Written and Delivered by The Rev. Canon Paul S. Nancarrow, PhD

This is something I usually say at the end of the service, but today I'm going to say it to start the sermon: So What?

So what difference does this Gospel story make to us today? So what difference does Jesus make to these ten people within the story? So what difference, given what happens in the story, can Jesus make for us?

Well, let's get at the "So What?" by unpacking the story a little bit. Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem, and as he enters a village ten people with a highly contagious skin disease come nearby--but not too nearby--and ask Jesus to help them. Jesus tells them to go show themselves to the priest--which, according to very explicit instructions in the Book of Leviticus, is the way to diagnose skin diseases and tell when a person is well enough to rejoin society--and as the ten are walking along to find a priest, they are healed, their skin is restored, the shame and rejection and ostracism caused by their condition is removed from them, and they are able to go back to their families and their friends and their societies and their synagogues, and they are able to live life anew. And as they're walking along, and as they're made well, one of them realizes what's happened--and he immediately turns around, he no longer cares about being inspected by the priest, and he runs back to Jesus and falls at his feet and thanks him. And the one who comes back to thank Jesus is--ooooh!--a Samaritan. And Jesus says "Ten were healed; one praises God. Hm. Go on your way, your faith has made you whole."

So what difference does Jesus make to these ten people in the story? Well, Jesus makes a difference to all ten of them because Jesus heals them. Jesus makes a difference to their objective situation: they were sick, now they're not sick; they were ostracized, now they're not ostracized; their lives were put on hold because skin disease got in the way of everything, now they are free to live their lives in a new and deeper way. For all ten of them, Jesus makes a difference because the healing Jesus gives, gives them their lives.

But for one of them, for the Samaritan, Jesus makes an even greater difference. For the Samaritan, the difference Jesus makes is not just something that happens in the background--he notices the difference, and he responds to it. He comes back to Jesus and offers him his thanks, his praise, his devotion, and perhaps something more. Jesus says to him "Go on your way." Luke, who is the author of this story, often uses the word "way" to mean "discipleship." In the Book of Acts, which is Luke's volume two of the Jesus story, Luke uses the term "followers of the Way" explicitly to mean the church, the community of disciples. When Jesus says to the Samaritan "Go on your way," there is a hint--just a hint, but a strong hint, that Jesus is calling him to become a disciple, to live his life the way Jesus lives, to join with Jesus in carrying out God's mission in the world.

So the Samaritan receives from Jesus not just the gift of healing--all ten of them receive that--but the Samaritan also receives a new direction for his life, a new orientation for his life, a new presence of God in his life, empowering him to share in God's work of compassion and creativity and communion. And the reason the Samaritan receives this gift is because he recognizes the difference that Jesus makes to him, he takes it into himself and makes his own difference by offering thanks and praise and discipleship to Jesus. For the Samaritan, Jesus makes a difference, not only in the objective situation of his life, but also in the subjective, inward constitution of his very self. The Samaritan, out of all ten who were healed, enters into a real give-and-take relationship with Jesus--and it is that faithful relationship that makes him truly well.

That's the difference Jesus makes in the story. But what difference can Jesus make through the story to us? What's the "So What?" of this story that makes a difference in our lives?

In the first place, the story reminds us that Jesus makes a difference to us in the objective situation of our lives. Our very existence, our ability to live, is rooted in Jesus. Theology tells us that Jesus is the incarnation of the Word, the one through whom all things are created, and the one in whom all things hold together. The fact that we are something rather than nothing is because of the creative power of God's Word, who became incarnate for us and shared our life in Jesus. It is because of Jesus' gift to us that we have the power to live at all.

But that is the difference Jesus makes to us in an outward, objective way--like the healing Jesus gives to all ten people with skin disease. Jesus can also make a difference to us in an inward, subjective, soul-changing way, like the difference Jesus makes to the one Samaritan. It is when we become aware of Jesus' gift to us, when we make an explicit and intentional response to Jesus' gift to us, when we come to Jesus and open ourselves up for a real give-and-take relationship with Jesus--that is when Jesus makes a difference that gets inside us and lifts up our souls and transforms the very way we live. It is when we, like the Samaritan, come to Jesus and offer our thanks and our praise and our discipleship that Jesus can make the real, life-changing difference for us.

And the way Jesus makes that life-changing difference for us is through the church. The church is the community of Jesus' disciples; the church is the fellowship of those who are on the Way; the church is the sacramental center where we encounter Jesus in bread and wine, in water and oil, in laying on of hands, in the passing of the Peace, in the faces and hearts of each other. The church is a "So What?" that makes a Jesus-difference in the life of each one of its members.

So what difference does this church make to you? For you, personally, right here, right now, what difference does St George's make for you? What's the "So What?" that would be missing from your life if St George's weren't here?

With your bulletins today, the ushers passed out a half-sheet of paper with the words "So What?" printed at the top. I want you to take those papers, and the pencils located at the end of each pew, and write down in your own words the "So What?" that St George's is for you, the difference that St George's makes in your life. It doesn't have to be fancy; it doesn't have to be flowery; it may be just a few words; it may be several long paragraphs. But take a moment now to put into words and to write down the "So What?" that St George's is for you. [Pause.]

Got that? Now I'd like you to write down something else. If St George's makes a difference to you, then what difference can you make to St George's? What kind of "So What?" can you be in the life of St George's? What would St George's be missing if you weren't here? Now I know a lot of us have been taught to be Minnesota Nice and not to blow our own horn too loudly or brag too much about our own gifts and skills or think too highly of ourselves. But for a moment I want you to put all that false modesty aside and really think about this: God has given you a unique combination of experiences and abilities and dreams and needs and hopes. God is creating you to be what no one else can be. And God has called you here to St George's to share that unique self with us. So what difference does your unique self make here. What can you do in God's mission, as that mission is lived out in this congregation, that no one else can do? Put into your own words and write down the "So What?" that you are for St George's. [Pause.]

Today of course is the kickoff for our fall Stewardship Pledge Drive. And the theme for the pledge drive this year is--as you might have guessed--"So What?" So what difference does this church make for you? So what difference can you make for this church? So what will you pledge for the coming year? So what mission and ministry will we have the gifts and skills and money and resources and people to do together in the coming year? So what?

After the church service today we'll have a parish brunch, and you'll be given your pledge packet, and we'll talk a little bit about next year's budget and what we're looking to accomplish. We'll share some reflections on stewardship and pledging as discipleship and ministry over the next couple of Sundays, and then on November 4, All Saints Sunday, we will have an ingathering of all the pledges of giving made for next year. But we can get a start on that gathering right now. At the offertory, when the ushers come by with the alms basins, I want to put in your "So What?" paper as part of your offering today. Just as the Samaritan came back to Jesus and offered thanks and praise and discipleship, so we can offer our "So Whats?" as part of our pledge of discipleship, part of our thanks and praise, part of our Eucharist today.

So what difference does this Gospel make to us today? Jesus healed ten; one returned to Jesus with thanks and praise; and to that one Jesus said "Go on your way; your faith has made you well." Let us today return our thanks and praise to Jesus, and give of ourselves in discipleship, so that Jesus can send us on our way, our faith making us whole, so that we can make a difference in God's mission to the world.