David Anguish
Then Jesus answered and said, "Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine -- where are they? Was no one found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?" (Luke 17:17-18, NASB)
If we understand leprosy at all, it's an amazing story. Plagued with a disease in which one's body died a little bit at a time, a horror made worse by the fact that having it made one a social outcast (cf. Leviticus 13:45), ten men called to Jesus for help. He was merely passing by, on his way to Jerusalem, between Samaria and Galilee. They had no claim on him; there was no compelling reason he should stop and pay them any mind. But desperate men do desperate things. "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" they demanded (the verb is an imperative). Jesus did not heal them with a touch as he had another leper (Mark 1:41). But as they followed his instructions to show themselves to the priest, they were cleansed. One of them -- remarkably, only one of them, and a hated Samaritan at that -- "when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, and ... fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him" (Luke 17:15-16). He was blessed for his faith (v 19). But first Jesus asked, "where are the nine?"
Our title is obviously adapted from this question. But who are the thirty-five? And where should they be? In truth, their number is greater than thirty-five. Thirty-five is the average percentage of Sunday morning attenders who never attend any other service. Following Jesus, we ask, "where are the thirty-five?" We ask it for the same reason he asked about the nine.
Before you say it, I'll acknowledge that this text is not a "church service" passage. I'll also respond to other challenges which might be made. No, there's no way to tell whether the first century church met more than once on Sunday (though we have evidence that the second century church -- much nearer in time to the original setting than we are -- often did). Yes, Sunday was a work day for many of them, perhaps necessitating that they met on the evening of the week's first day. No, I cannot produce a passage which commands meeting at a time other than Sunday morning (though we do have evidence of some gatherings every day - Acts 2:46). No, I do not believe that Sunday is the "Christian Sabbath," the new covenant equivalent of the fourth commandment. And no, I have no interest in binding where God has not bound, nor in placing an unnecessary burden on those who are hindered by health and similar problems.
I simply wonder what happens between noon and 6 p.m. on Sunday, or between Sunday and Wednesday, or any night of a gospel meeting or similar series, which causes grace-cleansed Christians to find it so easy to substitute anything else for another opportunity to tell God how much they love him and learn more about him. Come to think of it, maybe that's the problem. Maybe too many of us see worship as only a commitment to be fulfilled or duty to be performed (and it does involve both these things). Maybe if we saw our services as times when we "give glory to God" for cleansing greater than that received by the leper, we would adopt a different attitude when we're present and different habit about being absent.
Ten lepers. Nine went on their way and never looked back. Too quickly, it seems, they forgot -- or maybe never understood -- just what the Lord had done for them. One remembered, returned, and worshiped.
Ten lepers. Which one are you?