GRATITUDE IN THE SHADE OF THE CROSS!
Luke 17:11-19
Few years ago, we had Carl Mitchell of Harding University come to Albania and do series of lectures on family life and issues. Other then the lectures he gave we asked him to preach for us on Sunday. I vividly remember that as he was talking about gratitude or thankfulness he shared an experience from his ministry as an elder. He related one occasion when he and his fellow-elders had asked that all the worship service be centered on gratitude. By that he meant that songs chosen, the partaking of the bread, the giving, the sermon and prayers be centered on gratitude. On prayers he said that we had specifically asked that no requests be made, only thankfulness for what He has done, is doing and will continue to do. Then his comment was: "That Sunday, the prayers were unusually short!"
JESUS MOVING TOWARD JERUSALEM -- (vs. 11a)
In the banquet at the home of Zacchaeus (Luke 19), Jesus revealed in a statement he made in what I understand to be a key verse in the gospel of Luke, both His identity and His mission when he said: "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." (19:10). His identity here is related to the divinity as a fulfillment of the prophecy of Daniel (Dan 7:13) and His mission is clear to seek and to save. His saving work took Him to Jerusalem where He faced the cross. Jesus did know this full well and was prepared to face it. Many times He had to retreat to lonely places in order that He might regain focus of His mission.
With this thought in mind we come to this statement on verse 11, "Now on His way to Jerusalem..." The statement is a reminder for us and its repetition points out that Luke is intentional in its use. It is found three times in Luke (9:51; 13:22 and 17:11). Particularly in Luke 9:51 it reads as follows: "As the time approached for Him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem." Prior to the glory of heaven, Jesus had to face the cross of death. Knowing what was ahead of Him, knowing the shame and the agony of the cross, He was still willing to go through it for you and me.
I bring this up because it sets the tone for all that we do. You and I draw get our identity on what Jesus did on Calvary. Moreover, what Jesus did on Calvary should be the motivator, the engine, the fuel (and you can add whatever else comes to your mind) for all that we are and all that we do. I believe that gratitude is properly demanded on children of God because of what God has already done for us.
JESUS AND THE LEPERS (vs. 11b-19)
The dreadful malady of leprosy was a terrible scourge of Mid-East cities in the times of Christ; and, for that matter, still is. The disease itself was considered a type of sin, not necessarily related to specific sins of the victims. Their standing afar off was required by the Old Testament law (Lev 13:45ff). However, think what their affliction had done for them! (a) It brought them to a common level, causing them to forget racial hatred. (b) It made them unclean, (c) isolated them, and (d) made them hopeless.
Jesus commanded to go show themselves to the priests (a necessary requirement of the Law, before they could be pronounced cured and reenter society); and they were healed en route! Only one of them came to Jesus and on a loud voice praised God. Dr Luke is careful to point this out for us, because "An almost total failure of the voice is one of the symptoms of leprosy."
Please note the way he expressed his gratitude: a) came back (the other 9 didn’t), b) praised God in a loud voice (in the same manner they shouted for mercy, vs. 13), and c) threw himself at Jesus’ feet (total respect and humility, in contrast to our politically-correct-emotion-not-showing practice of nowdays).
Jesus’ questions are breath-taking, "Were not all the ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" They asked mercy from Jesus and he showed mercy by healing them, and of them only an allogenes (a compound Greek word which literally is "other-gene/race") alluding that the others where covenanted people of God. The late James Burton Coffman suggests what the other nine thought when Jesus healed them. Please, pay attention to Coffman’s suggestions, because sometimes, as covenanted people, we rationalize in the same way and don’t come back to God to thank Him:
1. One waited to see if the cure was real.
2. One waited to see if it would last.
3. One said he would see Jesus later.
4. One decided that he had never had leprosy.
5. One said he would have gotten well anyway.
6. One gave the glory to the priests.
7. One said, O well, Jesus didn’t really DO anything.
8. One said, just any rabbi could have done it.
9. One said, "I was already much improved."
LIVES OF GRATITUDE
"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him." (Colossians 3:15-17)
Today, I stand in front of you thankful of God’s work in my life. And please understand that by thankfulness I don’t mean a simple wording of "thank you," but an attitude or approach to life. I stand in front of you today because of at least three events in my life that I will briefly share. I share them as means to apply this message to our lives and to live lives of gratitude:
1. Many years ago, Bill Morgan was encouraging members of the Farragut Church of Christ to take 5 WEI correspondence students. There was one teacher who asked for only one student. That student was myself and the teacher was the gentleman sitting here (point to Jim Hutson). I stand here thankful of WEI ministry and encourage you, if you have not done so, to see Tom Langley about how to get involved with it. With the blessing of regular mail or email, you can be a missionary from your living room. A thankful life shows itself in its care in the salvation of the souls.
2. In the Summer of 1999, two young men, age 13 and 15 stood up at the Tirana Church of Christ and co-preached a sermon on the influence of the Christian. I was amazed. This same man, sitting next to me, in the only time he physically visited Albania looked at me and said: "When am I going to listen to you?" I asked and I was given permission to preach. That simple of encouragement made way to my preaching ministry. Give someone the gift of encouragement (and be involved in your Barnabas’ ministry!) for it is a great way to show gratitude in our lives.
3. In Fall of 2000, perplexed between struggling with the desire to go to preaching school (Athens, Greece) but not able to do so because of visa, having given to much to the process and failing on my exams in Fall at the University of Tirana, and the starting of a small congregation on my guest room, I was sent a gift by the Missions’ Ministry of a church. Can you guess which church? Yes, it was the Maryville Church of Christ. That gift was what opened my vision to what became later full-time ministry. Generosity is another way to live a life of gratitude.
CONCLUSION
Dear friends, who are here visiting with us. We are who we are not because we are good guys in and of ourselves, but because of what God has done for us in Christ and our faith in Him. If you have not done so already, we invite you today to consider Christ and place your faith in Him, forsaking everything and everyone else and being united with Him in baptism.
Brothers and sisters, in the view of what God has done for us in Christ, I encourage you to allow your lives to burst in thankfulness. And if we have been sleepy in our commitment to Him to come to Him in repentance and obedience.
Bledar Valca
Maryville Church of Christ
April 5, 2009
