Show Jesus Your Gratitude

Today we are continuing a series that we began in January. We are taking the long journey through the book of Luke. This is one of the Gospel accounts written by the physician Luke. The Gospel of Luke is written to the Gentiles. A Gentile is anyone that is not jewish. When we get to the book of Acts, you will see just how important it is that Luke writes to the Gentiles. Luke is a Gentile himself. In Acts, you will see a great emphasis that is given to reaching Gentiles.

Today we are in Luke 17. If you have your Bibles go to verse 1. He is addressing his disciples. Remember that Jesus is making His way to Jerusalem to prepare Himself for His eventual death and resurrection.

Luke 17:1–4 NIV

1 Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come. 2 It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. 3 So watch yourselves. “If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. 4 Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”

We don’t think about a millstone often in our culture. A millstone was a heavy stone used for grinding grain. Jesus is telling the disciples that it is one thing to defy God yourself but it is a complete other thing to influence or cause someone to sin because of the example that you lead. Jesus says it is so bad that you would be better off dead than to influence someone to sin.

Then Jesus takes a step further. He tells them about the importance of forgiveness. As Christians, it is important in everything that we do, we help to connect people to God. As a church, we want to help people connect to God. If you harbor resentment, how can you connect, the person that you are at odds with, to God. If you are constantly wanting revenge on someone, how can you show them the love of Jesus and connect them to God. Also, if you have done something wrong to someone, you need to repent and go to them and ask forgiveness. You cannot connect someone to God if you aren’t willing to apologize for your wrong doing.

It is also good to note here that Jesus isn’t saying to forgive someone that keeps doing the same thing over and over again. If someone keeps doing to you the same thing again and again, then you need to get them out of your life because they are toxic and you don’t need toxic people in your life bringing you down.

Then the apostles had a question about faith.

Luke 17:5–10 NIV

5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6 He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you. 7 “Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? 8 Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? 9 Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? 10 So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’ ”

The disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith. You have all the faith available to you. There is no way to increase your faith. It is in how you use the faith that you have. There is no more faith to give you. When you asked Jesus to come into your life, all the faith was given to you.

That is why Jesus tells them about faith as small as a mustard seed. If you have ever seen a mustard seed, you know that it is real tiny. True faith is not a belief in “faith” as a force or power of its own, but it is a “faith in God.”

Mark 11:22 NIV

22 “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered.

God must be the object and focus of our faith in order for it to be effective. The “amount” of faith is not the issue here. By God’s grace, all followers of Christ already possess at least that much faith, which they exercised to receive spiritual salvation in the first place.

Romans 5:1 NIV

1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Ephesians 2:8 NIV

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—

So, it is not how much faith we have, but what we do with it; we must direct our faith toward God himself. He must be both the source and the object of our faith.

So, remember Jesus is continuing on His way to Jerusalem. Look at verse 11.

Luke 17:11–19 NIV

11 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” 14 When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed. 15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. 17 Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

As Jesus is making His way to Jerusalem, He is passing through the region between Samaria and Galilee. Something that each of you need to understand, you have heard me talk about this, but there was such a deep hostility between Samaritans and Jews. They would rather be in one region or the other. In between is this liminal zone where nobody feels at home and where the rejects of society are found. These 10 lepers were the rejects of society. Also, notice here that they are described by their ailment not their ethnicity.

Leprosy is a dreaded, though non-fatal, skin disease. The religious and social ostracism is worse than the physical suffering. For the lepers to stay outside both Samaria and Galilee, they are abiding by what is required by the law. They are to avoid contact with people and announce their presence by crying, “Unclean! Unclean!”

As Jesus is about to enter a village, the lepers call out to Him from a safe distance, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”. They understood the power and authority that Jesus had. By acknowledging Him as Master they were hoping that Jesus might do something to help them.

In times past, Jesus had touched the lepers. This time Jesus kept His distance and told them to go and see the priest. Only the priest could claim that the leper was clean. In order for the healing to take place, the leper’s had to put action to their faith. If they had just blown Jesus’ words off as Him not doing anything, they would not have been healed. It was in their movement towards going to the priests that their healing came.

The beautiful part of this story is the one leper that comes back to Jesus after he realizes he’s been healed. His healing turned into praise and his gratitude turned into a reverence towards Jesus, the healer.

Jews never expected a Samaritan to do the right thing. That is why Jesus pointed out that this man was a Samaritan, the only one to return with gratitude.

Think about this. The irony is that this outsider—unclean, marginalized, despised because of his questionable ancestry, and thought to be under divine curse by virtue of his infirmity—demonstrates an understanding of God’s salvation and an appreciation of his physical, communal, and spiritual restoration far better than the Jews themselves.

Think about something that Jesus has done for you. Are you blessed? Have you been healed? Has Jesus saved you from your sins? These are reasons that we sing…

All my words fall short I got nothing new How could I express All my gratitude? I could sing these songs As I often do But every song must end And You never do So I throw up my hands And praise You again and again ‘Cause all that I have is a hallelujah Hallelujah And I know it's not much But I've nothing else fit for a King Except for a heart singing hallelujah Hallelujah

You see when we sing a song like this, it’s not because that is our favorite song. It’s because that is a way that we make a connection to God. We are singing a song and showing God our gratitude for all the wonderful things that He has done in our life.

I know it’s not much but I’ve nothing else fit for a king except for a heart singing hallelujah.

This leper understood gratitude. He wanted one moment with His healer. He knew that He must worship the man that would change his life forever.

Luke closes this chapter by talking about end times.

Luke 17:20–37 (NIV)

20 Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed,

21 nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.”

22 Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it.

23 People will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them.

24 For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other.

25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.

26 “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man.

27 People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.

28 “It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building.

29 But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.

30 “It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed.

31 On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything.

32 Remember Lot’s wife!

33 Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it.

34 I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left.

35 Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.”

36 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.

37 “Where, Lord?” they asked. He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.”

Up to this point in chapter 17, Jesus was explaining how His followers should live. Then once the question was asked about when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus moves into a time of talking about the end times.

It is important for us to understand that the Kingdom of God was among the people because Jesus was among them. We get confused when talking about Jesus as the son of God. Jesus is more than just the son of God. He is God. He is the human form of God.

When Jesus returned to heaven, the Kingdom remained, and continues today, with the work of the Holy Spirit in people’s lives and in relationships. Still, today, we must resist looking to institutions or programs for evidence of the progress of God’s Kingdom. Instead, we need to look for what God is doing in people’s hearts. Stop looking for signs and trying to figure out timetables. What each of us need to do is look at our own heart and make sure that we are ready? We also need to make sure that our friends and neighbors are ready as well.

It is so important for us to build a connection with people and in turn we can help them build a connection with God.

There was a question asked at the end of this chapter. It was simply, where, Lord? And Jesus’ reply was interesting to me. He said.

Luke 17:37 NIV

37 “Where, Lord?” they asked. He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.”

They wanted to know where all of this would take place. Jesus quotes a familiar proverb. Think about this, when you see one vulture circling overhead, it doesn’t mean much, but when you see several vultures that means a dead boy is nearby. So, Jesus is telling us, one sign of the end may not be significant, but when many signs occur, the Second Coming will be near.

The truth is we just need to prepare ourselves so that when Christ does come, we will be ready to go with Him.

God’s Word tells us that Jesus will come again. We don’t know when, but we need to prepare ourself so that when He does come we can go with Him.

God’s Word also tells us that we need to reach out to those and tell them about Him.

As a church we need to make connections with people and we need to help them make a connection with God.