“I’ve Got To Tell Him Thank You”

Introduction

We have a routine everyday. Monday-Friday. For a normal teenager like me, we get up-go to school for 8 hours-maybe have practice for another hour-go home-go to sleep, and we wake up and do it all over again. For a normal adult, get up-go to work-pick the kids up if you have any-maybe go to the grocery store-go home and cook-go to sleep, and wake up and do it all over again. This routine may change for some of us teens because it is summer (thank God). We all have a routine everyday, and we do it over and over again without a problem. But there are so many little things that we do throughout this routine, and sometimes, we don’t find ourselves being thankful for them. Do we ever just stop and tell God thank you for waking us up this morning, thank him that last night wasn’t our last night, thank him for the activity of our limbs, thank him for traveling grace and arriving mercy, and the list goes on and on. Do we just stop in the midst of our day to pause and reflect and just tell the lord thank you. Allow me to introduce to you a man who couldn’t go on with his life without going back to tell the Lord thank you.

Text Context

In this text today, Jesus continues his ministry. The first part of Luke is where Jesus gathers his disciples and begins to teach them about forgiveness and faith, which are thing that they need to input into their lives. He tells them that there will always be temptation, but their is greats sorrow that is in for the person who does the tempting. He tells them that it would be better to be thrown into the sea, than to cause someone to sin. Jesus basically tells them that it is a terrible thing to lead others into sin. We as christians need to watch that about ourselves and about the people we hang around. We sometimes need to stop and look in the mirror and ask ourselves, what kind of example are we setting. We need to be like Jesus who didn’t lead into sin, but rather led away from it and delivered from it, and died so that we would be delivered from it. But we also need to watch this about some of the people who we hand around. We go to school and we see others who are doing bad and not doing the right thing, and we need to see if we are hanging around people who will lead us away from bad decisions rather than supporting them. People that won’t peer pressure us into bad things and choices and cover them up with the words “it’s cool”, because you know and they know that it is not. We have to watch that about ourselves and others.

But Jesus not only tells the disciples about this, but he teaches them about having faith. The apostles asked Jesus to show them how to increase their faith. Jesus tells them that if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, then you will have the power to tell a tree to be uprooted and planted in the sea, and it will obey you. Jesus tells them that a little bit of faith can go a long way. He tells them that faith the size of a small mustard seed has great power. That is what we have to have. God can do large things with little resources. Jesus knew that just a little bit of faith could go a long way.

EX: God doesn't expect you to be the one with some big shoes to fill, he doesn’t expect you to be the smartest in the group, the strongest, the most stylish, or the most organized, or have it all together, because if truth be told, and I said this about a month ago, we are a mess, but God doesn’t expect you to be perfect, but he just needs you to have a little bit of faith, because a little bit of faith in a big God is a big deal.

But lastly, Jesus tells them about servant hood and how the disciples should think of their service. This is no sort of surprise that he would teach about servanthood because Luke wrote to present Jesus as a servant. Jesus was instructing the disciples about how they oughta think about their service to God. A regular servant does not consider himself of great honor of completing his assignment, but instead he sees it as just a task that he has to get done. Jesus says that disciples need to see themselves as servants, who have a duty to serve God. We shouldn’t think that we are above anybody or we deserve a special reward, but we oughta look at ourselves as servants who were created to serve God, not so that we would get all of the attention or that we would get a special reward, but so that God would get all of the glory.

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But that is just the first part of Luke 17. In the part that we are in today, Jesus is headed down toward Jerusalem and he enters through a village on the border between Samaria and Galilee. As Jesus travels through this tense territory, he encounters these ten men with leprosy. Now see, we might have a slightly different perception of leprosy in 2024, but see biblical leprosy is a serious disease that causes boils, and rashes, and sores to form in your skin. It was a disease that was thought to be contagious and incurable. It was a hopeless and a helpless condition. That is, until Jesus showed up.

Notice these men don’t cry out “unclean” as they were supposed to, but they cry out “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” This was a cry for pity. Perhaps they just wanted some food or some clothes or some shelter, they wanted some compassion, but Jesus being the Jesus that Jesus is, he does more than they ever expected. The God we serve is able to do more than we ever expected.

EX: You know how the preacher always gives the benediction: Ephesians 3:20 tells us “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.” See, that verse means that we can trust in God's goodness, guidance, and care to do more for us than we could ever ask or think. In other words, God goes above and beyond. I was talking with my aunt about a month ago, and she was telling me about how she was excited that she moved back to Shreveport from Arkansas, and she told me something that just stuck with me. She told me that she had a dream and an idea for her home and how she would live, but she told me that God took her idea and did more than she expected. God does more for us, and that is because he loves us and cares for us, and because of this love and care, God does more for us than we can ever think or do or even expect.

And so after that ask for mercy, Jesus tells them to go show themselves to the priest, and as they go, they are healed. They began to notice that they were cleansed. The old saints would say that they looked at their hands and their hands looked new, they looked at their feet and their feet looked new. And one of them who was headed to the priest stops in his tracks and says that he can’t keep going on to the priest, but he has to go back to tell the one who healed him thank you.

Message

This one man had to turn back to tell Jesus thank you. We can’t keep going on and moving forward, without being like this man who stopped and went back because he made up in his mind “I’ve Got To Tell Him Thank You”.

Body of Message

I just told you that one man had to go back to tell Jesus thank you. So in these three points, I am going to tell you why this man had to go back to tell Jesus thank you.

Jesus did not have to go in their direction.

The Bible says that Jesus reaches the border between Galilee and Samaria. Historically, the Jews, which are Jesus’ people, hated the Samaritans. They hated them so much that they would go around Samaria, cross the Jordan River, just so they could avoid the Samaritans.

But Jesus enters through this tense territory, because (if I may suggest) maybe Jesus isn’t interested in our society separation, or our family feuds, or our political differences as some paint him out to be.

These men, these Samaritans were hated and avoided by Jews, but not Jesus. They were separated from the Jews, but they weren’t separated from Jesus. It did not matter where they came from or what they’re condition was, but they were not separated from Jesus.

EX: I preached a sermon a year ago at my friend Pastor Ron Perkin’s church, and I talked about “A Seat at the Table”. It was about this man named Mephibosheth who lived in a place called LoDebar, and even though he was a cripple, he had been separated from society, and he lived in a dark place, the Lord still called him out of the place he was in and allowed him to eat at the king’s table.

It does not matter the situation that we are in or where we come from, we are never separated from Jesus. People can separate themselves from you because you’re different, because you carry yourself a different way, because you hold yourself to higher expectations, and people can separate themselves from you, but it does not matter wherever you are in a point of your life or wherever you come from, you are never separated from Jesus.

These men were in the place that most Jews didn’t go to, but Jesus goes that direction. These men did not come to Jesus, but when Jesus entered into their direction, they started to cry out. All the time they had in the world, but as soon as Jesus steps on the scene, they start to cry out. They must’ve heard something about Jesus. They must’ve heard that he was a burden bearer, a heavy load carrier. They must’ve heard something about him. But the fact that Jesus entered into their village shows us that God’s grace reaches out to you wherever you are. God’s grace has a way of touching you in the state that you're in.

If your sick - God’s grace reaches out, hurt - God’s grace reaches out, lonely - God’s grace reaches out, frustrated - God’s grace reaches out

God’s grace reaches out.

How do you think David was able to say in Psalms 23:4 “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” Why do you think that the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time after he had failed? That is because God’s grace reached out to them where they were. God’s grace will find you, no matter where you are or how far you are, his grace reached out. Jesus did not have to go into their direction, and even when he did, this shows us today that his grace will reach out into our direction.

Jesus did not have to notice them.

The Bible says that Jeus entered the village and 10 men cried out to him. Now see, Jesus had already started his ministry and he had been at it. He had just taught his disciple earlier in the chapter, he told them parables in Luke 15-16, he healed on the Sabbath day twice in Luke 13 and 14 and taught about humility, and on and on.

Jesus could have gotten tired. Jesus had been teaching and healing and heling and teaching and storytelling, and he could’ve needed a break, but these 10 men cry out to him and the Bible says, “He looked at them and said..”. This right here alone shows us that Jesus does not have the same limitations like me and you do. He could’ve gotten tired and needed a break.

EX: I remember for a week straight, I came home from school and went right to my bed and took what I thought was going to be a quick nap, but I didn’t wake up until 2:00 in the morning.

Some of us are like that where we come from school and work tired and needing a break, and if we are like that with school and work, imagine how Jesus felt. He could’ve been exhausted. But when these 10 men cry out to Jesus, he looks at them and says something. The God we serve does not have the same limitations like me and you do. He does not get tired like me and you do.

In fact, Isaiah 40:28 says “Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary.

This is very encouraging. We fail a lot. As students and athletes, we get exhausted, some of y’all are like me and have busy schedules and have events on top of events. Sometimes the day and the week just leaves us physically and mentally drained and tired. Sometimes we get frustrated, and sometimes that means that we lose our cool. But God is not like that. He doesn’t get tired. He doesn’t let our mistakes and failures tire him out.

He not only does not get tired, but he notices them. The Bible says that he looked at them, and then said. He notices us. These men have leprosy, which is a hopeless disease. Doctors and physicians did not have a cure for it. Dermatologists did not not have any ointment for it. Grandma didn’t even have any special remedy or method to make the pain go away. This disease is hopeless. This disease is not only hopeless, but it is said that it is sometimes contagious. It is not said what they do for work, but because of this disease, people cannot be around them or be near them because they don’t know if they’re going to become infected or not, and since doctors don’t have a treatment for it, Jesus is their only hope. And Jesus could’ve missed them, passed them up and by, ignored them, but that’s why we oughta thank God that Jesus is the Jesus that Jesus is. He is compassionate and he notices us. Even when other people stayed away from them, the disease was put as incurable, Jesus notices them, and that is just like us.

Sometimes we are hurt, sad, frustrated, and scared, but we have a Savior who notices us. Even at times, people don’t. There may be people who don’t really see what’s going on on the inside, because at times we act like everything is together on the outside. Sometimes we can pass off our true feeling with a “I’m good” or a “I’m straight”. But we have a savior who notices us and sees us on the inside. He sees when we’re hurt, worried, frustrated, confused, but he tells us:

“Be not dismayed, whatever betide you; God will take care of you.”

“Worry about nothing, but by prayer and supplication, let your requests be made known unto God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

“All things work together for the good of those who love the Lord and are called according to his purpose.”

We serve a God, that when others don’t see us and we can hide our feelings, he looks out at us and notices us and what we are going through. We oughta tell him thank you because Jesus notices us.

Jesus did not have to help them.

The Bible says that Jesus looks at them, notices them, and gives them some direction. He tells them to go to the priest and as they are walking, they become clean. It is as they walk, that they become clean.

Some of our blessings don’t come, unless we go and put some action forth. We have to understand that faith without works is dead. You have the faith, but God is waiting on you to get the work done, to put some action forth. Some of our blessings are going to come as we go and put some action toward it, in this case, walk. It’s as they walk that they are healed. It is as we walk to the bank, you get your financial bank. As you go on down, to the school, your tuition is being paid.

Some of us were waiting on God to pull that grade us, but God was waiting on us to get some work done, to email the teacher, to take notes, and then one day, we looked on JCampus and saw that the same class that we were struggling in is the same class that were looking at now and says that we passed with a good grade, and it wasn’t until you did some work and emailed the teacher and put some action toward it and had some discipline that when you looked at that final exam, the Lord was with you and he blessed you. In order to receive some of our blessings, we have to go.

Jesus heals ten men, nine leave, one goes back to tell Jesus thank you. It is said that this odd man out is a Samaritan, and the Jews hate the Samaritans. He is a foreigner and a stranger, and while the Jews, which are Jesus’ people, just left with their blessing, the stranger went back to tell Jesus thank you. How is it that the ones that are supposed to know Jesus, the ones that's supposed to be closest to Jesus, the ones that grew up on jesus’ street, they are the ones that kept going without saying thank you, and the stranger goes back to tell Jesus thank you, but sometimes that's us.

EX: We get a little wrapped up in our own ways. When we get to the top, we look down and at times think in our minds that we made it to where we are now by our own doing and by our own ways and resources, but the fact of the matter is that God was the secret. We have made it to where we are, we are who we are, and we have what we have because of God. This man does not go on like the other nine, but instead he goes back to tell Jesus thank you.

I like this because this man could walk off knowing that it was nobody but Jesus. See here it is: These men have a disease that is holding them back. They may have jobs and have families, but because of their condition, they are being held back. There are some of us who may suffer from mental leprosy, spiritual leprosy, it is something that may be holding us back from being who God has called us to be. But we have a savior who notices us and he notices that even though it is something that is holding us back, he notices us and helps us and tells us that everything is going to be okay. He tells us not to be afraid or discouraged, but to be encouraged in the fact that he is there to help us get through and overcome whatever it is that is holding us back. And because of Jesus, these men are no longer being held back and taken by this disease, because Jesus steps in.

If it had not been for Jesus, he would’ve still been stuck with this hopeless disease, but Jesus steps in and heals him, and he could say that it was nobody but Jesus.

We are not here because of our own resources and accomplishments, but we are here by the grace of God. Jesus did not have to help them, because if he didn’t these men would’ve been stuck in the same position, but because he did, they are not, and not being like the other men who walked off with their blessing, the stranger Samaritan goes back to tell Jesus thank you.

Conclusion

I believe that the testimony for the man here is: He didn’t have to do it but he did! Jesus did not have to come in his direction, but that's just how his grace works….wherever we may be, his grace reaches out to us, so he did. Jesus did not have to notice them, but Jesus being the Jesus that Jesus is, looks at them and notices their condition, so he did. But then, Jesus did not have to help them, but he did, so that means that they are no longer stuck in the same position that was holding them back. As we reflect on all that God has done in our lives, whether you’re 14 like me or 50, you oughta say to yourself and have the attitude of this man, who made up in his mind that he had to go back to tell Jesus thank you.