Happy Thanksgiving
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Winston Churchill told the story of a young boy who had been playing on a pier with some of his friends. Suddenly, the boy fell into the water and it was immediately apparent that he did not know how to swim. A young soldier was standing near by and saw the incident and jumped in to save the boy from certain drowning. He was able to get him back onto dry ground and seeing that the parents were not there, he took him home and dropped him off.
A few days later, the soldier heard that the boys parents were looking for him. In their search for the soldier, the parents had involved their neighbors, and word spread through the region until the soldier had heard. When they finally met, the soldier began by telling the parents that the did not need to thank him. The father’s response, however, shocked the young man. “Thank you? We didn’t come to thank you. We’re looking for our sons hat. What did you do with the hat our son was wearing? Give us the hat back.”
I’m sure such a response would shock just about anyone. The audacity that father must have to be concerned about the boy’s hat when the man saved the boy’s life! Such ingratitude is not only shocking, but it can be infuriating. “No good deed goes unpunished.” It’s enough to make someone not want to do another favor again.
We live in a world in which people are more and more living with a sense of entitlement and less and less with a sense of gratitude. At least, it seems that way. But as we read this passage this morning, we see that most people have always been ungrateful.
I want us to see however the three lessons that we can garner from this text on ungratefulness. The first lesson is that we should come to Jesus with humility. The second is that we should listen to Jesus with faith. Finally, we should give thank Jesus with joy.
We should come to Jesus with humility
We should listen to Jesus with faith
We should give thanks to Jesus with joy
On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee.
And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance
and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.”
When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed.
Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice;
and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan.
Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?
Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”
And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”
We should come to Jesus with humility
We should come to Jesus with humility
The first lesson that we can glean from this passage is that we should come to Jesus with humility. Jesus was still on his way to Jerusalem, knowing that he was to be crucified, but it would appear that it wasn’t a straight shot. There were things to do and people to see and lessons to teach along the way. Thus, sometimes we see him going north rather than straight south like we may expect. This would be one of those times. He’s a bit more north than we’d have expected, on the border of Samaria and Galilee and as he is walking along, ten lepers come to find him.
But notice what Luke pointed out about the lepers.
And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance
Though Luke doesn’t explicitly give a story that Jesus had ever cleansed a leper, he did quote Jesus back in the seventh chapter about him telling John the Baptist’s disciples that they should tell him what they’ve witness: the blind see, the deaf hear, the lepers are cleansed. It is clear that Jesus had cleansed lepers. He certainly had in Matthew and Mark. These ten men most likely would have known that he had cleansed those who were like them, yet they did not presume upon him.
They stood at a distance from him. As they were, they were not lawfully or ritually clean enough to speak with him face to face. Though they came in expectancy that Jesus could heal them, they did not presume that he would heal them. They demanded nothing of him, but made their request known.
and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.”
Though, it is evident as to what their request truly was (they wanted to be healed of their leprosy), they simply sought mercy, leaving it Jesus’s choice as to how to show it. This is much the same as when Mary told the servants at the wedding to do as Jesus said. She entrusted the event itself to Jesus. So these servants entrusted themselves to Jesus’s decision as to how to show mercy. Anyone with a brain would know what they desired, but in humility the lepers stood apart from Jesus, and requested only mercy from his hand.
Beloved, we have been given permission to come to Jesus and to let our requests be made known. We are commanded even to bring those requests to God under the authority and right of Jesus. We can go with confidence to the throne in our time of need because we have come by way of the great high priest. But confidence does not mean haughtiness. We still must come in humility. We come not in confidence of our entitlement, but in confidence that we’ve come to the right place and the only One who can answer perfectly.
We should listen to Jesus in faith
We should listen to Jesus in faith
Which takes us to the second lesson to learn. First we come to Jesus in humility and secondly, we listen to Jesus in faith.
When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed.
The implication is that these men were still some distance away from Jesus. He didn’t go to them. He didn’t touch them this time. There was no spitting and rubbing mud in their wounds like he did in the eyes of a blind man. He just said go and show yourselves to the priests.
This was what was supposed to happen after the men had recovered from leprosy. It was part of the cleansing ritual of Leviticus. But Jesus told them to go before being cleansed—before being healed! Obviously, this would go against the norms. It would not have made a whole lot of sense. But more than that, imagine how cruel it would have been if nothing had happened.
These men were ostracized from society. They lived in a leper colony outside the town. They would not have been able to be with their families. They’d be alienated from friends. For Jesus to have given instruction like this would have been understood to mean that they would be healed. Imagine the heartbreak if they had not been healed. Imagine the fear that goes along anytime we act in faith. What if this doesn’t work? What if I misunderstood? What if the priest won’t come? What if I go through all this and get my hopes up and then have to go back to the same old pathetic life I was living before?
Yet, they went. Every single one. And they were healed. Every single one.
The writer of Hebrews wrote,
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
He then proceeds to tell of one man or woman after another and how their faith was not simply something internal, but an outward action. That word for assurance is hypostatis. It is a foundation, that which is stood upon. We stand on that which gives sure footing. The word “conviction” is the word pragmaton. It really means that matter or thing, as in doing the very thing. It is derived from the Greek word which means “to do/practice.” Faith is the sure-footing of things hoped for, the doing of the thing though we cannot see the result.
That’s what these ten men were about. And it is what we are to be about. We are to proceed to that very thing though we cannot yet see how things turn out. The reason though that we are able to proceed is because we have confidence, not in our perfect understanding or our perfect obedience, but in our perfect Master who has called upon us to act. And hopefully, when we see Jesus being faithful (and he always is), we rejoice in what he has done for us and through us and to us.
We should give thanks to Jesus with joy
We should give thanks to Jesus with joy
Which then leads to the third lesson. One: we should come to Jesus with humility. Two: we should listen to Jesus with faith. Three: we should give thanks to Jesus with joy.
Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice;
and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan.
Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?
Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”
And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”
What I find interested is that Luke spent more time writing about the man’s reaction to being healed than he did on the reason the man needed healing and how he received healing combined! That’s true not only in how many verses someone attributed to Luke’s writing, but actual words Luke used. Fifty-four words to describe the need and way, and 63 about his reaction.
There are three observations I want to make about his joyous thanksgiving.
It was swift. When he saw that he was healed, he turned back, praising God with a loud voice. Perhaps it was the situation that leant itself to this type of attitude, but it seems evident that this man was expecting something to happen. We often will ask for God in humility. We will listen to him in faith, but then we aren’t actually looking for the result.
It was surprising. Notice that Luke didn’t point out that one of the men was a Samaritan until after the healing and the giving of thanks. And when he does, he says, “Now he was a Samaritan.” You can hear the surprise music strike, Bahm Bahm Baaaahhhhmmm. A Samaritan bowed before a Jew? A Samaritan was thankful? A Samaritan could even praise God?
It was singular. The man came alone. Together, all the men had come seeking Jesus with humility. Together, all the men had left to listen to Jesus with faith. But only one returned to thank him with joy. To be thankful can be lonely. To seek to live a life of gratitude will put you outside the majority of people. I wonder if anyone asked him where he was going. I wonder if they tried to persuade him to go on to the priest as instructed. There’s always time for thanksgiving. And yet, how easy it is to forget to give thanks when it isn’t swift!
I find it interesting as well that he was told to go find the priests, and upon being made clean, he came and presented himself back to Jesus. He bowed before him in joyous thanks, not only as if Jesus were the High Priest, but as if he were God himself. Jesus picked up on this and asked, “Was no one found to return and give praise to God.”
Notice what happens as a result. Whereas the other nine were cleansed of their leprosy, Jesus had more to say to this Samaritan.
And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”
The word Jesus used for “has made you well,” is the word “sesoken;” it’s the perfect, active, indicative of the word “sozo,” to save or to deliver. Whereas the nine others believed the words of Jesus enough to do as said and so were healed of their leprosy, this Samaritan man was delivered from his sins because of his faith.
John wrote
Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son.
And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
Conclusion
Conclusion
This is what Kaitlyn and Christina have done and what we have celebrated today. We are joyously giving thanks to Jesus and the Father for their wonderful work of delivering them from their sins. They have put their faith in the very Son of God and have been given everlasting life.
And just as the healing of the lepers was an immediate healing, so this everlasting life began the moment you believed. It is not some future event to wait for, but one that started nearly two weeks ago now. And we are so happy to have you both as part of our family.
And as a family, we come to take of the Lord’s Supper together, inviting you both to join us for the first time as baptized believers.
communion
For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.