Merritt Song: 560 Let All Things Now Living Title: Thanksgiving
Scripture: Luke 17:17-19, Then Jesus asked, "Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" And He said unto him, “Arise, go your way: your faith has made you whole.”
Two men were walking through a field one day when they spotted a snorting bull. Instantly they ran toward the nearest fence. Storming bull followed in hot pursuit, and it became clear they wouldn't make it. Terrified, one man shouted, "Send up a prayer, John. We're in for it!" John called back, "I can't. I've never said a public prayer in my life!" "But you must!" implored his companion. "The bull is catching up to us." "All right," panted John, "I'll say the only prayer I know, the one my father used to repeat: 'O Lord, for what we are about to receive, make us truly thankful.'"
We think if we were one of the ten lepers, we’d be thankful for healing. Lepers were unwanted, unaccepted, outcast from society, so lepers traveled together. When ten lepers approach Jesus, ‘Master, have mercy on us!’ He responds. If Jesus maintained strict boundaries directed by Jewish system, He would NOT even speak to them! Yet Jesus says, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” He knows the only way they can be re-instated in society is be certified clean by a priest. Jesus knows they’ll be healed as they go! They obeyed Jesus without question, so these men were respectful, obedient, trusting, but only ONE was thankful.
Do you think he was the only one happy to be healed? A Sabbath school teacher asked, “Now, Johnny, tell me, do you say prayers before eating?” “Oh no sir,” Johnny replied, “We don’t have to; my mom is a good cook!” What excuses could other nine lepers have for not returning to thank Jesus? But He told us to go to priests; we're only doing what He said! What excuses do we make for not thanking God? I’m hurting so much because of my problems; why is He not helping me? God didn't do that for me, it was my hard work. We think we have nothing to thank God for. Little Jenny sat down to eat dinner with her family. She looked at the leftovers and said, “Hey, wait a minute! We thanked God for this last night!” Just because we thanked God once doesn’t mean we can’t thank Him again.
SONG: THANKFUL/ GIVE HIM THE GLORY
Romans 1:28, And because they thought it was worthless to acknowledge God, He allowed their own immoral minds to control them. Thankfulness affects our minds. A Scottish minister was known for uplifting prayers. One day weather was so gloomy a church member thought, "Surely preacher won't think of anything to thank God for on a wretched day like this." Much to his surprise, pastor prayed, "We thank You, God, that weather is not always like this!" Are ungrateful people happy? Samuel Leibowitz, criminal lawyer and judge, saved 78 men from electric chair. Not one ever bothered to thank him!
A prospective father-in-law asked, “Young man, can you support a family?” The surprised fiancé said, “Well no. I was just planning to support your daughter. The rest of you will have to fend for yourselves.” Notice Jesus asked about the rest of them, “Were not ten made clean? Where are the other nine?” No answer is given in scripture.
An author suggested Number One waited to see if the cure was real. Two said he’d see Jesus later. Three decided he never had leprosy and it was all in his head. Four said he would have gotten well, “I was already much improved." Five gave glory to priests, "Oh well, Jesus didn't really do much. Any rabbi could have done it." As soon as leper #6 saw he was healed, his thought was to return and give thanks. But then he said, “What do I have that is of any worth to give in return as an expression of my thanks? What can I do with my life that would honor God who healed me? I have no money. I’m not a good speaker. I’m not wise when it comes to religion. I’m really not useful to God at all.” Leper #7 was excited to rejoin society. When he was a leper, both those who stared and those who turned their eyes affected him deeply. Having been healed, he eagerly tried to get everyone’s approval.
But he discovered some people will always find reason to criticize, “So what if your leprosy is gone? You’re still not one of us. You’re always a freak, always be different.” Seeing himself only through eyes of bullies, unable to see himself through eyes of God Who cleansed him, he gave up. Leper #8 simply forgot to give thanks. We will skip number 9 for now. So what about the tenth leper who returned in gratitude? Luke has saved up the punch-line, ‘And he was Samaritan, a stranger, foreigner.’ A Samaritan! Once cast out of society for leprosy, but twice cast out because of his nationality! A doubly impure, scorned man, who Jews permanently kept out. Yet Jesus ministers to this man. God isn’t prejudiced. Plus He tells the Samaritan something He doesn’t tell the other nine, “Your faith has made you whole.”
SONG: WHERE THERE IS FAITH
Have we all been outsiders at some point in our lives? I think it’s nothing short of a miracle we survive peer pressure of high school. I never knew what would be ‘in’ and next day ‘out’ because of what was cool. All body changes that come during that age. Oh, you feel like a klutz, you act like a klutz; everyone else looks just perfect. You need faith that somehow, somewhere you will come out the other end. I had super-dorky thick rimmed glasses. Woe to anyone who looks different by injury or birth, stared at, teased, considered less of a person. Lepers looked ‘funny.’ Afflicted people. We have seen them. We are them. Teen suicides as result of bullying show failure to have respect for every person God created. Instead, people demand others look like, talk like or act like them. (paper cut out)
The death of each young person is a tragic loss. Those who bullied them to death are ones lacking wholeness because they’re too afraid to accept someone may be different from way they think they ought to be. We need to teach children no matter what others say, they are loved by God. If they’re teasing others, they need to consider what is missing that they need to hurt someone else.
Now we get back to Leper #9 who noticed all those healed were like him, Jews, all except one. He wondered why Jesus would bother healing a Samaritan. More he thought about it, more offended he became, and more he decided to prove only Jews were worthy. He became proud, bitter, miserable. We hear Jesus ask, “Where are the other nine?” He wanted healing to bring wholeness.
When we don't feel whole, we seek another person to block our pain of self doubt and incompleteness. Romantic love is fantasy solution to feelings of emptiness. In times of stress, emotional deprivation, we dream of joining with someone who will give us love we don't feel for ourselves, someone who will make us feel whole. When we grow up feeling unworthy, if we don't learn to accept ourselves, we are forever in search. Instead of loving that person, we love illusion to pump up our confidence. People whose early childhoods were insecure carry lingering sadness; none of us were product of perfect parents. When a person who feels half a person seeks completeness in another half person, love addiction results.
Jesus says to the one person who came back giving thanks, ‘Your faith has made you whole.’ Faith isn’t a set of beliefs, but confidence in God. Faith is having a Great Someone to rely on. Faith, strong like bamboo, but able to flex in a storm so it won’t break. Making people whole, destroying boundaries that separate races, restoring people, granting salvation, this is what Jesus does! Do you notice how wholeness comes after the tenth leper gives thanks? Faith and gratitude go together.
SONG: MY TRIBUTE
Today upon a bus, I saw a lovely maid with golden hair; I envied her cheer, and wished I were so fair; she rose to leave, I saw her hobble down the aisle; she had one foot and wore a crutch, but as she passed, a smile. Oh God, forgive me when I whine, I have two feet; the world is mine. I stopped to buy some food, the lad who served me had such charm; he radiated manners kind and warm; I said, "It's nice to deal with you, such courtesy to find"; he turned, "Oh, thank you sir." Then I saw he was blind. Oh, please forgive me when I whine, I have two eyes, the world is mine. I saw a child watching others play, “Why don't you join the others, dear?" He looked without a word, for he could not hear. Lord, forgive me when I whine, I have two ears, the world is mine. With feet to take me where I'd go; with eyes to see sunset’s glow, with ears to hear what I would know. I’m blessed indeed; world is mine; oh Lord, forgive me when I whine.
When the world wants to cast us out because we are not as society dictates, faith says, ‘No. Those are the world’s standards, not God’s standards. God left all of heaven and paid with His own life for me.’ Faith in God’s love reminds us to return to the One Who made us. Colossians 2:10, "And you are complete in Him, who is the head over every ruler and authority.” God made you complete in Christ. You are good enough, acceptable, awesome, wonderful and perfect in Christ. You are, not will be, not maybe, not if only, you are now in Jesus. We live in a society that tells us we need more than Jesus: more, more, more. How easy to buy into that thinking. We are vulnerable to world’s hollow illusion. Luke 12: 15, And Jesus said to them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consists not in abundance of things he possesses.
Carol decided she wanted to do something nice for her neighbor Mrs. Smith, so she baked a pie and carried it next door. When Mrs. Smith opened up her door, she was surprised. "For me? Oh, thank you so much! You just don't know how much I appreciate it! You are so thoughtful! Thank you!" Because Mrs. Smith liked the pie so much, Carol decided next week to bake her another one. When she took it over, Mrs. Smith said, "Thank you so much. You are so kind!" Carol took another pie the following week. Mrs. Smith simply replied, "Thanks." Carol took another pie the next week. Mrs. Smith responded, "You are a day late with that pie." The following week, Carol baked her another pie. This time neighbor said, "Try using a little more sugar and don't bake it quite as long. The crust has been a little hard lately. And I'd like cherry next time." Next week Carol was so busy, she was unable to bake. When Carol passed by her house on way to the store, Mrs. Smith looked out the window and noticed she wasn't carrying a pie. She ran to the door and yelled, "Where's my pie?!"
It's easy to get too used to our blessings. A father had radiation for throat cancer. Therapy damaged his taste buds. His inability to enjoy food made eating a dread. Doctors told him taste might return after treatments. Weeks passed, months. He forced his eating to stay alive. After eating flavorless food over a year, he forced the fork inside his mouth and discovered taste had returned. What most people would call a bland dinner became best meal he ever ate! Through losing his taste then regaining it, the man became thankful. You don’t have to lose something in order to be thankful. You can develop a “taste” for your blessings.
When trials and temptations come our way, no matter loneliness, fear, no friends or family, we know God is always there. I myself cannot see fully God’s love, but I want to more and more. Not that I value friends any less, in fact you are a gift to me from God. Thank you to all who comforted me in hard times, loved in the valleys, pray for me, loved me as I am, did not measure friendship simply by time I spend with you but love me whenever you see me with your kind words and hugs. You who sit quietly and pray for me in places where I do not see, and are God’s channel of blessing to me.
Can we be complete in Christ yet feel human heartaches? We must not seek what God can do for us, but God Himself. Only God can heal our broken hearts, but we must give Him all the pieces. God could heal our body, but if our heart is still full of disappointment, it will hurt if we choose to hold onto pain. We can roll our pain onto Him for Jesus already carried it to the cross. The one healed person who returned to Jesus returned to the One Who showed him God’s love. A tithe of lepers returned to praise God. Jesus gave out ten blessings, and one returned.
Leprosy caused the man’s brokenness. Made him feel out of control, desperate and ugly. Jesus saw the leper was shut off emotionally, afraid, angry, deeply sad. Jesus looked in the graveyard of his mind and set the leper free. Maybe we’re not at a point where we can give God thanks. Maybe we don’t realize our need to return to God. Jesus IS the ONLY Source of wholeness. When I left hospital, experts said my left arm would not return. My left hand was a cold, swollen claw and my left arm hung out of its joint. Today I lift my arm in praise to Jesus!
SONG: GOD’S GREAT