Dakota Community Church
October 11, 2009
One Out of Ten
Where are the other nine?
Good morning everyone and welcome to this favorite holiday celebration Sunday - Thanksgiving!
The cool crisp early morning air, the leaves crunching underfoot on a walk through the park, the smell of roasting turkey and pumpkin pie filling the house, the sounds of family and friends loving and laughing while a football game drones softly in the background; these are a few of the things that make Thanksgiving the annual favorite holiday that it is for me.
I cannot help but feel overwhelmed at the goodness of God as I reflect on His many blessings to me and mine - and yet, all of these temporal blessings pale in comparison; they cease to matter at all in fact when held up next to the ultimate gift that God has bestowed on each of us in Christ¡¦s sacrifice for our sins on Calvary’s dark hill.
For the Christian who understands redemption; everyday ought to be Thanksgiving!
Luke 17:11-19
11Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance 13and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!"
14When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed.
15One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him¡- and he was a Samaritan.
17Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" 19Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well."
1. A hopeless condition
Luke 17:11-12
11Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance
Leprosy was and is a horrible disease to have. Not only is there the pain of the disease itself, but also the stigma surrounding the disease.
The Mosaic Law pronounced a leper "unclean". They were not fit to enter into the tabernacle, or later, the Temple to worship. They could not live in the community, but were required to live outside the city.
Numbers 5:1-3
1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 "Command the Israelites to send away from the camp anyone who has an infectious skin disease or a discharge of any kind, or who is ceremonially unclean because of a dead body. 3 Send away male and female alike; send them outside the camp so they will not defile their camp, where I dwell among them."
The Law required that they rend their clothes as a sign of extreme sorrow, that their faces be covered and that they cry out "unclean" whenever anyone came close to them.
This is why the lepers did not approach Jesus; they were required to keep their distance. Rabbinic tradition said that they had to stand at least 100 paces from anyone else.
This disease of leprosy is a picture of what sin does to all of us.
Eaton’s Bible Dictionary:
Leprosy was "the outward and visible sign of the innermost spiritual corruption; a mere spot or emblem in its small beginnings, its gradual spread, its internal disfigurement, its dissolution little by little of the whole body, of that which corrupts, degrades, and defiles man’s inner nature, and renders him unfit to enter the presence of a pure and holy God".
Now I want us to look at how God describes the Jerusalem’s condition before He intervenes:
Ezekiel 16:1-8
1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 "Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her detestable practices 3 and say, ’This is what the Sovereign LORD says to Jerusalem: Your ancestry and birth were in the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. 4 On the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to make you clean, nor were you rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths. 5 No one looked on you with pity or had compassion enough to do any of these things for you. Rather, you were thrown out into the open field, for on the day you were born you were despised.
6 " ’Then I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, "Live!" 7 I made you grow like a plant of the field. You grew up and developed and became the most beautiful of jewels. Your breasts were formed and your hair grew, you who were naked and bare.
8 " ’Later I passed by, and when I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love, I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Sovereign LORD, and you became mine.
Are we any different than they, are we not also kicking about in our blood? Are not just like the lepers, forced to stand afar because of our wretched condition suffering from the disease known as sin?
2. A cry for mercy
Luke 17:12-13
They stood at a distance 13and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!"
That was literally all that they could do - and they knew it!
No physician could heal them, no medicine could cure them. They were completely helpless before the onslaught of this deadly disease.
We like to think that we are sufficient, that we are capable of handling life, but the truth is, we are born helpless and lost. We stand condemned by sin and there is not a thing we can do to save ourselves.
Romans 5:6-8
6You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
The Greek word for mercy is "eleeo" {el-eh-eh¡¦-o} have mercy or compassion on.
What is the difference between grace and mercy?
Grace is getting what you don’t deserve.
Mercy is not getting what you deserve.
Remember that mercy is not getting what you deserve. I believe that these men realized that they were sinners and whatever they had received, they deserved.
How rare is this now-a-days? In our time nobody deserves any bad thing that happens, everyone is good and God is the one harshly judged for any and all negative occurrences.
These men are not demanding an explanation of the Son of God, "Why have you allowed this horrible disease to infect us?"
No they are crying out for mercy, for relief from their torments.
They are begging the Lord to have compassion on them, to help them in their time of need.
Their only hope was placed on this man Jesus. Everything had come down to this moment, to this encounter with Jesus.
Everything for you comes down the moment of your encounter with Jesus as well.
Jesus had compassion on them and told them to go and present themselves to the priests, as the law commanded. The priest would inspect them and give them a clean bill of health so they could rejoin their communities and families.
The heard the word of God, they believed and as they went they were healed.
3. Heartfelt thanksgiving
Luke 17:15-16
15One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him - and he was a Samaritan.
They had all cried for mercy in a loud voice; only one out of ten returned praise in a loud voice.
As they began their journey to the priests, they were cleansed or healed. What is significant is that out of the 10, there was one who reacted differently than the rest.
Why did this one react differently? (1) He saw differently
The Bible says, "And one of them, when he saw that he was healed".
Now the others no doubt knew that they were healed, but there was something different here.
The Greek word used here is eido, and it means to know, see, or perceive.
He saw it; he realized that something wonderful had happened to him. He recognized the power of Christ.
Illustration:
A man who goes to the rabbi and complains, "Life is unbearable. There are nine of us living in one room. What can I do?" The rabbi answers, "Take your goat into the room with you." The man in incredulous, but the rabbi insists. "Do as I say and come back in a week." A week later the man comes back looking more distraught than before. "We cannot stand it," he tells the rabbi. "The goat is filthy." The rabbi then tells him, "Go home and let the goat out. And come back in a week." A radiant man returns to the rabbi a week later, exclaiming, "Life is beautiful. We enjoy every minute of it now that there¡¦s no goat -- only the nine of us."
The situation was the same as at first, but now his perception had changed. He realized that he was blessed to begin with.
Do we really perceive the ways that God has blessed us? Not a one of us is hungry, not a one of us is naked, but most importantly, if you are a Christian, you have been given everything through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Matt Chandler thoughts from "The Art of Remembrance" - http:thevillagechurch.net
One of the default settings we inherit in the sin nature is a belief that when things go well - we did that, but whenever things go horribly wrong, that is God’s fault.
When I have money in my pocket - I did that! I worked hard; the boss noticed my commitment and rewarded my superior efforts.
When my girl loves me - I did that! My charm and sensitivity (but not too sensitive) won her heart.
When my kids obey and succeed - That’s my fatherly skills that caused that.
However; when thing go bad - God how could you let this happen?
No one in this room woke up this morning and fell out of bed on our face before God in gratitude that our hearts beat all night - While we slept! That everything works again today! That breakfast was in ample supply in the next room that coffee was brewing just down the street at Starbucks - No one did that!
Wake up tomorrow with chronic pain and what happens?
Get a diagnosis of cancer at the next Dr.’s appointment - what happens?
We are not naturally inclined to give God the glory that is due Him for everyone of the millions of blessings that we receive every single day on this planet.
This One out of the Ten - he saw it
Why did this one react differently? (2) He valued differently
When he saw that he was healed, he turned around. Now the Lord had given the command to go to the priest but he delayed, he turned around and went back to the Lord. Why didn’t the Lord rebuke him for this?
The reason is because this man realized the priority of gratitude and worship.
Why did this one react differently? (3) Soli Deo Gloria
As he drew near to where the Lord was, he glorified God.
The Greek means that he made the Lord glorious; he manifested the worth of the Lord.
He made the amazing discovery that it wasn’t about him!
Finally I close today with this:
4. A saviors piercing question
Luke 17:17
17Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?
I want to close this thanksgiving morning with this thought: Where are you?
Have you come to know the wonderful grace and mercy of God toward you in the gospel?
Let us give thanks!
I want to credit Matt Chandler of the Village Church for ideas from "The Art of Remembrance" and Robert Massey of Christ Church for the bulk of this sermon from "Where Are the Nine?"
PowerPoint available (Free of charge) on request dcormie@mts.net
