Opening illustration: One day a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the firm purpose of showing his son how poor people live. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family. On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?"
"It was great, Dad." "Did you see how poor people live?" the father asked. "Oh yeah," said the son.
"So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father. The son answered: "I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have a fence around our property to protect us; they have friends to protect them."
The boy’s father was speechless. Then his son added, "Thanks, Dad, for showing me how poor we are." Isn’t perspective a wonderful thing? Makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don’t have.
Let us turn to Luke 17 in God’s Word and catch up with the ‘Thankless Story’ …
Introduction: Leprosy was a terrible skin disease. It was infectious and contagious. There were strict rules which a leper had to observe. The person had to live outside the camp away from other people so the disease would not spread. If the sores went away, the leper had to go to the priest to be examined. If the priest said that the man was no longer contagious, he could go back and live with his family.
Sometimes people got the disease because they had disobeyed God. Miriam, the sister of Moses, got leprosy because she and Aaron, her brother, said that God should be speaking through them as He did through their brother Moses.
We also know about a rebellious king of Judah by the name of Uzziah who contracted leprosy. At the beginning of his reign, he was a good king, but later he began to disobey God. He decided to go into the temple to burn incense to God. Only the priests were allowed to do this, and he was not a priest. He had leprosy the rest of his life and had to live in a separate house.
The story about the ten lepers occurred when Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. The men met him, but stayed a distance away. (The law said a leper must not come near and must call out "Unclean!" so people would know he had leprosy.) These men called out, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" They knew he had healed others. Jesus told them to go and show themselves to the priests, and as they were going, a wonderful thing happened. Their skin became clean and free from leprosy! We can just imagine the joy they felt. Nine of the men continued on to go see the priest, but one man turned back and came to Jesus. He was praising God with a loud voice, and he fell at Jesus' feet and thanked him. This man was a Samaritan who was hated by the Jews. Jesus asked where the other nine men were. Ten were healed, but only one came back to say "Thank you", and he was a foreigner. Jesus told the man, "Rise and go. Your faith has made you well."
How to build up for ‘Thanksgiving?’
1. There is a Need/Desperation (vs. 11-13)
Jesus meets up with a band of 10 lepers. We know that Jews and Samaritans had no dealings but out of them all there is one Samaritan. Here is one example of great law of life. A common misfortune had broken down the racial and the national barriers. In the common tragedy of their leprosy they had forgotten that they were Jews and Samaritans and remembered only that they were men in need. Surely one of the things which should draw all men together is their common need of God.
We don’t know how long these men were lepers but what we know is that they were lepers indeed as they were isolated from society and were not permitted to come and be a part of the community till they were completely healed. These men had waited for quite some time for someone to come and cure them. Their need was healing! Today what is your need?
They had hoped that this Jesus they had heard about could and would cleanse them from their leprosy. They asked for His mercy. They called Him "Master” which means "Chief Commander." They knew Jesus was totally in command, even of disease and death. Jesus is always the right Person to cry out to for help. We may not have leprosy, but every day we need Jesus. We need Him to save us from our sin. We need Him to help us not to sin. We need Him to help us with our problems. We need Him to show His mercy to us when we are sick or hurt or sad or lonely, and when we are well and happy. He is the "Master” of everything, those lepers were right about that.
These men were distant from others for the fear of their leprosy being contagious. Many of us desire to keep ourselves aloof from everyone in our society, even our own families but don’t realize the need of the Chief Commander in our life till something adverse happens to us. These men had been distant from everyone else for a long time and were in need for someone to come by not only to heal them but to restitute their relationship with their families, their community, to themselves and above all with their Creator. What is your impossible need today? Is there something that you know that you can’t fix?
Illustration: During my last visit to India couple of years ago, I went to visit a school that houses the children of lepers … even our own home grown girl – Courtney Sowder went to North India as a missionary to the children of lepers …
2. There is a Response (vs. 14-16)
Jesus saw them! How wonderful it is to be seen by Jesus. He always sees us. He notices where we are and what we are doing. He is intimately acquainted with us. He knows all our needs. When we cry out to Him, He hears us and answers. Jesus always hears us when we cry out to Him, and He will answer us according to His perfect, loving will.
In our passage Jesus pointed them back to the town. “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” This was another way of telling the lepers they were healed! Only people who had been healed were supposed to go to the priests. It was Jewish law that said the priest was the one to examine people to see if they had leprosy or not. The priest was the one who could pronounce them clean and allow them to go back to their families, homes, and friends. Jesus had not yet healed them when He said they should go to the priest. But they trusted Him and went toward the priest. They were still covered with sores and had no feeling in their skin, yet they went and did what Jesus told them to do. He directed them to do what seemed absurd, yet they obeyed. They did not argue with Him or say, "But Jesus, we still have leprosy. Take it away; then we'll go and show the priest!"
No, they turned and went just as they were, full of leprosy. They obeyed Jesus simply because He said to do it. A wonderful thing happened after they obeyed. As they were going to the priest they were cleansed! First came their act of obedience; Jesus said it and they obeyed. Then the miracle happened! Often in life it will be that way for us. We will cry out to Jesus to help us with something much bigger than us and He will tell us what to do. It might seem crazy, and ridiculous, but when we obey Him and trust Him, the power and the miracle comes.
Well! Let us see how many men did Jesus cleanse of leprosy? He cleansed ten men. How many came back to thank Him? Only one returned. Let's look closely at this man that came back. He was a Samaritan. Jesus was a Jew. Usually Samaritans did not talk to Jews. The other men were Jews, but they did not run back to Jesus. We see that this Samaritan praised God. He actually threw himself at Jesus' feet and praised Him. Praise is worship, adoration, the expression of our knowing God to be holy and right and good and glorious. This leper also said "thank you" to Jesus. Thanksgiving is the expression of our gladness that God is good to us. Jesus loves a thankful heart. This one leper came to say “thank you” to Jesus for His provision and involvement and love in his life.
This man received a double blessing! Not only was he healed of the skin disease, but He was also made right with God because of his desire to go back to Jesus and thank Him. Think about your own life for a moment. How many times do you ask God for something? Then when He answers, do you remember to thank Him? All ten of the men asked Jesus to heal them. But only one of them made the extra effort to return to Jesus and thank Him. He was the only one who received a right relationship with God. The others were healed physically (their bodies), but the Samaritan man was also healed spiritually (his soul).
Some people only think about their physical life - what they will eat and drink, the things they have and the clothes they wear. But Jesus taught that we must think more about the spiritual things, like having a relationship with God. That is the only thing that will last forever. So when you get tempted to want more and more things, remember to turn to God and thank Him for everything He has done for you. Then spend time getting to know Him better. That is the way to be blessed.
"Thank you" is not difficult to say, but it says a lot. It acknowledges the thoughts and acts someone has given on our behalf. "Thank you" is a very important and beautiful thing to say, especially to Jesus. Jesus loves a thankful heart. He gives us everything, even the air we breathe. He deserves our "Thank you(s)" all day long. The Bible tells us it is God’s will for us to say "thank you;" 1 Thessalonians 5: 18 tells us, "...in everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." When we thank Him we are giving Him the glory for all that goes on in our lives. Jesus loves a thankful heart.
Illustration: A little boy wanted $100 very badly. He prayed for weeks, but nothing happened. So, he decided to write a letter to God requesting $100. When the postal authorities received the letter to "God, USA", they decided to send it to the President. The President was so amused that he instructed his secretary to send the little boy a $5 bill. The President thought this would appear to be a lot of money to a little boy.
The little boy was delighted with the $5 bill, and sat down to write a thank-you note to God. The postal authorities forwarded this letter on to the President, too. It read: "Dear God, Thank you very much for sending the money. However, I noticed that for some reason you sent it through Washington, D.C., and those guys deducted $95 in taxes!"
The context here is that this is not how God works in our lives … He doesn’t give less or taxes us for meeting/supplying our needs but gives us abundantly and more than what we usually ask for.
3. There is Gratitude/Ingratitude (vs. 17-19)
Jesus lets us know through these verses that He notices when we forget to thank Him. He waits for our thanks and our worship. He gives us His mercy. He showers us with blessings. He provides for us and helps us all day long. Do we thank Him like the Samaritan? Or are we like the nine who went on enjoying the gift of their cleansing but forget the Giver? Luke points out that God’s grace is for everyone but their ingratitude did not deny Christ’s mercy to these 9 lepers, but did deprive them of fellowship with Him.
Jesus loves a thankful heart. Do you have a grateful, thankful heart? Jesus waits for our “thank you” to Him. Sometimes we go along like the nine lepers, so excited with our answered prayer and our blessings that we forget to run back to Jesus to say “thank you.” Saying "thank you" is something we have to train our hearts and minds to do. We get so self-centered that we forget to thank people, especially the Lord. It takes training for our minds to forget ourselves and to remember to thank the Lord. Jesus loves a thankful heart. The verse in 1 Thessalonians tells us we should give thanks in EVERYTHING, not just when things are going great.
Saying “thank you” to the Lord when it seems nothing is working out right is one way to obey Jesus before we see His miracles. Here we note something very interesting. Jesus gives this man an additional blessing due to his thankfulness. Jesus loves a thankful heart. He was already cleansed from leprosy, but now Jesus lets him know he is made well. More would be well for him since he acknowledged God with a thankful heart.
Psalm 107: 8 tells us, "Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men." The Lord deserves and waits for our "thank you" for the little things and the big. It is right and good to give our thanks to Jesus just like the one leper. Jesus loves a thankful heart.
Illustration: The latter and todays’ generation was never told that what we are today is because of God.
Application: Being thankful is very important to God. When we have a thankful heart, we are showing God that we recognize where our blessings come from. It also reminds us to keep our focus on God and to give Him the glory for everything.
Every day God blesses us and He answers our prayers. Sometimes we get busy and forget to say Thank You for all that He has done for us. Just like the nine lepers. We should always end our prayer time with God by saying "Thank You." Be like the one leper who came back to Jesus to say Thank You. He was not only healed, but he was made whole.
The most important thing to be thankful for is our salvation. Remember - we cannot save ourselves. Salvation is a free gift from God that we can receive because of what Jesus did for us on the cross …
