Thanksgiving The Puzzlement of Jesus Luke 17:11-19 Pastor Barry Kerner
Sunday Text Sermon for November 22 2020
Thanksgiving
The Puzzlement of Jesus
Luke 17:11-19
Pastor Barry Kerner
To visit a leper colony is a disquieting experience. Leprosy is a skin disease that begins with white splotches and then eats away at the flesh and into the bones until various parts of the body are so decayed that they fall off. If left unchecked, it eventually leads to a horrible and painful death. I made my first visit to a leper colony outside of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh used to be calls Saigon. Several hundred people lived in this little community, isolated from the rest of the city. Almost everyone in the village suffered some disfigurement as a result of the dreaded disease. Some people were without hands, some without feet, some without ears, and some without a nose. While leprosy is rare in today’s world, it was common biblical times.
Leprosy has terrorized mankind since biblical times and was recorded as early as 600 BC in India, China, and Egypt. The phrase “leprosy” and semantic variants are mentioned 68 times in the Bible. In the Old Testament, the cases of leprosy likely involved a kind of infectious skin disease.
In biblical times, leprosy was viewed as a curse from God, often connected with sin. It was not a lethal disease, but neither did it seem to cease. Instead, it remained for years, causing the skin tissues to degenerate and disfiguring the body.
Let us read 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[a] 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 Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”
This is one of the most intriguing stories from the life and ministry of Jesus. It has to do with his healing of ten lepers. Jesus and his disciples were on their way to Jerusalem when they passed through a village where they encountered ten men with leprosy. As Jesus approached scripture tells us that they “stood afar off” and cried out to him, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.”
They stood far off because, according to Moses’ law, lepers were to be isolated from all social contacts. They were forbidden to come within six feet of a whole person; and, if the wind was blowing from their direction they were to stay fifty yards away. If a person unknowingly came too near them they were to shout a warning, “Unclean! Unclean!”
These men, mindful of the law of Moses, kept their distance and made their request known. Jesus gave an unusual response. He told them to go and show themselves to the priest. Once again, the law of Moses was specific. Before a person healed of leprosy could re-enter society they must submit to an examination by a priest and receive from him a health certificate saying they were cured.
Then they were free to return to their homes and a normal social life. In obedience to the Lord’s instructions these men turned to go to the priest. And, as they went, they were cleansed. This miracle, in contrast to most of Jesus’ healings, did not occur instantaneously. It came as they acted in obedience to his command.
One of them, who happened to be a Samaritan, turned back, fell at Jesus’ feet, and with a loud voice glorified God and gave thanks to Jesus for his healing.
Luke records the puzzlement of Jesus at this when he asks, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? None of those healed have returned to give glory to God except this one.” Then Jesus told the man to arise and go one his way because his faith had saved him. He had returned to thank the Lord for his physical healing and received something far greater in return — spiritual healing.
The failure of the other nine men to return and give thanks to God left Jesus perplexed. That they should take the blessings of God and never say “thank you” was unthinkable to him. He wanted to know where the others were. These ten lepers, I believe, are representative of most of us. And Jesus’ question, “Where are the nine?” is a question for all of us. We all have reason to be thankful to the Lord for his blessings and benefits. But, so few of us, perhaps no more than one in ten, take time to say “thank you” to him.
When we read this experience from the life of Jesus, most of us rather piously conclude that we would have been the one to return, giving thanks to God. But, taking a candid look at scripture we would probably have been one of the nine; so exuberant with the gift that we forgot the giver.
Someone has well said, “So far as thanksgiving is concerned the mass of people can be divided into two classes — those who take things for granted and those who take things with gratitude.”
The challenge of our Lord is that we keep an attitude of gratitude all our lives. Thanksgiving for the Christian should not be just one time a year during the season of Thanksgiving. It should be an attitude of the heart year round. To be thankful means that we admit that we have received more than we deserve. Gratitude comes from a sense of unworthiness.
As we think about the attitude of gratitude that should characterize all believers, I want us to use the acrostic, T-H-A-N-K-S, as a guide in our thinking about things for which we should be grateful. An acrostic is a word in which each letter represents another word. The use of the word T-H-A-N-K-S suggests six things for which we should be grateful.
T — Things
H — Helpers
A — Adversity
N — Now
K — Kindness
S — Salvation
First, we should be thankful for things. Things are not all important in life, but they are important. And, all of us, especially we Americans, have lots of things for which we should be grateful.
Years ago one of our astronauts described the planet earth from space as “an oasis in space.” If the earth is an oasis in space, the United States of America must be a paradise in a barren wasteland compared to the rest of the world.
It has been calculated that if you reduce the world’s population to a city of 1,000 inhabitants, 46 of those people would be Americans and the other 954 would represent the rest of the world’s population. Those 46 Americans would receive one half of the income of the city, and the other one-half would be divided among the remaining 954 people. The 46 Americans would have a life expectancy of 75 years, while the other 954 would live less than 40 years. The Americans would have 15 times as many possessions per person as all the rest of the people. And the Americans would eat 70 percent above the daily food requirements, while 80 percent of the rest of the people would never have what we call a good balanced meal.
The dogs and cats of American people have a better balanced diet than most people around the world. After a tour of the United States, a European was being interviewed on his impressions of our country. He had seen our gigantic cities with their skyscrapers towering into the heavens. He had inspected our great factories and seen their vast production. He had visited our great universities and seen our young people in the process of education. And when the reporter asked him what impressed him most he replied, “The size of the American garbage can.”
Our garbage cans have a tale to tell. The average American throws away ten times his average weight in rubbish every year. The average European throws away five times his weight. The average Israeli throws away about three and a half times his weight. But most of the rest of the people in the world don’t throw away anything. They need everything they have. They do not have the necessities of life much less the excesses of life. We do have lots of things. And we cannot contemplate the multitude of them without being keenly aware that we have much to give thanks for.
This was impressed upon me graphically years ago while in Vietnam to train childrens pastors. I was in a little church with plywood walls covered with black plastic, dirt floors, and a thatched roof, outside of the city of Saigon.
The preacher in the church was representative of his people. The only clothes he owned were those on his back. He had built his plywood hut with his own hands. He had none of the luxuries of life. The people sat on the floor of that little church while I sat on a crude homemade bench. The Vietnamese clapped in rhythm as they sang their favorite song, “Give me oil in my lamp, keep me burning.”
They sang in their native tongue and I sang in English. In the middle of the song the pastor stopped the congregation, turned and looked at me, and, with a smile on his face said to his people, “Even our American brother can sing, ‘God provides.’” And I thought, “Of all the people on this earth who ought to be able to sing, ‘God provides,’ it ought to be the people of America.” That’s why Jesus’ question so probes our heart. Will we take for granted the things we have? Will we recognize God as the source of every good and perfect gift? Or will we take him and them for granted?
A tourist was watching some women in Mexico washing their clothes at a spot where hot and cold springs bubble side by side. They’d boil their garments in the hot springs and rinse them in the cold. The tourist said to his guide, “I suppose the people here think Mother Nature is generous to them, do they not?” “No, senor,” was the reply, “just the opposite. They are grumbling because she does not supply the soap.” The world does not owe you, or me, anything. It does not owe us a good job, perpetual good health, ample food, or a long life. These are blessings, not rights, that we can lay claim to.
John Steinbeck once wrote to Adlai Stevenson, “If I wanted to destroy a nation I would give it too much and I would have it on its knees, miserable, greedy, and sick. That may be where America is right now.” We must not allow the tender plant of gratitude to go untended in our lives. We should thank God for things. We need to give thanks for then every day
Second, we should be thankful for helpers. Someone has pointed out that every great character has had either a great friend, a great mother, a great wife, or a great teacher.
We have all had people who have helped us. And they have helped us in a thousand ways — by speaking words of encouragement, by their prayers, by gifts, by sending cards, and by calling. So important has been the contribution of people to my life that I can honestly say, “I am what I am by the grace of God and the goodness of people who have helped me.”
Several years ago I attended the funeral service of a friend Pastor Michael Lumberger. Prior to the funeral service I reflected on the tremendous influence he had on my life. I remembered one of the last times we spoke. I had asked him where he had gotten his ordination. He pointed to heaven and said, “from God.” It struck me at that moment that a calling is ordained from God not from man. I recalled also the many other times he had spoken into my life with words of wisdom and encouragement.
As the Christians in Corinth helped the apostle Paul through their prayers as found in 2 Corinthians 1:11, so he had helped me. It is help like that that has sustained me through life and for which I am grateful. I realize now I have not said “thank you” nearly enough to people who have helped me. And I’m determined not to make that mistake again.
So, when people do nice things for me, I try to make it a point to express my gratitude in writing. Sometimes they tell me in advance it is not necessary for me to write them. But I do it anyway. I am determined that gratitude will not die in me, and the only way to keep it alive is to express it.
I don’t want to be one of the nine that neglected to give thanks to Jesus.
Third, we should be thankful for adversity. Somebody has said, “Travel broadens you and troubles deepen you.” Given my choice, I will take travel. But, as unpleasant as it may be, adversity is good for us.
- C. Penney, the great retailer, was once asked what the two greatest motivators were in his life. Without hesitation he said, “I can tell you in four words: Jesus Christ and adversity.” He went on to explain that adversity taught him never to give up, to always start over again, and to keep his faith strong.
Adversity in life is like temper in metal, it gives it strength. Metal that is tempered can be sharpened to an edge and made into a useful tool. There is no way to overcome adversity, no way around it. The only way out is through it. And when you go through it you discover that it is a hammer that beats out Christian character on the anvil of life. And, we discover, sometimes for the first time, God’s sustaining power.
Like Job, we don’t understand all of God’s ways, but even the Lord was not spared from suffering. I would not ask to go through a world without sorrow and suffering which increases sensitivity toward others and God. All of this is why we say with the apostle Paul that we glory in tribulation. We need to relish the moment we go through the fire.
Fourth, we should be thankful for now. We should not live our lives anchored to the past or apprehensive about the future. We should live them in appreciation and enjoyment of the present.
As Clovis Chappel said, “Today is all I need, all I can handle, and it may be all I have.” Time can’t be saved, only savored.
A long-time friend who was in fund raising said to me, “I don’t want to spend the rest of my life at this job. No matter how much I do, it’s never enough. The pressure is just too great.” One week later the small plane in which he was traveling crashed and he was killed instantly. When he said that to me, neither of us would have believed he had only seven days left to live. Don’t wait until you’re sixty-five to do your thing. Do it now and be grateful for today.
Robert J. Hastings said this beautifully in a little essay he wrote entitled, “The Station.” He wrote, “Tucked away in our subconscious is an idyllic vision. We see ourselves on a long trip that spans the continent. We’re traveling by train. Out the window we drink in the passing scene of cars on nearby highways, of children waving at a crossing, of cattle grazing on a distant hillside, or smoke pouring from a power plant, of row upon row of corn and wheat, of flatlands and valleys, of mountains and rolling hillsides, of city skylines and village halls. But uppermost in our minds is the final destination. On a certain day at a certain hour we will pull into the station. Bands will be playing and flags waving. Once we get there so many wonderful dreams will come true and the pieces of our lives will fit together like a complete jigsaw puzzle. How restless we pace the aisles, damning the minutes for loitering, waiting, waiting, waiting for the station. “When we reach the station, that will be it!” We deceive ourselves by telling ourselves I’ll be there “When I’m eighteen!” “When I buy my new 450-SL Mercedes Benz!” “When I put the last kid through college!” “When I have paid off the mortgage!” “When I get a promotion!” “When I reach the age of retirement, I will live happily ever after.”
Sooner or later we must realize there is no station, no one place to arrive at once and for all. The true joy of life is the trip. The station is only a dream. It constantly outdistances us. “Relish the moment” is a good motto, especially when coupled with Psalm 118:24 which tells us, “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”
It isn’t the burdens of today that drive men mad, it’s the regrets over yesterday and the fear of tomorrow. Regret and fear are twin thieves who rob us of today. So, stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles. Instead, climb more mountains, eat more ice cream, go barefoot more often, swim more rivers, watch more sunsets, laugh more, cry less. Life must be lived as we go along. The station will come soon enough. Be Kind to Everyone
Fifth, we ought to be thankful for kindness. People have been unusually kind to me in life. Only occasionally has someone been rude, cruel, or ugly. Even when I have made mistakes, when I have failed in my duty, they have still been kind to me; and for that I am grateful.
I am reminded that very few people go through life without having at least one knock down punch — a divorce, a rebellious child, an alcoholic spouse, an untimely death, a financial reversal, or a career failure. When things like that happen to people we know we should be quick to throw ropes, not rocks.
Jeff Ray, a long-time teacher at Southwestern Seminary, used to say to his students, “Young men, be kind to everyone, because everyone is having a hard time.” I’ve tried to remember that. We need to pray like the young girl, “Dear Lord, make all the bad people good and all the good people kind.”
Sixth, we should give thanks for salvation. Through Christ, God has provided what we all need most in life — a savior.
As someone has said, “If our greatest need had been information . . . God would have sent us an educator. If our greatest need had been technology . . . God would have sent us a scientist. If our greatest need had been money . . . God would have sent us an economist. If our greatest need had been pleasure . . . God would have sent us an entertainer. But our greatest need was forgiveness . . . So God sent us a savior.”
When I think of where I came from, of who I ran with and what I was exposed to, I am driven to my knees in gratitude to God for his salvation. Without it I would be no different from the drug pusher, the alcoholic, or the hardened criminal. And, it was all of grace. None of merit.
The Bible says that our righteousness is “as filthy rags.” The word for “rags” in scripture represents the clothing worn by a leper. As I said earlier, lepers were outcasts, untouchables. So, my righteousness is like the disease ridden rags worn by an outcast.
But, God, through Jesus Christ, claimed me and cleansed me and clothed me in his righteousness. Jesus’ perplexity at these lepers is a challenge to us.
We must not become so enamored with the gift that we forget the giver. We must not concentrate more on the result than on the one responsible. As Israel approached the Promised Land Moses warned them, “When thou has eaten and are full, beware lest thou forget the Lord your God who brought you out of bondage and into this land” (Deuteronomy 6:12).
The Lord has been good and we should be grateful. So, this thanksgiving don’t forget to remember. As the psalmist said in Psalm 90:2, “It is good to give thanks to the Lord.”.