Ungrateful
Luke 17:11-19
(11) On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee.
(12) And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance
(13) and lifted up their voices, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us."
(14) When he saw them he said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they went they were cleansed.
(15) Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice;
(16) and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan.
(17) Then Jesus answered, "Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?
(18) Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?"
(19) And he said to him, "Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well."
EOLS:
Gratitude towards your Savior is an act of holy worship; the natural response of a regenerate heart.
“Thank You” is an interesting phrase. It’s the standard of decorum in our society; a benchmark of civilized, polite people. We repeat over and over to our children: “what do you say?” in our attempts to instill in them a sense of gratitude. It’s a good thing! I taught my kids and to this day I expect to hear them say that magic phrase when someone does something nice for them. I think they’ve got it because I watch and listen still.
I always love it at Chick-Fila when the employees respond to a “thank you.” You know it by now-what’s the phrase they return? “My pleasure!” Someone had a brainstorm in a boardroom one day at corporate when they figured out how you could thank someone for saying thank you! In place of the tired “you’re welcome” or the “no problem” coming from the lips of a surly youth, they train their employees to smile brightly and to return a thank you with “MY PLEASURE!” It almost makes you want to say thanks, and it sure enough makes you want to go back to Chick-Fila.
Let me ask you this: have you ever been really hacked off because someone did NOT say thank you? Come on now, every one here knows what I’m talking about! You send someone a wedding gift, a graduation gift, a birthday gift etc. and you realize three months later-I never got a thank you note! It leaves a little something in your gut, doesn’t it? You certainly could have found something to do with that twenty bucks, not to mention the time it took to buy a gift, a card, to get some stamps, find the address and mail it. The recipient then never responds.
Worse yet, you’ve gone out of your way to do something really special for someone. This is something that’s out of the blue, totally unexpected. You see something that reminds you of them, or you see an opportunity to bless them in some unique way. You can’t wait to give them the gift, the opportunity, the bonus, whatever form it may take. You lay it on them, and then…nothing. No response. You wonder if they just forgot. Did the present even make it there?
What is the first phrase that comes to mind? You know it, and you’ve said it just like I have! SEE if I ever give you anything (or do anything ) for YOU again!
Humor: Remember when Andy saved Gomer’s life at Wally’s Gas Station when he discovered the grease fire? Gomer’s reaction was hilarious, and Andy’s response to Gomer’s gratitude still makes us laugh every time we see it. Gomer’s response to Andy’s act of service may have been a bit over the top, but it really is a great picture of true gratitude! His whole concept was that true gratitude implied sacrifice and service, not just a repetitious “thank you.”
As we approach the Thanksgiving Season, there is a certain pitfall or even a danger that is before us. We believe in “thanks” so much that we devote basically an entire month to it as we approach the Day. I look forward to Thanksgiving every year! The memories, the food, the fun, the relationships, the very opportunity to devote time to thankfulness are all a very special treat.
This Thanksgiving will mark the forty-ninth time I’ve made this trip. I can remember well at least 45 of them; we always do pretty much the same thing. I believe with all my heart that we all will not just enjoy the trappings of Thanksgiving, but that we will take time to be truly thankful for all of our blessings. I was taught thankfulness from birth, and I have instilled it in my children as well. Did we give thanks? CHECK. Next question.
Yet it’s so easy to be thankful on the last Thursday of November; it’s easier still to thank God when you’re in church hearing a sermon on Thanksgiving. It’s easy to say thank you to the young person who takes your money and hands you a Number One Chick Fila meal.
These are all good things, but we’re still not at the point where our gratitude has become a part of us so much that it emanates, it reflects in and from everything that we do.
You see, true gratitude is rooted in my faith. True thankfulness requires an object, someone at the end of the line, someone at the beginning. There is a foundation and an author of blessing in our lives who is responsible for every good thing.
James 1:17
(17) Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
We come to a true story from the Gospels where we see the source, the power and the actions of true thanksgiving and gratitude. It’s expressed in the story of ten men who had the disease of leprosy.
As Jesus was traveling, he met ten lepers who approached him from a distance. In that day, leprosy was one of the worst plagues that could befall someone. There was no known cure, and little treatment. The disease would slowly eat away at the body. It would horribly disfigure the person and it was thought to be contagious.
When you received the diagnosis of “leprosy” it was in some ways like hearing “inoperable cancer” today. But the implications were actually much more severe. Lepers were to be ostracized from society and left on their own, to take care of themselves. By law they could not associate with healthy people and they lived as beggars on the very fringe of society. How would we react today if we were told we had a terminal illness, and that we must pack our bags and leave home to live on the streets as a beggar outside of normal society?
Lepers were walking dead men. It’s no surprise that the Scriptures often use leprosy as a metaphor for sin.
Jesus dealt with lepers on a couple of occasions, but here today we see Him take on ten of the walking dead men at once! They approached him saying “Jesus, Master-have mercy on us.” They must have heard of Him and his healing power. They had absolutely nothing to lose, and probably looked at it as a last-ditch, final hope.
Jesus simply approached them, and never actually touched them. He said “go and show yourself to the priests.” The priest actually functioned not just as the spiritual head of the people, but also in civil, ceremonial and even medical capacities. Only a priest could condemn or clear a leper from participation in society.
“And as they went they were cleansed.”
I can picture them walking together to find a priest. They had to maintain their distance and it would probably take some time to gain audience with a religious officer. But on the way, something miraculous began to happen. The sores began to heal, the skin began to rejuvenate itself. By the time they got to the priest, they were no longer lepers!
It’s interesting that it took a simple act of obedience. Jesus told them to go, so they went. Some may have gone out of hopelessness and fear, while others may have had a lion’s share of faith and hope. The bottom line is that they went! They didn’t stick around and ask Jesus to save them a couple of steps. He had a reason for making this a miracle on the fly.
I would have enjoyed being present when that priest looked at them. He surely must have known them as part of the local community of lepers and beggars. Perhaps he had even thrown them some food or clothing as an act of charity. But today, ten healthy and whole men stood before him. He had no choice but to pronounce them “CLEAN!”
Imagine the thoughts that were running through their minds. They could now go find their families, they could begin rebuilding their lives. They were no longer to be ostracized but they could re-join society, begin to earn money and support themselves!
It was a whole new life they had stepped into, and it was time to get busy living it!
These men must have been ecstatic. Immediately each one began to make his own plan. It was like winning the lottery, and a whole knew life was here at their doorstep; all they needed to do was to walk in it.
Nine of them went their way, oblivious to the real truth of what had just happened. Oh sure, they were thankful, they just for one reason or another got distracted. They would always remember Jesus as that really nice Rabbi who helped them out one day. But that day of restoration would become a foggy memory. They would never really forget it, but it wasn’t that important. What was important was this new life, this new chance to be ME, to have some pleasure and to participate in all that society has to offer.
One preacher got inside their heads and figured that nine of them may have been thinking like this:
• One waited to see if the cure was real.
• One waited to see if it would last.
• One said he would see Jesus later.
• One decided that he had never had leprosy
One said he would have gotten well anyway.
• One gave the glory to the priests.
• One said, "O, well, Jesus didn’t really do anything."
• One said, "Any rabbi could have done it."
• One said, "I was already much improved."
Ultimately, they paid lip service to “thankfulness” but they were-ungrateful.
But then came the one. As he left the priest’s office, his thoughts of new life were quieted by something called gratitude. He became profoundly aware of what had just happened and he considered the true implications. This stranger named Jesus had answered their cry for mercy-with MERCY. He cut through all the emotion and the human explanation and he realized-this man is the Son of the Living God and He healed me, He gave me back my life.
I picture him with tears streaming down his face as the true weight of this day settle in on him. He realized that before He could do anything else, before he could make another step into this new life, he owed a debt-and he must pay it.
This lowly Samaritan, the “half breed” that was despised by Jews from Jerusalem began to praise God and cry out. He found Jesus, and fell on his face at His feet.
His gratitude and thanksgiving became a holy act of worship. He received Jesus for who He is, and at that moment his soul was changed. His body was clean but now His Spirit was forever connected with the Son of God who had come to save Him.
Jesus was amazed. He said “where are the nine, were not nine healed?”
Then he looked at this sobbing man who lay face down in worship before Him and said:
"Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well." So for this man, his new life and healing were not just physical benefits; he was changed spiritually.
It was now no longer a random thing, ten guys that just happened to be in the right place at the right time; who just happened to be able to catch the attention of this Prophet and Rabbi, and who were fortunate enough to get a second chance at life. This man wasn’t “lucky.”
This man was chosen, set apart, given a gift he didn’t deserve and could not earn. His response was to worship the One who had made him whole.
I like to think about what the rest of his life may have been like. He’d been a walking dead man just waiting for the disease to eat into his vital organs to put him out of misery. Yet now, every day he woke up I can hear him thanking God and praising Him. Perhaps he went back to spend time listening to Jesus teach while he was still with the people.
He lived and he died. We never knew his name, but his life still speaks today and he lives in the presence of his Savior this day as we speak. When we read of what goes on in his presence, we realize this man is still thanking Him in real time today!
His faith had made him well both physically and spiritually, and the object of His faith saved Him.
So what do we take away? Where do we go on Monday Morning?
• Gratitude is a lifestyle, not a thank you note or a one-time comment just to satisfy politeness!
• Gratitude requires that we stop and consider: we need someone to thank, and we need to thank someone.
• Gratitude is due to those whom God has used in your life-thank them as you thank God
• Gratitude is not a rote command or ritual; it’s the natural beat of a thankful heart, it is expressed in practical daily life
• The one thing we can do here is to simply stop and consider: where would I be? How have I been blessed?
• Once we’ve truly considered, our worship will increase our faith, and God’s blessing will pour upon us. It will lead us to the feet of Christ
• Gratitude is one of your soul’s deepest needs.
Ephesians 2:4-8
(4) But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
(5) even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved--
(6) and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
(7) so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
(8) For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
