"Praising God for His Blessings"
Luke 17:11-19
A sermon for 5/21/23 – Seventh Sunday of Easter
Pastor John Bright
Harmony Church & Swansonville Methodist Church
Luke 17 “11 Now on the way to Jerusalem, Jesus was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was entering a village, ten men with leprosy met him. They stood at a distance, 13 raised their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” 14 When he saw them he said, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went along, they were cleansed. 15 Then one of them, when he saw he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. 16 He fell with his face to the ground at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. (Now he was a Samaritan.) 17 Then Jesus said, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Was no one found to turn back and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to the man, “Get up and go your way. Your faith has made you well.” New English Translation
Pause right there. Why are you listening to this? Do you want to become more like Jesus? The power of the Holy Spirit is available to you right now – right here! Do you want to become more like Jesus? It’s a question only you can answer.
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We live a much different world than what we just heard. We live in world of MRIs and EEGs. Today, my grandchildren can be cured with $10 worth of antibiotics from a bacterial infection that would have been fatal for my great grandparents. Over half of Americans take a daily multivitamin and 70% of folks over 71 years of age take one. The dietary supplements business is huge. In 2024, it’s expected to do $56 billion in sales. By comparison, in 2021 all of Major League Baseball had $9.54 billion in revenue.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/193637/franchise-value-of-major-league-baseball-teams-in-2010/
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/multivitamin/
https://www.statista.com/statistics/828481/total-dietary-supplements-market-size-in-the-us/
We are a health-conscious culture (until it comes to what we put in our mouths over and over, every day). So, the “medicine” of the Bible can seem strange. Leviticus 13 & 14 are detailed instructions for the control of skin diseases. The one that caused the greatest concern for folks was leprosy. The World Health Organization has been working for decades to reduce the impact of leprosy around the world. While new cases are decreasing, there are still thousands of people diagnosed with leprosy every year.
In the Old Testament, it was up to the priest to make the diagnosis: Leviticus 13:1-4 “1The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: 2 “When someone has a swelling or a scab or a bright spot on the skin of his body that may become a diseased infection, he must be brought to Aaron the priest or one of his sons, the priests. 3 The priest must then examine the infection on the skin of the body, and if the hair in the infection has turned white and the infection appears to be deeper than the skin of the body, then it is a diseased infection, so when the priest examines it he must pronounce the person unclean.”
Since there was no cure, the person with leprosy was isolated: Leviticus 13:45-46 “45 “As for the diseased person who has the infection, his clothes must be torn, the hair of his head must be unbound, he must cover his mustache, and he must call out ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ 46 The whole time he has the infection he will be continually unclean. He must live in isolation, and his place of residence must be outside the camp.”
In the Gospels, we find Jesus encountering people with leprosy. Many of our Bibles use the term “leper.” We try not to use words like that today because a person is not defined by their disease.
In Luke 17, Jesus is moving toward Jerusalem. It is outside of a village that 10 men with leprosy call out.
“11 Now on the way to Jerusalem, Jesus was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was entering a village, ten men with leprosy met him. They stood at a distance, 13 raised their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.”
These men are together because there is safety in numbers. Today, there are still leper colonies around the world. Mother Teresa worked with lepers in India when nobody else would do it. Still today, people will leave food and clothing for them outside the village – just like they did way back in Jesus’ day.
Those ten men knew who was coming – Jesus, The Traveling Healer. Does that sound strange? Remember, they did not know what we know. They didn’t understand the need for salvation like we do. They were looking for a restoration of their former way of life. Jesus gives them what they wanted. He then sends them to be examined by the priest in keeping with the directions of Leviticus 14. Only he could declare they were “clean” and able to return to homes and families and jobs.
14 When he saw them he said, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went along, they were cleansed. 15 Then one of them, when he saw he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. 16 He fell with his face to the ground at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. (Now he was a Samaritan.)”
As the men leave, the leprosy leaves their bodies. One comes back with loud praises. What a wonderful example for us! In James 1:17 we read that every good and perfect gift is from above. Can we all be grateful and admit that God is the author of all healing?
If you have ever been healed – anytime – of anything – will you praise God with a loud voice? Will you? OK – go ahead and do it right now!
Thanks, I was not sure that I could get you folks to act like the Samaritan. 😊
Now, there are some Believers who only trust the healing that comes through faith. They like to focus on the last phrase of v. 19 “Your faith has made you well.” Most of us have know somebody that received a miraculous healing, but we don’t expect it for everyone today. I think most of you already know what I believe – we should not rely on faith healing to the exclusion of all other medicine. I will pray over a sick child but also give the $10 worth of antibiotics. For me, it’s not either/or – rather it’s both/and.
That’s why we need medical professionals who learn and train - usually for many years. These are the folks that have put up with us when we are at our worst. Not sure about you folks, but I am not much fun to be around when I don’t feel good.
That makes me think back to time my maternal grandmother, Grandma Ruth, spent in the nursing home. At the end of her life, she lived with my parents. When I met Lynn, I was living in her house. Eventually, she went to a nursing home for 3 months. At that time, she was very abusive and nasty to the nurses, my mother, and everyone. Mom would cry and apologize to the nurses. They would all tell her, “It’s okay. That person is not the real Ruth.” Hearing that helped my mother. Many of those nurses showed up at her funeral.
During those months, we prayed for Grandma Ruth to be healed. She was – at death. That’s when her spirit was released from a frail, diseased body. She received the ultimate healing from God because she had accepted the free gift of salvation almost 75 years before she died. We also prayed for the doctors and nurses and therapists that brought her comfort in those last months.
Every day is a good day to thank health care professionals. Last week was National Nursing Home Week – very busy for Lynn (my wife) who is the Activities Director at a nursing home.
Do you know how to tell if you are a senior citizen? You have more doctors on speed dial than family and friends. 😊
The older you get… the more aches and pains you have to live with every day… it can get harder and harder to give God praise. Jesus wanted to know about the ones who did not return to give praise:
“17 Then Jesus said, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Was no one found to turn back and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to the man, “Get up and go your way. Your faith has made you well.”
Giving praise is so important as we read in Luke’s account of the Triumphal Entry to Jerusalem: Luke 19:37-40 “37 As he approached the road leading down from the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen: 38 “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39 But some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if they keep silent, the very stones will cry out!”
If you find it hard to praise God for your present circumstances – bad health, worries and fears, disappointment, etc. – take some time to read the Psalms. Here’s some information:
“One common theme in the book of Psalms is praise to God. Many individual psalms were written with the primary purpose of praising God. These are properly called psalms of praise. Psalm 150 is a short psalm of praise. It begins and ends with the Hebrew word hallelujah and contains the word praise thirteen times in the English translation as it gives instructions about musical instruments and dancing as ways to praise the Lord.
Even when the psalmists expressed fear, sorrow, doubt, or anger in their songs, they often ended the laments with words of praise. Psalm 13 expresses dismay at the speaker’s suffering at the hands of an enemy, but it ends with these words: “But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing the Lord’s praise, for he has been good to me” (verses 5–6).
The psalms of praise extol the virtue and power of the Lord. The God of Israel is praised for His handiwork in nature (Psalm 19:1; 89:5; 148:3), His deliverance of His people (Psalm 18:10; 111:9), and His wonderful attributes, such as lovingkindness and patience (Psalm 89:13–14; 130:7).
Psalm 147 is a good example of a psalm of praise. In this psalm, which also begins and ends with the Hebrew word hallelujah, the singer expresses praise to God for the following reasons:
• The Lord preserves Israel (verse 2)
• He heals the brokenhearted (verse 3)
• He possesses great wisdom and power, as seen in creation (verses 4–5)
• He metes out justice (verse 6)
• He sends rain to sustain His creatures (verses 8–9)
• He protects Jerusalem and grants His people peace (verses 13–14)
• He controls the weather and the seasons (verses 15–18)
• He has revealed His Word to Israel and blessed them above all other nations (verses 19–20).
https://www.gotquestions.org/psalms-of-praise.html
Can you look beyond your present circumstances and praise the Lord?
Where have you seen the Lord’s hand at work?
When did He offer you salvation?
How many times has the Lord blessed you?
We all have reasons to praise God! Amen.
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