Get Up from there! (Luke 17.11-19)
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Get up from here/there! Dream
Luke 17.11-19 Confirming scripture
On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee.
As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance,
they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean.
Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice.
He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan.
Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they?
Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”
Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”
Intro:
Some of us have been lying in our proverbial caskets………………..while still breathing!
(pause)
And we have yet to figure out…………….that we don’t belong there!
(pause)
And the interesting thing is…………how anyone can avoid panicking in a dead place………….when you are very much alive………
(pause)
I don’t know about you………..but I don’t do well in situations like this………….
(pause)
Because it’s hard for me to be something………………that I’m really not………….
And after a while…………….if something dead is trying to stick to me………….I have to let death know………….
“Hold up…………..you got the wrong one……..”
(pause)
And…………….this is not my idea of living……………
I wonder………..if anybody has ever had to tell somebody this?
(pause)
Because……….sometimes I just think we need to speak to the dead stuff in our lives……….and let them in on a little secret……………
“I’m still alive………………..”
(pause)
It is the most amazing thing to me………………
to watch somebody struggle with something…………..
that is weaker than them…….as if they don’t have the right amount of power to win…………..
(pause)
Have you ever seen………….something like that………….?
(pause)
I still………….don’t understand how the Lion tamer……………can control the lion…………….
(pause)
And it is absolutely……mind…………..boggling how Sea World trainers………….can get Killer Whales……………to entertain thousands……….
(pause)
And……………even in our lives…………….it is amazing how the little things keep us from moving forward……………..and overcoming……….
(pause)
I could almost take it……………….if it were something huge or gigantic in proportion to who we are………………..
But in most cases……………….it’s those……….. microscopic complications…………that give us the dickens………..
(pause)
And……………..the key to overcoming anything………………is to figure out how to move!
(pause)
Because……….anything……………….that cannot move…………….is destined to die………….
(pause)
Look at it now…………
On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee.
As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance,
According to the text……………with Samaria on the right and Galilee on his left………..Jesus and the disciples are approaching Jerusalem……..
And as they are approaching Jerusalem………..they are met with a problem…….
(pause)
The interesting about this traveling scenario is that…………the problem that needs addressing is standing off in the distance………
Based on………..law and restriction…………..limitations………and judgment…………
the bible records………….10 men standing at a distance……….shouting into the direction of Jesus……….
(pause)
And…………..I wonder if there is anybody in here………
that has ever been in a scenario where you saw the answer to your problem…………off in the distance….
(pause)
Because………..the truth of the matter is……………if we are ever separated from our solution……………the objective is to come closer….
(pause)
But what happens when what you are bound by…………..
keeps you at a distance from your deliverance…………
(pause)
There…………is absolutely nothing worse…………
than feeling like you are being trapped right before you get to the finish line…………..
(pause)
And the reason these lepers are confined to this one particular place is because Levitical law dictates that if you are unclean……………stand back!
(pause)
Because nobody wants to touch a leper………………..
They are by definition……………described as contaminated………
Whenever someone looks at them…………….they look down at them…….
(pause)
And…………….
when you understand how they are perceived by the community around them…………….it is amazing what they do in verse 13……
(pause)
they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
See………….this is what is missing today…………….
(pause)
Because…………everybody may know that a problem exists……….
but not everybody has the audacity to cry out for change……….
(pause)
And…………I don’t know about you………….
but I do not have a problem turning the volume all the way up…………and hollering if I have to………
to let the Lord know………………
“I understand I’m messed up……………and that’s why I’m trying to get some help!”
(pause)
And what I have come to believe is that the only kind of people who holler.........
are those……… who believe………..
(pause)
You got to be…………….downright convinced…………
in order to open your mouth…………..when don’t nobody else want to hear you………
(pause)
And………..according to the text………..these lepers hollered out……….
“Jesus……..Master………….have mercy on us”
In other words………….
they connected the authority of Christ……….with their faith to be transformed………
(pause)
And even from a distance……………….they showed Jesus………
we believe we can still be touched………..
(pause)
And…………I wonder if there is any radical faith in the room………..of some folk………..
that believe if you connect to the authority of Christ……..
all things will be made whole!
(pause)
Biblical example – The Centurion Soldier
(pause)
Look at it now…………..
When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean.
According to the text…………..
Jesus is directing these 10 lepers to go through the appropriate process based on being cleansed……..
Because the Levitical law in Leviticus 14……suggests that when they are healed the priests is supposed to come out and look them over…………and once it is verified that they have been cleansed…………….a sacrifice is to be offered………
(pause)
Now…………this is interestingly significant…………..
Because……………you would think…………….that when Jesus sees them……after hearing them cry out from a distance……….that based on the level of their despair…….he would just instantaneously change their situation………..
(pause)
But……………that’s not what Jesus does……………
he instead………..gives them a command………….
that falls in line with a process………….without immediate………evidence……….
(pause)
Because #1……they were not visibly healed when Jesus tells them to go and show themselves to the priests…………..
(pause)
And #2 they have now…………..stood at a distance and shouted into the direction of Jesus…………to have mercy on them…………
And Jesus has responded by giving them direction…………..
but there was nothing in the statement of Jesus that said…………….Instantaneous…………
(pause)
But…………………what Jesus has affirmed in a healing for them………..was stated in relation to………………Process……….
Meaning……………
They had to move……………without physical evidence of what Jesus has spoken…………..and still believe!
(pause)
They had to Go…………..without the evidence……………..and still know that the words of Jesus……………were enough!
(pause)
And…………….so many times in our lives………………
we refuse to move forward……………and overcome challenges………….
because truth has been spoken………………….but we have yet to see it…………
(pause)
But until we move…………………………the healing can’t come!
(pause)
{Tell my story of how we moved from Charlotte to Atlanta with nothing but faith}
Something happens…………..when you move………..because God said to….
(pause)
And……………according to the text……...
as they walked to where Jesus told them to go…………..they noticed something happening………..
(pause)
“And…………as they went………….they were cleansed”
In other words……………..
They did not see anything……………until they went………….but as they started moving…………..something………….started happening……
(pause)
Some of us are trying to figure out……………..why nothing is happening…………and yet God has spoken………..
(pause)
But…………..until you get in line with God…………..and move…………..you will remain stuck……….
(pause)
It’s not until…………….we decide………………..to go…….even when we don’t see nothing…………….that things start happening…………..
(pause)
So instead of trying to figure out……………why in the world is the Lord saying to do this………………
(pause)
I dare……………somebody to just start moving……………because if we ever start moving……………we might just experience verse 15……..
(pause)
Look at it now…………….
17.15 (read)
And in my spiritual imagination……..
The bible says…………………that one of them…………..messed around and looked down………….at his fingers………….and rolled up his sleeves and looked at his arms………….
(slight pause)
Pulled up his pants leg……………….and saw something happening…..
(pause)
And……………….i wonder if there is anybody in here………….that has ever been in the middle of the process…………….and came to find out that God………..can be God………..even when I’m in a process………..
(pause)
And the text says…………….
That when he discovered……………what Jesus had done………..
“He turned……………….back”
(pause)
And in my spiritual imagination……………when he looked at what happened………..after he moved in obedience……………..in the middle of the process…………made the decision………
(pause)
“Hold up……………….I got to go back and say thank you…..”
(pause)
But…………….here is the crazy part…………………..this man was not even a Jew…………….but a Samaritan…………..
Meaning…………….
It is not every day that a Samaritan…………..tells a Jew thank you………..
(pause)
But out of all of those healed……………….it was the one that is least expected………………that stands out from the crowd…………..
(pause)
And not only does he return to Jesus………..but the bible says that he humbles himself and drops to the feet of Jesus…………
(pause)
You see……………when you really been changed………….you don’t come back higher………………….you come back lower………..
(pause)
And you stay right there…………………………………
And you stay right there………………………………..
Until Jesus says…………………………..
Get up from here…………………………………..
(pause)
And that’s why………………….can’t nobody tear down……….what Jesus has built up………….because………………..when Jesus says get up…….
(pause)
Resurrecting…………………..Power………………..picks up bones out of the valley……………..
And…….dead men……………start walking out of graves………………..
(pause)
What are you doing………………..still in bondage…………?
(pause)
Thy………………..FAITH………….hath made thee whole!!
(pause)