The Simple Life at Church
“Developing an Attitude of Gratitude”
Luke 17:11-19
My friend Holland Barnes just got back from one of his hunting trips in N. Florida. He always gives me some deer meat so I’m interested in how his hunting trip goes. So when he got back I ask him....did you get a deer? How did it go this time? He says well an interesting thing happened. It had been a slow day and I hadn’t found anything to shoot at. When all of a sudden I heard a noise behind me. I turned around and there were 2 huge bears coming right at me. He said so i quickly raised my rifle to my shoulder and pulled the trigger. Click. Nothing-the rifle misfired. So i reloaded and fired again. Click. Click. Again nothing. The gun just wasn’t working. I said man Holland, what did you do? He says well I threw my gun down and I ran. But the faster I ran the closer they got I said wow what did you do then? He says well I ran right to the edge of this cliff and I couldn’t go any further so he said I did the only thing I knew to do...I dropped to my knees and I prayed Lord please make these bears Christian bears. I said well did it work? He said well not exactly I looked up and I was surprised to see the bears kneeling and one of them was praying...for what we are about to receive Lord make us truly thankful. Amen.
Let me ask you a question. What does it take to make someone thankful. Here wee 10 people Jesus was dealing with ...He healed all of them of a very difficult disease, a very painful sickness and only one of them bothered to say thank you. When I met people who have developed what I would call an attitude of gratitude I often wonder where does that come from; why is it some people are truly grateful while others never bother to say thank you for anything at all.
I believe there are several reasons...
* some follow the example of their parents or another significant person in their life. They saw it in them and they emulated their behavior.
* some have gone through a very difficult trial and they came out of it as a much better person. It made them more thankful
* others may have learned to observe those who are less fortunate. Then we realize just how blesses we are. It gives us a fresh perspective.
In this passage Jesus is traveling along the border of Samaria and Galilee, 2 of the largest cities in Palestine.
In this day without a doubt leprosy was the most feared disease anyone could have. The closest thing to compare it to today would be AIDS. I am told it was very painful but the physical pain was not the worst part. The worst part was the isolation that a leper felt. They were shut off from their family. They were shut off from their friends and because of the position that the religious community took, the felt shut off from God as well.
We notice verse 12 says the lepers stood at a distance from Jesus. This was not out of choice, others forces them to do so. They did not know whether they could approach Him or not. Lepers were not allowed to associate with anyone who did not also have leprosy. They were forced to live in caves or out in the wilderness....later they were placed in colonies so that they could have no contact with the outside world. Some were more fortunate...if the had families, the would bring food to them. But most had absolutely no one who was willing to help. If for any reason the needed to move through a particular town the had to ring a bell that the wore around their necks and the were required to ring the bell and shout very loudly, “unclean, unclean!” so that people could move away. One writer tells us that if the wind was blowing in the direction of a healthy person a leper had to stand at least 150 feet away. There is no way to adequately describe the pain and isolation they must have felt. To compound all of this those who had leprosy were thought to be suffering because of their sin. This was common thinking....you may remember the time when the disciples encountered a man who was blind and had been since birth...they asked Jesus, why is he this way? Who sinned, him or his parents? Those suffering from terrible disease were considered to be unclean and incapable of having a relationship with God. They were basically left to die.
So why do some people such as the one ...why do some learn to be thankful. Well first of all we become more thankful when we begin to realize how desperate our situation was before we met Jesus.
But you and I don’t have leprosy, we have friends, we have family, we have our faith but still we can feel isolated at times. Alone. We think no one understands. And we become desperate. Listen desperate is not always a bad place to be if it pushes us toward Jesus.
Look at verses 13-14. The lepers kept their distance, the followed the rules like the law told them to but they certainly did not keep quiet. The word for pity is the same word as mercy. They were not asking for something they felt they deserved; they were asking for mercy.
The OT law required that a person who was healed of leprosy was to go to the priest who would inspect them....look carefully at their condition and then if they were well, he would make the proclamation...he would pronounce them as clean. So they were obedient and they made their way to the priest. This was a demonstration of their faith in the words Jesus had just spoken. No doubt they had faith in Jesus because they had already cried out to Him for help.
We don’t know how they thought this healing might take place but can you imagine how they must have felt when they were walking away from Jesus and toward the priest that as they went they were cleansed...the were cleansed before the ever even made it to the priest. This disease the had suffered with, been ridiculed and isolated for suddenly left their bodies, never to return. Can you imagine how they must have felt? Luke describes a similar event when a man who was crippled from birth was healed and he says he jumped to his feet and began to walk, then he went into the temple and was walking, jumping and praising God. Like hew was testing his legs. But Luke doesn’t give us a description here except for one man and he says this one man threw himself at the feet of Jesus and thanked Him-and he was a Samaritan.
A 2nd way we become thankful is when we think about the fact that what we have gained is much greater than what we may have lost. We become more thankful when we count our blessings.
Look at verses 14b-16. When I was studying this passage of scripture this week one of the questions I wrote down was why does Luke bother to tell us that this man was a Samaritan? Well the answer I think is found in the story of the good Samaritan, a story also related to us by Luke. Remember a man was severely beaten, lying by the road...a priest comes by, doesn’t stop...a Levite comes by and he passes by on the other side, both of these were religious men. A Samaritan then passes by and even tough them was a Jew ....the despised one another, Jews considered the Samaritans to be unclean but he went to him anyway.
Here in this story a leper who is a Samaritan steps over the barrier and comes to Jesus who was Jewish of course and he comes to Him for one reason..to simply say thank you! Why did he do it? Reason #3. We become thankful when we realize that what was done for us could not have been done by us. This is the good news. God has done something through His son Jesus Christ that you and I could not do for ourselves. I still wonder what were the other 9 thinking? Well I think some thought * I’ll wait and make sure this is real. After all it may not last. * another one thought, I’ll thank Jesus later * at least one of them probably said hmmm I’m well I guess I never had leprosy after all * one of them probably went and thanked the priest. * another one probably said I knew i was getting better. I must be living a good life.
It’s amazing how many times we can come up with a reason not to be thankful and we miss the many reasons we have to actually say thank you. Pastor Jack Hinton was on a mission trip and was leading worship in a leper colony on the island of Tobago. They were closing the service one evening and had time for one more song A woman who had been facing away from the pulpit turned around. He said it was a terrible sight to see what he leprosy had done to her face. Her nose and her ears were completely gone. Her lips were destroyed by the leprosy as well. She lifted her hand in the air, fingers all missing and she asked, for our last song could we sing Count your many blessings? Jack Hinto was overcome with emotion and had to leave the service. One of his friends followed him out and said Jack I guess you’ll never be able to sing that song again. He said Yes but I’ll never sing it the same way.
