How
good it is when a person takes time to say "Thank You." It's
so
refreshing when someone drops you a note and says, "I really
appreciated your coming by to see me." or, "Thank you for
your
prayers, they mean a lot to me."
The story of the ten men with leprosy tells us that God is pleased when
people thank and praise Him for the blessings he has given them.
On this Thanksgiving Sunday morning, we want to say. “Thank you
God! We are truly grateful for your many blessings to us.” To
help us activate this spirit of gratitude, we want to look at the story
of the healing of the ten men who had leprosy.
1. Jesus Builds Faith
We begin with Luke 17: vv. 11 & 12-- 11 Now on his way to
Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and
Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had
leprosy met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud
voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us! "
In our day, we know that leprosy is curable, -- through education and
awareness a leprosy patient can avoid the sores and deformities that
are often the consequence of this disease. But in ancient
days
leprosy was a dreaded sickness. People with that disease were thought
to be living under a divine curse. They were labeled
“unclean,” --and excluded from mingling with other people.
That’s why the ten men had to call to Jesus from a distance, away
from everyone else.
These men had somehow learned about Jesus. They called him by name, and
they referred to him as “Master.” “Jesus,
Master,” they cried in a loud voice, “Have pity (mercy,
compassion) on us.” By calling him “Master,” they
were obviously subordinating themselves to Jesus in the hope of
receiving healing from him.
Jesus responded in a way that surprises us. He said, "Go show
yourselves to the priests."
Those are not the words that the men had hoped for. They were hoping
for a miracle of healing, there and then. After they were healed, then,
they would go to the priests. That’s what the Mosaic Law
required. First, the healing; then, the validation by the priests.
But Jesus reverses the process. He tells them to go show
themselves to the priests first, before there is any healing. Why did
he do that?
Because he wanted to build their faith. He wanted them to act on what
he told them to do, even though they were not yet healed. The spiritual
principle is this: First: Take Christ at his word, Believe that he will
fulfill his promise to you, and then -- if you act in obedience
-- you will experience the blessing. That will take your
faith to
a higher level. That process will build your faith.
Take the example of giving, which we are doing this morning as we turn
in our pledge cards. Christ says “If you give… your
gift will return to you in full and overflowing measure, pressed down,
shaken together, to make room for more, and running over.
Whatever measure you use to give, -- large or small-- will be used to
measure what is given back to you.” (Luke 6:38)
But there will be those who will ask: “Can we trust his
word?” “Should we obey his command?” It’s up to
you. Jesus is telling us that If we act on his word, if we decide that
we will be a giver, a thither, the Lord says that he will pour out his
over-flowing blessings on our lives. And that, in turn, will cause your
faith to grow.
Just so, Jesus tells the ten men to “show yourselves to the
priests.” No doubt, he spoke those words with authority.
But would they be willing to obey? --to travel to Jerusalem or to Mount
Gerizim where they would find the priests?
In fact, these ten men, did obey! They went on their way. And
as they went, v. 14 says that they were cleansed.
How does one describe that incredible scene? I suppose that one of the
men looked down at his hand and noticed that the dark lesions that had
been there—not superficial skin wounds, but below the surface
infectious wounds—those lesions began to clear up. Another looked
with amazement as the stub that used to be a finger began to
regenerate. The healing that they had desired, longed for-- was
happening.
One by one, and then, simultaneously, all together, they experienced
healing, restortion, wholeness. They must have shouted with
joy,
leaped with delight.
All ten were healed. And nine of the ten hurried on to find the
priests. Their was a lengthy purification ritual that they
had to
go through. They knew it by heart. It was laid out in Leviticus 13
& 14
- an examination by the priest,
- animal sacrifices,
- shaving their heads,
- living outside of their tents in the open air for seven
days,
- shaving their heads a second time, and also their beards, also their
eyebrows.
- more animal sacrifices on the eighth day so that atonement could be
made for their sins.
Only then could the men be pronounced “clean” in holistic
terms--physically, spsiritually, psychosocally. --- Only then
could they return to their families, -- Only then would they
be
able to sing and laugh and dance again.
The nine were eager to get the priests. To get on with the process of
purification. Who could blame them?
2.Jesus Expects Gratitude
But, we notice and perhaps surprised that Jesus was not pleased with
their choice. In his view, only one of the ten had it right. Our text
tells us that 15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back,
praising God in a loud voice. 16 He threw himself at Jesus'
feet
and thanked him -- and he was a Samaritan.
One comes back to Jesus. He also needs to go to the priest,
But
that can wait. He also needs to go through the long process
of
sacrifice and cleansing and atonement-- but that can wait. He also
longs to feel his wife's and children's arms around him, But that can
wait. He also wants to return to his friends and sing and
laugh
and dance again, But that can wait.
First, he has to go back to Jesus. He praises God with emotion, in a
loud voice. Luke 17:16 and he fell upon [his] face at his
feet,
giving thanks to him, from the bottom of his heart. That
takes
precedence over everything else.
Falling on his face at the feet of Jesus was more than an act of
respect. That act of reverence signified a recognition that Jesus was
the agent of the in-breaking kingdom of God. This man perceived that he
had received divine benefit from Jesus, and therefore he bowed before
Jesus as his Lord.
Dear friends, when we do that -- you and I – when we bow before
Jesus and perceive that he is the One in whom the powerful and merciful
presence of God is found we experience a deep peace, as
though we
have finally found the purpose for which we were created. And we feel
deeply grateful.
We find ourselves saying, "O Lord, You have been so good to me. You
have been faithful to me all through my life with food, clothes,
education, family, intelligence, creativity, good health. From the
bottom of your heart, I thank you. You are my Lord and my
God."
When we do that, we are like the one man in our story. He praised God
with passion, he didn’t care whether anyone was watching or not.
He said thanks to him—His gratitude was directed to Jesus.
Notice how Romans 12 tells us to do that very same thing: And so, dear
brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let
them be a living and holy sacrifice--the kind he will accept. When you
think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask? (Rom 12:1)
How very different this one man was from the other nine. Or perhaps how
different from us-- when we, like the nine, get caught up in
our
own agendas.
And the interesting thing is that Jesus notices. He specifically
expresses disappointment. Interesting, he does not excuse ingratitude.
He doesn't say, "Oh well, let them pursue their dreams. After
all, I instructed them to show themselves to the priests. Of course
they are eager to get back to their loved ones."
No, instead he asks, "Where are the other nine? Why did they not return
and give thanks?"
And then Jesus mentions one more thing. He asks, 18 Was no
one
found to return and give praise to God except this
foreigner?" [This outsider—as, some translations
have
it -- other-born]
It is the Samaritan, the foreigner, who returned, --not one of the sons
of Abraham. This is one of the many examples in Scripture where the
Lord reaches out beyond the Jewish race to show that he cares for and
heals and enlightens people of all nations.
It is a very beautiful thing here at the American Church in Paris that
we are made up of foreigners. We are all other-borns -- few of us are
members of the Jewish faith, though we may have several Jewish
believers in Jesus among us -- but rather we are people of all-nations
-- the Orientals and the South East Asians, the Africans and the
Europeans, the North and South Americans-- all of us are responding to
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And that is God’s plan. That is His delight. God crosses social
and racial lines to remind us that his grace is for all. That people of
all nations are included in the family of God.
3.Jesus Declares Salvation
Now I want you to notice a very important teaching in this story. I
want you to notice that there are two kinds of faith that are displayed
in this story. There is temporal faith and there is saving faith.
Temporal faith is asking God for help in matters having to do with this
life-- like praying for good weather, asking for help in passing an
exam, asking for relief from a headache or the healing of cancer. All
of these have to do with your temporal concerns here on
earth.
A person does not have to be a Christian to ask God for help in these
matters. People of all religions and ask for good weather,
for
financial blessings, for better employment opportunities. And
God, being a gracious and merciful God hears those prayers and answers
many of them. He makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and
sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
The ten lepers prayed for a temporal blessing: “Jesus, Master
have pity on us and heal us.” And he answered their prayer. That
was temporal faith. But it was not saving faith.
Saving faith is what the Samaritan did. Saving faith is
falling
on your knees before Jesus, and acknowledging him as your Lord.
The other nine were healed physically, but they did not come back to
acknowledge him as the One through whom God was operating. They did not
come back to establish a relationship with him. And I think
that’s why Jesus was so disappointed. He wanted their healing to
go beyond the physical. He wanted to bring healing to their
souls. Only to the Samaritan, did Jesus say, v. 19—Rise and
go; your faith has saved you."
Temporal faith is good, but saving faith is far more significant. It
takes place when we come to Jesus, when we confess Him as Savior and
Lord. Saving faith enables Christ to say to you, what he said
to
the one man who returned, “Your faith in me, your bowing before
me, has saved you.”
4.Jesus Waits with Kindness
I sometimes wonder what would have happened if one of those men healed
of the dreaded disease of leprosy were to come to Jesus at a later time
to express their heartfelt gratitude to him personally. Would he have
turned them away? Would he have said, “Sorry it’s too
late?” No, not at all.
Sometimes we think of God as we think other people. If we’ve
mistreated someone, it’s sometimes easier to avoid them than to
face their anger and rejection.
But God isn’t like that at all. It doesn’t matter how long
you have been away from him, or what you have done. A sense of guilt
will often keep you from God. But don’t let that happen. Realize
that God is always kind and “…God’s kindness,
patience and tolerance is meant to bring you to repentance,
(bring you back to him).” (Romans 2:4) The closer we get to God
the more you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will
really is. (Rom 12:2). So get close to him, keep going back to God.
I was reading an interview that, I think, ties all of this together. It
was conducted recently with Rick Warren, the pastor who wrote,
“The Purpose Driven Life” the New York Times best seller.
For Rick Warren this has been the best year and the toughest year. Best
because his book has sold over 15 million copies and he is able to do
so many good things with the money God has provided for him. The
toughest year because his wife, Kay, got cancer and in spite of
hundreds of thousands of people praying, God did not heal her or make
it easy for her.
What’s Rick doing with the money from the 15 million books he sold?
- He and Kay decided not to change their lifestyle one bit. They made
no major purchases.
- He stopped taking a salary from the church.
- He set up a foundation to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the
poor, take care of the sick, and education the next generation.
He said when he gets up in the morning, he sits on the side of the bed
and says, “God, if I don’t get anything else done today, I
want to know You more and love You better.” Sounds like the
leper, who came back to Jesus and fell face down at Jesus’
feet.
And then Rick offers advice, -- for every moment of the day:
In Happy moments: PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD.
Every moment, THANK YOU GOD.
ON THIS THANSKGIVING DAY SUNDAY
WE WANT TO THANK YOU GOD FROM THE BOTTOM OF OUR HEARTS.
Amen.
