A Hole… Made Whole
Luke 17:11-17
This morning you will have to put on your thinking hat because this is a real Rick sermon… a little outside the box.
We will look at two passages of scripture that are unlinked… except perhaps in my mind.
Luke 17:11-17 and Romans 1:21 ((Display and read Luke 17:11-17 Romans will be read later))
Each of us receives MANY good gifts from God. How we receive the gifts reveals whether we are a hole… or whether we are WHOLE.
The question we each will have to ask is…
Am I a hole… or have I been made whole?
Are you confused yet? Now let me help you understand
Jesus was walking along a road when he came upon a colony of lepers.
Not leopards… lepers.
At first they followed custom and called out… “Unclean… Unclean”
They were shocked when the man did not stop or turn away. In fact, he walked straight to them… looking and smiling.
They recoiled and called louder… “Unclean… Stop.”
When the man did not stop and they could not run away they hid their faces. As they looked they beheld a smiling face.
They asked who he was. On hearing it was Jesus… they were filled with hope and called out… “Jesus… Master… Have mercy on us!”
He did. He reached out and took them by the hand, pulled them to their feet and said, “Go… show yourself to the priests.”
As one they began to run, faster and faster… watching the sores disappear… and their skin turn back to its normal color.
They stopped and looked at each other and at their own bodies… in shock. Then, they ran away to their own villages, to their families… to all they had lost and all they had longed for.
One of them however, after seeing the perfectly restored skin, took a look back… to where Jesus stood… smiling… and instead of running home… he ran back and fell at the feet of Jesus… and did something he had not done for many years… he touched another person. Kissing Jesus feet, he said, over and over… “Thank You, Thank You, Thank You.”
You may say, “That is not in my bible. It does not say he kissed Jesus’ feet.”
Think about it. Put yourself in his place. Duh!
Jesus turned to the crowd that was following him and asked, “Were there not 10 healed? Where are the other nine?”
Then He took the man by the hand and pulled him to his feet and said, “Arise, Go, your faith has made you whole.”
Did you catch that? It might sound like a small difference but it is HUGE!
10 were healed… 1 was WHOLE
10 received a great gift from God
9 ran away… healed
1 went away… WHOLE
What is the difference between healed and whole?
Let me put it this way…
9 were holes
1 was WHOLE
What makes a HOLE and what makes one WHOLE?
We all receive great gifts from God
But for some, when God gives gifts to those people, it is like pouring them in a hole.
Are you familiar with the expression, “Throwing money in a hole.”
It means nothing comes of it… no result… no good, no benefit.
God pours out His good gifts on ALL of us ((10 out of 10))
Some are sucking black holes that just suck up the gifts and NEVER say Thank You… never acknowledge that it is from God.
They just suck them up
9 Lepers were holes… they received the good gift from God… but they just ran away… unchanged in their heart.
Many people are gift holes… they never even recognize, much less acknowledge, that God has given them anything.
They take credit… give credit to other places… believe it is their good luck… think they deserved it… believe they would have gotten it anyway… don’t even recognize it.
They are GIFT HOLES
But one of the former lepers was different
This one went back to Jesus and said THANK YOU!
Jesus told him… you have been made WHOLE.
9 were holes… 1 was WHOLE
What was the difference?
He received the gift, recognized it and acknowledged it… AND IT DREW HIM CLOSE TO JESUS
The others did not recognize or acknowledge the gift and they went AWAY FROM JESUS.
What happens to gift holes?
Don’t take my word… Listen to the Word of God…
Romans 1:21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Let me read you the Pendleton Translation
Although they received the gift from God, they did not acknowledge it or give thanks to Him for it, but their thinking was messed up and their hearts became sucking black holes.
The scriptures tell us that if we do not acknowledge God’s goodness and his gifts… our mind and heart will become twisted and controlled by “the dark side.”
We will become bitter towards God because we never see anything from Him… we see Him as mean, miserly and unloving.
It happens because the gifts of God are swallowed up and never cause us to be thankful.
So even though that heart is receiving the gifts from God… it shrivels up from bitterness and resentment.
In contrast… notice the heart of the thankful… the one leper who said thank you.
As he kneels at the feet of Jesus… what do you think is in his heart?
How do you think he feels toward Jesus/God?
9 hearts are empty, sucking holes
1 is overflowing with thanks and love… FULL…WHOLE
What made the difference? THANKSGIVING
((Use the cup and water illustration: explained below))
A heart that receives the good things of God and does not acknowledge them is like this cup with a hole in it… it is always empty… no matter how much God pours in.
This cup receives the same good gifts from God and is filled and overflowing ((WHOLE))
The difference? This cup has what this heart needs… band-aid
Open band-aid and cover the whole…( actually use the other cup with no hole but with a band-aid… slight of hand) then fill the cup to overflowing
WHICH ONE ARE YOU?
HOLE? Or WHOLE?
God has been so good to all of us.
He created a beautiful world just for us to enjoy
He gave us taste buds so we can enjoy food
Ears so we can enjoy birds singing and babies crying
He gave us a family to love us
He placed us in the greatest and most prosperous nation in the world or in the history of the world
He gave us His Word so we can know Him and have fellowship with Him
He gave us the church where we can fellowship with fellow believers and grow in His likeness
He gave us His Holy Spirit so that we are never alone and He will never leave us
He gave us prayer so we can share our hurts and our needs, as well as our thanks
And He gave us His greatest gift when He “gave His only begotten Son… to die on a cruel cross… in our stead, so that we could be forgiven… and spend eternity in heaven
What will you do with those gifts?
Will you be a gift hole?
Or will you give thanks to God for His unthinkable gifts… and allow God to make you whole?
Cup Illustration
Need: 3 paper cups
3 large band-aids
Pitcher of colored water or Kool-Aid
Basin to catch water
Before service- punch a hole in one cup and place a bandage on each of the others. Have the third bandage ready for use.
As you talk about the thankless person (gift hole) pour water into the cup with a hole. The water will pour out and you time your words so that when it is empty you say “ the gift hole, no matter how much God pours good gifts into them, is always empty (turn cup upside down to show it is empty.
Explain that God does give them gifts and does good things for them… but they just don’t recognize it or acknowledge them from God and so they always feel that God does nothing for them.
They feel empty… like God has never blessed them.
Explain that no matter how much God lavishes on them… they are empty because of the hole (unthankfulness)
Then hold up one of the other cups which have bandages and explain that thankful people receive the gifts of God, recognize them and acknowledge them from God and filled to overflowing (let the water run over) They are WHOLE (don’t leak)
Ask: What is the difference?
Explain: This bandage (show)
Explain how thankfulness causes us to recognize the goodness of God and that brings us closer to Him and causes us to be thankful… and thus… to love Him.
Explain that what is required to go from hole to whole is the bandage… (thankfulness)
Some are gift holes (cup with hole) and unthankful… and see God as distant or unloving or the enemy
Some are WHOLE and because they see God as the giver of good gifts, they are grateful and draw close to Him
Critical Question: WHICH ARE YOU?
I have a powerpoint presentation to go with this sermon. You may receive it for free just for asking www.reverick57@hotmail.com
