Sermon Tone Analysis

November is the month that we celebrate Thanksgiving as a nation.

Thanksgiving is a time of family gatherings and celebrations.

However, as we enter this new month, I would like for us to think about more than turkeys, parades, football, 2 days off work, and after Thanksgiving sales.

Not that there is anything wrong with any of these activities or events.

For the next few weeks we will be talking about having an *Attitude of Gratitude*.

I would like for our focus to become one of thankfulness for the blessings that God gives us each day.

The story we are going to look at today is about 10 lepers who came to Jesus for healing and how only 1 gave Him thanks.

¨     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* Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”

*19* Then He said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

I like this story because it shows us that God notices when we give thanks for His blessings.

He also notices when we take things for granted and are ungrateful or have an *attitude of ingratitude*.

What is first noticeable about these ten men is that they were lepers—outcasts of society due to the disease they had.

As outcasts they knew that they had no right to approach anyone, let alone one who might be able to heal them of their disease.

Not only that but one of them is a Samaritan.

Of course, as we saw last week, Jesus never saw anyone as an outcast (remember the Samaritan woman and all the Samaritans who believed in Him so much that they asked Him to stay with them for 2 days).

Jesus saw them as people that His Father loved and He was willing to break the rules of society to minister to them.

What is interesting about this story is that the Jewish lepers did not care whether they were a Jew or Samaritan, because they were all outcasts—so they accepted a Samaritan just like Jesus did—although not for the same reasons.

Now as Jesus is traveling, on an ordinary day, on His way to Jerusalem, these 10 lepers shouted to Him, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”

The word for pity in the NIV is translated “mercy” in the KJV & NASB which is more correct.

This is the same word in the Greek as the word “chesed” in the Hebrew.

“Chesed” is the word that is used to describe God’s loving-kindness.

*1653 **ἐλεέω, **ἐλεάω* [/eleeo/ ~/el·eh·*eh*·o~/] v. From 1656; TDNT 2:477; TDNTA 222; GK 1796 and 1790; 31 occurrences; AV translates as “have mercy on” 14 times, “obtain mercy” eight times, “show mercy” twice, “have compassion” once, “have compassion on” once, “have pity on” once, “have mercy” once, “have mercy upon” once, and “receive mercy” once.

*1* to have mercy on.

*2* to help one afflicted or seeking aid.

*3* to help the afflicted, to bring help to the wretched.

*4* to experience mercy.

/Additional Information:/ For synonyms see entry 3628, /oikturmos/.See entry 5842 for comparison of synonyms.

[i]

*2617 **חֶסֶד, **חֶסֶד* [/checed/ ~/*kheh*·sed~/] n m.

From 2616; TWOT 698a, 699a; GK 2875 and 2876; 248 occurrences; AV translates as “mercy” 149 times, “kindness” 40 times, “lovingkindness” 30 times, “goodness” 12 times, “kindly” five times, “merciful” four times, “favour” three times, “good” once, “goodliness” once, “pity” once, “reproach” once, and “wicked thing” once.

*1* goodness, kindness, faithfulness.

*2* a reproach, shame.[ii]

Asking the Lord for mercy is always the right way to approach God.

In fact, He tells us to come with confidence to His throne of grace, so that we can receive mercy and find grace in our time of need (Heb 4:16).

¨     Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

When we ask God for His mercy we are asking Him to give us something that we do not deserve.

When is the last time you asked God for mercy?

Oh my friends, how many times do we rush into the throne room of God and not ask for His mercy before we ask for His grace (unmerited favor) to grant our petitions?

Do we run to God and expect Him to respond to us as if when we snap our fingers He has to move?

Is it no wonder that our prayers are not answered when we have not first sought God’s mercy with an *attitude of gratitude*!

Why is this true?

Because only a sovereign king has the right to determine who comes into their presence.

If you remember the story of Esther (or you saw /One Night with the King/), she could not enter the king’s presence whenever she wanted to, but only when the king wanted her to.

To go unbidden to the king could cost her, her life.

Now the amazing thing about a king granting mercy is that he was just in granting mercy or in not granting it.

There was no demand that could be placed upon the king to require him to give something that he did not want to do.

Friends, I think that sometimes we forget this simple fact—we do not deserve God’s mercy and grace—He freely gives it to us.

We cannot twist God’s arm by our prayers, fasting, Bible reading, worship, or any other religious act.

He is the Sovereign Lord and King of the universe and if He deems to grant us access to Him, then we are the one who should be eternally grateful for His mercy.

Thankfully, God has already given us free access to His throne and invites us to come anytime we need to (Heb 4:16; Eph 3:12).

However, we must always remember that He is a sovereign God and worthy of respect and honor.

The price that was paid by Jesus to grant us access to the Father is not a light thing to be taken for granted.

To do so is to have an* attitude of ingratitude* for what God has so freely given us through the sacrifice of His dear Son Jesus Christ.

Now obviously, these 10 lepers knew that to approach Jesus, they only had one way to come—begging for mercy.

They did not demand their healing, but simply asked for mercy.

They knew that they did not deserve anything, but yet they were willing to try.

This desperate request from these men got Jesus’ attention and He told them to “Go, show yourselves to the priests.”

Why would Jesus tell them this?

Because according to the law this was the standard procedure for someone cured of leprosy (Lev 14:1-2).

He was testing their faith to see if they would believe that God would have mercy on them.

As they went away from Jesus, they were cleansed—all 10 of them.

But now here is where the real truth of the story comes out—only 1 returned to thank Him and that one was a Samaritan.

Look at how Luke tells this.

First there is wonder that only one came back to give thanks to God for the healing.

10 men got healed, but only 1 was so thankful, that he had to give God thanks and come back to Jesus.

The other 9 men hurried to see the priests so they could be rid of their outcast status and returned to a normal position in society.

The one that returned he says, *13* “came back, praising God in a loud voice.”

He was shouting praises to God as anyone who had had such a miraculous healing would be expected to do.

But then besides the wonder of that fact, he adds, *16* “—and he was a Samaritan.”

As if there could not be anything more amazing than the fact that a Samaritan would be so thankful for God’s mercy being shown to him.

This half-breed man hated by all Jews was the only one to give God thanks.

We have to ask ourselves why?  Didn’t the other 9 (probably Jews) appreciate what God had done for them?

Surely, they must have marveled as they looked down at their skin and saw it clean and with out sores.

But they did not show it; rather they accepted the miracle and hurried to be reinstated into society.

Maybe the reason the Samaritan returned was because he was used to being an outcast, and even without leprosy he would still be an outcast.

So because he knew that God had such great mercy on him that He would heal an outcast, he had to give God thanks.

Jesus noticed that only one man returned because He asked, *17* “Were not all ten cleansed?

Where are the other nine?

*18* Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”

For the one who returned to Jesus with *gratitude* He showed even greater mercy by not only healing his body, but by healing his soul –*19 * (NASB) literally “your faith has saved you.”

Not only did Jesus notice the *gratitude* of the Samaritan, but He also noticed the *ingratitude* of the 9 Jews.

God does notice gratitude and ingratitude!

Many years ago, a boat was wrecked in a storm on Lake Michigan at Evanston, Illinois.

Students from Northwestern University formed themselves into rescue teams.

One student, Edward Spencer, saved seventeen people from the sinking ship.

When he was carried exhausted to his room, he asked, “Did I do my best?

Do you think I did my best?”

Years later, R. A. Torrey was talking about this incident at a meeting in Los Angeles, and a man in the audience called out that Edward Spencer was present.

Dr. Torrey invited Spencer to the platform.

An old man with white hair slowly climbed the steps as the applause rang.

Dr. Torrey asked him if anything in particular stood out in his memory.

“Only this, sir,” he replied, “of the seventeen people I saved, not one of them thanked me.”[iii]