"Worse Than Leprosy..." By Dr. E. Winson Butler

Introduction

I read recently of the story of the man who was betrayed by one he thought was his best friend. He went to him and asked,

"How could you do this to me? Who picked you up out of the gutter? Who gave you your first job? Who lent you money and bailed you out of jail!" His reply was, "You did, but what have you done for me lately?"

This is exactly the truth we all need to be confronted with today, especially if you say you are a Christian! i.e. We are a lot like 9 of the 10 men in Luke’s story.

If gratitude isn’t a part of our daily life, then we cannot be a whole person, family or Church!

An immigrant shopkeeper’s son came to him one day and complained, "Dad, how can you ever know what your profits are when you keep all your transactions in a cigar box & all your cash is in an old register?"

He replied, "Son, when I came to this country all I owned was the pants I was wearing. Now your sister is an art teacher, you are a CPA, your mother and I own a house, a car and this business. Add that all up & substract the pants and there is your profits!"

Question: when will we stop and examine all that God has done for us and admitt, "He sure has been good to us." But, how do we show it? You can answer that!

Luke’s story has four parts to it, let’s examine it together and discover something about oursleves!

Main Division

I. The Reception (11-12)

II. Their Request (13)

III. His Requirement (14)

III. The Returned (15-19)

Conclusion: The lesson we can learn from here is, Ingratitude is more deadly than leprosy. Nine were helped but only one was made whole!