INTRO: Two men were walking through a field one day when they spotted an enraged bull. Instantly they darted toward the nearest fence. The storming bull followed in hot pursuit, and it was soon apparent they wouldn’t make it. Terrified, the one shouted to the other, "Put up a prayer, John. We’re in for it!" John answered, "I can’t. I’ve never made a public prayer in my life." "But you must!" implored his companion. "The bull is catching up to us." "Alright," panted John, "I’ll say the only prayer I know, the one my father used to repeat at the table: ’0 Lord, for what we are about to receive, make us truly thankful’"
-The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings.
-There was once a legend about a man who found the barn where Satan kept his seed to be sown in the human heart. On finding the seeds of discouragement more numerous than the others, he learned that those seeds could grow almost anywhere. When Satan was questioned, he reluctantly admitted that there was one place he could never get them to thrive. "And where was that?" asked the man. Satan sadly replied, "In the heart of a grateful person."
-Having a thankful attitude is so important in our Christian walk, it helps us mature into what God wants us to become.
TITLE: Learning to Be Thankful
TEXT: Luke 17:11-19
Ingratitude denotes immaturity, either physical or spiritual.
-Take for example, children. They don’t appreciate what their parents do for them. Their concern is not what you did for me yesterday, but what are you doing for me now.
-As we mature physically and spiritually we need to learn to express our appreciation. Question: Why is it that we forget to be thankful?
-The word "thank" actually comes from the old German word thangle which means "to think". (It should be easy to understand then that thinking always precedes thanking.
Background. Jesus is traveling along the border of Samaria and Galilee where he encounters ten lepers. From these ten leapers we can learn some valuable lessons about being thankful.
I. We learn to be thankful when...we think about the fact of how desperate our situation was before we met Jesus. Vv. 11-12
A. The Lord met up with some lepers.
1. Leprosy was the most feared disease of its time. The closest emotional equivalent today would be to be told you have AIDS.
a. It first meant you had to face isolation. They were shut off from their family. They were shut off from their friends. They were shut off from God in the sense they could not enter the temple with the rest of the people.
-Lepers were swept away into isolated colonies and required that when anyone ventured too close to them they’d cry out "unclean, unclean."
b. Can you imagine the humiliation? Children pointing their fingers at you, either laughing or in fear.
-Can you imagine when people see you they turn away in distaste.
-Can you imagine having to rely upon the pity of the people in order to eat.
2. This was an especially humiliating disease because it was believed those who had this disease were suffering because of sin.
-They were thought to be unclean and incapable of having a right relationship with God.
-Leprosy was literally a total loss of life (you had been left to die). It was a disease where you would die a slow and horrible death.
B. How desperate was our situation before we met Christ.
1. I can remember in my life – moving out for the first time, breaking up with my first girlfriend, worrying about making grades, the ball team, being put into a house with people I hardly knew.
-It was not the desperation of a leper but as far as stability, my life was turned upside down.
2. It is through our uncertainty that God is there for us, waiting to have a divine meeting with us.
3. Sometimes we wonder: "What’s there to be thankful for?" In Plymouth, MA, the first settlers set aside a day of thanksgiving yet when you consider their hardships, you realize how easily they could have become bitter. After all, the Pilgrims made seven times more graves than homes in which to live. Nonetheless, in 1621, they set aside a day of thanksgiving. As one person wisely stated, "We do not always get what we ask from God, but we always have reason to thank him."
II. We learn to be thankful when...we think about the fact of what we have gained. Vv. 13-14
A. The lepers kept their distance as prescribed by law, but they sure didn’t be quiet.
1. The lepers’ only hope was Jesus, and they were crying out for help.
-They wanted to be healed and they were desperately crying out.
2. The Lord heard their cry.
B. The Lord instructs them to go show themselves to the priest.
1. In the Old Testament the law required that a person who was healed of leprosy was to go to the priest for inspection and proclamation that the person was healed.
2. By obediently making their way to the priest, the lepers were demonstrating that they had faith in the words of Jesus.
-I believe they were healed as they acted upon the word of God. (They believed.)
III. We learn to be thankful when...we think about the fact that what was done for us could not have been done by us. Vv. 14b-16
A. These lepers went to the priest and were declared cleansed. Upon being cleansed one of the lepers returned to Jesus and he was a Samaritan.
1. It appears there were different nationalities among these ten lepers. Jews and Samaritans would not normally live together but in their condition, who really cared.
-What difference does birth make if you are experiencing living death?
Thought: It was a Samaritan who returned to give thanks.
2. You would think all ten would have come back and given thanks, but it was only one.
-But notice what this one former leper did.
: He came back.
: He praised God in a loud voice, didn’t care who was around; this tremendous curse was broken.
: He threw himself at the Lord’s feet, thanking him.
-With the same loudness and intensity he cried out for mercy, he now glorified God.
Saying: Ron Hutchcraft says, "When we stop praising God, we start forgetting God. And when we forget the kind of God we have we start wandering and start getting hurt and we are much more likely to take matters into our own hands, to panic, to get impatient, to get discouraged or depressed. But the more you train yourself to be a praiser, the less mistakes you’re going to make and the less regrets you’re going to have.
-Remember God.
Alex Haley, the author of "Roots," had an unusual picture hanging on his office wall. It was a picture of a turtle on top of a fence post. When asked, "Why is that there?" Alex Haley answered, "Every time I write something significant, every time I read my words and think that they are wonderful, and begin to feel proud of myself, I look at the turtle on top of the fence post and remember he didn’t get there on his own. He had help."
Summary: We learn to be thankful when:
-We think about how desperate our situation was before we met Jesus.
-We think about the fact of what we have gained.
-We think about the fact that what was done for us could not have been done by us.
IV. We learn to be thankful when...we think about how much our gratitude grieves the heart of God. Vv. 17-18
A. Where were the other nine – weren’t all ten made clean?
1. What reasons do you think they had in not coming back to thank Jesus?
-I first have to go tell my family.
-I wasn’t really healed, maybe I didn’t have leprosy. -It was the priest who healed me.
-Before I thank Jesus, let’s see if the healing remains.
Thought: Whatever reason, it was wrong not to go and give thanks.
B. You can pick up some disappoint from Jesus—like, where are the other nine? 1. As Christians we need to be thankful in all that God does.
-If we’re not careful we can get down on everything.
Example. The story is told of two old friends who bumped into one another on the street one day. One of them looked forlorn, almost on the verge of tears. He friend asked, "What has the world done to you, my old friend?"
The sad fellow said, "Let me tell you. Three weeks ago, my great aunt whom I hardly knew passed away. I inherited almost 100 million dollars". His friend replied, "That’s a lot of money." The sad friend continued, "Then, two weeks ago, a cousin I never even knew died, and left me eighty-five thousand free and clear."
"Sounds like you’ve been blessed..." You don’t understand!" he interrupted. "Last week an uncle died and left me forty thousand dollars."
Now the other friend was really confused. "Then, why do you look so glum?" The sad friend replied, "This week—nothing!"
C. Look at the blessing of being thankful. Jesus says in v. 19, "Rise and go, your faith has made you well."
1. While all ten lepers had received physical healing, only this Samaritan had the faith for spiritual healing as well.
-By coming to Jesus, this man received something greater than mere physical healing, he was saved from his sins. Jesus says, "Your faith has made you well" or literally your faith has saved you.
-Warren Wiersbe: "The Samaritan’s nine friends had been declared clean by the priest, but he was declared saved by the Son of God."
2. Something in you changes when you’re thankful.
-You may or may not accept my belief that having a heart full of thanks will change you and change your outlook on life. But can I make this request of you? Try it out. For one week, whatever happens in your life, find something in that situation for which you can give thanks. You may have to look pretty hard, but look for something. It may be small, but find something to be thankful for each and every day. And try to find something different each day. Then, once you’ve found that thing to be thankful for, express your thanks to the person or persons who are responsible for that item of thanks. Don’t keep the thanks inside. Let it spill over the sides and run down into the saucer. Then, your attitude of gratitude will not only affect you and your outlook on life, but it will also affect the people around you.
Conclusion: Are you thankful?
