Faith and Thanksgiving

Faith and Thanksgiving
Luke 17: 11 – 19.

I. Introduction.

When Shauna was seventeen years old, she was really looking forward to the end of the school year and the beginning of her summer vacation. Right before the school year ended, her parents asked her where she planned to work for the summer. There went the summer. Shauna thought long and hard about where to apply for her first job. She thought that since Steak and Ale was her favorite restaurant, she would apply to work at Steak and Ale. She got a job as a hostess, greeting the customers and showing them to their tables.

After a couple of weeks on the job, Shauna got her first look at the kitchen and the way things work behind the scenes at Steak and Ale. Once she saw the kitchen and learned how things work behind the scenes…She never ate at Steak and Ale again.

I like to tell this story to people who think working at the church is a wonderful thing. It is wonderful to work at the church, but things are not always godly and spiritual behind the scenes. Sometimes church people can be some of the meanest people you have ever been around.

I learned this the hard way in my first church as pastor. I was only 28 years old when I became the pastor. I knew that I loved Jesus and wanted to lead Jesus’ church. I knew how to manage the day-to-day and week-to-week church scheduling. But, I didn’t know how to officiate at a wedding or how to conduct a funeral. I learned how to do this on the job. I knew how to run business meetings and deacons’ meetings. But, I didn’t know how the true political processes of the church operate through emails and phone calls that happen after the meetings are over. I had always believed that church people are human beings capable of both the best and the worst of what it means to be human. But, I had never experienced the way people can act when they are angry at the pastor.

After about eighteen months, the honeymoon was over. The old divisions in the church resurfaced. No one was actually angry at me. They were angry at each other. But, I was caught in the middle.

If you have ever been in a divided church, you know that it consumes all your thoughts and all your energy. It was the only thing people talked about at church, the Post Office, the grocery store, the pharmacy… People called me on the phone to talk about the church. People came by my house to talk about the church. We could never get away from the conflict.

During this time, I had my thirtieth birthday. Several church members gave me gifts or cards with money for my birthday.

A couple of days after my birthday, I was sitting in my church office unable to get anything done. I was just too worried and stressed to focus my mind on work. So, I decided to take the afternoon off. I walked across the street to the parsonage and sat down to write thank you notes to the people who had sent me birthday gifts.

As I was writing those thank you notes, something remarkable happened. I stopped thinking about my problems and started thinking about my blessings. Perhaps this is why we sing the hymn “Count Your Many Blessings (name them one by one).” When we think about all the good things God has done for us, it gets harder and harder to feel sorry for ourselves. When we express thanksgiving to others, we get a better perspective on our problems.

Thanksgiving does not make our problems go away. It simply helps us to have a better perspective on blessings, problems, and even life itself.

One of the classic biblical stories about thanksgiving is the story of Jesus’ healing the ten lepers. All ten were healed, but only one returned to say “thank you” to Jesus.


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 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."(NIV)

At this point in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus has set his face toward Jerusalem. This is Luke’s way of telling us that Jesus knows where he is going and he knows the cross is waiting for him in Jerusalem. Jesus didn’t avoid the pain and suffering of the cross. He made a conscious decision to fulfill God’s will and plan of salvation for all of us.

On his way to Jerusalem, Jesus had to pass through Samaria. Samaria is the land of the Samaritans. You remember the Samaritans. This was the race of people most despised by the Jews. The Samaritans were the ones left behind in Judah, when the Babylonian Empire took the strongest and healthiest Jews into captivity. The weak and unhealthy were left in their homeland. Since the rest of the Jews were taken off to Babylon, these people intermarried with other races and other religions. This mixed race, mixed religion and mixed culture became known as the Samaritans.

The Jews did not like the Samaritans, because the Jews placed a high priority on purity. In the mind of the Jews, Samaritans were not pure. They had sullied the Jewish race, religion and culture by compromising and bringing foreigners into their land.

As Jesus was traveling along the border between Jewish territory and Samaritan territory, a small group of lepers called to him by name.

The way Luke tells the story makes a lot of sense. The Old Testament teaches us that Lepers were considered unclean. They could not mix and mingle with the rest of the population. Instead, they were required to live outside the city and shout “Unclean! Unclean!” if anyone came near them.

In this story, the Lepers did not shout “Unclean!” Rather, they shouted, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us.”



II. Obedient Faith.

In any other setting, I would interpret their words to mean, “Hey Buddy, can we have a couple of dollars to buy some food?” However, the fact that they used the name Jesus and referred to him as Master seems to suggest something else. Master indicates Jesus has the authority to do something no one else can do. He has authority to cast out demons, to inaugurate God’s Kingdom on earth AND to heal the sick.

Remarkably, Jesus didn’t DO anything. He didn’t mix spit and dirt into mud. He didn’t wave his hand over their leprous spots. He didn’t even announce, “You are healed.” Jesus surprised all of us by saying, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.”

Jesus’ words were the normal protocol for Jews with leprosy. The Old Testament prescribed the proper way for priests to treat leprosy. It was not something for the doctors. It was taken care of under the care of religious leaders. This was either because leprosy made the sick person ceremonially unclean, and only the priest could declare a person clean or unclean. Or, this was because many people associated leprosy with sin. Sin is a spiritual problem, therefore, it requires a spiritual solution.

It’s possible to interpret Jesus’ words as a rude and insensitive response to their suffering. “This is a priestly problem. Don’t bother me with priestly concerns.”

It’s also possible to interpret Jesus’ words as an act of healing. Again, Jesus didn’t do anything to make these men think Jesus had healed them. There was no mud and no waving of hands and no announcement. Instead, Jesus told them to step out in faith. It’s as if Jesus said, “Go see the priest. By the time you get there, you will be healed.”

What do you think would have happened if these men had never gone to the priest? Could they have remained right where they were and still receive the miraculous healing? I don’t think so. I believe Jesus is asking them to step out on faith. To do something that makes no sense in an earthly way. To risk looking like fools by asking the priests if anything had changed. In a word, Jesus asked them to obey.

There are two things we need to keep in mind when we talk about obedient faith. Many people would tell us that obedience is really just doing the right thing. It is NOT! Doing the right thing is a dangerous thing. When we tell people to go and do the right thing, we are teaching a false view of God. We are telling people that it is possible to earn God’s love and grace and direction in our lives. Obedient faith is not the same thing as doing the right thing. Obedient faith is first listening to Jesus. Then, doing what Jesus told you to do.

Outside of this biblical story, we see places where the disciples were obedient to Jesus. They preached the Gospel. They healed the sick. They cast out demons. These are good things to do. But, this was only obedient faith, because they were doing what Jesus told them to do. The same thing is true for these ten Lepers.

As Christians, we are not supposed to go out and do good deeds for others UNLESS and UNTIL we have spent time in the presence of Jesus. Spending time with Jesus will change your life. He offers you forgiveness of sins and the hope of eternal life in Heaven. But, Jesus also gives us a new kind of life on earth. He calls us to join him in his work of mission and ministry.

Obedient faith requires coming and going. Coming to Jesus… Going out to the world… If you only come to Jesus, your faith is not obedient. If you only go out to the world, your obedience does not contain faith.



III. Two Places Where People Are Equals.

Luke is such a good story teller. He has just told us a wonderful story about a miraculous healing. Ten Lepers came to Jesus, asking him to heal them. Jesus, in turn, asked them to take a risk of faith. I’m certain the Lepers had exhausted all possible cures. Jesus’ words were at least worth a shot. But, Jesus’ words were not like all the other cures. Jesus’ words worked.
On their way to the priests, all ten Lepers noticed that their conditions were healed. What would you do if you condition were healed?

There are some people who would go straight to work. After all, Lepers were not allowed to mix with the rest of the population. As long as they were sick, they could not work. They had been out of work for months. If they go back to work, they can show their bosses and their clients that things will get back to normal.

There are some people who would go straight home. Lepers were not allowed to live in the cities. As long as they were sick, they were required to live outside the city gates in Leper colonies. They have not kissed their wives for months. They have not seen their children as they have grown up and changed. Going home would be an emotional welcome, and it would feel really good.

There was one man who went back to Jesus. He knew from whence his healing had come. The doctors had not healed him. The priests had not healed him. Only Jesus had healed him. Jesus is the first person he wants to see, because he wants to say thank you.

This is where Luke’s ability as a story teller is apparent. He reserved one big detail until the end of the story. The only man to come back to say thank you was a Samaritan.

On one hand, it makes sense that this man was a Samaritan. The ten Lepers were living in isolation, outside the populated areas, on the border between Jewish and Samaritan territories. On the other hand, it doesn’t make sense. The way Luke tells the story, he leads us to assume the other nine Lepers were Jews. Jews hate Samaritans. Samaritans hate Jews. Why would this Samaritan live among Jews? Why would the Jews live with a Samaritan?

This is one of Luke’s points in telling the story. And most of us have skipped over it every time we read the story. There are only two places where it does not matter who you are. There are only two places where humans do not discriminate against race, gender, financial standing, social standing, etc… The first place is a Leper colony. There is only one requirement for a person to be admitted to a Leper colony. You have to have leprosy. If you are not sick, do not apply. If you are sick, then it doesn’t matter who you are. You can be male or female, Jew or Samaritan, rich or poor, high class or low class… It doesn’t matter.

Truthfully, we can say the same thing about any kind of human suffering. Suffering has an incredible way of bringing people together, regardless of their race and standing. Think about when hurricanes come to East Texas. When a hurricane comes, we do not look at the barriers that separate us. We are all human beings, facing the same set of circumstances. Or think about the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. On September 12, there were no Democrats and Republicans. We were all Americans, facing the same struggles.

There are only two places where all people are equals. First, we are all equals when we suffer. Second, we are all equals in the presence of Jesus.

Jesus did not discriminate in his healing. He did not skip over the one Samaritan in favor of the nine Jews. He did not heal the one Samaritan and let the Jews continue their futile attempts at healing with the priests. Jesus is the same for all people.



IV. Thanksgiving Is Praising God.

In verses 16 and 18, we see a connection between thanking Jesus and praising God. Luke tells us in verse 16 that the Samaritan came back to say thank you. Jesus tells us in verse 18 that the Samaritan thanked God. This connection is significant for at least two reasons.

First, Jesus is obviously claiming to be God. Jesus has the power to heal the sick. While it might be possible to say Jesus is a regular human being endued with a special power to heal sickness, that does not fit the context of this story. If Jesus were only a human with special powers over sickness, then Jesus is committing blasphemy here. If Jesus were only a human, he should have deflected the man’s praise and admonished him to give praise only to God. Since Jesus received his praise, it is apparent that Jesus and God are the same. In fact, Jesus goes a step farther by suggesting the man’s response is appropriate.

Second, thanking Jesus and praising God is the same thing.

Notice Jesus’ words to the healed man in Luke 17: 19, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” Literally, Jesus said, “You faith has saved you,” or “Your faith has made you whole.”

There is a difference between being healed and being made whole.

There is a difference between being healed and being saved.

All ten Lepers were healed by faith. They heard a word from Jesus and obeyed Jesus word. Obedience led to a blessing—they were healed.

Only one man returned to say thank you. And that was the only man who was made whole…


V. Conclusion.

There are two types of people represented in this story of healing. I am not going to make any further reference to the difference between Jews and Samaritans. The two types of people include the nine with superficial faith and the one with true faith.

Superficial faith is all about the blessings. What can Jesus do for me?

True faith is about praising God. The person with true faith receives blessings from God and always returns to say thank you.

Superficial faith receives God’s blessings and never goes back to Jesus. If we never go back to Jesus to say thank you, we will miss out on the greatest blessing of all.

Praising God leads us to the most blessed life possible.