Be Thankful for Every Little Thing

Raising Responsible Adults

Edris is 2.

Working w/ her to say please and thank you.

And, beginning to teach her t/b responsible.

B/C the goal is a responsible adult.

The Process: When she asks we tell her to say please.

When she gets it we tell her to say thank you.

Hopefully, these become habits.

Then, we make it a big deal when she picks up her toys and puts them away. BIG deal.

The day is coming when we won’t make a big deal out of it b/c it’s her responsibility to clean up after herself.

Toys, dishes, clothes, etc.

Her chores.

Even a 5 year old can clean up after the dog.

Yes, we will appreciate it, but it’s no longer going t/b a big deal b/c it’s her job as part of our family.

So, as an adult she will be responsible and do what she needs to do.

I don’t need t/b thanked for going to work, bringing home a paycheck, and teaching you God’s word.

It’s nice t/b appreciated, but unnecessary.

Yes, it’s pastors’ appreciation month and I appreciate you appreciating me very much.

But, I’d do this for nothing.

I’d do it for my family and I’d do it for you.

It’s my responsibility.

I’ll do mine, you do yours, everything will work just fine.

So, here I am in a sober moment and I’m admitting what should be true.

The problem I have w/ myself is, and I’m confessing to all of you, there are times when I throw myself a big ‘ole pity party and I feel un appreciated.

Sara didn’t greet me at the door when I came home from slaying the dragons in her pearls and high heels.

Nobody raised up and called me bless-ed.

When this attitude takes over in my house or at church or in the community, nobody takes care of their responsibilities and nothing works fine.

Which, then leads to a society of snowflakes who expect t/b taken care of and are offended when they aren’t. Then, in no way think to take care of anybody else.

Which then leaks into our relationship w/ God.

God’s not taking care of me, fulfilling His responsibility to me. So, I’m not fulfilling my responsibility to Him.

Can we just agree now that we are going to take care of our responsibilities whether or not anyone else does theirs or appreciates us for performing ours?

And, tell me, what responsibility does God have to me?

None. Absolutely none.

God owes us nothing.

When Adam and Eve sinned He would have been justified to turn His back on them and let them die.

Start over.

But, He didn’t just b/c He loves us and didn’t want to.

Everything we get from Him, big or little, is completely undeserved.

Given out of His grace and mercy.

Since that’s the case, then we should appreciate and thank Him for all of it.

He owes us nothing. Then, what do we owe Him? Everything!

It is our responsibility to Him.

Not to gain His love or anything else from Him. But b/c He is God, our Master, and already done so much for us.

When we perform our responsibility for Him, what thanks should we receive from Him?

None.

When we do our duty, perform our responsibilities, it’s nice t/b appreciated, but unnecessary.

So, if God doesn’t thank me for preaching today I can’t go home and throw my big ‘ole pity party and quit.

I show up next week and do it again.

And, in the mean time I will pay attention as best I can to every little thing God does for me and thank Him for it.

Understanding our roles in our relationship with God is vital to our spiritual health.

God owes us nothing. We owe Him everything. When He does anything for us, big or little, we must recognize it for what it is, appreciate it, and thank Him. And, when we don’t get thanked by Him for our work, we can’t be offended or disappointed.

These are the roles we have.

How do we know? Miracle #31

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Context

Don’t be the cause

The first of ch.17 Jesus instructs His disciples.

He says, “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come. But, woe to anyone through whom the come.”

On the subject of personal responsibility, don’t promote snowflakes.

Don’t sin, nor give anyone else and excuse.

Undeserving servants

Next He tells a parable

Luke 17:7–10 NIV

“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’? 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’? Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? 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.’ ”

Luke 17:

Culturally, this was the norm. They would have clearly understood what He was saying.

Servants have a responsibility to their masters. They work for them, don’t get to sit and eat w/ them, wait and eat after them, and don’t get thanked for what they are responsible for.

They do their duty w/out expecting gratitude. It’s their job.

And, they appreciate their masters for whatever they get.

You might think this seems harsh. But, this was in no way offensive to the disciples.

c.1 personal responsibility.

Remember where He is

Luke 17:11 NIV

Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee.

He’s just raised Lazarus in Bethany, on His way to the cross.

He’s not taking a direct route. And He’s taking advantage of the opportunities to teach His disciples, and us, some of the most important lessons we all need to get.

Not only do we need this for ourselves, but we are also the ones responsible to explain this to those who don’t understand it for themselves, yet.

So, as He is traveling between Samaria and Galilee another opportunity presents itself for Him to teach us an important lesson.

The Content

Luke 17:12–14 NIV

As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.

The condition of the lepers

10 lepers, outcasts. Kept at a distance outside the village and away from everyone else.

It was the law. 10’ pole.

They didn’t push their way thru the crowd to Him.

It would have caused a dramatic scene.

Individuals had before, but 10 couldn’t get close.

The people were terrified of contracting the disease.

It was infectious and a death sentence.

It was an ugly death, too.

The only ones who accepted them were other lepers.

So, they stayed together. Their only social contact.

They saw Jesus at a distance, recognized Him, and cried out to Him.

The cry of the lepers

“Master”

Ties this to the context. The parable of the Master and his servants.

They recognized Jesus as their Master and they were the undeserving servants.

They did not deserve to be healed.

They just hoped He would.

At this point all 10 of them believed in the power of Jesus.

They cried out for mercy.

They didn’t ask directly t/b relieved of their suffering.

But, clearly implied in their cry.

“Have mercy”

They bel’d they didn’t deserve t/b relieved of their suffering.

Mercy is not getting something bad you do deserve

Grace is getting something good you don’t deserve.

They just hoped He would do what He could

They didn’t care who heard them. They were desperate. They were loud.

Jesus was merciful to them that day. But, He didn’t cure them in a way He had anyone else before.

The cure of the lepers

Jesus didn’t touch them or cure them right away.

He sent them to the priests.

What was there to show them? They had leprosy.

They made an assumption, based on the faith they had in His power, and they went. Immediately.

And, on the way, in response to their obedience, they were cleansed.

Why go to the priests?

Leprosy was seen as an illustration of sin. That’s why it was referred to as a cleansing, not healing.

Cleansed of sin.

Leprosy was an ugly and smelly disease. Open wounds that would ooze.

Fingers, toes, and your nose would fall off.

These are parallels of what God senses when He encounters a sinful being.

People were terrified of contracting the disease. It was infectious. If any of the ooze got into an uninfected person they would soon be infected.

So, they would poke them w/ a 10’ pole, throw stones at them to keep them at a distance.

God cannot be in the presence of a sinful being.

The priest was responsible for teaching and enforcing the law.

They kept lepers out.

And, only priests could inspect and declare former-leper cleansed then restore them into fellowship.

This was incredibly rare. Though, they experienced a recent uptick in leper cleansings since Jesus showed up.

This was also a Messianic sign. If a leper was cleansed by someone, that One would have fulfilled an important prophecy about being the Messiah.

And, the priests could then declare that the Messiah had come and lead people to believe in Him.

But, they had rejected Jesus so they rejected the sign as it was.

One more chance for the religious leadership. How many chances did they blow?

Jesus is gracious in the number of chances He gives us.

Up to this point all 10 believed in His power. There is no evidence that any of them, except 1, believed in His Person.

That is, believed in Him as their Messiah.

So, as they ran to the priests, Jesus cleansed all of them, even though 9 of them didn’t have faith in Him to be saved.

Only 1. Only 1 returned to worship Him and say thanks.

Conclusions

Luke 17:

Luke 17:15–19 NIV

One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

The contrition of one

One looked down and realized his open wounds had healed.

One stopped in his tracks, overcome w/ gratitude and joy.

One returned to Jesus express his appreciation and thanks to Jesus before he ever presented himself to the priests.

One understood this was a gift from God that came thru the command of Jesus.

Given out of His grace and mercy.

Since that’s the case, then we should appreciate and thank Him for all of it.

He returned.

Just as God commanded Israel thru Malachi, “Return to Me and I will return to you.” (3:7)

He fell face-down, knelt at the feet of Jesus.

A posture of humility and worship.

The posture of a servant to his Master.

The posture of an undeserving saint to his Savior.

God, through the prophets commanded Israel to repent and return.

This one demonstrated for the other 9 what God had callled them to do.

This one was a Samaritan.

A foreigner, indicating the other 9 were Jewish.

A Samaritan had one Jewish parent and one non-Jewish.

Making him despised by all. A half-breed.

He was an outcast among outcasts.

The Jews who had been cleansed would have been expected to be the first to return and this Samaritan expected to be the last.

The Samaritan was the only one to return.

Once they all realized they had been cleansed and relieved of their suffering, they returned to their normal, cultural roles.

When they suffered, they suffered together.

Once cleansed, separate b/c of their respective lineage.

This foreigner turned out to be an example for his Jewish former co-sufferers.

He acknowledged his undeserved favor. He worshiped Jesus and praised God.

Overcome and overwhelmed with gratitude and appreciation he expressed his thanks to Jesus.

The other 9 were too absorbed in their comfort to even think of being thankful

The conviction of nine

Where the 1 praised God loudly, the absence and the silence of the 9 was deafening.

Jesus was clearly disappointed and expressed it.

All 10 had the same motive to return and be thankful.

But, 9 didn’t see it that way.

Had they, they would have confessed

Absorbed in their comfort. Overwhelmed in their good favor and relief.

Believing it didn’t matter that they communicate their appreciation and thankfulness for Jesus’ undeserved favor.

Did they think the deserved it? They were Jewish. They kept the law in that they kept their distance. They were the chosen.

So, likely by their actions, they did feel they had earned Jesus’ consideration.

The believed in the power of Jesus but not in the Person.

They believed He could cleanse them and probably that He should.

He did even in their erroneous position.

But, as important as it was to them to be freed that day, there was something much more important that they missed out on.

Considered saved by Jesus

Jesus turned his attention back to the one who returned.

“Your faith has made you well.”

All 10 demonstrated some faith when they immediately headed toward the priests.

But, this one demonstrated a different kind of faith.

Not only did he believe Jesus could, he did not believe Jesus should, therefore when Jesus did, he was deeply appreciative.

He fell at Jesus feet and worshipped his Savior.

So when Jesus said his faith had made him well, he meant this man’s faith made him spiritually well.

This is what the other 9 missed out on.

Their lives on earth got much better. But their eternal lives remained in dire straights.

This man not only was relieved here. He went his way confident that his relief was eternal.

This man returned and repented.

His posture and his praise communicated what He believed about Jesus.

He believed Jesus to be powerful.

And he also believed Jesus to be his Messiah, his heavenly Master.

So, as the undeserving servant of his heavenly Master he worshipped Jesus and gave thanks to God for everything He did for him that day.

Jesus didn’t need to thank him for returning, that’s what faithful servants do.

But the man needed to thank Jesus that day, b/c that’s also what faithful servants do.

Applications

Outcasts - 1

We can never be so far away from Jesus that we cannot return.

Christianity is a movement of outcasts.

Then, we go thru periods when we push ourselves away.

We can never get so far away that we will not be received back by Jesus.

Posture and praise.

Humbly fall at His feet, acknowledging He is your Master, repent, and praise Him for what He has done in your life.

Outcasts - 2

Following Jesus example we must consider showing the love of God to the outcasts around us.

If anyone deserved t/b ignored it was the lepers. Yet, Jesus loved them enough to cleanse them all that day.

They didn’t even believe in Him.

They believed He was powerful but that was it.

We cannot confine our expressions of God’s love only to believers and believers who are in the “in” crowd.

Love everyone the same way Jesus would if He were here Himself to do it.

Be thankful

For everything.

By rights and justice Jesus could have turned his back and let us all die.

But, because He loves us and b/c He wants to He didn’t.

Everything.

The breath in your lungs, the food on your table, the car you drive, the roof over your head, the money in your retirement account, the health that you have, the child that disrespects you, the grandchild that idolizes you.

Everything you have is a gift from God.

Thank Him for it all.

Understanding our roles in our relationship with God is vital to our spiritual health.

God owes us nothing. We owe Him everything. When He does anything for us, big or little, we must recognize it for what it is, appreciate it, and thank Him. And, when we don’t get thanked by Him for our work, we can’t be offended or disappointed.

These are the roles we have.

And, it’s a great position to be in.