After Thanksgiving day, I can never help but reflect on the many things that I am thankful for. I’m thankful for Monica. I am thankful for freedom. I am thankful for the food we are able to eat. And the list goes on.
Maybe you have your own list.
What do you have to be thankful for?
This morning we are going to look at a man who was thankful for healing.
I pray that all of us will be thankful for our healing as well.
Passage: Luke 17:11-19
11As Jesus continued on toward Jerusalem, he reached the border between Galilee and Samaria. 12As he entered a village there, ten lepers stood at a distance, 13crying out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
14He looked at them and said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, their leprosy disappeared.
15One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, “Praise God, I’m healed!” 16He fell face down on the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan.
17Jesus asked, “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine? 18Does only this foreigner return to give glory to God?” 19And Jesus said to the man, “Stand up and go. Your faith has made you well.”
As we read in our story Jesus heard the cry of ten lepers. Those lepers were crying out for mercy.
We don’t have a lot of cases of leprosy now, so many fu us forget that leprosy is. Leprosy is a “progressive infectious disease of the skin.” It is “characterized by ulcers, scabs, and diorites.”
Needless to say, it is a disease that no one wants, but also wants to get rid of as fast as possible.
So these 10 men are lepers and they called out to Jesus to have mercy.
As I said, we don’t have leprosy today, but we do have plenty of physical ailments.
This morning’s Herald Journal features a little boy in Inman. His name is Kevin. He is five years old and the doctors say that he only has up to six months to live. He was born with Cerebral Palsy and during treatment for the palsy, the doctors found a brain tumor.
We have life-threatening illnesses in our own church.
We know what physical ailments are.
Heart diseases are one of the largest killers.
Different types of cancer are a threat.
Diabetes is growing almost daily.
Most of us get an infection of some type from time to time.
Broken bones, sprains, torn muscles and ligaments are also sadly common.
Physically, we are broken and we need healing.
Many of us also experience broken dreams.
I was reading the USA Today newspaper the other day and they had a list of regrets.
They did a survey about what people regret and the answers were lengthy.
Some said—
-I wish I went to church more when I was younger
-I wish I had stayed with my spouse.
-I wish I had done more in school
and the list went on..
But we know what that means to have regrets.
During WWII, George Bush, the senior, was shot down during a bombing run on a Japanese target. George Bush is not a man to dwell on himself, but often thinks about that crash into the sea.
In Tom Brocaw’s book, The Greatest Generation, it is said that Bush think’s about his two buddies who were killed that day.
Bush asks whether or not there was more to do to save them.
All of us have those regrets. Those things we wish we had done but didn’t.
Those are dreams that were broken.
Then there is guilt.
And after Thursday, we all know what that is.
An article in Wednesday’s Herald Journal was entitled “When Turkey calls, good judgment runs”.
Gallup polls says that 6 out of 10 Americans say they would like to lose weight.
After Thanksgiving just makes us feel guilty for eating so much.
But we also know about other kinds of guilt.
Guilt from the sin we’ve done. Those things we look back and say we wish we wouldn’t have done them. You may have hurt someone also. Maybe it was something you said to your spouse. Maybe it was an unnecessary angry word to a friend.
Maybe you hit someone in anger. Maybe you lied about something. Maybe you committed adultery.
Whatever the sin, this morning, you feel guilty.
Physical Brokenness
Broken Dreams
And the Brokenness that guilt brings.
We are a broken people.
Just like the men in this story.
The men had leprosy! They were the outcasts of the society. They were in constant pain and irritation.
They cried out to Jesus—”Master, have mercy on us!”
These men were broken like we are.
When God created the heavens and the earth, he created man and woman not to have hardship, but to have fellowship with God.
But that relationship was broken when the man and the woman chose to disobey God, and sin entered the world.
v. 14 says
14He looked at them and said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, their leprosy disappeared.
These men went to the right place for their healing. They went to Jesus!
And that is exactly where we must go for our brokenness.
When the first man and woman first sinned against the Lord, that sin was passed down through generation after generation.
We are sinners by our very nature—we live in rebellion against the Lord.
But we are also sinners by choice; we can chose not to sin.
That sin has broken our relationship between God and ourselves, and the Bible says that the only way to mend that relationship is through death.
So, God sent his son to die in our place. Jesus died to mend the relationship between God and all of mankind.
But we must accept it. We must accept the free gift.
And you can do that this morning.
Now, I want you to look at the last part of this passage.
v. 15-16
15One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, “Praise God, I’m healed!” 16He fell face down on the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan.
This one man came back to thank Jesus for saving his life—for healing him.
All I remember from World War II is from movies and newsreels.
But I remember seeing some newsreels of the Allied forces liberating cities like Berlin and Amsterdam and Paris.
I remember seeing the celebration on the streets, the cheering, the dancing, the relief—these people were giving thanks to the victors who were liberating them.
In the same way when this man notices that he is healed he runs back praising God and thanking Jesus for healing him.
How do we cat toward our healing?
Jesus Christ died so that we may be healed—so that we would be free form the power of sin.
Do we rush to his feet and praise him?
Do we thank him?
But then Jesus asks the obvious question,
v. 17-18
17Jesus asked, “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine? 18Does only this foreigner return to give glory to God?” 19And Jesus said to the man, “Stand up and go. Your faith has made you well.”
The man that came back was a Samaritan. But the others were Jews. The other nine took their healing and then went about their business.
They may have celebrated with family. They may have showed their friends—the story doesn’t say.
What the story does say is that out of 10 men, only one returned to Christ to give thanks.
The others went about their business.
The analogy, to me, is obvious. Too many Christians are simply going about their business.
Yes, they have been healed. Yes, they are saved.
But their salvation makes no difference to the way they live their life.
Many times we simply go about our business.
The Bible, as well as, history tells us that the early church began to meet on Sunday after Jesus arose from the grave.
They met on Sunday to celebrate the fact that Jesus did rise and Jesus did take away our sin—and that by His stripes we are healed.
So 2000 years later, we are still meeting on Sunday.
We take time to remember what he has done in our lives.
But does is make any difference on Monday, or do we simply go about our business.
God loves each and every one of us and he wants to continue to work in our lives, but we must follow Him.
We must take time to study the Bible. And then taking what it says—follow it.
Apply it to our lives. Allow the teaching of Scripture to work in our lives.
Let me tell you, if you follow the Word of God, it will not be business as usual.
There will be a difference.
So, this morning, there are two questions on the table.
First, have you been healed?
Have you accepted the free gift of healing that Jesus paid for by dieing on the cross? The free gift of salvation.
Have you done this?
This free gift is available to you if you accept it.
The second question is, are you going to simply go about your business?
You have been saved but you never got into the habit of living for him.
You never allowed Christ to make a difference.
This morning, we have a special opportunity for you to say, “thank you” to Jesus and to allow his healing to make a difference in your life.
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This sermon was preached at Padgett’s Creek Baptist Church on 24 November 2002