Have you ever felt excluded? Have you ever been on the outside of a group or activity, unable to join in? Sometimes we long to be part of a particular group so badly that we change ourselves in order to try to fit in. I remember in 6th grade taking up using curse words in order to try to fit in with the “popular crowd.” And I remember making fun of some of the same people that they made fun of. And for certain situations and certain groups, you might be able to do that. But what happens if you have something about you that people exclude you for, but it is something you can’t change. The lepers in our story from the gospel of Luke were like that. They had a disease that made them unclean by Jewish law and thus excluded them from life in the community. They had to live outside of the village and if anyone came near them they had to shout, “Unclean! Unclean!” to warn the person approaching. And nothing they could do would change that. They were permanently on the outside.

In Isaiah 56, we read about God’s words though the prophet about foreigners. These were the people who were not Israelites. And we read God’s words to the eunuchs, those who’d been castrated in order to serve women in the royal court, usually not by their own choice. And eunuchs, by Jewish law, were excluded from the congregation. Many times eunuchs were also foreigners because Jewish law also forbade castration. These two groups were on the outside. Isaiah was writing to a post-exilic audience. They were coming back together and attempting to redefine the worshiping community. Some voices were advocating for particularism, meaning that only particular people would be accepted into this new community. And foreigners and eunuchs would have most certainly been amongst those who people were considering for exclusion…and not without justification, since Deuteronomy 23 lists those (and others) among the excluded. But here is Isaiah, as we see with Jesus and the lepers, God turns things outside in.

There is an interesting word usage in the first verse of Isaiah that we don’t see so much in our English translation, but I find it important for us as we continue our series on Falling in Step with Jesus and think about the practical aspects of our faith. The NRSV translates the verse like this: “Thus says the Lord: Maintain justice, and do what is right, for soon my salvation will come and my deliverance be revealed.” The word that stands out in this verse when you read it in the original Hebrew is the word tzedakah, which means ‘righteousness.’ The reason it stands out is two-fold. First of all, it stands out because it occurs twice in this one verse. It is the word the NRSV translates as “what is right” and also the word they translate as “deliverance.” The other interesting thing about this is that the word has a different agent in each usage. The first time it is used, humans are the agents, called to do “what is right.” And in the second usage it is talking about God as the agent of deliverance for us. We are called to be righteous. And in doing so, God’s righteousness is revealed.

So, what does that mean for us? Looking at both Isaiah and Luke, I think there are three things we can take from this that will help us to do “what is right.” The first is that we can follow God’s example of turning things outside in by including those who others might choose to exclude, those who are outcasts, those who are looked down upon, those who society shuns. We see Jesus exemplify this with the lepers. Instead of ignoring them, as most folks would have, he approaches them and heals them. He didn’t do it because they deserved it but because he cared. And in Isaiah, God speaks of  inclusion as well. Isaiah writes, “For thus says the Lord: To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, I will give, in my house and within my walls, a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, all who keep the Sabbath and do not profane it and hold fast my covenant— these I will bring to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar, for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” We do what is right by including those who are excluded, by turning things outside in.

We also do what is right by responding with gratitude. One of the ten lepers who were healed by Jesus returned to give thanks. I love the Greek word for giving thanks: eucharisteo. The Lord’s Supper is sometimes called Eucharist, which comes from this word because when we come to the table of the Lord we come with thanksgiving for all God has done for us. Eucharisteo comes from eu meaning ‘good’ and charis meaning ‘grace.’ So eucharisteo is really about praising the goodness of God’s grace to us. When the leper returns to Jesus after being healed, he comes to praise God for the grace shown to him by Jesus. How good are we at thanking God for the grace God has shown to us? “Scottish minister Alexander Whyte was known for his uplifting prayers in the pulpit. He always found something for which to be grateful. One Sunday morning the weather was so gloomy that one church member thought to himself, ‘Certainly the preacher won’t think of anything for which to thank the Lord on a wretched day like this.’ Much to his surprise, however, Whyte began by praying, ‘We thank Thee, O God, that it is not always like this.’” Thanksgiving can be challenging when times are gloomy, but God’s grace is always with us and always good. Sometimes we just need to turn things outside in.

We do what is right by including those who are excluded, we do what is right by giving thanks for the grace of God, and we do what is right by praying. God says through Isaiah, “these will bring to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar, for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” The word for prayer here is the Hebrew word teffilah. Rabbi Freeman describes tefillah like this: “a labor of awakening the hidden love within the heart until a state of intimate union with the divine is achieved.” He later suggests that perhaps communion would be a better translation than prayer. So, when we think about making God’s house a house of prayer, it is about creating space where people are drawn closer to God. We can do this as a church or we can do this in small groups or we can do this as individuals and families. Prayer isn’t about saying the right words. It’s about connecting with God. It’s about bringing what’s in our hearts to God, pouring it out at God’s feet, and replacing those burdens and cares with the good grace of God.

We are called to do what is right, which might mean including the excluded or it might mean giving thanks for the good grace of God or it might mean connecting ourselves and others to God through prayer. This is tzedakah. And through our tzedakah, through our doing of what is right, God’s tzedakah is revealed to the world. Through our work of including the excluded, God’s love for all people is revealed. Through our work of giving thanks, the goodness of God’s grace is revealed to the world. Through our work of prayer, we connect ourselves and others to God, who loves and cares for us. In some ways, it seems like simple work. Include people, giving thanks, and pray. There doesn’t seem anything too radical or distinctive about those acts. But we can see in the story of the ten lepers how much of an impact giving thanks can have. And Jesus’ decision to include the lepers rather than continue to exclude them made a huge difference. And anything that connects people to God can be life changing. So, it may seem simple, but living with tzedakah is truly profound and could change the world. At the very least, it reveals the goodness of God to the world…a goodness that turns things outside in. And in that goodness we find deliverance. God is good all the time. All the time God is good. Amen!