My message today is based on our Gospel Lesson where Jesus says, Only One Returned.
Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?
In Raleigh, North Carolina there is a popular preacher who understands the value of expressing THANKS BE TO GOD. And he loves to sing. The problem is, he has a terrible singing voice (I can relate).
Nevertheless, Sunday after Sunday, he sings his heart out … and since he does not silence his microphone, he dominates the singing. One Sunday, the congregation was singing, and, as usual, the preacher was taking the lead.
“At this point,” the preacher later said, “I noticed a woman in the front pew had stopped singing and was staring at me. Naturally, I thought she was taken by the beauty of my singing, and so I sang all the more heartily. After Church she came up to me, shook my hand as she also shook her head and said, “Well, thank God you can preach!”
One day a woman was rushing home from a doctor’s appointment. And by the time she left the clinic she was running quite a bit behind schedule.
She still had to pick up her prescription, pick up the children from the baby-sitter, and get home and make supper. As she began to circle the busy Wal-Mart parking lot, looking for a space, the windows of heaven were opened as it says in Genesis, and a downpour began.
So, she began to pray as she turned down the row closest to the front door. “Lord, you know what kind of a day I’ve had, and there’s still an awful lot to do. Could you please grant me a parking space right away; oh…and close to the building so I don’t get soaked.”
The words weren’t even completely out of her mouth when she saw the backup lights of a car come on at the end of the row. It was the best space in the whole parking lot, right next to the handicap spots and straight out from the front door.
She made straight for it and as she pulled in, she said, “never mind God, something just opened up.”
Isn’t that the way it seems to be now days? You pray, “God I need you … right up until something happens” … and then it’s similar to the woman in the parking lot … “Oh, never mind, God, I can take it from here.”
Although we all chuckle at the illustration, the words “thank you” never seem to be said enough publicly or privately, to the One we call on so frequently to help us in our times of true need.
Our Gospel lesson said that as Jesus entered a village, ten men, all lepers, met him. They kept their distance, so they had to raise their voices as they called out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
There are a lot of people even today, including some Christians, who may have issues they need help with, but they stand back as they call out for mercy … and, it always seems like they call from a distance.
People need to constantly remind themselves that part of the Good News that we always talk about … is that God is accessible to you, no matter where you are.
Like the lepers, God will help you where you are, all you have to do is … come as you are …. directly to Him.
So many people say that they will come to church, and serve in various ongoing ministries … and then they start in with the “but” … I would like to come to church, BUT… I would like to help with that ministry, BUT…
A long time ago someone once said that everything before the BUT is nonsense; it is not meaningful, because what is important to the person is the excuse following the BUT, and not the proposed commitment that never seems to happen.
So, sure they may worship and participate at some point … but, only after they do this … or give up that, or when they stop living in sin, or when they change the way they are living.
If people wait until all that happens, they may never see the full effects of God in their lives.
The Bible said that Jesus, after taking a good look at the ten lepers, says this, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.”
So, the Lepers went, and while still on their way, they became clean, they were healed…
• Did they confess their sin, before they went, and then received their healing? Or,
• Did they clean-up, or change their lifestyle, before they went, and then received their healing?
NO … they didn’t do any of these things because there need simply wasn’t dependent on their capabilities. They were not responsible for the results … the miracle … was all God’s doing.
They weren’t sin conscious first, but they were Jesus conscious. They were aware of Jesus and His capabilities, not theirs.
After taking a good look at them, Jesus knew that He had their attention, and He simply told them to “Go”.
He didn’t say, never have I seen such great faith in all of Israel like yours; and He didn’t say, your faith has made you whole, be on your way!
He just said, “Go, and show yourselves to the Priests”. The priests, according to Jewish Law, were the only ones who could pronounce them clean, so Jesus gave this instruction in keeping with the Law.
Can you imagine the questions the priests asked when the lepers came to them healed!
We are told by James that “faith without works is dead”. Jesus wanted the Lepers to STEP OUT AND EXERCISE their faith in what He was capable of doing for them.
He wanted them to trust Him.
And with every step they took, they were one step closer to the miracle they were so desperate for … their healing.
God still asks the same of us today, He hasn’t changed His approach one bit. He still just says, trust me!
He still suggests that with every step we take in this life, we are one step closer to the miracle of eternal life through our faith in Jesus. God says trust me …
• Don’t look at your circumstance,
• Don’t look at your condition,
• Don’t look at your doctor’s prognoses,
• Don’t look at your test results.
At best, all those things are just circumstantial evidence the accuser is trying to use against you … to interfere with your relationship with Jesus Christ!
Don’t look at anything else … but God and what His word says about you, because He has the final word in every situation!
If you have a need, look to His Word! Even Jesus reminded the devil of the power of God’s word when He said … “it is written!”
There is power in God’s Word … He says in Psalm 118…
“I will not die but live …” Psalm 118:17
And then God said through Isaiah…
“I will go before you and will level the mountains…” Isaiah 45:2
Then, Hebrews 11 is an entire chapter that cites many examples of Bible hero’s faith, and what can be accomplished through faith.
Amazing things can and will happen, “When you believe what God’s word declares to you”.
Now back to our Gospel Lesson … the lepers, they went to show themselves to the Priests, and while still on their way, became clean … they were healed.
It doesn’t say, whether it was their first step, or their 100th step when they received their healing. But don’t you think that with every step they took, they were expecting to receive a miracle?
We know that God’s timing is always perfect, and sometimes it’s not easy to understand His perfection.
But His Word, the Bible, doesn’t say we have to always understand it … we are only to ACCEPT IT, and BELIEVE He will complete it … in our lives!
Every day as we exercise our faith, we can believe and trust that we are one day closer to our miracle … our Victory where all our needs will be met for an eternity.
All 10 of the lepers were made whole that day, it was a mass miracle, every one of them healed head to toe, just like they had never had anything at all wrong with them!
And we have no reason to believe that the priest did not pronounce every one of them clean, each one able to return back to their homes and back into society.
But the Bible says that one of them, when he realized that he was healed, turned around and came back, shouting his gratitude, and praising and glorifying God.
He kneeled at Jesus’ feet, he couldn’t thank him enough … even though he WAS a Samaritan … on outsider to the Jews.
Jesus then said, “Were not ten healed? Where are the nine? Can none be found to come back and give glory to God except this outsider?”
Then, he said to him, “Get up. On your way. Your faith has healed and saved you.”
Ten people that day received the benefits of God’s grace. Ten people were touched by the love of God, they were made whole again by becoming both legally and ceremonially clean.
But nine of them kept on going and never even looked back, these people seemed to puzzle Jesus when He asked, “Where are the nine?”
It seems as if they totally forgot who was responsible for the healing they had just experienced in their bodies.
Like the lady who needed the parking space, “Oh never mind, Lord, I won’t be needing You now.”
Apparently, the Lepers never thought of giving thanks to God for what had just happened, so … why didn’t they return to give thanks, or even just have a “thank you Jesus’’ thought as they kept going?
The bible doesn’t mention any kind of gratitude being offered up by the nine. Ingratitude … not being willing to say thank you … is a very common attitude by many people in our society. Perhaps you know this from some life experiences, when we really help someone, and they don’t even say thank you.
But here’s the thing … aren’t you glad for the grace God extends to us?
God continues to extend His Grace to us … even though we fail to say thank you for His blessing after blessing in our lives.
Furthermore, even when God knows how we’re going to act after we receive His Grace, He still offers it, because He loves us that much.
The one Samaritan leper chose to close the circle of God’s Grace the day of his cleansing. Instead of focusing on his illness, and what HE had done to become healed, He choose to acknowledge and worship God, who had set him free from his terminal illness.
And that act of gratitude completed his healing. As he worshiped, he was made whole. The nine were healed by the power of Christ, in compassion for their illness, and in answer to their calls for mercy; but the Samaritan was made whole by his faith. Christ distinguished him from the others.
The author of Hebrews put it this way…
“…without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Hebrews 11:6
And the Apostle Paul added…
“In love He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ … to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.” Ephesians 1:5-6
On the day of this miracle, even though the Samaritan was considered to be an outsider, he became part of the family of God. His faith and his effort to seek out Jesus, resulted in him receiving an eternal blessing.
God adopted him that day, and so the Samaritan became entitled to every benefit that was provided by Jesus at the cross.
He entered the “Kingdom of God” that day … somewhere the other nine may not ever go. It was no accident Jesus passed by, where the lepers were that day. He knew they were there, and He knew their need.
They didn’t get a lot of news back in those days, because of their condition, but apparently even they had heard of the saving power and miracles Jesus was capable of.
And how did they know you might ask? Probably because someone told them … perhaps someone gave God praise and was willing to thank Jesus for what He had done for them … even back then some 2,000 years ago.
But with no means of mass communication, the word still got out so even this band of lepers knew they could be helped, if they could just get to Jesus.
You could say that this miracle happened because someone took the time, and made the effort, to tell the Lepers about Jesus Christ, and what He could do for them.
How true it is, Jesus cannot help the helpless, the homeless and the hurting, if they don’t know about Him.
The Apostle Paul put it this way…
“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? … faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.”
Romans 10:14-15, 17
It’s up to us to tell them, every one of us. The man who came back and gave thanks, his life was changed forever because someone shared Jesus with him.
Have you shared the life-changing message of the gospel with anyone lately?
These are the last days. Think of the circle of people you know. Are You telling them about Jesus since you could be the only thing standing between them and eternal damnation?“… go … make disciples of all nations, baptizing them … teaching them …. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20
Jesus thought it was a pretty important thing to do, so much so, it was the last thing He instructed us to do before He ascended into heaven when He said in Matthew 28…
Make talking about Jesus one of your favorite things to do as you ponder and remember always that Jesus said, “I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Amen