Homily, A Sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving
The Eighteenth Sunday after the Pentecost (Proper 23C), 2025
St. Peter’s Episcopal Church
Plant City, FL
The Rev. Derek M Larson, TSSF
Today’s Lectionary Readings:
Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7
Psalm 66:1-11
2 Timothy 2:8-15
Luke 17:11-19
In the name God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Why is it that people go to church? I’m always curious about that question, especially in the world in which we live where most people do not go to church. How is it that some people end up here on a Sunday morning? Why is it that some people go to church? Why is it that you come to church? What is it that draws you here to this place? Have you thought about that before? Why do you think you’re here?
On some level, however we articulate it, a large part of our being here has to do with a holy desire within us for healing and restoration. We come to holy places like these to encounter something or someone bigger than us that can bring us relief from the pains and wounds of this world. We come because of our own experiences of brokenness, and we’re looking to be put back together again. We come to receive the grace of God.
That same longing for healing and restoration is what drives ten people with leprosy to call out to Jesus in today’s Gospel. The passage says they called out to him “Jesus, master, have mercy on us” while keeping their distance, as lepers were required to do. They desired not only physical healing but communal reconciliation. They desired an end to their isolation as those cast out of society because of their disease. They came because they believed Jesus could help them.
And so he did. “Go and show yourselves to the priests,” he said, “and as they went they were made clean.”
But what’s most interesting about this passage, is that while nine do what Jesus asks, one turns back. The passage says that “one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him.” Instead of going to the priest as Jesus commanded, he came back to say thank you.
Now the simple message here is the importance of saying thank you. This man stopped what he was doing to say thank you. And that is a message that is familiar to us. How many of you were taught by your parents to write thank you cards when you received a gift? How many of you still do that? So one reading of this passage is that the man wasn’t trying disobey Jesus, but simply to say thank you before he went to the priests.
But I think something else is going on here.
This isn’t just about being polite. This moment is sacramental. The word for ‘thanks’ in this passage is eucharisteo, the same word from which we get “Eucharist,” the celebration of the Holy Mass. And this is one of the only places in the gospels that word is used. In fact, this one man is the only person in all of the gospels to have ever offered thanks to Jesus. While there are many stories of people being healed by him, this is the only story in which the response is thanks. And the thanks this man offers is not a passing courtesy but a sacrifice—an offering—of himself.
See, the other nine are on the way to the temple as Jesus commanded. They are going there to show themselves to the priests, who can pronounce them clean and restore them to the community. They are going to the priests, that the priests might offer for them a sacrifice upon the altar and bring them closer to the presence of God, as the law has been set out for them in Leviticus 13 and 14.
But the One turns back not because he is disobeying Jesus and not because he is extra polite, but because he sees in Jesus a greater temple. He recognizes in Jesus a greater priest. And in falling down before him with an offering of praise and thanksgiving, he enters a greater presence. This is an act of worship. This is an act of sacrifice. This is, without any bread and wine, a Holy Eucharist that leads this man to Holy Communion. And while at the beginning of this story he keeps his distance, now he kneels close at Jesus’ feet. The nine are healed, the Greek word is katharizo-to be cleansed, but they are still searching for restoration and reconciliation. The one is not only healed, the passage says at the feet of Jesus he is made well, the Greek word sozo– to be saved. The nine are cleansed, the one is saved.
What’s striking about this passage is not that these ten found physical healing. Many came to Jesus and found healing. What’s striking about this passage is that in offering himself to Christ as a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving (like we say at the altar) a man found spiritual healing. The healing of the heart. And reconciliation with God.
We all come to this place for healing. We all gather around this table to be fed. But what this one man teaches us is the next step. To offer ourselves to God. We all come to church to receive. How many of us come to give?
See most of us gather around this table to be fed. To receive spiritual nourishment. To find comfort and strength. To satisfy our hunger. And that is good and right and true. But if we see church as only something meant to feed us, then we will only go when we feel hungry, and we will tide ourself over with other things that take the edge off, and we will find a church that feeds us only our favorite things. If we only see church as something to feed us.
And so we must remember that the table around which gather is also an altar. It is not only a table where we are fed, but an altar whereby we present ourselves as living sacrifices. We go to church not only to receive something from God, but to give something to God: our praise, our thanksgiving, and ourselves. And when we both receive God’s grace and give our thanksgiving, we experience a deeper, fuller, more true communion than if we had just received. Listen carefully to the Eucharistic prayer today, it is all about giving as well as receiving.
And thus every time we come to mass, we are the one who turned back to offer himself to God in thanksgiving. Every time we choose not to, we are the nine—still recipients of grace, but missing the joy of gratitude and the communion that only comes through offering. The nine were healed. The nine came to Jesus. The nine had deep faith. The nine were sent out by Jesus. The nine obeyed his word. Their lives were forever changed. But the one, in Jesus, found not only healing—he found God. It is in giving ourselves to God, that we receive God, Godself.
As we continue to work on our planning for ministry at St. Peter’s in 2026 and go about our stewardship campaign, my prayer for this community is that Our Shared Parish will be a Eucharistic community. A community that gathers here not only to receive something from God, but a community that gathers to offer something to God. A community that gathers not only to be healed as individuals, but a community that gathers to be made one with God and others. As you consider your role in this community, and the place of your prayer and participation, and provision here, consider this story. Why do you come to this place? I hope it is to receive the grace and love of God. And I hope that it is also to give your praise and thanksgiving to God, and your whole self. For it is in giving ourselves that we most fully receive God. Amen.
Questions for Reflection
- In what ways do I seek healing and restoration in my life, and how do these desires influence my presence in church each Sunday?
- Do I come to church primarily to receive God’s grace, or do I also offer my praise and thanksgiving? How can I better balance these two aspects?
- How does viewing the church as both a place of nourishment and an altar for sacrifice change my perception of my role in the community?
- In what aspects of my life do I feel called to offer myself as a living sacrifice, and how can I incorporate this into my stewardship and participation in the church?
Thoughts on Faith 