Pentecost 19, Proper 23, 2004

The noted neurosurgeon returned from a European vacation to find that his basement was filled with water and was continuing to rise. He quickly called a plumber who arrived in a new Mercedes wearing an elegant Brooks Brothers suit. The plumber opened the rear trunk, and donned a wet suit, oxygen tanks, diving mask, and flippers.

Moments later, he sloshed up from the basement. "Just a simple problem. Someone left a faucet running in the laundry tub. I turned it off and opened the plug. Your basement should drain in less than half an hour."

"How much do I owe you?" asked the relieved neurosurgeon.

"That’ll be a thousand dollars," answered the plumber.

The surgeon was stunned. "A thousand dollars to turn off a faucet! I don’t get that much for a series of consultations leading to major brain surgery."

"I know," said the plumber. "I was once a neurosurgeon myself!"

You do not have to be a neurosurgeon or a rocket scientist to understand the story of the Ten Lepers in Luke’s Gospel appointed for today. You do, however, need to know how to add. The question is always, "Where are the nine?" The concern expressed by Jesus is not just the nine lepers who were healed but failed to show their gratitude, but points to a far greater truth. That truth deals with stewardship. Ten percent gave thanks and praise to God. That is never enough.

There are three points to ponder in the story. The first is simple math. 9+1=10. Simple math is all that’s required to understand Christian stewardship. Many well-meaning Christian folk think that once the 10% is out of the way the rest is theirs to do with as they please, with no strings attached. They conveniently overlook the fact that a proper understanding of Christian stewardship has something to say about not just the 10%, but also the 90%.

That’s where we do a significant amount of our living---in the 90%. That’s where we reveal what we think is important in life. In the 90%, not in the 10%, we publicly and conspicuously witness to what we believe are the priorities and implications of discipleship. What we do with the 90% is always the acid test of discipleship. God in Christ assumes that we know about the 10% and wants to be invited into the decision making regarding the 90%.

Commitment comes first. Just like genuine love can never give enough, so genuine commitment can never give enough or do enough. Total commitment, like true love, keeps no ledger. When our attention is focused on what we hope to get, we are in no frame of mind to give what it takes. I believe it is a sound spiritual principle that we get back what we give out, and very often we are overwhelmed by the returning blessings. We cannot out-give God; no one ever has done so, no one ever will, because it is impossible.

Stewardship is taking on and not giving up. We very often view our giving to the work of the church as giving up something. It is, in fact, taking on a radical method of decision making. Asking that God be involved in not just the 10%, but the 90% as well creates a new reality in our relationship with the material world. A new trust that God will provide replaces the fear that we will never have enough. A new freedom and a new happiness infects our hearts and lives when we come to trust that new reality.

God in Christ is not interested in teaching us fractions, but to help us learn that it all belongs to God. The nine dollars spent someplace else should always point to and reflect the one dollar that is given first and placed in the alms basin. The one-dollar placed in the alms basin can never be a bribe, hoping that God will not notice what we are doing with the other nine? It should not come as a shock to us that the question God in Christ always asks of each person, and the one we had better be prepared to answer, is "Where are the nine?"

Christian stewardship involves handling who we are. It moves from handling who we are to the things we handle. It then moves from handling who we are and the things we handle to a proper understanding of what it is that hands can never handle. Accepting that truth moves us from a life centered on selfish concerns, our wants, our fears, and our preoccupations. It gets us away from being overly concerned with the things done to us or things not done for us. It moves us away from self-centeredness and short-circuited living. A life centered in thankfulness to God leads to wholeness, an openness of God’s will and a willingness to involve God in the totality of our lives.

It is living that kind of life that helps us provide an answer when the question comes our way, "Where are the nine?" Amen.