerville, Pastor of Richmond’s First Baptist Church and Co-founder of A Sermon for Every Sunday, says that he doesn’t think that is what this passage is about. He asks, “So, what is this passage really about?” Listen as Somerville explains the significance of this one healed leper, a Samaritan, laying at the feet of Jesus.