Lathem Postell: Before Thanksgiving. As we get started this morning, I'm gonna go ahead and invite us to turn to our scripture passage for today. It comes to us if you've got your Bibles, in Luke chapter 17. So go ahead and turn there. We're going to read a portion together, verses 11 through 19.
So let us join together as we listen to and read God's word, Hear this reading from the gospel of Luke, which tells us this, Now, on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, 10 men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, Jesus, Master, have pity on us. When he saw them, he said, go show yourselves to the priests. And as they went, they were cleansed.
One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him, and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, were not all 10 cleansed? Where are the other 9? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?
Then he said to him, rise and go. Your faith has made you well. Will you pray with me? Loving and gracious God, we do give you thanks this day for all of our many blessings, and for this time that you have given us, this Sabbath by which we might rest, and this worship by which we might come closer to you, would work in our hearts, mold us into your image, that we might go forth and share it with the world. For it's in Christ's name that we pray.
Amen. Amen. So there was a 4 year old boy who was asked to give the blessing before Thanksgiving supper. And so the family kind of prepared themselves and waited, and and they all bowed as the boy began. Like most little children at that age, he began by giving thanks for his family, naming each of them by name, going slowly through all of them.
Then he moved from family and began to thank God for the food. He gave thanks for the turkey, the dressing, the mashed potatoes, the pies, the cakes, and even, yes, the Cool Whip, Which if your house is like mine, it has to be Cool Whip, not whipped cream. Right? He gave thanks for that. And then he paused and everyone waited and waited and waited and waited.
And then after this long silence, the young boy looked up at his mom and asked, if I thank God for the broccoli, do you think he'll know I'm lying? Right? We're we're getting ready for Thanksgiving, that some of you may have already had a few celebrations around that. It's time for us to give thanks, even as we kind of hold back as best we can the the dam that is Christmas and Advent. Right?
It's coming. If you walk into Target or Hobby Lobby, you you see that we've already failed at our task. I'm a little bit of a curmudgeon in that way. I don't like to get to Christmas without going through Thanksgiving. There's there's something to this practice, of giving thanks that I don't want us to miss.
I'm excited about Christmas as well. But but I don't want us to miss what we're gonna do this week. And I say that because I believe, and I think the evidence shows this, that that we are some of, if not the most blessed people in human history. When you when you actually go through and and look at what Our lives aren't easy. I'm not trying to say that.
But when you look at what what people have dealt with throughout the course of history, we are very blessed. Even in today's world, right? In a world that's almost more blessed than any other time in human history, we are the most blessed of those. We need not forget that. In a world in which many live in lands of poverty and want, we live in a world where for the most part our needs are met.
In a world where there are people who live in fear for their lives, we live in relative peace and security. In a world where there's many that are on the edge of starvation, our greatest fear this week is not if we won't have enough, but if we'll have too much. Right? We're fearful we might over indulge. Yes.
We are blessed beyond measure. And those are just a few of them. Right? I don't ever want us, I don't want you to miss an opportunity to thank God for everything we've been given, because we've been given far more than we ever deserved. And in our scripture for today, I think we look and we see the power of giving thanks.
And Jesus is reminding us that if we want to truly follow Him, then we need to have a heart and spirit of gratitude. So here, as we get to the story, Luke chapter 17, Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem. He travels through Samaria and Galilee, a route he had probably traveled before. He goes through Samaria, close to, kind of, close relatives and bitter enemies that are the Samaritans. Right?
You've heard the parable of the Good Samaritan. We know that there's history and there's baggage there. And so, it tells us that Jesus is going through this area of Samaria and Galilee and gets to a certain village, where he is confronted by 10 men who have contracted leprosy. From afar, they cry out to Jesus. Jesus, Master, have mercy, have pity on us.
And to this point in the story, we're just a few verses in here to to chapter 17. Everything's kind of going according to how we would expect it to. Jesus is traveling, something He's done, quite a bit. People hear, He comes to town, and so they go and they try to meet Him. Some of them, not here, but in in some stories, they try to touch Him, they try to get to him in any way that they can.
Everything to this point in time is how it should be. But then something special happens. The thing that's special is that Jesus actually listens. Now, we know the heart and character of Jesus, so it's not kind of that strange to us. But if you're reading this from a 1st century mindset, this is incredible.
Lepers were the outcasts of society. It was an incurable disease, leprosy was. Now, context matters. Right? Leprosy today for us is different than what it would have been for them.
When we think of leprosy, we have kind of a specific thing in mind, and that probably would be included in in their definition. But leprosy was was more than just one disease. Leprosy was almost any physical ailment that a person received. So, an ailment that could be seen visually that didn't have a cure. It's kind of this catch all term for these things that they didn't really understand, but that they knew were potentially contagious and would affect those in in the village or in the society.
This is leprosy. And so back in Jesus's time, it was basically a death sentence to contract leprosy. You you were sent out from society. There there were laws about it in Leviticus. If you go and read I think it's chapter 34, but don't quote me on that.
But but somewhere in Leviticus, it tells you the the requirements that would be, had. That you had to go and separate yourself and couldn't be a part of the larger culture. And so, in essence, they they were ignored. They were cast aside. They were cast out.
They were forgotten. Nobody paid attention to the lepers. To associate with them was not to associate with the lowest of society. It It was actually to associate with those who were beneath society. It didn't get lower than the lepers.
Even family and friends cut ties with you, because associating with you meant they would be ostracized as well. It was not a good thing to have leprosy. And yet, miraculously, the first miracle in the story, Jesus listens. I'd like to think that this probably wasn't the first time someone that these these groups had had someone come through town and they cried out to them hoping to be healed. Jesus was was one of 1.
There wasn't another Jesus. But there were lots of rabbis, lots of teachers, lots of healers, miracle workers that would travel from place to place. And so, they had probably cried out before, please heal us. But knowing the culture, this probably was the first time someone listened. Jesus paid attention to those that were on the back burner.
And so they cry out, Jesus, master, have pity on us. And Jesus' answer is surprising. He says, go to the priests. He doesn't heal them on the spot. He doesn't offer some prayer.
He just says, Go to the priests. And I think this is because Jesus knew the law. He knew the words that I talked about in Leviticus. He knew the mandatory quarantine requirements. And he also knew better than we did, that if these people, these lepers were gonna be healed and brought back into society, that they were gonna need to be special sacrifices that the priests conducted to prove and show that they were reconciled and back in the fold.
Jesus didn't want to just heal them from their physical ailments. He wanted to heal them from their social ones, as well. He wanted them to have a full life, full salvation, we might call it in the Wesleyan tradition. And so in just a few short words, go to the priests. Jesus is answering their request.
All of this though is happening to get us to the crux of our story. What we're talking about here this morning. You see, there's 10 lepers in the story. 10 men. 10 of them ailing.
10 of them sick. 10 of them cast out from society. 10 of them forgotten. And there's 10 of them that are healed. But the crux of the story is that only one was thankful.
A Samaritan of all people. The enemy of the Israelites. An enemy of Jesus and his people. The crux of the story is 10 lepers were healed, and only 1 was thankful. And reading it so many years later, we we have the benefit of hindsight.
Right? We get to put ourselves up on a pedestal and think good about ourselves. To me and to you, this seems ludicrous. Here are these people cast out by everyone. People who had no hope, who are now a part of society, who were exiled and were brought back into the fold, put in that situation, wouldn't you wanna go and and thank the man who did this for you?
Wouldn't you wanna go and and see the man who just by his very words by saying, go and see the priest had healed you? Some of them who had perhaps been sick for for years, if not decades, maybe their whole life. Wouldn't you be grateful for what God had done? Well, I think we shouldn't be so quick to judge. It seems easy when we look at their stories, but how often do we relish in our lives the blessing that God gives us without acknowledging the one who gives the blessings?
I read somewhere, as I was preparing this week, a list of 9 reasons, maybe some some hypothetical reasons why the the lepers didn't come back to Jesus. Now this isn't in scripture. Luke doesn't give us these reasons. He actually doesn't tell us what happens here. Right?
But but I think this list can begin to show us a little bit about ourselves and how we might have responded if put in the same situation. Nine reasons that maybe they didn't come back to Jesus. Well, the first, one man wanted to see if the cure was real. 1 man wanted to see if the blessing would last. 1 decided he would go see Jesus, but he was too busy right now.
He'd been healed. He had so many things to do. 1 had convinced himself, well, he didn't even really have leprosy in the first place. 1 was convinced that if he had just waited, he would have been healed anyway. One went and didn't give thanks to Jesus, but gave thanks to the priests who had performed the sacrifices.
One said, well, if you think about it, Jesus didn't really do anything. I'm the one that went to the priests. One said, well, sure, he healed me, but any rabbi could have done it. He's just the first one that answered. And the last one said, well, I was already getting better.
You see, 10% of the 10 responded with gratitude. And if you'll ask yourself the hard question, how often do we truly give God thanks? May maybe 10% of the time? I think their response actually shows a lot about ourselves, a lot about the human condition. What tends to happen because we're people is that the more we have, the less gratitude we feel.
There's something about abundance that poisons the heart. It's why I never want us to forget Thanksgiving. Right? Because it's a season of abundance. For many of us in this room, not not everyone, but for many of us in this room, maybe we've already done it or later this week, we're gonna have a table full of food.
We're gonna have more than we need. We're gonna make jokes about eating so much that we're gonna need to buy bigger pants. Right? That's just the reality of Thanksgiving. I I don't want us to lose what gratitude can do for us.
If you don't believe me that the more we have, the less grateful we are, I heard a story again this week that that I think makes it clear. It's a story about a woman named Betty, who decided that she wanted to do something nice for her neighbor, missus Smith. And so she baked the pie and took it next door, and when miss Smith opened her door, she was just so surprised to see miss Betty holding the the pie. She replied, oh, thank you. Thank you so much.
Is this really for me? You don't know how much I appreciate this. No one ever does this for me. You're just so thoughtful. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And Betty was was excited. Miss miss Smith loved it so much that she decided that she was gonna bake her a pie every week.
And so next week, she baked the pie and took it over to her house. And when she took it over, miss Smith opened the door and said, oh, thank you so much. You're so kind. The next week, she took the pie over. And miss Smith opened the door and replied, thanks.
Betty took another pie over the next week. And miss Smith responded, you're a day late this time. The following week, she decided to stick with it and baked her another pie. And and this time, the neighbor had more words for her. She said, you know, try using a little more sugar next time.
And really, you're baking it too long. I've been meaning to tell you that the crust is getting a little dry. And and oh, yeah. I'm getting tired of apple. I've had that for the past 5 weeks.
Will you make me a cherry one next week? Right? It's easy for us to put ourselves in in miss Smith's shoes. We do that all the time. We get used to our blessings.
We get used to those things we should be thankful for. And after a while of enjoying them, of being blessed by them, we begin to convince ourselves that we deserve them. We don't see them as blessings anymore. Abundance is the enemy of gratitude. Instead of being thankful, we become bitter.
And often, it's a slow process. Right? Like that story, over the period of several weeks, miss Smith slowly begins to take the pie for granted. I don't want you to do the same thing with your own life. Thanksgiving is an opportunity every year, and I don't want us to miss it.
An opportunity to to go into the process of life and remind us that the things we have are gifts from God, to count our blessings, and to go back to the one who gave them to us. My hope is that Luke's story will give you a lesson that you can take into this week. A lesson about what it looks like to have gracious hearts. Because I'm convinced that it teaches us this, that there are plenty of healthy people who are deeply sick. Think about that for a minute.
There are plenty of healthy people who are deeply sick. 10 men in the story were physically healed. Because of what Jesus did in their life and this miracle, they no longer had the physical ailments. They were brought back into society. But the scripture goes on there at the very end to say, yes, 10 men were healed, but only 1 by his faith was made well.
The 10th man got to experience, not just freedom from his physical ailments. Sure. How wonderful that would have been, but he got to experience true freedom that only comes by following Jesus Christ and having a heart of gratitude. Think about what the others missed, the opportunity that they had. There was God in the flesh who had healed them from their disease And they never went back.
They had an opportunity to to see God face to face. When they had leprosy, they couldn't get close. But now, they could go and touch him and thank him. And they didn't. Ask yourself, are you well?
And I hope that's a specific question that that kinda gets deep in there. Because this isn't just, one of those questions you ask when you see somebody. Right? How you doing? No.
I'm asking you, are you well? I'm not asking about your physical health. I hope you're healthy, but that's not what this question is for. I'm not asking if you had a good week at work. I I don't care how much is in your bank account.
That's not what this question is about. I'm not asking if your fridge is stocked. I'm not I'm not asking all of these things, these kind of, surface level superficial questions. No. I'm asking you this morning, are you well?
Because the scripture reminds us, there are plenty of people that are healthy, that are deeply sick. If you aren't well this morning, perhaps like the 10th man, your faith in Christ Jesus can get you there. What you'll find, I think, if you go on this journey is that graciousness is a freeing emotion. It preserves us from the enemy of resentment. Graciousness allows us to see the beauty of every day.
It provides us with contentment to survive through difficult seasons. And it bestows upon us a peace and joy that's only made possible through God. This Thanksgiving, maybe for the first time, maybe for the first time ever, maybe for the first time since last thanks giving. Who knows? You you know better than I do.
Spend this Thanksgiving actually giving thanks. I get that the day is gonna look different for all of us. Right? Some of us may gather with family, some of us may gather with friends. Some of us may eat a lot, some of us may eat a little.
You may even celebrate it on a day that isn't Thanksgiving to coordinate the schedules with those that you wanna spend it with. Right? That's just the reality of our world. So whatever it is, whatever you're doing, whenever you do it, spend a day giving thanks to God. Because here's what I know.
I I don't know all your stories. I know some of them. I look around and I know some of your stories, others better than some. But I hope to get to know all your stories. But what I also know is not just your stories, but I know the story of God.
I know the story of the one who created you and formed you in your mother's womb. I know the story of the God who gave you the very breath in your lungs. I know the story of the God that when you turned your back on Him, He didn't turn His back on you. I I know the story of the God who, despite his perfection, gave that up to take on our imperfection and die on the cross. I know the story of the God who, even to this day, continues to sustain us through the power and presence of his Holy Spirit.
You see, I I know God's story. And so what that means is if you show me someone who is alive today, I'll show you someone who has something to be thankful for. Be the 10th man. Be the one who doesn't take your blessings for granted. Be the one who who runs back to Jesus, who who probably went from that place telling folks about this miracle worker.
Be the one who who's not just healed, but be the one who's made whole and made well. And that starts with being thankful. Let go of that other stuff that comes when we aren't. That starts to build up. Let go of resentment.
Let go of presumption. Let go of that insatiable desire for more fill the hole, it never feels full. Let go of all of that and instead allow God to make you a thankful person. Cling to the one who shouted to the leopards, go to the priests. Cling to the one who blesses you.
Cling to the one who has given you life. Be the 10th man. In a world where everybody else is being the first nine, be the 10th man. And may God use the blessings that he has given you to send you forth and bless others. Let's pray.
Almighty and gracious God, we come before you now with so much thanks, with graciousness, with gratefulness. Lord, for who you are and everything that you've done. From the very beginning. And Lord, we know till the very end, you have created us. You have redeemed us, and you will sustain us.
And so God, we come now in light of that. We come in light of all the blessings too many to name, Lord. So many blessings that if we tried to stand here and list them out, we wouldn't make it to our thanksgiving meal. Lord, in in light of that, we first ask for your forgiveness, because we know it, but we haven't always lived like we're thankful. Like the story of miss Smith, we become convinced that you owe it to us, that we've earned it or deserve it.
Lord, we have it and we don't. Instead, it's only by the grace and love of your son, Jesus Christ, that we're here today. Forgive us Lord for, for holding on to resentment, for holding on to desire, to holding on to our our presumptions and our assumptions, and so Lord, we lay those at Your feet. We cast them aside because we just want You. Make us be like the 10th man who didn't get caught up in the blessing, who didn't get caught up in what needed to happen, instead ran back to You, so thankful for who you are, praising your name.
God, we praise your name this morning. We praise you for who you are. We praise you for what you've done. Lord, we just want you. Create in us new hearts.
Create in us a desire, not for anything of this world, but instead of our savior, and Lord, use us as a vehicle. For Lord, you have healed us. You have made us whole. Send us out into the world to show people what it looks like when we'll follow Jesus. Oh, we thank you for that task.
We thank you for our many blessings. May this be a week of thanks, a week of gratitude for all you have done for us. For it is the name of our savior, Jesus the Christ, that we offer this prayer. Amen. Amen.
As we sang before the sermon, one of the ways we thank the Lord is through song, and so as we close our time of worship, I invite you to stand and to sing, as we worship our great God together. Will you stand?