As I looked over today’s Gospel reading I was reminded of the time I have spent as the treasurer of the local ministerial association. Throughout my time in that position I have met many people in various conditions in life.
One of the interesting things that always struck me is how people seek out the church when they are in trouble. For instance, I remember a family in the Schaller area who called us one winter night right before Christmas. They had been unable to pay their electric bill and the heat was soon to be shut off. Well we (the pastors in the ministerial association) talked it over and we helped pay half of the heating bill. Luann and I even bought their children some Christmas presents. However in the days following, neither the ministerial association nor the churches we represented heard anything from family in the way of thanks.
On the other hand there have been some who have either written a note of thanks or visited the church when they came back through. They offered their thanks for helping them when they were in need.
In our Gospel reading we see ten sick people come to Jesus to ask for healing, and when this happens only one comes back and gives praise to God. Why? It is obvious they all believed that Jesus could heal them, so why did Jesus’ blessing only extend to this one man?
Well in one sense, the other nine may have taken his ability to heal them for granted. They had heard about Jesus, some may have even seen him performing miracles. They probably figured Jesus was obligated to heal them, and the priests to pronounce them clean.
However there was one man who had a different outlook on the matter. He came back thank Jesus and gave thanks to God. Why? Who was this man?
Well for one we know he was a Samaritan. Which means he was despised by the Judeans, so to be healed by one seemed a miracle in itself. For this man who had suffered so long from this skin disease, he knew he was in the presence of something far greater than anything he had ever experienced. No longer would he be shunned by his own people.
Moreover he heard the message through Jesus’ words to him, “Your faith has saved you.” With those words the man now would know that God had not abandoned him either.
God had removed the stain of sin that had so crippled his life. God has done the same for each and everyone of us. Because of this cleansing the man knew he was free and he wanted to tell all about his new lease on life.
What about the others, they were cured. Didn’t they receive God’s Grace also? Yes they received God’s Grace and were cured of their illness. However the difference is they did not give thanks to God. While they appreciated what had been done for them, they did not show thanks for it.
Let us put this into a modern perspective. How many people do you think thank their doctor for the work they do? How about the school teachers or any other service professional?
Now how many people do you suppose thank the United States Government for providing services for them? Oh sure many people give thanks for the soldiers and the services they provide, but what about the Social Security Office? How about the work many of those people do to make sure single mothers and their children have proper health care in times of need?
I would bet not many. Why? Because it is expected of the government, right? It’s the governments’ responsibility to provide a way for people to get proper health care. How about it is the way a proper and just government should treat its own people.
Unfortunately, too many people relate to the “Nine”, rather than the one. Too many people have taken for granted as well as advantage of the services provided by the goodness of our government’s generosity and sense of duty. Unfortunately these people feel that it is their right to receive these services rather than a gift stewardship from their government.
The government is only one example. There are many other institutions in which this is done. So often our younger generations feel that the church they grew up in will always be there. How many of you in your youth ever imagined that the churches you have grown up in, maybe married in and spent most of your lives in would ever be dwindled to a flicker of what it used to be?
This happens all too often. Churches that were once the lighthouses of their communities are now just another building on the corner. This is also true in the way some people have come to see God. They only think of God when they are in trouble or when somebody they really care about is deathly ill. Maybe one in ten might turn their lives over to Christ fully. The rest, go on with their lives and barely think of God, except maybe on Sundays or around the holidays.
So what if God did that with us? What if He decided to only come into our lives when He felt it was “right or necessary for Him?” We do have examples and prophetic tellings of what has happened and what will happen when God turns His back on those whose hearts are so hardened they will not listen.
Take for instance our Old Testament readings of late, especially what the people in Israel did during the time of Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Habakkuk. The people turned their backs on God and went on with their own lives taking for granted that God would always be around. God called on them through these prophets to repent and follow God. But did they did not listen to the Lord. They did not see any danger, nor did they see any point. After all, they were Israel, the chosen people God and He would never let them fall.
But what they failed to realize by their ignoring God and the covenant their ancestors had made with the Lord Almighty was, the covenant was broken with the nation and God used Babylonia to punish them.
In Revelation and Ezekiel we are told of a time when men and women will become so corrupt and in rebellion, that God will again punish humankind. God will turn His back on humanity and allow Satan and his legions to have dominion over the Earth. It will be a time when almost all hope will be nonexistent and people will not feel compelled to be civil with each other.
Fortunately for us God is with us every day of our lives. We can see the Holy Spirit at work in the World, each and every day of the week. Some might ask why does God allow things like that shooting in Ohio happen. Where was God in that? God was with those children and those teachers in the fact they all survived and only one is still in the hospital. For the family of Asa Coon though, we pray that God will be with them and help them to find the peace they need to recover from this tragedy.
Because this tragedy happened another tragedy was averted. The Holy Spirit was with that young man when he turned his friend in who wanted to kill students at a nearby high school in Pennsylvania.
These are just a few of the reasons we thank God each and every week for all that is done for us.
For many of us, our journey is similar to that of that Samaritan leper man. We may have been on the outside, at different stages in our lives. We may have been shunned, or have been that stranger in the strange land. However, whether we knew it or not, God has always been there with us.
Our redemption through the actions of God’s Grace, has cleansed us of the pains of sin. While we may still bear the marks of those sins, we no longer have to carry the burdens of them. Once a person has recognized who has lifted that burden from our hearts. Once that person has given that mark to Christ we become cleansed or transformed like that leprous man.
When a person turns his or her life over to God and allows Him to work in their lives a new world is revealed. As that person opens their heart to the Lord the veil that has blinded them to all the wonders and blessings that God brings is lifted.
We begin to see the world in a new way. We realize then that God is at work in every part of our lives. We see that we owe everything to Him and we want to praise His Holy Name. We want to tell others, teach others, and live our lives in the way He has taught us to.
This weekend, Luann and I attended the second session of the Stewardship Academy in Des Moines.
During this session, there was a simple message that kept coming through the words of the two men who were presenting the program. That message was simply, “be committed”. Be committed to the Lord. Be committed to serving Him. Be committed to your church. Be committed to each other. Be committed to living a life that is pleasing to God. Be committed.
God has always been faithful to us. I am sure that if we went around the sanctuary today, every man and woman here could tell of at least one (and most likely several) situation in their lives where God was faithful to them.
God is committed to you. Your faith impresses God. When you have faith, that shows God that you are committed.
God is always there for us. In return for His faithfulness, we need to always be grateful to the Lord and show Him our gratitude each day by reaching out to others.
We should always strive to achieve more for the Lord. Our service should exceed our expectations.
So, this week, when God blesses your life – and He will – stop and take some time to thank God. You don’t have to pray a long drawn out prayer. A simple “Thank you Jesus” will do just fine.
Thank you, Jesus, for loving us. Thank you, Jesus, for saving us. Thank you, Jesus, for blessing our lives. Amen.
