One Gave Thanks
November 22, 2009
I heard about an episode of the Simpsons, where the family was sitting down for supper and Homer asked Bart to give thanks before the meal. Bart bowed his head and said, “Dear God, we paid for all this stuff ourselves… so thanks for nothing.” Now to some people that’s funny, but I think it’s tragic. And it reveals a real problem a lot of people have. They live their lives enjoying the blessings of God but never once stopping to say, “Thanks”. They’re like the old pig who spends his life rooting around the acorns on the ground, but has never looked up long enough to acknowledge the tree that produced the acorns.
This morning I want to share with you a story in the bible about 10 lepers that Jesus healed. 9 of them were like that old pig… but one of them was different… he stopped and looked up long enough to thank Jesus… the tree of life!
Let’s read Luke 17:11-19.
I don’t know if you realize what leprosy is and the kind of fear it struck in the hearts of people of Jesus’ day, but it was a horrible problem. The word used in the bible for ‘leprosy’, actually was used to describe a number of different diseases. But doctor’s today believe that what most people were suffering from back then is commonly called, “Hansen’s Disease” today. It starts out as a harmless looking white patch of skin, but it eventually becomes numb, to that point that it’s victims lose all sense of touch. As time goes on, the patch begins to spread all over the body, including the face… so it’s impossible to hide. Next, it begins to form spongy tumors all over your body, while at the same time attacking the internal organs. Because the nerve endings die, victims of leprosy can’t tell whether they’re hands or feet are being harmed and after awhile parts of their body lit. die and fall off. There was no medical cure for leprosy, and you can imagine that getting it struck great fear into people’s heart.
The Jewish Mosaic Law pronounced a leper as being “unclean”. That meant they were forbidden to enter the Temple. In otherwords, you weren’t allowed to go to church and worship with others. In fact, if you got leprosy, you were no longer allowed to even live with your families, because the law required you to live outside the city (Num. 5:2-3).
So contracting leprosy meant you essentially lost everything, your family, your job, your money… all of it! Lepers were lit. called “the walking dead,” and because they were homeless they were forced to live in colonies with other lepers. The reason this is such a great passage on ‘giving thanks’ is because when these 10 lepers got healed, they had a lot to be thankful for!
As we look at this passage, I think we’re all going to see a little bit of ourselves this morning. Because you’re either one or the other. Either, you’re like the lepers who got what they wanted and then went on their merry way… or you’re like the leper who stopped to give thanks. Which one is it? In fact, by the time we’re done, hopefully we’ll all have a more thankful attitude. Because if you’re a Christian this morning, you’ve been healed of an incurable disease, and you have a LOT to be thankful for!
In fact, from these verses I want to give you at least 6 reasons for why I (personally) am so thankful to God this morning. This isn’t actually a SERMON… it’s a testimony from one healed leper to another! 5 Reasons I’m Thankful…
1. I’m thankful that Jesus… RECOGNIZED my cry.
Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, when he came across a border town somewhere between Galilee and Samaria. As he came into the outskirts of town he was met by the sound of 10 lepers who were crying out at the top of their voices…“Jesus… Master… have mercy on us!” Verse 13 specifically tells us that they were standing far off. The reason they were yelling at the top of their lungs at Jesus was that Jewish tradition required (that because leprosy was contagious), they had to stand at least 100 steps away from anyone without leprosy. In fact, to make sure that you didn’t spread the disease, if anyone came within 16.5 feet of you, you were required to call out at the top of your voice… “UNCLEAN! UNCLEAN!” Can you imagine the embarrassment you’d feel if you contracted “H1N1” Flu and you had to do that?
Now, notice that they were obeying the law, they were keeping their distance… but like referees at a football game… I’ll bet you that they were right on the line!!! They’d probably heard rumors about this “Miracle Man” named Jesus, and so they were desperate to get His attention. Now, If that wasn’t bad enough, the Law further required that their faces had to be covered. Now to a Jew, your face is the most intimate part of your body. For example, when the scriptures commanded them to “seek the face of God”… it meant that they were to “seek intimacy, closeness with God” In fact, the Heb. Word for “face” and “presence” are the same word! Now as a leper, if you had to hide your face, it meant you couldn’t seek intimacy with God… or anyone else for that matter! As a result, lepers had no friends, no deep relationships…no one cared. You were on your own… totally isolated. A social outcast!
It’s a picture of you and me before Christ comes into our lives. Because of my sin, I was desperate, I was alone… I was totally cut off from intimacy and closeness with God. My sin kept me at a distance from Him! Because of my distance from God… it affected my intimacy and closeness with others! Try as I might… my sin keeps getting in the way of intimacy with others.
• I want to be close to my wife, but my anger keeps pushing her away.
• I want to be close to my husband… but my hurt and my unforgiveness towards him… keeps me distant.
• I want to be a loving and caring parent… but my temper or my inner pain keeps me from being able to draw close to them.
Thankfully, when I recognized my sinful state, from a distance I called out to Jesus in the loudest voice I had… “Jesus… Master… have mercy on me a sinner in need of help!” ... and amazingly…as He was walking by… He heard my cry! Amen? Has that ever happened to you? Have you ever cried out to Him in desperation? If you haven’t, you should.
But not only did he “hear” my cry… but He “stopped” when He heard my cry! Not only did He look in my direction… but He #2… RESPONDED to my desperation! And I’m here to tell you this morning that I’m soooooo thankful for that!!!
2. I’m thankful that Jesus… RESPONDED to my desperation.
READ vs.14a with me… “He looked at them and said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” Do you remember the 1st time Jesus “looked” at you? I do! The word the bible uses here means that he didn’t just glance at them… but he focused, He fixed His gaze on them. Guys, if you’ve ever received “the look” from your wife… then you know what we’re talking about. It’ll send chills up and down your spine! Anybody here remember “Tool Time” with Tim Allen? Great show! I remember one of the episodes where his wife Jill, was angry when she found him hanging out with the guys at the hardware store when he promised he’d come home, and when she found him she gave him “the look”. Grown men were hiding out behind the plumbing supplies, cringing behind the counters… if you’re a guy, you know what I’m talking about. Well, Jesus gave these lepers, “The Look!”
When Jesus looks at you, it feels like you’re being turned inside out! All of your secrets sins, all of your motives, all of your dirty thoughts and attitudes are out in the open… and even though it’s the most painful moment in your life.. it’s also the BEST moment in your life… because you don’t have to hide anymore. You’re free of the burden of being someone you’re not! I would imagine that for these lepers it was the most surprising moment of their lives!
I mean, they yelled out at a lot of people, but nobody ever stopped! In fact, everybody else not only ignored them, but they sped up their pace! (You know, like we do when we see that person outside of Walmart or Target ringing the little bell! ) But not Jesus! Jesus responded! All of us cry out to a lot of things… looking for healing… looking for relief. We cry out to other people… we cry out to drugs… we cry out to sex… we cry out to financial security… pleasure… success in the workplace…we cry out to a lot of things… but nothing (and no-one) really hears the true cry of our hearts… the cry for relief… the cry for meaning, purpose… fulfillment. There are a lot of people who hear our cry… but they just keep moving… in fact they move faster in the opposite direction! But not Jesus… not only did He hear my cry… but He responded to it. And as it turns out…He’s the ONLY ONE that could! He said, in vs.14a…“Go show yourselves to the priests.”
That may seem like a strange thing to say to somebody, but it was actually a very good thing. There was a custom that went all the ways back to Leviticus 13:2-3 that said…. “When anyone has a swelling or a rash or a bright spot on his skin that may become an infectious skin disease, he must be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons who is a priest. 3The priest is to examine the sore on his skin, and if the hair in the sore has turned white and the sore appears to be more than skin deep, it is an infectious skin disease. When the priest examines him, he shall pronounce him ceremonially unclean. If he’s pronounced unclean than he is banned and has to live in isolation along with the other unclean people. Now as bad as this sounds, the only way to make sure the contagious disease didn’t spread was to quarantine them. The CDC (Center for Disease Control) does the same thing today. That’s the way the world is! There are a lot of drugs, a lot of man-made programs and psychiatric methods they use to try and “fix us”… but nothing works. In the end, we end up feeling just as lonely, just as isolated, just as depressed as we ever were! In spite of all their promises, all their talk…all their medical degrees… there’s really nothing they can do! The worlds answers are just as ineffective against our problems, as the priests instructions were to a leper!
And that’s why I’m so thankful this morning! I’m thankful because Jesus is the only one who has the answer to my deepest needs & problems. Only Jesus has the cure for my deepest hurts. Read the rest of vs.14 with me… READ 14b… “And as they went, their leprosy disappeared.” Here’s the 3rd reason I’m so thankful this morning…
3. I’m thankful that Jesus… REMOVED my sin.
To the Jews… leprosy was something God inflicted on people as punishment for sin. It was more than just a disease… it was a mark of God’s displeasure and the lepers sin. The priest was responsible for declaring a person with leprosy as unclean, but it could also work the other way around. If by some miracle, you were cured of leprosy according to Lev.14… you could go to the same priest and after examination, the priest could pronounce you clean. In otherwords, Jesus was telling these guys to go to the priest so that he could pronounce their healing! In a very real way, Jesus was telling them that their SINS were forgiven. The leprosy would leave as proof of what He was saying!
That’s you! That’s me! We like to deceive ourselves into thinking that we’re sufficient, that we can handle anything life throws at us independent of God… but the truth of the matter is…the moment we’re born, we’re all helpless and condemned by our own sin. Some of you know about my testimony… the truth is… I was a good boy! Never drank, or took drugs, no sex before marriage… never even cussed!
But let me tell you something… before God… I was just as surely going to hell as the worst rapist, the worst murderer, the most sexually perverted prisoner in San Quentin!
The bible says in Romans 3:23…”We all sin and fall short of the perfection, the glory of God” And as a result… we ALL deserve hell… eternal separation from God. But Jesus did what no other man could do! He solved the sin problem in my life! As God in flesh, He died for my sin… paying the price, taking the punishment of sin on Himself, so that I don’t have to! No wonder I can say… “I’m sooooo thankful this morning… because Jesus removed the “stain and shame” of my sin! The ‘leprosy’ of my soul has been healed!
But not only am I thankful that He removed my sin… as a result of that…
4. I’m thankful that Jesus… REVIVED my hope.
The fact that the 10 lepers took off for the priest in the 1st place, is proof that their hope had been rekindled. I can imagine as they’re making their way to the priest one of the guys looked at the other and said, “Hey Reuben, look at your your skin! It’s clean!” and Rueben said, “Well…so is yours!” As they looked at their hands they saw the color and life return.
All the sudden it dawned on them… “They were healed!” Can’t you see them jumping up and down hugging one another? The leaping lepers! When you 1st come to the realization that Jesus has done for you what no one else can do… that He’s healed your soul and freed you from sin… it’s exciting. Your hope is renewed… for the 1st time you realize that your marriage can be saved. There’s hope for you… there’s hope for your family. Your life begins to turn around in all kinds of ways. But too many times… we don’t follow through. We don’t continue to live in an attitude of thanksgiving… and as a result our enthusiasm loses it’s momentum… (and if we’re not careful) we’ll slowly forget what Christ has done for us. Before long, we’ll find ourselves back where He found us in the 1st place! That’s what happened to 9 out of the 10 leaping lepers! That’s why it’s so important to understand and be thankful that Jesus RECEIVED my thanks…
5. I’m thankful that Jesus… RECEIVED my thanks.
Read vs. 15-18 with me again… One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, “Praise God, I’m healed!” 16 He fell face down on the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan.17 Jesus asked, “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine? 18 Does only this foreigner return to give glory to God?”
It’s amazing to me that only 1 guy came back to give thanks to Jesus for the amazing miracle he did in their lives. But before I condemn the other 9… I have to stop and remember all the things Jesus has done for me, that I’ve failed to thank Him for! How about you?
You know what happens to us when we fail to give thanks for God’s miracles in our lives? We get spoiled! We start taking God for granted and if our true motives were revealed… you’d find that we didn’t really want release … we just wanted relief ! We didn’t really want to change our lifestyle… we wanted to escape the consequences of our lifestyle! We escape the pain for a little while… but what we don’t realize is that unless we continue to seek out Christ, we’ll fall right back into the old patterns of living again…and the pain comes back! Listen, Jesus doesn’t just want to heal you on the outside… He wants to heal you on the INSIDE! He wants to get at the root of the problem!
The big mystery to this story is… what happened to the other 9 after the priest pronounced them clean? Even Jesus was shocked that they didn’t return. Know what I think happened? They got pre-occupied! All the sudden, they had to go tell their friends, their family, they started working…getting reacquainted, setting up their lives…and before long they totally forgot who made it all possible.
We’re just like them! Instead of going back to Jesus… as soon as the pain is gone… we get pre-occupied. Life crowds in, other things take priority over our relationship with Him. Before long…we forget where we were when Jesus found us! We forget that without Him… none of the blessings that we enjoy would even exist!
Listen very carefully…if you don’t live in a continual attitude of thanksgiving for what God has done in your life… just as sure as I’m standing here this morning…you’ll get sidetracked by life, and before long you’ll forget what He did! I’ve seen it happen a thousand times in the past almost 28 years of ministry. People I thought would never get over the amazing miracles that God worked in their lives… TOTALLY FORGET, and move on as if it never happened! Maybe you’re one of them! If so, be VERY CAREFUL … because your ingratitude will lead you to backslide from God. It’s like the 2 old friends who bumped into each other on the street one day. The 1st guy looked depressed, almost on the verge of tears. His friend asked, "What has the world done to you, my old friend?". He said, "Let me tell you… 3 weeks ago, my uncle died and left me $40,000 ". His friend said, “Whoa! That’s a lot of money." "Yeh, but there’s more… two weeks ago, a cousin (I never even knew) died, and left me $85,000 free and clear." "Man, sounds like you’ve been blessed...." He said, "You don’t understand! Last week my great-aunt passed away. I inherited almost a quarter of a million." By this time his friend was really confused. "So why do you look so down?" “Simple… this week... NOTHING!!! "
That’s the trouble with ingratitude. Even if it’s a gift, we eventually come to expect it. It happens with our kids. We shower them with gifts and all they want is more! It happens with us and God! Emerson once said that “If the stars came out only once a year, everybody would stay up all night to behold them. The problem is, we’ve seen the stars so often we don’t even bother to look at them anymore!” When we fail to thank God for our blessings we get spoiled!
But that didn’t happen to this one leper. He came back to give thanks! The bible says that he fell at Jesus’ feet and praised God. Why? What was different about him than the other 9? Only one thing. And it make all the difference in the world. You see, the other 9 were Jews. But not this man, Jesus remarks that this man was a gentile. In otherwords, the other’s had been raised knowing about God, hearing the commandments, learning the teachings of scripture… as a result, they took God for granted. But not this guy…he was a total pagan. Bottom line… while the others were content with religion… this man wanted a relationship! While the others wanted a miracle… this guy wanted the MAN behind the miracle! Which one do you want?
As you can imagine Jesus was saddened by the others attitudes. He asked in Luke 17:17… “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine? 18 Does only this foreigner return to give glory to God?” Do you hear the disappointment in His voice. You know, I still think Jesus is disappointed by that attitude. I think God is saddened by how few people actually express thanksgiving to Him. We live in one of the most blessed countries in the world… but too many Americans are too busy to stop and acknowledge the Giver of all gifts, and simply say, “Thank you, God.” It’s like… “Hurry up and get Thanksgiving over so we can get some more gifts!” We’ve convinced ourselves they we deserve everything we have, so why thank God? So, we eat our Thanksgiving feasts, like pigs rooting at the bottom of a tree, never looking up long enough to acknowledge the God who gave us everything we have!
Ten men were exposed to God’s power, but only one sought a personal relationship with Him. Which one are you? I don’t know about you… but I want to be the one who gave thanks! Which leads to the last reason I’m so thankful to Jesus this morning …
6. I’m thankful that Jesus… REVERSED my curse.
The story ends in vs.19 as Jesus says to the man… “Stand up and go. Your faith has made you well.” I don’t know about you, but that sounds kind of confusing! I thought Jesus already made him well! So why does He say it again?
Well, it will makes a little more sense when you read it in the original grk. The word for ‘well’ is actually… the grk. Word…”sozo”, and it means “to be made complete or whole”! In otherwords, while all ten of the lepers found physical healing, only one found wholeness. See, ‘sozo’ is more than just physical healing… it’s physical, emotional and spiritual healing! Listen, Jesus didn’t come to earth JUST to heal people of their diseases. (If that was true, He would have established a hospital not a church!) No, Jesus primarily came (according to His own words) “to seek and to save the lost”.
In otherwords, Jesus wants more for us than we want for ourselves! We’re happy just to get a superficial healing, but Jesus wants to go further! See, there’s a difference between being healed and being whole. He wants to do more than just clean you up… He wants to finish what He started!
The “thankful leper” teaches us that “thankfulness” allows God to complete what He’s started in our lives. There’s so much more! He wants to free you from addictions and the underlying reasons for your addictions! He wants to heal your marriage, your relationships, your anger, bitterness, emotional hurts… the reasons you do what you do! But none of that will happen until you’re sincerely thankful for what He’s already done.
I’ve got to end with this story…While on a short-term missions trip, Pastor Jack Hinton from North Carolina was leading worship at a leper colony on the island of Tobago. There was time for one more song, so he asked if anyone had a request. A woman who had been facing away from the pulpit turned around. He said, “It was the most hideous face I had ever seen. The woman’s nose and ears were entirely gone. The disease had destroyed her lips as well”. Despite her appearance however, she lifted a fingerless hand in the air and asked, “Can we sing ‘Count Your Many Blessings’? Overcome with emotion, Hinton left the service. He was followed by a team member who said, “Jack, I guess you’ll never be able to sing that song again.”
“Yes I will,” he replied, “but I’ll never sing it the same way.”
Folks, when Jesus has set you free from your sin… you’ll never be the same! Regardless of what you’ve experienced in life, regardless of the hardships, regardless of the problems and the trials… you can ALWAYS “count your many blessings… and name them… one by one.” As you do that… Jesus will lead you to even more amazing healings… the healing of your emotions, the healing of your relationships, the healing of your hurts. Don’t forget to give Him thanks this morning! Don’t be like the 9… who took their healing for granted… be like the one who came back to give thanks!!!
