A Heart of Thanks

A Heart of Thanks

Luke 17:11-19

“Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” vs. 19

Drowning Your Sorrows

Have you ever had a totally lousy day? I read about a man who was sitting in a bar, looking at his drink. He stayed like that for half-an-hour. Then, a big trouble-making truck driver stepped up next to him, grabbed the drink from him, and gulped it down in one swallow. At that, the man burst into tears. The truck driver said, “Come on man, I was just joking. Here, I’ll buy you another drink. I just can’t stand to see a grown man crying.” “No, it’s not that.” The guy said, “Today day is the worst of my life. First, I overslept and was late to an important meeting. My boss was outrageous and he fired me. When I left the office, I discovered my car had been stolen, and the police said there was nothing they could do. I took a cab home, and as he drove off I realized I left my wallet in the back seat of the taxi. I thought it couldn’t get any worse, but when I walked into my house I found my wife in the arms of another man–and she told me to leave. So I stopped by a chemical store, and then came here. I’ve been sitting here thinking about taking my life…when you come in and drink all my poison!”

We have all had bad days. How we deal with our tough times, our bad days, the down times, can be hard to figure out.  Let’s look at a passage of Scripture where some guys are not accepted in their society because of a tough disease.  Let’s read Luke 17:11-19

Read Passage – Luke 17:11-19

¹¹ Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. ¹² As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance ¹³ and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” ¹⁴ When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.

¹⁵ One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. ¹⁶ He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. ¹⁷ Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? ¹⁸ Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” ¹⁹ Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

Set Apart

In this story we have 10 guys who have been dealt a bad lot in life.  We learn in verse 12:

“As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him.” vs. 12

They have a stigma and difficulty of being ostracized or unwanted. They have a communicable condition called leprosy.  In biblical times, leprosy was a terrible problem. The word was often used to describe a variety of skin conditions. 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. There is the miss conception that it causes your limbs to fall off.  Really it makes you numb and susceptible to disease and poor blood flow and as a result other diseases get in and cause your body not to work right and you end up losing things like your fingers. 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. In fact, as they walked in a public area they had to yell out and announce themselves so others knew they were there and could avoid them. One of the sad things about it is that people wouldn’t touch them and there is a loneliness and depression that sets in.  Really sad.

Ill. I feel bad when I stub my toe or have a cold. Can you imagine what it must have been like to live with something like this? Lonely, depressing, etc.

We All Want The Same Thing

So as Jesus is walking to Jerusalem and he passes a village and per protocol for lepers they call to him from a distance.  Verse 12:

“They stood at a distance…”  vs. 12

Interestingly enough, they may have looked a bit different from everyone else, and they may have had to been kept away from the general public, but on the inside, they were just like everyone else. Just like you and I. What did they want? The same thing we all want. They wanted to be healed, to feel better, to live a happy, normal, maybe even uneventful (as far as bad things go) life. They probably had some good days and probably lots of bad days but now they see Jesus passing by and they have heard about his miracles and they don’t miss the opportunity to call out to him.  It struck me that if we have a bad condition that maybe permanent, that it’s hard to have a good outlook on life.

The Attitude of Gratitude

This month we are celebrating Thanksgiving. Many people might think they don’t have anything to be grateful for. They are hurting and depressed and feel alone and tired. But let’s look a little closer at these lepers and what we can learn from them.

• A Call For Help

The first thing they do is to call out to Jesus…for mercy. Verse 13:

“They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”” vs. 13

There is an important message here. These men called out for help. Sometimes we can feel as if we have to go it alone, figure it out ourselves, or maybe even that we shouldn’t be asking for help. We are pretty good at that. Help is for those who really need it or maybe we just think it’s for everyone else.

Ex. Guys we are good at this, especially when it comes to directions, right? We can do it. We can figure it out.  I don’t need help.  I think there is some pretty cool things about modern technology but I wonder if there is a subtle message when it comes to GPS. Ever notice everyone one of them has a woman’s voice.  Guys, we’ve been had. Also, we have maps on the internet and we can go on look up directions without anyone ever knowing it and we don’t have to ask others for help.  We look like we knew it all along.

Asking is okay, it’s even good…and expected. God wants to hear from us.

Ex. I once knew a woman who would pray but she had a fast rule that she would never pray for something for herself.  She didn’t feel right about that.

In the Old Testament the prophet Isaiah is prophesying to the nation of Israel and he says in 41:10:

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10

God wants to help us and He wants us to let Him be our strength.  We are the ones who have convinced ourselves that we shouldn’t ask for help.  God says to ask Him.

• A Step of Faith

A second thing takes place.  Jesus could have said the word and they were healed.  He could have rubbed something on them and healed them.  But he doesn’t he gives them specific instructions. Verse 14:

^“When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.”” vs. 14

It was their culture that when you had a skin disease you went and showed yourself to the priest. They were to determine if you were contagious and infectious. So they had done this at one point in their life and guess what? They were rejected, cast out.  Now Jesus tells them something that must have sounded crazy to them.  What? Go back to the priest? Not that. But they needed to step out in faith, to put some action to their request.  It’s really ironic in some ways because it tells us that as they were going they were healed.  So get this, when they get to the priest they are already healed. This time, he will give them a clean bill of health. Sometimes God calls us to step out in faith, in ways that we can’t imagine or that sometime in our past we may have had to do and not had a good result.

There is story in the book of Joshua where the Israelites need to cross a river. It’s not the one in Exodus where they cross the Jordan but a different one.  In this story God instructs the Israelites to cross the river on dry land but in order for it to happen they need to step into the river first.  Joshua 3:15:

“Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing.” Joshua 3:15

God was working. He could stop the river. They couldn’t. We look and see what we can’t do and God looks and says trust me, step out in fiath and watch what I can do.

• Feeling Forgotten

I think in our story today we see something of God that we might not see a lot of other places in Scripture and that comes in verse 17:

^“ Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?” vs. 17

God is showing us that he cares about us and that he wants us to remember Him.  Notice that of all 10, only one came back. Sometimes we plead and beg and ask God for help. Our situations seem so desperate, so important, so big and then when God acts, when he responds and we are past the crisis, we forget to go back and thank Him.  That’s not a relationship, that is using again, unless they need you? How do you feel? Used, taken advantage of, etc. Get this, God has those feelings too. He wants us to be grateful and not forget Him.

Deut. 6 is a famous passage where the Israelites memorized a passage of Scripture that says to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind.” Interestingly a few verses later it says in verse 12:

“…be careful that you do not forget the Lord…” Deut. 6:12

Like us, God wants to be acknowledged and for us to remember Him in order to build our relationship with Him.

Ex. You help your children and they don’t come back and thank you.  Of course you help them, they are your kids. But isn’t really great when they come back and acknowledge that you did.

• Real Thanks Expressed

And finally, the one guy comes back and expresses his thanks to Jesus.  Verse 15:

“One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. ¹⁶ He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.” vs. 15

Now we are not sure but it seems that the passage is saying that the other 9 were Jews and only the Samaritan came back.  Could be but it doesn’t say for sure.  All we do know is that the one guy that most people probably thought wouldn’t come back and say thanks is the one that did. It’s important be grateful but it is just as important to express it.

Ex. Thank you notes. I was never taught to write thank you notes.  I struggle with this when I met Claudia because she was taught to write thank you notes.  She taught me and it was hard at first, but I see the importance of doing it.

David says in Psalm 118:

“You are my God, and I will praise you…” Psalm 118:28

Part of our gratefulness is in the expressing it.  It makes you feel good and it makes the person receiving  it feel great too.

The Healing Power of Thankfulness

That’s a key to the end of the story.  Being grateful, thankful, appreciative, bring a healing power with it.  Notice verse 19:

“Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” vs. 19

His faith healed him and his gratefulness was the crowning glory of that healing.

The Challenge: The ushers are passing out “Thank You” notes right now. Take one and consider just writing a thank you to someone; maybe for something someone has done for you, or something you forgot to thank someone for, or any other reason you can think of.  Give it them, send it to them, whatever.