The Secret to Saying Thank You

Only one? “Where Are The Others?"

Luke 17:11-19

Memorial Day and Veterans Day are entirely different. Veterans Day is a day to thank all military personnel for their service, while Memorial Day is one day a year when we remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

We will observe Memorial Day on Monday, honoring the brave men and women who have died in service to our country. We can’t understand the depth of the sacrifice made for our freedom. May we never forget the price paid for our freedom now and in the future.

John 15:13 gives us clarity beyond doubt on this:

Greater love has no man than this: that a man lay down his life for his friends

As you barbeque or sit around with your friends on Monday, Memorial Day, begin by praying for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for you, me, and their families!

We will be looking at Luke 17:11-19 this morning. Bookmark your bible, and we’ll come back to it.

One day, a woman was rushing home from a doctor’s appointment.

The doctor had been somewhat delayed at the hospital, and the lab work took a little longer than usual. So, she was running behind schedule when she left the clinic.

She still had to pick up her prescription, pick up the children from the babysitter, and get home and make supper, all in time to make it to the prayer meeting at her church that evening.

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, a downpour began.

While she wasn’t usually the type to bother God with small problems, 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 much to do. Could you please grant me a parking space right away 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 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 nowadays? You know, “the God, I need you right up until, oh, never mind, I can take it from here, mentality?”

Although we laugh at the illustration, the word thank you, most of the time, seems never to be said enough publicly or privately to the one we call on so frequently to help us in our time of need.

For 41 weeks now, we’ve been learning from Luke about the only perfect person who ever lived.

He showed us His

- perfect birth in Bethlehem

- and His perfect childhood.

He showed us His

- perfect teachings

- and His perfect compassion.

- His perfect responses to difficult questions.

- And His perfect miracles:

Raising Jairus daughter and the widow’s son from the dead.

Calming a storm

And walking on water

Feeding the 5,000

Healing the sick and the lame and the blind

And now, we learn about His perfect ten.

Let’s look at Luke 17:11-19 MEV.

The bible says: 12 As He entered a village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood at a distance. 13 They lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”

Many people today, including Christians, share this philosophy. They have needs that need to be met, and they call out for mercy, but it's always from a distance.

When we need God’s help, most of us pray for whatever we need God’s help with… and we hope that He’ll answer miraculously. – And sometimes He does.

But the purpose of our time on earth is to help us grow to love God and be like God as much as possible, not to avoid problems. So, God is always more interested in developing our faith than solving our situations.

God wants us to mature. And the most mature people trust God the most. So sometimes, instead of instantly fixing our problems, God asks us to exercise our faith in Him, like we exercise our muscles in a gym.

The good news is that God is accessible to you, no matter where you are.

(1) It’s true when serving in the church. We say, “I don’t have time to serve in church – but if God says I should, then I guess I should trust Him about it.” So, you serve and find yourself growing spiritually because of your service. And Jesus said, “Give, and it will return to you.” So, you find God compensating you for the time you gave. Amen?

(2) It’s true with forgiving. You say, “What that person did hurt me so much, I don’t have the ability, I don’t have it within me to forgive them.” But you read Jesus’ words that we should forgive others as we have been forgiven. So, you open your heart and release the anger and bitterness, and as you open yourself, a miracle happens, and God’s love fills you, and you find yourself so much better because you obeyed in faith. Amen

Like the lepers, He will help us where you are; all we have to do is come to Him as we are!

When He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.

Did they confess their sins before they went and received their healing?

Did they clean up or change their lifestyle before receiving their healing?

Their need wasn’t dependent on their capabilities; they weren’t responsible for the results; God was!

They weren’t sin conscious. First, they were Jesus-conscious and aware of Jesus and His capabilities, not theirs.

He told them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.”

Jesus knew He had their attention and told them, “Go.”

He didn’t say, never have I seen such great faith, in all of Israel like yours, He didn’t say, your faith has made you whole, be on your way!

He said Go and Show yourselves to the Priests. According to the law, priests were the only ones who could pronounce them clean, so Jesus said this in keeping with the law. Can you imagine the questions they asked when the lepers came to them healed?

Faith without works is dead. He wanted them to step out and exercise their faith in what He could do for them. With every step they took, they were one step closer to the miracle they were so desperate for.

God still asks the same of us today; he hasn’t changed.

He says, trust me!

*Don’t look at your circumstances,

*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!

Don’t look at anything 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! Praise God. Even Jesus reminded the devil of the power of the word; He said it was written! Ps. 118:17 MEV

The Lord is on my side to help me; I shall look in triumph upon those who hate me.,.

Isaiah 45:2 says MEV,

I will go before you and make the crooked places straight.

Hebrews 11 is chock full of examples of the hero’s faith in the Bible and what can be accomplished. Amazing things can and will happen " when you believe what God's word declares to you.”

The lepers went to show themselves to the Priests, and they became clean while still on their way.

It doesn’t say whether it was their 1st step or the 100th step when they received their healing, But I’m sure with every step they took, they were expecting to receive a miracle.

God's timing is always perfect, but sometimes, it's not easy to understand His perfection! The word doesn’t say we must understand it; we can only accept it and believe He will complete it in our lives through FAITH!

Every day, we exercise our faith and believe we are one day closer to victory and our miracle, in Jesus' Name, and that our needs are being met! Thank you, Jesus, for your faithfulness to us; you are so worthy of our praise!

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 while they were going, they were cleansed

We have no reason to believe that the priest did not pronounce everyone clean and able to return to society.

All 10 were healed and allowed to go home, but only one received a second blessing.

One of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned with a loud voice glorifying God, 16 and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. Luke 17:15 MEV

Jesus said, “Were not the ten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18 Were there not any found to return and give glory to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then He said to him, “Rise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”

Ten people that day received the benefits of God’s grace!

The love of God touched ten people that day; they were made clean, legally and ceremonially. But nine kept going and never looked back; these people seemed to puzzle Jesus.

"Where are the nine?" He asked.

It seems as if they totally forgot who was responsible for the healing they had just experienced in their bodies. Like the lady with the parking space needs, “Oh, never mind.” I’m feeling so much better; I won’t need you now.

They never thought of giving thanks to God for what had just happened,

Why didn’t they return to give thanks, or even just a “thank you, Jesus, " as they kept going? After all, He would have known after all, but the Bible didn’t even mention that kind of gratitude being offered.

Ingratitude is quite common; it runs rampant.

From life experience, we know that the feeling we get when we really help someone and they don’t even say thank you is really a grace moment, isn’t it? I am reminded of a quote that was told to me.

Aren’t you glad for the grace God extends to us? Even when we don’t deserve it, even when He knows how we will act after we receive it, He still continually offers it because He loves us!

This Samaritan leper chose to close the circle of grace on the day of his cleansing. Instead of focusing on his illness and what he had done to overcome its irreversible effects, He chose to acknowledge and worship the God who had set him free.

And that act of gratitude completed his healing. As he worshiped, he was made whole.

The rest were made whole by the power of Christ, in compassion to their distress and answer to their prayer, but he was made whole by his faith, by which Christ saw him distinguished from the rest.

Hebrews 11:6 tells us:

6. And without faith, it is impossible to please God, for he who comes to God must believe that He exists and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Ephesians 1:3-6 MEV.

3-6. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before Him in love; 5 He predestined us to adoption as sons to Himself through Jesus Christ according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace which He graciously bestowed on us in the Beloved. Amen

That day, even though the Samaritan was considered an outsider, he became part of the family of God. His faith and his effort to seek out Jesus resulted in him receiving a lifetime of blessings,

Scripture references being made whole, which in the original Hebrew is the word sozo, which means all-encompassing. God adopted him that day, and he became entitled to every benefit provided by Jesus at the cross.

He entered the realm of “kingdom possibilities” that day, somewhere the other nine would never go.

He entered into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son, Jesus.

It was no accident that Jesus passed by the lepers that day. He knew where they were and what they needed. Because of their condition, they didn’t get much news back then, but even they had heard of the saving power and miracles Jesus was capable of!

And how did they know?

Because someone gave God praise and was willing to thank Jesus for what He had done for them.

They were willing to shout from the rooftops about what Jesus had done for them. Without mass communication, the word reached everyone and anyone, so much so that even this band of lepers knew they could be helped if they could get to Him.

All because someone told them!

He can’t help the helpless, the homeless, and the hurting if they don’t know about Him.

Romans 10:14-17 MEV.

14-17. 14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring good news of good things!”[a]

16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?”[b] 17 So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

It's up to us to tell them; it's up to you to tell them.

The man who returned and gave thanks changed his life forever through Jesus!

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? You could be the only thing standing between them and eternal damnation.

Jesus thought it was so important that telling someone about Jesus was the last thing He instructed us to do to make a life-changing difference in someone's life today.

Let me ask you once again…

Aren’t you glad of God's grace? Even when we don’t deserve it, even when He knows how we will act after we receive it, He still continually offers it because He loves us!

Let us pray!

Offering/Prayer Partners/Benediction