The Grateful Said manuscript thanksgiving 06
“The Grateful Said”
Luke 17:11-19
Stories of Scandalous Ingratitude can be shocking. I ran across a stack of them the other day. Some make you smile; some make you grimace; some make you groan; and some just make you plain sick.
Gratitude, it seems, just doesn’t grow on trees…even in religious cultures:
9/10 Americans have some religious affiliation
8/10 Americans say they are Christians
7/10 Americans say they pray regularly
6/10 Teenagers who claim to be Christians will not continue their religious practices into their 20s
5/10 Americans attend church at least one time per month
4/10 Americans have read at least a portion of the Bible
3/10 Americans have read “The DaVinci Code”
2/10 Americans who say they are Christians tithe regularly
1/10 Healed lepers demonstrated gratitude
You couldn’t have…wouldn’t have predicted that of all the men healed it would be this foreigner, this Samaritan would, alone, go back to say “Thank You!” And it occurred to me that rather than focus on what the other 9 were thinking…it would be helpful to think of what the one man who was Grateful Said…Thus: The Grateful Said:
· The Grateful Said Thank You for What I did not (Deserve)
EXP: Think of what he was asking for when he begged for Pity or Mercy. It’s a word that precludes merit. He wasn’t saying, “I deserve this.” He was saying, “I need something that I don’t deserve.”
When you look at the people in the NT whom Jesus healed, changed, pardoned, and delivered…there is never a case where the person said, “Do this for me…I deserve it.” Once the Jews said of the Centurion, he deserves it…but he said of himself, “I am not worthy to have you come under my roof.” Let me list some examples for you.
Of all the lepers in the world at that time, he didn’t deserve it any more than all others did. And he knew it.
And I have to say that when I think about my own life and all the blessings God has give me, I am struck by the fact that I don’t deserve any of these things! Why Me?
EXP: And more than Anything, I didn’t and I don’t now deserve God’s Mercy.
This year may have been a great year financially or a very bad one. You may have had trouble in your home; you may have struggled with your health, or even have been spiritually down, but if you have received God’s Mercy, you can say Thank You for something that you really didn’t deserve.
· The Grateful Said Thank You for What I could not (Do for Myself)
Have you noticed that not everyone who says “Thank You” really means it. Take a look at this clip from the movie “Shenadoah” and ask yourself if this is really a grateful man.
“Insert Movie Clip”
Do you think he was really grateful? Not at that Point!
This leper obviously is completely sincere in his gratitude for he knows he has received something he could never do for himself. He was never going to just get well. He was never going to make himself well. Only Jesus could make him well.
And when I think about my own salvation…and the abundant life that comes with it right now…I know that I could never have saved myself. Not in a million tries. I could never have paid the price for my own salvation. I could never have earned it.
· The Grateful Said Thank You for What I cannot (Repay)
Think of all that the leper had restored to him: His health, family; work; dignity; his name; his place in society.
How could he have ever repaid Jesus for any of that? All he could do was go back to say “Thank You”—something that apparently was too difficult for the other 9.
And notice what happens when he goes back. Jesus says, “Your faith has made you well.” What was he speaking of? He was not talking about leprosy…he was now speaking about salvation.
ILL: John Ortberg story of boy with MS.
You see there’s always a hidden blessing in gratitude. The other 9—they received the temporal blessing—the healing…but the grateful---not only the cleansing from leprosy—but also from sin.
Let me tell you that there is still a hidden blessing in gratitude. Always. If I approach the day without gratitude, there are things I still receive. I still have the blessing of a great country; of the day---and so forth…and yet there is so much more I miss.
The same is true about your church. Without a grateful spirit, there are many things that you still enjoy…but it is so easy to miss the greater blessings if you don’t have that grateful spirit.
It is like Polarized Sunglasses when you go fly fishing. Can you enjoy it without them? Yes, but you see so much more with them on!
There are some of us today that feel like a leper on the inside. I want you to know that Jesus can cure leprosy of the soul just as easy as he cured this man’s leprosy. That man had faith that Jesus was from God. There were probably a lot of things he didn’t understand, but He had faith in Jesus.
And today, if you will put trust in Jesus, and ask Him to be your Savior; your Deliverer; Your Lord—He will forgive you; He will cleanse you; He will give you a new life.
And if He has done that already in your life…then it is important that you take time to show Him your gratitude. Jesus was pleased that one man did; and he was offended that others didn’t.
And all through the Bible we are told of the importance of giving thanks to God….of showing gratitude to God. So how do we do that?
How to Show My Gratitude
1. thru my song
This man was praising God…in a loud voice. I don’t know if it was melodious or not. But we can do it thru our songs….We can Thank Him! We can worship and exalt and magnify Him with zeal through our songs.
2. thru my service
This man fell at his feet. It was an expression of gratitude, but it was also a pledge of service unto Jesus. He was demonstrating his willingness to obey and to serve.
One of the signs of growth and gratitude in our lives is when we reach the point where we are willing to Obey the Spirit Promptly.
When we feel God speaking to us about taking on some form of service, we need to obey the Spirit and to obey Him promptly. What service are you involved in for Jesus Christ? Are you using your spiritual gift? Are you using your talents?
There’s a difference between spiritual gifts and talents. We have both and we need to use both. For example, we have a great web site up and running because Clint Caraway got a burden for the Lord some time back and said, “I want to use my talent.” (By the way, there’s room on the team for you if you got similar talents.)
We need some people who have some talents in electronics and technology to be a part of our audio/visual team. It’s a great way to show your gratitude for what God has done.
Many of you have talents in music. We need you to use your talents in the choir or the orchestra.
Then there’s ways to use your spiritual gift, as well. Every Christian has a spiritual gift. A spiritual gift is an ability given by the Holy Spirit to serve effectively in a particular service as a member of the Body of Christ.
Maybe you have the spiritual gift of hospitality, you need to use it to build up the fellowship in your class or to host nice, fun, parties for seekers.
3. thru my sacrifice
This man came back and it maybe wasn’t a HUGE sacrifice, but it was a sacrifice of time. We can show our gratitude to God when we sacrifice our time, our talents, and our treasures… We say, “O God You have given me so much…” I want to give out of gratitude…Thanks-GIVING.
It acknowledges His goodness; it expresses your heart; it furthers the work.
Do you realize that our church cannot do ministry without the financial support of every single member? We can give thanks to God thru our sacrifice…and when we do, it opens us up to other blessings we would never have received.
Years ago, I read the little book Fire on the Mountain. It is the story of how the gospel transformed life in an African village. There’s a story that came out of a women’s retreat there…. “Thank you Lord! I am not too late.”
I said last week, It’s not too late. Well, guess what…it’s not too late for you. It’s not too late to show your gratitude. It’s not too late to be saved.