The True Heart of A Servant

Luke 17:11-19

We have some great lessons on faith, forgiveness and the heart of a servant. We have heard this passage in manny different context and I want to give you one more. During the month of November we have been posting thoughts on gratitude and thankfulness. Luke starts this chapter with some words from Jesus who provides his disciples with a strong warning against causing others to stumble, especially the little ones and then in

Verse 3 and 4, He says So watch yourselves!

“If another believer[a] sins, rebuke that person; then if there is repentance, forgive. 4 Even if that person wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, you must forgive.”

Well that’s pretty clear. Forgive and keep on forgiving. It’s an essential for following Christ. Now he doesn’t say get walked on in fact, he says rebuke the person let them know and if they repent as in genuinely change their mind. The greek meaning for forgive literally means to cast away, take that grudge and hook it and throw into the sea, and how many times as many times as they repent.

Verse 5 appears to be unrelated, But look closely. The NIV says, The apostles said to the Lord, increase our faith, The NLT says “ Show us how to increase our faith” The are wanting more faitH Huh?

Hebrews 11:1 (NKJV)

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Jesus response in verse 6 “If you have faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘May you be uprooted and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you!

Well, there’s a curious statement. Does Jesus want us to tell Mulberry trees to jump into the sea?

He never did it, the disciples never did it. Jesus never performed miracles just to show off, they had a purpose so what’s this about? Well look back at the context he just taught them to forgive Mulberry trees are known for their very deep roots very hard to dig out. So Jesus uses this to explain a scripture in hebrews

Hebrews 12:15 "See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no 'root of bitterness' springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled"

warns us to make sure that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble. Bitterness is precisely what happens when you don’t forgive and in the Bible, the sea is the place that God says he casts our sins when he forgives metaphorically so perhaps Jesus is less interested in us uprooting trees, and more interested in us up rooting and drowning old grudges and that takes faith. Trust God, even a mustard seeds worth and tell those nasty old roots to get up and get out trust him and let it go.

Verse 7 a hard lesson about the heart of a true servant, every question is called to live our lives as servant in God‘s upside down kingdom, where servants take the top spot. Jesus himself lived to serve, and we follow his lead in God‘s economy. Only a life lived for others has real meaning but it’s one thing to act like a servant it’s another to be treated like one, so Jesus tells a parable to help us check our own hearts in the story. The servant works in the bosses fields all day when he gets back to the house he’s not done serving no dinner until he cooks and serves the boss first. Hey It’s in the job description and all of that without so much as a thank you from the Boss and at Verse 10, In the same way, when you obey me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.’” We have only done our duty now that is the attitude of a true servant. These are the things we need to remember

1. don’t expect applause.

2. Don’t wait for gratitude

3. Work Hard,

4. Serve God & Others

and guess what You will be found faithful now don’t misunderstand. God appreciates our service and he pays very well in eternity. He will say well done thy good and faithful servant and it’s also right for you to thank others when they serve you, but Jesus wants to keep us from the very real danger of self-centered serving. We should not serve to feel good to look good or to make you think you are good. We serve to help others because God is good now to keep us in balance.

The next story reminds us just how important it is for us to show gratitude when God serves us. Jesus is traveling to Jerusalem and verse 12 as he was going into a village 10 men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice Jesus have pity on us and he saw them he said go show yourselves to the priest and as they went, they were clean.

Noticed Jesus is still in the midst of His travels. Samaria was between Galilee and Judaea, where Jerusalem was located. This description could indicate a range of skin diseases. Leprosy EDB Due to the fear of contagion, people with skin diseases were required to withdraw from the community and alert anyone who was approaching.

Lev 13:45–46. 45 “Those who suffer from a serious skin disease must tear their clothing and leave their hair uncombed. They must cover their mouth and call out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ 46 As long as the serious disease lasts, they will be ceremonially unclean. They must live in isolation in their place outside the camp.

This helps us to gather a picture of what is going on. now let’s look at verse 15

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.

The nationality of most of the ten lepers in is not explicitly stated, but it is implied that they were likely Jewish, as they were instructed to go show themselves to the priests, a directive tied to the Jewish law for cleansing (Leviticus 14).

However, one leper is specifically identified as a Samaritan (Luke 17:16). This detail is significant because Samaritans and Jews had deep cultural and religious animosities. By highlighting that the one who returned to give thanks was a Samaritan, Jesus emphasized that gratitude and faith transcend cultural and ethnic boundaries. It also underscores the Samaritan’s exceptional response in comparison to the others.Jesus marvels at their lack of expressed gratitude. The faith of one of Israel’s loathed neighbors—a Samaritan—is elevated above the faith of Jews

This Samaritan understood the significance of what had been done for him. He was praising God and he threw himself at Jesus’ feet, a posture of worship. He apparently understood that Jesus is God, and because of that, he placed his faith in Jesus.

The lack of gratitude by the other nine was typical of the rejection of Jesus’s ministry by the Jewish nation. It’s typical to the nature of people in society. He alone had the power to cleanse the nation and make it ceremonially clean. However, the nation did not respond properly to Him. The nation accepted the things that Jesus could do (such as heal them and feed them), but it did not want to accept Him as Messiah.

verse 17 Jesus asks we’re not all 10 cleansed Where are the other nine has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner then he said to him

What happened to the 9 who didn’t come back and say thank you

Common affliction reduces the significance of unimportant matters. (Example of those who flew in to help with 911) once they are no longer in common we return back to those things and seeing the differences of each other again. When you in pain you don’t care who does what just so that the pain is gone. Sin is our common need.

Luke 17:19 NKJV

And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”

Closing:

Gratitude is one of the most powerful expressions of faith. In this story of the lepers, we see a story that illustrates the connection between thankfulness and a vibrant, active faith. Jesus heals ten lepers, but only one—a Samaritan—returns to express his gratitude. This act of thankfulness sets him apart and draws a profound response from Jesus: “Your faith has made you well.” Our faith is deepened and strengthened through a heart of thankfulness.

so nine men didn’t even come back to say thanks that’s not right but how many times have we seen? People are caught in a bind and beg God for help only to forget about God when the rescue is over, Hey we can do it too

but for these 9 lepers does it really make a difference? They’re still healed no more leprosy but look carefully at verse 19. Your faith has made you that whole. Some say well but this word whole is the same Greek word used for saved in the Bible as in eternal salvation. 10 men were healed of leprosy yet only the one who returned to Jesus with gratitude got to hear him say your faith has saved you

I spoke about how we have to taught how to be thankful, how to say thank you and that helps to increase. That’s the heart of a true servant.

Conclusion

Faith and thankfulness are intertwined. Gratitude is an outward expression of inward faith, and it strengthens our connection to God. That’s the True Heart of A Servant.

What Does Your Gratitude Say about your faith?