Step Out and Thank You
(a Post Covid Message)
Text: Luke 17: 11-19
May 17, 2020
Introduction:
In biblical times, leprosy was a terrible problem. The word was often used to describe a variety of skin diseases, but doctors believe most of the people suffered with what we now call Hansen’s disease. (1841-1912 a physician who discovered causative bacterium technical term for leprosy.) It starts with a white patch of skin that becomes numb, so much so that the victims cannot even feel a needle piercing the spot. The patch begins to spread all over the body and often manifests itself on the face, so the disease is impossible to hide. It then begins to form spongy tumors on the face and, at the same time, attacks the internal organs as well. The nerve endings become numb so the victim cannot tell when something is hurting him, like fire burning his hand. The leprosy itself was not fatal, but more lepers died from other diseases they contracted because of their weakened condition. Lepers were called “the walking dead,” and were kicked out of their homes and villages and forced to live in colonies with other lepers. They couldn’t work or worship at the temple.
It is very interesting for me because as we read the story Jesus didn’t touched them, as he din in Matthew 8:3-4. One came to Jesus and begged for healing and Jesus touched him and sent him to the priest in Jerusalem for his healing to be certified according to the commandment of the Law of Moses and detailed in Leviticus 14. Let’s take a closer look at what happened here.
a. These ten lepers did not get close to Jesus. We understand why. The nature of their disease and their law prevented it.
b. They stood far off as was customary.
c. This is interesting: they did not ask for healing. They simply said, "Have mercy upon us."
d. Jesus did not go to them and touch them and heal them.
e. He did not sprinkle dirt on them; or water. He did not breathe on them. He did not touch them in any way.
f. Jesus did not speak a word of healing to them. He did not say, Be healed!
g. He simply said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests in Jerusalem." This was for the purpose of certifying their healing according to the commandment given by Moses.
The ten lepers knew that their physical condition was hopeless. No doctor, no priest, no pastor, could help them, only God could cure their Leprosy. Therefore, when they saw Jesus they cried out, "Have mercy on us."
Focus: The Step Out and Thank You Attitude.
Where going to focus on the attitude of the Samaritan leper and see what’s important in our lives today as we battled so many different attacks of Satan
I. Understand God’s Instructions for us.
All these ten had to do was, Go, show yourselves to the priests in Jerusalem. What is hard about that? How difficult can that be? Walk from here to Jerusalem, present yourself to the priests at the Temple, let them examine you and let them certify that you are indeed as free from leprosy as you claim. It’s a piece of cake! The only energy expended will be in what is required to walk from this spot to Jerusalem. Anyone could do it. Could you do it? For nine of the ten leper guys, it would be a “sumakay ka pa attitude”.. A walk in the park. No sweat. No problem. It would be an opportunity for them to visit the big city and walk among the crowds they had not walked among possibly for years. Nine of these Jewish lepers could do this. But wait!
Don’t forget there is a Samaritan among them. This fact adds a new dimension to this story. It complicates things. Seriously complicates things.
Jesus said to them all, Go, show yourselves to the priest! Nine of them could have heard that and instantly turned and began the walk to Jerusalem. But what about the Samaritan? He could unable to believe what he has just heard from Jesus.
He could have been dumb founded when he hears Jesus say, "Go, show yourself to the priest." He could have answered back saying, Who? Me? Show myself to the priest? Me? A Samaritan outcast? Go to Jerusalem and walk into the Temple court? You’ve got to be kidding! That’s ok for my Jewish buddies but not for me. I know what is written on the front gate. If I go to Jerusalem and walk inside the Temple Courtyard I’ll die on the spot.
This man who is already an outcast from society because of his leprosy is now a double outcast. He is an outcast because he is a leper. He is an outcast because he is a Samaritan. Unlike his nine Jewish friends he has no access to the priest in Jerusalem. But that’s where Jesus tells them to go.
I just want to use this verse though it has some hermeneutical approach here but I think it has something to do with the situation of the Samaritan leper. Maybe he understands the truth behind this verse. Matthew 11:30
We may find God’s Instruction so very difficult to understand, and hard to obey but one thing is lighter on this is the fact that Jesus knew we can do it.
II. Stepping Out in Faith
(cliché-proverb), "the longest journey begins with the first step."
God’s power is not released until you step out in faith.
It only takes one step. This outcast Samaritan concentrated upon the one thing he could do. He could go. Jesus had said, go. He could go. When he went it made the rest unimportant. He didn’t have to show himself to the priest. He was cleansed of his leprosy. He was healed. But he had to take that first step.
Faith will not always get for us what we want,
but it will get what God wants us to have -Vance Havner
Illus: A boy was once flying a kite & a passerby, looking up in the sky & not able to see the kite because of its height, asked him, "what are you doing?" flying my kite.' how do you know its there? You can’t see it. "I can fill the tug on the string." Perhaps we can’t see God, but we can fill the tug of conviction He puts in our hearts & we can go on in faith, believing His promise. - copied
That’s the way faith works. Faith is trusting and obeying God even if you don’t have any visible, physical evidence supporting your decision. This is what the Samaritan did. Jesus said, go. The Samaritan said I can do that.
Illus:
I AM VERY UGLY
SO DON’T TRY TO CONVINCE ME THAT
I AM A VERY BEAUTIFUL PERSON
BECAUSE AT THE END OF THE DAY
I HATE MYSELF IN EVERY SINGLE DAY
AND IM NOT GOING TO LIE TO MYSELF BY SAYING
THERE I S BEAUTY INSIDE OF ME THAT MATTERS
SO REST ASSURED I WILL REMIND MYSELF
THAT I AM WORTHLESS, TERRIBLE PERSON
AND NOTHING YOU SAY WILL MAKE ME BELIEVE
I STILL DESERVE LOVE
BECAUSE NO MATTER WHAT
I AM NOT A GOOD ENOUGH TO BE LOVED
AND I AM IN NO POSITION TO BELIEVE THAT
BEAUTY DOES EXIST WITHIN ME
BECAUSE WHENEVER I LOOK IN THE MIRROR, I ALWAYS THINK
AM I AS UGLY AS PEOPLE SAY
(COPIED)
(NOW READ BOTTOM UP)
--Don’t let your "leprosy" stop you.
--Don’t let what appears to be closed doors stop you.
--Don’t let what other people think about you. – stop you
--Stop saying, I don’t know how it will turn out.
You can’t know how it will turn out until you take the first step toward making something turn out. The Samaritan knew he could never set foot inside the Temple at Jerusalem but he knew he could set foot on the dirt that was right in front of him that would be his first step in obedience to the words of Jesus.
“Sometimes the hardest thing for us to do is take the first step. Turn. Go. Turning and going releases the power of healing.” -copied
It wasn’t until they stepped out in faith and obeyed Jesus, that they experienced His healing power. Jesus gave them the Word, they stepped out in faith and, BOOM! That’s when it happened. They didn’t stand there and say, “Well, after you heal me Jesus, then I’ll go show myself to the priest.”
In Faith, Do not say “what if…, I don’t think… maybe….but…. I can’t because…. No more excuses just Go! Don’t just stands or sit there GO! It will surprise you; delight you at the outcome that awaits your first step. Just feel the tug of conviction.
When faith goes to market, it always takes a basket.
“Faith is coming to the edge of all you can see and feel and taking one more step into the darkness–trusting that God will either catch you or teach you how to fly!” - copied
III. Expressing Your Gratitude
On the way to the priest, one of the guys looked at the other and said, Hey Jonard, your skin is clean!” Then he looked at his own hand, and the color and life returned. They began to look at each other and suddenly they realized they were healed. Can’t you see them jumping up and down hugging one another?
Nine of the men were content to receive the blessing of God, but only one of them cared enough to return to the source of the blessing to worship God. That’s so true today as well. God’s blessings are poured out on all people, not just His children. Jesus said God makes it rain on the just and unjust alike. But only a relatively few people are interested in having a personal relationship with God.
Have you found … you only come to God when you have a shopping list? Or maybe you use God like a heavenly 911 call? “Help, God I have an emergency, bail me out!”
God loves you and wants you to spend time with Him. He desires for you to worship and fellowship with Him. The key is to give thanks, not merely to feel thankful. I’m certain the other nine lepers were thankful about being cleansed. How could anyone not feel thankful after being healed of a deadly disease? But only one of the ten did the right thing by coming to Jesus and expressing thanksgiving. There is a tremendous difference between simply feeling gratitude and expressing gratitude.
With God, don’t just feel thankful: Give thanks!
(hindi pwede yung “alam na ng Dios yun… )
Thankfulness is so much more than a comparison of our own situation to someone else’s.
Thankfulness is so much more than having enough food to eat, a nice, warm home to live in, good health, or financial security, because each of those circumstances can be taken from us in an instant.
Thankfulness is a state of being and a way of life, and we usually fail to live in a state of thankfulness because we take it for granted. The leper also teaches us that thankfulness completes healing. Healing means to be made whole, and while all ten of the lepers found physical healing, only one found wholeness.
• I’m not suggesting that we thank God for crises or pain, but what I am suggesting is that we thank God for his continued faithfulness and presence in the midst of crises.
• I am suggesting that we thank God for the strength and growth that we experience during crises.
• I am suggesting that we thank God for the shower of mercy that soaks us during crises. Crisis situations don’t always turn out the way we want them to, and the pain that we experience, be it physical or emotional, is very real, but we can still find healing, and we can still find wholeness by maintaining a spirit of thankfulness.
Conclusion:
My friend, Jesus wants to do more than just clean you up; He wants to make you whole and complete. One of my favorite promises is found in Philippians 1:6, “He who began a good work in your will carry it on until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6) It’s a process.
Have you simply approached Jesus because you want eternal fire insurance, heheh… or are you continuing at His feet daily so He can make you whole? I don’t know why you came to church today, but I know why Jesus showed up here today, He wants to make you whole!
“Thank you Lord, for saving my soul. Thank you, Lord, for making me whole. Thank you, Lord, for giving to me, thy great salvation so rich and free!” (song)
Bless you always,
