I’ve always been inspired by the mercy work of Mother Teresa in helping people with leprosy through establishing leper colonies, providing holistic care and raising awareness of the disease. At the time of her death in September 1997, Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity had over 4000 sisters operating in 610 missions in 123 countries. She was able to bring the plight of leprosy patients into mainstream consciousness at a time when they were stigmatised and often abandoned by their own families. While her motto was to ‘do small things with great love’, her ‘small things’ transformed countless lives, especially those that were abandoned, destitute, excluded and marginalised.

In today’s reading Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem, heightening the sense of expectation about what awaits him there. As he travels the borderlands between Samaria and Galilee, Jesus enters an unnamed village where ten people with leprosy are desperate to speak with him, but cannot approach him because of their affliction of leprosy which demands religious and social exclusion from both family and community (Leviticus 13:45-46; Numbers 5:2-3). The men therefore ‘stood at a distance’ (Luke 17:12b) and raised their cries in a loud voice shouting, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!’ (v13b) Any doubts about Jesus’ compassion are removed immediately as he tells them, ‘Go, show yourselves to the priests’ (v14), and the men with leprosy are healed on the way! Consequently, they could now resume a normal life, be readmitted to mainstream society, and be reconciled with their families and friends.

After the healing of the ten lepers, the focus narrows to one of the ten, who alone returns to Jesus. Prostrating himself at his feet (v16b), he pours out his deep gratitude and glorifies God (v16c). It is at this point we are told that he is a Samaritan, a further reason for him to be ostracised by Jewish society. As a Samaritan leper Luke wants us to grasp clearly his ‘outsider’ status (confirmed as a ‘foreigner’ by Jesus himself, v18). The three questions Jesus rhetorically asks at this point are ones we might ask too! ‘Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?’ (v17-18) Jesus is not asking for an answer but rather making a stinging observation that is surely clear for all to see. And yet in a typically Lucan twist, Jesus’ radical inclusion and commendation of him serve as an example to the other nine, and to us, of an appropriate response to one touched by the mercy and grace of God. The appropriate response to the miracle of mercy is to bring praise and thanksgiving to God! The story ends with a further commendation of the Samaritan, ‘Rise and go; your faith has made you well’ (v19). He has already experienced the healing power of God, but something more has taken place in his life evidenced by his expressions of gratitude, doxology and exemplary faith in Jesus. The man is now sent off by Jesus as a person who has experienced the fullness of God’s salvation that Jesus came to bring.

The story offers invaluable lessons for us today. Jesus still hears the cries of those that are marginalised and ostracised and always responds compassionately and lovingly to the heartfelt prayer, ‘Lord, have mercy on us.’ And Jesus sees us too! We do not go unnoticed by the all-seeing Saviour. He feels for our brokenness and pain, and understands the shame of our backstories we often wearily carry. And yet, his grace is at work in our lives to bring us wholeness and healing too as we journey and navigate the uncertainty of life. As Meda Stamper says, ‘we might also consider the parts of us that are hidden in the borderlands of ourselves where we may least want to be seen and most need to be touched. Jesus, who is not afraid of borderlands, does not mind meeting us in those places, and it may be that by recognising him there, we will find in our deepest selves a new outpouring of the grateful love that makes well.’ May we too therefore ‘do small things with great love’, embracing others with radical inclusion, extending tender compassion, and embodying empathic mercy as we express our gratitude and worship for all that God has done.