Pastor Nelson Bonilla: 10-12-25 “Together in Pain, Divided in Faith”  

Luke 17:11-19
Together in Pain, Divided in Faith

Picture the scene we just heard: Ten men with their skin disfigured, their voices rough, standing far from the city gates. Shouting together as loud as they could, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” Among this group of ten, 9 are Jews and one is a Samaritan. These are men who once would have crossed the other side of the road to avoid each other. But not now. Not in this condition.

Ordinarily, Jews and Samaritans avoided one another because of deep historical and religious hostility. Yet, here, they were together, united by their common condition — leprosy. The physical pain and social exclusion had the power to erase their social divisions. In their suffering, they discovered community, something they could not in health. This story is a powerful reminder that human need can break down walls of prejudice that religious pride keeps standing. 

In 2005 during Hurricane Katrina, people from every background — rich, poor, Black, white, Christian, atheist — found themselves clustered together on rooftops, sharing food, blankets, and prayers. No one asked about politics or race. Pain had leveled them all.

Besides pain creating a community in this story we find gratefulness. Jesus told the lepers, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” This is what the law required, People suffering of skin disease had to be check, examine by the priest. Only he could declare the person healed.   They obeyed even though nothing had changed yet. Their healing came as they went. This is a powerful lesson about trusting God’s word and acting in faith before seeing results.

On their way to the temple one of the ten stopped when he realized he was clean, and the writer of the gospel says, the one who returned was a Samaritan, a foreigner, traditionally despised by Jews. And by coming back to Jesus, he became the model of faith. Luke highlights this to show that God’s grace is not limited by ethnicity, religion, or social standing. We are.

All ten were healed, but only one was made whole — “your faith has made you well” Jesus said.  The Greek word used by Luke is sozo means not just physical healing but salvation or spiritual restoration.

Nine received their healing and went on, but one turned back. He came back to recognize the source of his mercy and to worship him. When the Samaritan fell at Jesus’ feet, he modeled a humble, joyful worship that flows naturally from awareness of what God has done.

This socially rejected person has been an example for generations of Christians and we must emulate his example. Sisters and brothers let us make time and space in our routine to always “turn back” to Jesus not only in moments of crisis, but also in moments of calm when we are enjoying God’s blessings. Let us not only count our blessings, but also thanks God for those blessings. 

After our prayers have been answered, let us pause to worship before moving on to the next thing. Let our gratitude draw us closer to the Giver, not just to the gift. And remember there are no excuses because as the Samaritan showed…grateful hearts always find their way back to Christ.

Alongside gratitude, this story shows that suffering and calamity can unite people, while sadly, faith divides us. Our scripture today shows that suffering has a way of stripping away all our superficial differences. When we are in pain our titles, background, and traditions lose power. A Jew and a Samaritan who would never have eaten together can now share the same campfire outside the village walls. Suffering reveals our common humanity, our shared vulnerability, our need for mercy, our mortality better than our faith.

In pain, people stop asking, “Who’s right?” or “who is wrong? and start asking, “Who will help me?”

That is why tragedies, natural disasters, sickness, and loss often bring people together. They expose what is most essential: our dependence on one another and on God.

	By contrast, sadly, faith often divides, not because faith itself is divisive, but because human pride gets mixed with it and uses faith for our benefit. Instead of making faith a tool of humility before God, faith becomes a badge of identity or superiority. We use faith to define boundaries who’s in, who’s out, who’s “right,” who’s “wrong.” “Who deserves something and who do not.” “Who is better and who is not.” Who is holy and who is not.” “Who will go to heaven and who will go to hell.”

The very instrument meant to draw us all close to God as a community of worshipers, becomes the instrument we use to keep others at a distance.

Again, the problem is not faith itself; it’s the way we possess faith instead of allowing faith to possess us. In suffering, everyone is equal, no one has the upper hand. Sadly, in matters of religion, we often rank themselves by knowledge, experience, purity and even by race or nationality.

It seems amazing to me how suffering creates a horizontal bond. People suffering realized that “they are in this together.” or “This condition makes us all equal.” However, we manage our religion in such a way that we have made our faith in a loving and just God a vertical ladder: “I’m closer to God than you are.” “I am not a sinner as you are.”

That’s why Jesus keeps returning and looking for the outcasts and outsiders. He finds faith there because humility makes room for it.

The ten were united in pain, but after the miracle, their unity was dissolved. Why?
Once they were healed, they returned to their old categories — Jew, Samaritan, pure, impure. Only the Samaritan saw that gratitude was more powerful than identity. He found a new kind of unity with Christ himself.

In the end, suffering can bring us close to each other, but only faith, rightly understood faith rooted in love, humility, and gratitude can keep us together.
Yes, pain unites through weakness. But true faith unites through worship. Suffering creates temporary solidarity, but only faith can create eternal communities.

Brothers and sisters, ten were healed that day — but only one returned. He came back not just with gratitude, but with faith that changed his life. If gratitude could make one man whole, imagine what could happen if our whole church lived with that same spirit, if we used our faith not just to believe, but to belong; not just to receive from God, but to rebuild unity with God; not just to be blessed by God, but to be a blessing to others with God.

Let’s use our faith to create a community that looks like Jesus; a place where thanksgiving replaces complaint, where differences and diversity become strength, and where love is the language that unites us all.

May our faith not only heal us but hold us together so that the world may see Christ among us and give thanks to God. Let us not wait for calamity or suffering to show our unity in Christ, let us use the power of faith to bring people together and keep living together enjoying God’s diversity and growing in knowledge with the variety of opinions.