Luke 17:11-19 "Ten Percent Better"
James McTyre
Trinity Presbyterian Church
October 12, 2025
Luke 17:11-19
Common English Bible
11 On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he entered a village, ten men with skin diseases approached him. Keeping their distance from him, 13 they raised their voices and said, "Jesus, Master, show us mercy!"
14 When Jesus saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." As they left, they were cleansed. 15 One of them, when he saw that he had been healed, returned and praised God with a loud voice. 16 He fell on his face at Jesus' feet and thanked him. He was a Samaritan. 17 Jesus replied, "Weren't ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 No one returned to praise God except this foreigner?" 19 Then Jesus said to him, "Get up and go. Your faith has healed you."
--
We all know what a Good Samaritan is.
Someone who helps.
Sometimes we call life or death heroes Good Samaritans.
The person who runs into a burning house to save a baby. That's a REAL Good Samaritan.
Sometimes we say it about a person, a friend, who just shows up when we're not expecting it, but really needing it. Nothing life or death. But they're good enough Samaritans.
--
We know the Bible story about THE Good Samaritan.
A man is beaten, robbed and left for dead by the side of the road.
A Good Samaritan happens by, sees him.
He takes care of the injured man, carries him to the hospital, and even pays the bill.
Great Samaritan.
--
Evidently, Luke found another Samaritan who was good.
In today's story, Jesus heals ten men.
But the only one who thinks to turn around and say, "Thank you," is a Samaritan.
--
Now.
If we were to go by Luke's description of two out of two Samaritans, they sound pretty darn good.
Samaritans go out of their way to help a stranger.
Samaritans remember to say "Thank you."
I'll bet they even say, "Please, You're welcome, and May I be excused from the table?"
Like proper Southerners.
Luke shows us Samaritans are compassionate.
Samaritans have manners.
They pull over to help someone, not even worrying if it's a trap to steal your car, your money, and your clothes and leave you wandering naked as a jaybird on I-10 in the middle of the night. I'm sure the officer will believe you.
"I was just trying to be a Good Samaritan."
Blow into the tube, please.
Luke found two very good ones. So good he put them in the Bible.
And for all we know, they're all like that.
Just good.
--
Do we have any natural-born Samaritans here, today?
Gee, I wish we did.
I mean, as long as they came here legally.
I'd like to meet some of these good people.
Do you have any Native Samaritans living in your neighborhood?
Teaching in your kid's school? Volunteering in the PTO?
Co-workers? Pickleballers? Checkers at Walmart?
Does Walmart still have those? Checkers?
If you want checkers you may need to go someplace fancy. Publix.
Maybe the Samaritans are the friendly folks who run the highlighter down your receipt and say, "Happy Holidays."
They're Samaritans. They might not celebrate American Christmas.
But that's alright.
Because they're so very, very GOOD.
Good Samaritans.
--
Don't you wish everyone could be a Good Samaritan?
Wouldn't the world be a better place?
With kind, well-behaved people everywhere?
Just like in the Bible?
--
It's been proven that if you want to teach a lesson,
tell a story.
And if you want people to really learn the lesson, to remember the lesson,
the story needs to surprise, alarm, maybe even offend.
Trust me. There are people who write dissertations about this kind of thing.
Jesus didn't have a Ph.D. But he was pretty smart.
The lessons taught by the Good Samaritans in the Bible taught a whole lot more than, "Be Kind, rewind."
"Be nice." "Be sweet."
Jesus lessons stick with you because Jesus would stick a finger in your eye.
Jesus wasn't afraid to surprise, to alarm, and even offend on a regularly scheduled broadcast.
And Good Samaritans, Nice Samaritans, Kind and Loving Samaritans were a great big poke of a finger.
Because to the people who lived in Jesus's neighborhood? The only Good Samaritan was a... Samaritan who stayed where they came from.
--
Last Sunday, Matt Frease did a great overview of the Israelites' views on Samaritans.
Harry Potter -- actually Voldemort -- would call them "Mudbloods."
Because centuries before, generations before, when Israel was ruled by Assyria, there was intermarriage between Samaritans and Assyrians.
And it only took one drop of that stinky, icky foreign blood to pollute you.
Samaritans had a different Bible. Their Bible only had the first five books and nothing else.
Now, back then, almost everyone was illiterate, so who could tell? You just knew your Bible was the right one, whether you read it or not.
Samaritans even worshiped God at the WRONG mountain.
Wrong mountain, wrong blood, wrong Bible.
What.
Disgusting.
Scumbags.
This would be a good moment to remind ourselves that the Bible was written by Israelites FOR Israelites.
There are no stories of daily life in Samaria.
There are no books written by Samaritans that might give us insight into how they lived, how they behaved, and how good or how bad they were.
It COULD be that they ALL went around binding up wounds and running back to say "Thank you."
They might have been the friendliest people south of Canada.
We'll never know.
What we DO know is that Israelites hated them.
They taught their children to hate them.
They would travel long ways around Samaria to avoid even setting one foot in that nasty place.
So, for Jesus to tell a story, for Luke to write a story where the HERO -- THE HERO -- is not just a Samaritan, but a GOOD Samaritan --
well, it could well be why Jesus got run out of town so often.
Jesus, you're telling us that this Samaritan -- this FOREIGNER -- this subhuman excuse for the image of God -- treats people better than WE do?
Get out of town. Literally.
Don't you know, Jesus, preachers are supposed to make everybody happy?
Maybe there's a church in Portland that'll take you.
Come in here telling us about Good Samaritans.
Bless your heart.
You're starting to make us cross.
--
We don't know if Samaritans were as bad as people thought.
But that's not the point Jesus was trying to make.
The point is that while one of one Samaritan, or two of two, might be good,
in today's story, nine of nine of Jesus's own people never came back.
100% of his own people never said, "Thank you."
100% Never praised God for their healing.
9 out of 9 never even sent a ChatGPT written text.
Both Luke's stories about good Samaritans aren't really about Samaritans being so good.
The Samaritans are just a prop.
The stories aren't about bad people being good.
They're 100% about the good people of Jesus being bad -- being uncaring, being unloving, being ungrateful.
Jesus is using the Samaritans to shame his neighbors, alarm his friends, offend his town --
to teach the lesson that God's chosen people ought to act like God's chosen people.
Instead of how they picture the Samaritans.
The stories ask: If these foreigners can be kind, and thoughtful, and charitable, why can't we?
Why aren't we?
That's what Jesus is poking his own followers in the chest to get them to ask themselves.
What Would Jesus Do? What DID he do?
Sometimes.
Sometimes it's just plain embarrassing how far even the people of Jesus miss the mark.
In his name.
--
Nobody's going to hit the nice target 100% of the time.
We're all human.
We're all sinners.
We all get it wrong.
But in today's story, at least one in ten gets it right.
One in ten thanks Jesus and praises God for healing and wholeness.
Ten percent.
Now, clearly, even in West Virginia, where I'm from, 10% is not an "A."
Unless you're good at football.
Ten percent is not an "A"
But 10% is 100% better than a zero.
Imagine if we all, imagine if everyone could set the goal of being just ten percent better,
Ten percent kinder.
Ten percent better examples of hope, faith, and love.
In Jesus's name.
imagine the difference that could make.
In a time when it feels like the world's fracturing, splitting, coming undone --
ten percent better would be a righteously positive change.
Ten percent more kindness.
Ten percent more gratitude.
Ten percent more compassion.
Even a Samaritan can understand that math.
[eos]
James McTyre
Trinity Presbyterian Church
October 12, 2025
Luke 17:11-19
Common English Bible
11 On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he entered a village, ten men with skin diseases approached him. Keeping their distance from him, 13 they raised their voices and said, "Jesus, Master, show us mercy!"
14 When Jesus saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." As they left, they were cleansed. 15 One of them, when he saw that he had been healed, returned and praised God with a loud voice. 16 He fell on his face at Jesus' feet and thanked him. He was a Samaritan. 17 Jesus replied, "Weren't ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 No one returned to praise God except this foreigner?" 19 Then Jesus said to him, "Get up and go. Your faith has healed you."
--
We all know what a Good Samaritan is.
Someone who helps.
Sometimes we call life or death heroes Good Samaritans.
The person who runs into a burning house to save a baby. That's a REAL Good Samaritan.
Sometimes we say it about a person, a friend, who just shows up when we're not expecting it, but really needing it. Nothing life or death. But they're good enough Samaritans.
--
We know the Bible story about THE Good Samaritan.
A man is beaten, robbed and left for dead by the side of the road.
A Good Samaritan happens by, sees him.
He takes care of the injured man, carries him to the hospital, and even pays the bill.
Great Samaritan.
--
Evidently, Luke found another Samaritan who was good.
In today's story, Jesus heals ten men.
But the only one who thinks to turn around and say, "Thank you," is a Samaritan.
--
Now.
If we were to go by Luke's description of two out of two Samaritans, they sound pretty darn good.
Samaritans go out of their way to help a stranger.
Samaritans remember to say "Thank you."
I'll bet they even say, "Please, You're welcome, and May I be excused from the table?"
Like proper Southerners.
Luke shows us Samaritans are compassionate.
Samaritans have manners.
They pull over to help someone, not even worrying if it's a trap to steal your car, your money, and your clothes and leave you wandering naked as a jaybird on I-10 in the middle of the night. I'm sure the officer will believe you.
"I was just trying to be a Good Samaritan."
Blow into the tube, please.
Luke found two very good ones. So good he put them in the Bible.
And for all we know, they're all like that.
Just good.
--
Do we have any natural-born Samaritans here, today?
Gee, I wish we did.
I mean, as long as they came here legally.
I'd like to meet some of these good people.
Do you have any Native Samaritans living in your neighborhood?
Teaching in your kid's school? Volunteering in the PTO?
Co-workers? Pickleballers? Checkers at Walmart?
Does Walmart still have those? Checkers?
If you want checkers you may need to go someplace fancy. Publix.
Maybe the Samaritans are the friendly folks who run the highlighter down your receipt and say, "Happy Holidays."
They're Samaritans. They might not celebrate American Christmas.
But that's alright.
Because they're so very, very GOOD.
Good Samaritans.
--
Don't you wish everyone could be a Good Samaritan?
Wouldn't the world be a better place?
With kind, well-behaved people everywhere?
Just like in the Bible?
--
It's been proven that if you want to teach a lesson,
tell a story.
And if you want people to really learn the lesson, to remember the lesson,
the story needs to surprise, alarm, maybe even offend.
Trust me. There are people who write dissertations about this kind of thing.
Jesus didn't have a Ph.D. But he was pretty smart.
The lessons taught by the Good Samaritans in the Bible taught a whole lot more than, "Be Kind, rewind."
"Be nice." "Be sweet."
Jesus lessons stick with you because Jesus would stick a finger in your eye.
Jesus wasn't afraid to surprise, to alarm, and even offend on a regularly scheduled broadcast.
And Good Samaritans, Nice Samaritans, Kind and Loving Samaritans were a great big poke of a finger.
Because to the people who lived in Jesus's neighborhood? The only Good Samaritan was a... Samaritan who stayed where they came from.
--
Last Sunday, Matt Frease did a great overview of the Israelites' views on Samaritans.
Harry Potter -- actually Voldemort -- would call them "Mudbloods."
Because centuries before, generations before, when Israel was ruled by Assyria, there was intermarriage between Samaritans and Assyrians.
And it only took one drop of that stinky, icky foreign blood to pollute you.
Samaritans had a different Bible. Their Bible only had the first five books and nothing else.
Now, back then, almost everyone was illiterate, so who could tell? You just knew your Bible was the right one, whether you read it or not.
Samaritans even worshiped God at the WRONG mountain.
Wrong mountain, wrong blood, wrong Bible.
What.
Disgusting.
Scumbags.
This would be a good moment to remind ourselves that the Bible was written by Israelites FOR Israelites.
There are no stories of daily life in Samaria.
There are no books written by Samaritans that might give us insight into how they lived, how they behaved, and how good or how bad they were.
It COULD be that they ALL went around binding up wounds and running back to say "Thank you."
They might have been the friendliest people south of Canada.
We'll never know.
What we DO know is that Israelites hated them.
They taught their children to hate them.
They would travel long ways around Samaria to avoid even setting one foot in that nasty place.
So, for Jesus to tell a story, for Luke to write a story where the HERO -- THE HERO -- is not just a Samaritan, but a GOOD Samaritan --
well, it could well be why Jesus got run out of town so often.
Jesus, you're telling us that this Samaritan -- this FOREIGNER -- this subhuman excuse for the image of God -- treats people better than WE do?
Get out of town. Literally.
Don't you know, Jesus, preachers are supposed to make everybody happy?
Maybe there's a church in Portland that'll take you.
Come in here telling us about Good Samaritans.
Bless your heart.
You're starting to make us cross.
--
We don't know if Samaritans were as bad as people thought.
But that's not the point Jesus was trying to make.
The point is that while one of one Samaritan, or two of two, might be good,
in today's story, nine of nine of Jesus's own people never came back.
100% of his own people never said, "Thank you."
100% Never praised God for their healing.
9 out of 9 never even sent a ChatGPT written text.
Both Luke's stories about good Samaritans aren't really about Samaritans being so good.
The Samaritans are just a prop.
The stories aren't about bad people being good.
They're 100% about the good people of Jesus being bad -- being uncaring, being unloving, being ungrateful.
Jesus is using the Samaritans to shame his neighbors, alarm his friends, offend his town --
to teach the lesson that God's chosen people ought to act like God's chosen people.
Instead of how they picture the Samaritans.
The stories ask: If these foreigners can be kind, and thoughtful, and charitable, why can't we?
Why aren't we?
That's what Jesus is poking his own followers in the chest to get them to ask themselves.
What Would Jesus Do? What DID he do?
Sometimes.
Sometimes it's just plain embarrassing how far even the people of Jesus miss the mark.
In his name.
--
Nobody's going to hit the nice target 100% of the time.
We're all human.
We're all sinners.
We all get it wrong.
But in today's story, at least one in ten gets it right.
One in ten thanks Jesus and praises God for healing and wholeness.
Ten percent.
Now, clearly, even in West Virginia, where I'm from, 10% is not an "A."
Unless you're good at football.
Ten percent is not an "A"
But 10% is 100% better than a zero.
Imagine if we all, imagine if everyone could set the goal of being just ten percent better,
Ten percent kinder.
Ten percent better examples of hope, faith, and love.
In Jesus's name.
imagine the difference that could make.
In a time when it feels like the world's fracturing, splitting, coming undone --
ten percent better would be a righteously positive change.
Ten percent more kindness.
Ten percent more gratitude.
Ten percent more compassion.
Even a Samaritan can understand that math.
[eos]
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