The Works of God’s Hand

Pentecost 18, October 12, 2025

2 Kings 5:1-3, 7-15c
Psalm 111
2 Timothy 2:8-15
Luke 17:11-19

Our psalmist for today is extolling the works of God’s hands. He lists all the works that are usually mentioned: The manna from heaven, the gift of the promised land, the covenant that they share, the law, and God’s faithfulness and justice. He then continues by including the fear of God as one of God’s works. This does seem a bit strange to us. But then, the idea of fearing God is not usually in our thoughts. Although it certainly was in Luther’s thoughts. In fact that is, in part, why he became a monk instead of the lawyer his father wanted him to be. The story is that one day during a storm lightening struck close to him frightening him which gave him the incentive to become a monk. That fear drove him to some extreme measures to absolve himself from sin. It was through a study of Romans that brought him to realize that, while still fearing God, Luther could not save himself from his sins – that was the work of Jesus. For him fear and faith were related. As we have said before that is why he, in his Small Catechism started his definition of each of the Ten Commandments with, “We should fear, love, and trust God above anything else.” 

But this fear of the Lord is not the same as the fear of anything else. That is because to fear the Lord is to recognize that who we are is wholly dependent upon God. That is why we can love and trust God at the same time that we fear God. That is because it is the recognition that we are God’s creation as is everything around us. Once we know who created us – who has saved us – we can begin to live the life that God desires for us Just like Naaman and the Samaritan. Naaman was not going to do as Elisha told him to because he did not fear God, or anyone else. He believed that he was so powerful that everyone was afraid of him. That belief meant that he was incensed when Elisha did not even come to him but sent a servant to give him instructions. It took another person to convince him to humble himself enough to do as Elisha said. Once done he realized that the LORD was the true God and was to be worshiped and feared. The Samaritan also learned a lesson as well. This story does present a couple of questions. I do not believe a Samaritan would be welcomed by a Jewish priest and that may be why he turned around. But by doing so, Jesus announces to him that not only was he clean but that his faith had made him well. I suppose it was much easier for him to recognize God than Naaman because he was an outcast from the rest of humanity and Jesus welcomed him despite the labels that the world put upon him.

To fear, love, and trust God above anything else means to live a life that is concerned about the things that God is concerned about. But, how do we know what those things are? We do so by reading the Bible and prayer. By reading our Bible we will learn much about what we are to do. Our lessons today tell us to rejoice in the marvelous works of God’s hands, to recognize God, and to show no impartiality to others. By reading the Old Testament we will also learn those for whom God calls us to take special care: The orphan, the widow, and the foreigner in our land. Something that our government is not doing by taking away health care and food stamps from people to their horrible treatment of the foreigners in our land. Jesus took care of all especially those that the world rejected and tried to expel from their lives. Learning who we are to take care of we can now pray to discern what we are to do. I know the task seems dauntless and even impossible but that is what Paul, Elisha, and even Jesus thought. But they did as they believed God was calling them to do so that everyone would experience the love of God in their lives.