Luke 17:11-19 (NIV)
11Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the
border between Samaria and Galilee. 12As he was going into
a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood
at a distance 13and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus,
Master, have pity on us!"
14When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And
as they went, they were cleansed.
15One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud
voice. 16He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him—and he was
a Samaritan.
17Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18Was
no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" 19Then
he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well."
A man, writing at the post office desk, was approached by
an older fellow with
a post card in his hand. The old man said, "Sir, I'm
sorry to bother you but could you address this post card
for me? My arthritis is acting up today and I can't even
hold a pen."
"
Certainly sir," said the younger man, "I'd be glad
to." He wrote out the address and also agreed to write
a short message and sign the card for the man. Finally, the
younger man asked, "Now, is there anything else I
can do for you?"
The old fellow thought about it for a moment and said, "Yes,
at the end could you just add, 'PS: Please excuse the sloppy
hand-writing.'?
(Source: Monday Fodder)
OUCH!! Wouldn’t that hurt?
A silly story of ingratitude that is funny. Our lesson
this morning tells us a story that is really quite sad.
As Jesus travelled to Jerusalem, He stopped by a village
where ten lepers met Him. Luke tells us that the ten kept
their distance, as was the law. The only people lepers could
get close to were other lepers. From a distance, they called
out to Jesus.
“Have pity on us,” they cried.
Have pity on us—release us from this living death.
Release us from the horrible burden of illness and isolation.
Release us from the horror of leprosy.
Jesus heard their cry. He told them to show themselves
to the priest. Priests in those days were a kind of public
health inspector. On the rare occasion a leper was cured,
the first thing to be done was to have the cure confirmed
by a priest. After a ceremonial cleansing the person could
re-enter society.
So in telling them to go to the priest, Jesus was saying
that they were required to act on their faith. Doing so
would cure them. Jesus could have said, “You are cured,” but
instead He called upon them to trust and believe in His power.
In effect, He was saying, “Go as if you are cured
and that action of faith will heal you.”
All ten must have had tremendous faith because as they went
to see the priest they were cleansed. As they went—they
were cured.
Their trust and obedience is to be applauded. In Jesus they
saw the power to work a miracle. They didn’t quibble
with the hows and whys of doing it. The way it was done wasn’t
a problem. They just wanted it done.
So far so good. They all get high marks for obedience. But
at this point both a sad and a wonderful thing happens.
The sad thing is that nine of the ten never returned to
Jesus. They never said thankyou.
The wonderful thing is that one of the ten stopped in his
tracks and returned to Jesus, praising God. The one leper
came back to bow down before the Lord. He came back to give
thanks for the precious gift of his health.
One in ten came back.
That one was focused—not on the action of being cured
but on the One who caused the action—Jesus. The others
were so caught up in their healing they lost sight of where
the cure came from. They were told to go and they kept right
on going. Only one returned before going through the ceremonial
requirements. Only one returned to give thanks for receiving
his heart’s desire.
Ingratitude is such a simple and easy habit to develop.
It’s been said that the hardest arithmetic is counting
our blessings.
How easy it is to take all that God has given us for granted.
How easy it is to forget the pain and anguish of a problem
once it has been resolved.
How long is our list of wants and how short is our memory
once those wants have been satisfied.
Sometimes we are like the little boy at the birthday party.
In the middle of the table there was a delectable chocolate
cake. As his mouth watered, the little boy was told he
couldn’t
start with the cake—sandwiches came first. Dutifully
he got down the sandwiches.
Finally, it was time for desert. The hostess cut him a
piece and handed it to him. “What do you say,” she
prompted.
“
Got it,” he gleefully replied.
God has given us so much.
God has given us a relationship with Him through Jesus
Christ.
God has given us strength and comfort as we go through
trials.
God has given us the blessing of friends and family.
God has given us the fellowship of His people.
God has given us the gift of eternal life.
God has given us so much.
How often do we give thanks?
The one leper offers us some help as we seek to be more
appreciative. The thankful leper did two things that can
be instructive for us. First, he concentrated on God. Second,
he returned to God.
First, we need to concentrate on God.
Too often we concentrate on ourselves—our needs, our
wants, our desires. We receive a blessing and forget all
about God. We may not even see God in the blessing. Sometimes
we work very hard for something. We feel we have earned it.
God’s part isn’t even considered.
The Epistle of James tells us that every good and perfect
gift comes from God. Every good and perfect gift. Even gifts
we work to get.
The thankful leper concentrated on God from the outset.
His attention started with Christ and remained with the
Lord even as his cure was taking place. Receiving the gift
didn’t
distract him.
If every good and perfect gift comes from God then our minds
can be filled with God day after day. Every day brings
gifts from God. Not always big things. Not always blockbusters.
Most of the time the gift is quiet. Often it’s
just assumed that we should have it. But each new day
brings ample
reminders for us to focus on the giver of every good
and perfect gift.
So we need to recognize God’s involvement in our lives
as a constant presence—not just in the crises but
also in the small, natural things.
God gives us a blessing when our child tells us they love
us.
God gives us a blessing when the car starts in the morning.
God gives us a blessing when we sit down to a good meal.
God gives us a blessing when a prayer is answered—when
a concern we had amounts to nothing after all.
God is present with us and to us at all times. When we can
concentrate on remembering that as fact, it will help us
to be truly thankful for all the special little things in
life.
The second thing the leper did was return to Christ. It
isn’t
enough to mutter a quick thankyou over our shoulder to God
as we carry on. If we’re really grateful for what God
has done for us we need to take the time and effort to return
to God—to praise God for our blessing—and
do it time and time again. Each time we have personal
devotions
offers a time when we can put thanksgiving high on the
list. At least as high on the list as requests.
A legend is told about two angels who were sent to earth
to gather up people’s prayers. One had a basket
to collect the requests. The other had a basket for the
thanksgivings.
After a short time the one angel returned with a basket
overflowing with requests. Much later the second angel
arrived sad and
disheartened. He had searched everywhere for thanksgiving
and had returned with a basket less than half full.
Without thanksgiving we get into a habit of taking God for
granted. With thanksgiving we are always returning to God—always
coming back filled with love and appreciation—always
coming back for God’s sake, not our own.
The Lord has offered us many wonderful gifts. Some catch
our breath. Most we simply accept as a given. We have the
wonderful opportunity to give a gift back to God—the
gift of thanksgiving. Appreciating God and what God has done,
is doing and will do for us is a habit well worth cultivating.
It has the power to effect the way we see life and the way
we live it. It’s an attitude that can make all the
difference in this stressful, sometimes cynical world.
Jesus touched the lives of ten lepers.
One leper found thanksgiving a joy—it was an offering
to the Lord. He concentrated on God. He returned to God.
He showed the power of thanksgiving.
We began with the story of an old man who represented the
way the nine lepers thought about things. I close with
a little story that captures the thankful leper’s attitude.
The Rev. Alexander Whyte of Edinburgh was famous for his
personal prayers. He always found a reason to be thankful
to God. One Sunday morning the weather was horrendous—snow,
sleet, wind. It was terrible. A somewhat worse than normal
Scottish summer day. A member of the congregation thought
to himself, “Ah, the preacher will have nothing to
thank God for on a wretched morning like this.”
Whyte began his prayer, “Almighty God, we thank Thee—that
it is not always like this.”
(1564)
© The Rev. Dennis Cook, St. Timothy’s Presbyterian
Church, Ajax, ON, Canada
