Don’t Just Say Thank You
Celebration Church, November 15, 2020
Tom Bartlett
OUTLINE
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.”
Luke 17:11–19 (ESV)
Don’t Just Say Thanks, Show Thanks By. . .
DEALING WITH THE DISEASE OF SIN WITHIN
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 and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” (Vs. 11-13)
• Every person has a sin issue – Leprosy in scripture is a picture of sin
• Sin separates us from God – Leprosy separated people
“For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:22–23 (ESV)
“Jesus, Master, have mercy on [me] us.” (Vs. 13)
RESPONDING OBEDIENTLY TO JESUS' WORDS
“When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed.” (Vs. 14)
• Obedience activates faith - “As they went they were cleansed”
• We must do what we “can do”, God will do what we “cannot do”
“Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One who is leading.” – Oswald Chamber
ACCEPTING THE COST OF FOLLOWING JESUS
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?” (Vs. 15-18)
• Speak up no matter the cost! - Leprosy typically affected the voice - “one of them. . . turned back, praising God”
• Praise God even if you’re the only one! – “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?”
LIVING-OUT A NEW JOURNEY OF POWERFUL FAITH
And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.” (Vs. 19)
• Let faith guide your life – “Rise and go your way”
• See nothing as impossible - “faith has made you well”
MANUSCRIPT
Good morning. It’s so good to be here in Wilkes again among this wonderful congregation. My family and I have such fond memories of you and the work we did together here. I’m so proud of pastor Bryan and the team and the desire to see this church change the culture of Wilkes County, a county that has a lot of spiritual-ness and churchiness to it, but so much sadness, loss and depression due to in my opinion the religious nature of the county. More about that in a moment.
I can remember years ago while working for Towne Carpets in Clearwater FL, I was a bible college student and working during the day selling carpet remnants. One day, a guy pulled over in front of the building I worked in which was a converted gas station with big roll up doors. He had a flat tire on his pickup truck. It was a little slow at work, so I went out to help him. He had a spare tire but no tools. I got tools to help him and got almost finished when I had to step back in the store. As I was helping him, I felt good about that fact. I love to help others. I can’t recall all the details, but I bet I felt sure he was thankful too. I mean think about it, you’re stuck, no tools and someone has the tools and does most of the work. Well, I stepped in and as I was headed back out to see his progress, I watched him as he finished up, threw my tools in the back of his truck and take off! ALL THE WARM FEELINGS WENT RIGHT OUT THE WINDOW!
I was expecting some gratitude, what I got was ripped off.
How would you feel about that if it was you?
Now, I know Wilkes County enough to say that if that happened here, shots may have been fired! LOL
Ever feel ripped off when trying to help someone? Ever feel taken advantage of, abused and used? Of course, you have, we all have.
Today marks the start of a new series, Don’t Just Say Thank You. But, if you’re gonna be ungrateful and steal my tools, at least say thanks as you speed off!!
The life of Jesus captured in small detail in the gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and they give us a small glimpse into the kind of person Jesus is and the work He did of showing us what God is like while He was on the planet in human form.
We will be looking at Luke 17 today where Luke gives us an account that shows the power of God, but the real story deals with the heart of man.
Luke is an understudy of Paul; he captures eye witness accounts from the women who experienced Jesus firsthand and from the Apostles.
[BTW – Luke also would write the book of Acts and by sheer volume of words would be the person who would write, by volume, the largest part of the NT. Paul would write half of the books of the NT but by sheer words, Luke writes more.]
He recalls an interesting encounter is Luke 17 where Jesus heals 10 men with the dreaded and incurable disease of leprosy. In Luke chapter 17, Jesus’ teaching abruptly changes from correction of the Pharisees, to warnings and preparations for the disciples. He will teach them through a miraculous happening but the miracle is not the focus of the teaching, the response of those who received it is the focus.
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.” Luke 17:11–19 (ESV)
Now, Jesus was on a journey toward Jerusalem. In just a few chapters he would be cleaning out the temple, all on His way to His death and glorious resurrection. Here He passes by Samaria on His way. There He finds 10 men living outside of the city, away from families, their livelihood, all they held dear. Life had been taken from them by the dreaded disease of leprosy leaving them helpless from the disease that would spread so easily to others. These were the untouchables, the outcasts, the useless of society, yet they recognized something about Jesus. The word had spread of all that Jesus did and that word even reached to these men. You might ask how? The same way you and are to change the world, word of mouth, person to person. In John 4 Jesus met a woman in Samaria at a well, who knows maybe these men are directly connected to Jesus’ through her story?
Now, I don’t know if you can imagine the plight of these men. I’m not sure I can either, but years ago when Dr. Chris and I visited India, we were taken to a village where people like this, all dying from dreaded diseases were sent to be cared for by people with tremendous compassion. JESUS MODELED THAT SAME COMPASSION ON THESE MEN.
Now, you’ll notice in the text that Jesus heals all of them but only one of them turns around to express his thanks. The rest grab His tools and throw them in the back of their pickup and hurry off as if to say, “that’s all I needed with you, I’m done with you, now back to my own life.”
At that point a mere “thank-you” wouldn’t even be enough. There are some things that are so profound that mere words cheapen what was done. Of these 10 lepers, one of them was so grateful, so profoundly changed that a cheap “thank-you” throw out wouldn’t suffice.
I wonder about me. Is a “Thanks God for all You’ve done for me” enough? What about you? Because if Jesus has radically changed you and saved you and redirected you, there must be more than mere words, there must be something that can easily be seen. We will surely show Him something!
HOW CAN WE SHOW OUR THANKS INSTEAD OF SIMPLY SAYING THANKS?
Don’t Just Say Thanks, Show Thanks By. . .
Let’s retrace the story of these 10 men and overlay it with our own experience.
If we’re going to understand what we are thankful for, we must start by dealing with the inner issue of sin and what God has truly done for us.
DEALING WITH THE DISEASE OF SIN WITHIN
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 and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” (Vs. 11-13)
Now these men were in a helpless situation. They had a disease with no human cure. The only way they could find remedy would be through a miracle. All the washing of their skin, all the attempt to cleanse themselves by taking herbs and potions, all the attempts to eradicate this deadly disease had failed and would fail. Hopelessness was theirs until the author of hope arrived.
Can you see the correlation between leprosy physically, and sin spiritually? We try to clean up our act by doing good things, but it doesn’t change the real issues. We become religious but have no real cleansing change.
For those who have tried to deal with the issue of sin on their own and failed, they then try other means of self-medicating to deal with the deepest issues within. That doesn’t fix the problem either, it only numbs it from time to time.
The only way to deal with it is through the power of God.
Jesus is the only one that can heal your sin-sick soul.
Here’s the reality,
• Every person has a sin issue – Leprosy in scripture is a picture of sin
You and I have the spiritual equivalent to OT leprosy, SIN!
UNTIL YOU DEAL WITH THAT, YOU CAN FAKE ALL THE PRAISE AND HONOR TO GOD, BUT DEEP DOWN YOU’LL NEVER BE THANKFUL, YOU’LL NEVER BE FREE!
The longing of your heart is to know and be known by others and your creator, yet. . .
• Sin separates us from God – Leprosy separated people
The true longing of those trapped with leprosy was restored relationships. Imagine not being able to hold your spouse, your daughter. Spiritually we’re separated from the One who loves us the most; God.
“For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:22–23 (ESV)
These men all recognized that it would take a miracle and they cry out for Jesus to have mercy.
“Jesus, Master, have mercy on [me] us.” (Vs. 13)
Have you ever done that? Ever said, “Lord, have mercy on me, save me from that which separates me from you, my sin?”
Once you do, you can respond obediently to Jesus’ words.
RESPONDING OBEDIENTLY TO JESUS' WORDS
“When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed.” (Vs. 14)
Now, what would have happened if these men heard the words of Jesus and said, “it is that easy?” “That’s too easy, no way, I’m not going to show anyone anything, heal me now!”
You’d say, “they’re foolish, that’s dumb,” and you’d be right. BUT how many times has God come to you and said, “do this or that,” and you’ve thought, “that’s too easy”, or “no way, I’m not doing it!”
How much have we missed out on because of our disobedience?
Now these men may have been familiar with the OT story of Naaman being healed by Elisha in 2 Kings 5. The man was told to go bathe 7 times. Naaman could have thought, “ridiculous”, but he didn’t, and he was healed.
Elisha sent a messenger to say to him,
“Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.” (2 Kings 5:5)
So, they do as Jesus said and they are healed. Here’s the point.
• Obedience activates faith - “As they went they were cleansed”
For many of us it takes time to believe what God says about forgiveness, or money, or impossible situations, yet as we go, as we take the steps, He’s told us, faith is activated and the power of God rushes in.
But we must understand that delayed obedience is still disobedience!
It’s not just what we do, it’s that we do. . .
• We must do what we “can do”, God will do what we “cannot do”
Can you see the partnership of faith? We partner with God to accomplish His plan. If we don’t do what we can do, as God has said, then we cannot expect to see what we cannot do.
It all comes down to trust.
“Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One who is leading.” – Oswald Chamber
We can see the allegiance growing here, the gratitude should be welling up, but in most people, they can only see what’s in it for them right here and now. Some see far further because surely, God has a lot more for us than a one-time blessing.
Those who see further show thanks by. . .
ACCEPTING THE COST OF FOLLOWING JESUS
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?” (Vs. 15-18)
Now notice the words here. “Was there no one found to return and give God praise except this foreigner?”
The Jews were to be a light to the world, but they turned their back on God. Now, the Jews run away with the blessing God gave them, while this outsider is truly changed and truly grateful.
Now, in a subtle way, Jesus reveals something of His own nature, He is God! Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”
So, this one person, the last one you’d expect, runs back to show thanks. He praises God with a loud voice. You know leprosy affected the voice. Where once he had little to none, now he’s using what he has to shout praise to God. It matters not who heard him, he was free of the dreaded disease!
Here’s the point,
• Speak up no matter the cost! - Leprosy typically affected the voice - “one of them. . . turned back, praising God”
How about your life. Been healed of the dreaded disease of sin? Forgiven by God, cleansed and saved? Are you ashamed of it or do you speak up for the one who rescued you?
What if you’re the only one in your work place, or school, or neighborhood? Speak up anyway!
• Praise God even if you’re the only one! – “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?”
In the about 9 years I served here in this church we baptized on average 50 people each year. I wonder how many of them are still praising God? I wonder how many can praise God, but won’t?
Maybe you’re one of them, where’s your heart?
Now, you might say, anyone can say praise to God but it may not matter. That’s the point of this message, say it and show it!
God has brought you from death to life, from the prison of sin to the freedom of His love. He’s given you a whole new reason to live; to help others experience what you have!
Show your thanks finally by. . .
LIVING-OUT A NEW JOUNRNEY OF POWERFUL FAITH
And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.” (Vs. 19)
“Go your way”? What way? Well, his life was confined to outside the city, away from relationships that meant so much. The whole world was now opened to this man. Every person that would see him would say the same thing. “Is that really you? I thought you had leprosy?”
In time, he would meet people that didn’t know him from before but that change would be the platform to share with them what God had done for him.
I know so many people who after encountering Jesus become unrecognizable to their old friends. “Is this really you? Are you the same person?” “ I’m changed and you can be too.”
Here’s point. . .
• Let faith guide your life – “Rise and go your way”
“Your way” is now influenced by what God has done in your life. Your story of what has happened is part of the way now.
Now, because of what Jesus has done, the healing of the most dreaded disease for these men; leprosy, and for us; sin, there’s nothing that will seem impossible any longer. God can do anything.
• See nothing as impossible - “faith has made you well”
“Made you well” is literally saved you. This man had a transformation. Once God has changed you and you are on a new path, you will now not be afraid to attempt even greater things for God.
ILLUSTRATION/CLOSE
