Reflection: Point of Return of of No Return? (October 13, 2013)

The 21st Sunday after Pentecost
Ruth 1:8-19a; 2 Timothy 2:1-13; Luke 17:11-19

There are no universal rules about returning things. Returning a favor can take place long after the initial kindness, but returning a borrowed car is likely to happen very much sooner. One shop may have a liberal policy regarding returning merchandise while another may have a “no returns” policy. Turning the car around on a trip can happen at any point, but after a space vehicle is launched it quickly reaches a point of no return, that is, a point at which it’s too late to turn around. While life is filled with points of no return, our walk with Jesus is more about points of return.

Today’s Old Testament is filled with calls to return. As Naomi prepared to return to her homeland she pleaded with her two daughter-in-law to leave her and return to their own people. One did, but the other, Ruth, didn’t. Ruth knew that there was ni going back for her. She had come to believe in and worship the true God and she recognized that she could not return to her roots because they involved worshiping false gods. “Your people shall be my people, and your God my God,” she told Naomi. She had reached a point (i.e., a reason and purpose) of no return.

The flip side of having a reason and purpose for not returning is found in today’s Gospel lesson. After Jesus healed ten men of leprosy, nine did not return to Him to thank and praise Him. Their point of not returning was evident: despite having been healed by Him, they did not have faith in Jesus as their God and Messiah. For them, there was no point in going back to Jesus. Instead, they were intent on going to the priests and doing what it took to comply with the legal requirements of being ceremonially clean. They looked to the Law for their righteousness. The faithlessness of the nine is highlighted by the return of the one. Recognizing that he had been delivered from the condemnation of the Law along with his physical healing, the Samaritan leper returned to Jesus. The point of his return was to thank and praise Him as his Savior and God.

How have you responded to Christ’s call to return? Do you think that it is too late for you to turn back, that you’ve reached a point in your life from which there is no way back? Or do you hear in His call God’s very point, His reason and purpose, to turn back from the sinful ways that you are pursuing in order to return to His mercy and grace? In Jesus there is always a point to return and never a point of no return.

Click here to listen to the sermon "Point of Return or of No Return?"