How do you show Jesus your thankfulness? (Luke 17:11-19)

How do you show Jesus your thankfulness? (Luke 17:11-19) - What is leprosy? o Sometimes begins with numbness of the extremities (fingers, toes...) o Later, parts of extremities may fall off o Contagious o Fever leading to death - This is leprosy today (Hansen disease) o But it is not incurable today o But not extremely contagious (as in Ben Hur) Prolonged, close contact with someone with untreated leprosy over many months is needed to catch the disease. (not just shaking hands or hugging) - But this is not the same as what is described as leprosy in the Bible! - In the Bible, 'leprosy' is a more general term for a skin disease o A whiteness of skin (Ex. 4:6 - Moses) o A white spot (sometimes with a reddish base) spreading or disappearing (Lev. 13) o "Unclean" only as long as affection was partial (Lev. 13:12-13) o Also in house or in fabrics (mold) o Disfigured, but did not disable the victim: see Naaman * was able to serve (and fight!) as general of Syrian army * was able to enter the into the presence of the king - Does not work so well for the message of my sermon... - Or does it?? - Can there be anything worse than the physical aspect of today's leprosy? - Yes, the social/emotional/psychological aspect o Removal from society - outcast (loss of family, friends, home) o Stigma of being unclean (calling out "Unclean!") "The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, 'Unclean, unclean.' He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp." (Lev. 13:45-46) --> Who here has been to Jerusalem? What did you see of the temple? o The closest thing to the temple still in existence today: warning inscription No stranger is to enter within the balustrade around the temple and enclosure. Whoever is caught will be himself responsible for his ensuing death.. o Why? Ceremonially unclean (applied also to lepers - unclean like the heathen!) o Leprosy as God's punishment on sin: * Miriam: speaks against Moses (Numbers 12) * King Uzziah: attempt to burn incense in the temple (2 Chr. 26) * Gehazi (servant of Elisha): greed (2 Kings 5) o Others think: "This is a result of sin. God is judging this person for their sin." o Lepers themselves think: "Why is God against me? Why is He punishing me?" o What would being "unclean" be like today? * Dalit - lowest caste in India (the "untouchables") * Woman: Usha Chaumar http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/07/14/untouchable.models/index.html * Work: "scavenger" (cleaning toilets of higher castes (BJU), no drainage, cleaning out toilets by hand), wages: $7 - $10 per month * Another woman: "For the past 20 years my life hasn't been a life. The world treats us like insects. I want to walk upright, get a good job and get rid of this dirty work so the world wouldn't oppose us." * Tarahumara in the city Lowly work or no work (begging), language barrier, despised, taken advantage of... - The way to Jerusalem (the cross!): through Samaria and Galilee (11) - A desperate cry (12-13): o Outside of the village / stand at a distance (12) o "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" (13) o Probably not just asking for alms, but for healing o Doesn't Jesus have more important things on His mind? - A strange answer (14a): God does not always answer as we might expect - Obedient faith (14b): Trusting God and following/obeying Him - True thankfulness (15-18): o All lepers first stand at a distance from Jesus, then go away from Jesus o Once healed, they seem to have forgotten Jesus (thinking of new life) o One turns around and comes to Jesus o "The priest can wait!" (family, friends, work...) - Complete salvation (19): God knows and does what is best! o Physical healing: not always, not the most important! o Spiritual healing (salvation): why Jesus died on the cross! I. Why you can (should!) be thankful A. Your life does not compare to that of a leper (or others who are very poor) We take so much for granted! 1) You are healthy! a. At least healthy enough to come to church today b. And if not: medicine, doctors, medical insurance 2) You are rich! a. If you live in the UK and earn £1500 per month... 1. ... you are richer than 94.3% of the world! 2. ... your income is 17x that of the global average! b. Over 3 billion people earn less than $2.50 a day. c. 2.2 billion children in the world, of which 1 billion live in poverty d. Each day, around 22,000 children die because of poverty (Tarahumara children born without a name...) e. 780 million people without clean water (water filter) f. Rich in education (maybe no PhD or college degree, but...) Almost 1 billion people cannot read or write (Tarahumara +taxi driver) B. Jesus is merciful and gracious! 1) Your sin is comparable to leprosy (in Bible times and today) a. Maybe you think that your sin is not such a big deal, but: b. Your sin makes you unclean! c. Excluded from God's presence d. contagious e. incurable f. takes feeling away (the more you sin, the less sensitive you become to it) g. destroys and kills you (without you noticing!) 2) Jesus' mercy and grace is for all people! a. Even for lepers i. Outcasts ii. Practically dead people (no hope, but Jesus gives hope!) b. Even for the "heathen" (Samaritans, foreigners, other nations and religions) i. Those who do not share His values ii. Those who are His enemies c. Even on the way to the cross! (especially then / because of the cross!) i. Jesus went to the cross to take your sin (sickness, punishment, death) on Himself! ii. The great exchange! (curse --> blessing) "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us- for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree"- so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith." (Gal. 3:13-14) iii. Through faith! (only if you believe...) iv. As inconceivably terrible as leprosy/uncleanness/sin is, so inconceivably wonderful is God's blessing! v. Story of Usha Chaumar 1. Bindeswar Pathak of the highest caste: "When I was a child at 13 years old, I touched an untouchable. For that my grandmother forced me to swallow cow dung, cow urine and Ganges water to purify myself." 2. Later, he started helping the Dalits - find new work - making clothes 3. Special honour: * Invitation to present her saris at a fashion show in New York * A crown as recognition for her accomplishments: "I am overjoyed getting this honor in New York and wearing this crown. There was a time when there was only filth on my head, and now it has a gold crown." 3) Transformation through Jesus Christ! (Eph. 2:4-7) "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ- by grace you have been saved- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.." 4) Crowns! (wreath): for those who love Jesus and are faithful II. How should we show Jesus our thankfulness? - Tarahumara: * Often do not say "thank you", even though there is a word for it (natétarabá) * kórima: the rich must share with the poor (debt, not mercy) * Human nature: hide wealth (harvest never "good", spend money quickly) * Barter aspect - At the time of Jesus (Jesus and the Gospels, Craig Blomberg) ... a farmer who had a sudden windfall of crops was expected to share with the needy, not to hoard it as the "rich fool" in the parable of Luke 12:13-21 did. --> This sounds a lot like the Tarahumara concept of kórima! Moreover, when fellow villagers or friends did give a person money or other material assistance, one was honor bound to repay them. People did not necessarily say "thank you" in the ancient world; they just returned the favor. In fact, thanking people could imply that one was not going to do anything more and hence would end the relationship of mutual give-and-take. Thus the Samaritan leper of Luke 17:11-19 who returns to give thanks to Jesus was perhaps not the man people would have expected Jesus to praise. Christ, however, was trying to teach that God's grace is given without the possibility of repayment. natétarabá ("thank you") and natétima ("to pay") A. Do not try to pay Jesus back 1) The other 9 healed lepers were certainly also overjoyed and thankful! 2) We think: 9 "ungrateful" people (they do too little!) But perhaps different! Maybe the 9 wanted to do more than just say thank you... 3) If Jesus has cleansed you from your sin, you have much more reason to be thankful! 4) But there is no way you can pay for it! (pay back) - Insult (e.g. £1 for someone who saves your life) 5) But: you cannot live your life the same way as before 6) Our problem is the opposite: i. not in danger of wanting to do something (too much) for our salvation ii. rather: we do not show our thankfulness enough - So how should we do that? B. Simply tell Jesus how thankful you are! (like the Samaritan in v. 16) --> It makes God happy to see your joy! 1) Tarahumara: Natétaraba! --> We are happy to see their joy! 2) God's will: "give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." (1 Thess. 5:18) 3) Samaritan: "giving him thanks" (16) = eucharisteo (37 other times in NT, to God) 4) David: "You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever!" (Ps. 30:11-12) C. Make use of God's gift! (like all 10 healed lepers) o Sometimes we are happy with a present, but don't say thank you... o Sometimes we politely say thank you, but are not really happy with the present... o It honours a person when we do both! o Value the gift and the giver! 1) The 10 lepers a. Did not go back to their old life ("Unclean!") b. They made use of their new life (family, work, friends...) 2) Which gifts have you received from God? a. Health, family, work, friends, church, house, car, wealth, talents... ==> How do you make use of them? (for God's glory) b. New life in Christ! (set free, forgiven, redeemed, set apart...) ==> How do you make use of your new life? (for God's glory) D. Tell others about Jesus! (like the Samaritan in v. 15-16) (mission) Those who were healed by Jesus tell others about it (about Him)! 1) The Samaritan a. "praising God with a loud voice" (15) b. "fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks" (16) c. Publicly gave Jesus thanks as one would give thanks to God 2) Another leper (Mk. 1:40-45) a. Jesus heals him b. Jesus says he should tell nobody about it... "See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them." (44) c. What does he do? "But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter." (45) 3) The Gadarene demoniac (Mk. 5:1-20) a. Jesus makes the demons leave the man (pigs) b. He asks to be able to stay with Jesus 'And he did not permit him but said to him, "Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you." And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.' (19-20) c. This is also what Jesus wants us to do today (we should not keep silent)! * Nicolaus von Zinzendorf (1700-1760) o Noble family in Germany - wanted to study law o Trip through Europe (1719): art gallery o Ecce Homo (Domenico Fetti): "This I have done for you - what will you do for me?" o 1722: Zinzendorf starts providing shelter for protestant refugees (Herrnhut --> growth!) o Missionary movement: first missionaries sent to Virgin Islands o Next 20 years: Herrnhut sends out more missionaries than the whole protestant world in the previous 200 years! o Zinzendorf passionate initiator and enabler for missions, but did not have enough courage to become a missionary himself! o He said that the life in the wilderness and the hardships of day-to-day missionary life was nothing form him! (Did God use him? Yes!!) The one and the nine: - Are you the one? Or are you one of the nine? o 9 stood at a distance from Jesus - 1 came close to Jesus o 9 called Jesus "master" (teacher) - 1 recognised and praised Jesus as God o 9 perhaps tried to pay Jesus - 1 realised that it was impossible to pay Jesus o 9 needed Jesus only when they had a disease - 1 still needed Jesus when he was healed o 9 saw only their physical need - 1 also saw his spiritual need o 9 lived their new lives for themselves - 1 wanted to glorify God with his new life o 9 experienced only the healing of their body - 1 also experienced the salvation of his soul - Are you the one who is truly saved and truly thankful? - If not, then come to Jesus - find salvation in Him and show Him your thankfulness! ==> Thank Jesus with your words! ==> Thank Jesus with your life! ==> Tell others about Jesus! Prayer