In Luke 17, Jesus heals a group of lepers. After the healing, in Luke 17:16, one of the former lepers returned to Jesus to say, “Thank you.” Then, the text says that this man was a Samaritan, not a Jew. This is obviously another statement that the Jews were missing who Jesus was. How can it be anything else? We can easily say, "Yep, that's the point," and move on. However, I wonder about the further application of the verse.
For instance, where are missing worship of Jesus today? Amy Grant sings a song, "Better Than a Hallelujah," written by Sarah Hart and Chapin Hartford. Here are the lyrics (and a YouTube video):
God loves a lullaby in a mother's tears in the dead of night
Better than a Hallelujah sometimes
God loves the drunkard's cry, the soldier's plea not to let him die
Better than a Hallelujah sometimes
We pour out our miseries, God just hears a melody
Beautiful, the mess we are, The honest cries of breaking hearts
Are better than a Hallelujah
The woman holding on for life, The dying man giving up the fight
Are better than a Hallelujah sometimes
The tears of shame for what's been done,The silence when the words won't come
Are better than a Hallelujah sometimes
We pour out our miseries, God just hears a melody
Beautiful, the mess we are, The honest cries of breaking hearts
Are better than a Hallelujah
Better than a church bell ringing, Better than a choir singing out, singing out
I have seen God in the honest cry of a broken heart, in silence, in pain. Yet, we live our comfortable lives as if we have it all--like the Levite and priest passing the injured man in the Good Samaritan parable (yes, I know that I have mixed parables--forgive me!). I remember the first time that I heard Buddy Guy's song, "Skin Deep." It was at a concert at the House of Blues--not the place where you expect a powerful worship experience. However, there in the midst of the drunks on the general admission floor, I worshiped God. This is a powerful song about how we should treat one another. This is particularly pertinent to the text with which I began this discussion.
Also, where could we see things that would glorify God if we were attentive, but we miss them because they are from people who are not “Christians,” or not religious? When I was a young follower of Jesus, as a teenager, I found Jethro Tull's album "Aqualung" to be an inspiration. In fact, I once wrote a song because of the way the album spoke to me. Among other things, the album is an indictment of the church, and of the caricature that the church has often made of Jesus. The song that probably hit me the hardest was called, "Hymn 43."
Oh father high in heaven -- smile down upon your son
whose busy with his money games -- his women and his gun.
Oh Jesus save me!
And the unsung Western hero killed an Indian or three
and made his name in Hollywood to set the white man free.
Oh Jesus save me!
If Jesus saves -- well, He'd better save Himself
from the gory glory seekers who use His name in death.
Oh Jesus save me!
I saw him in the city and on the mountains of the moon --
His cross was rather bloody -- He could hardly roll His stone.
Oh Jesus save me!
Those words still strike me as amazingly poignant. Ian Anderson is not the model for Christian inspiration--a theological outsider, if you will. But he can speak words that we need to hear. We need to hear from the "outsiders," which I guess would make them "insiders." Well, just thinking.
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