Luke 17 11-19 Mark
Thanksgiving Day
Luke 17:11-19
November 27, 2003
“Home Coming”
Introduction: There is something very special about the place we call home. When we have been away from home for a very long time we often long to go back home, even for a short time. We long to remember the comforting memories of our childhood and youth, of simpler days gone by. We long to revisit the sights and the smells of home, to feel warmth of family and friends gathered together. This desire is embodied in the television show, “The Walton’s Homecoming.” You may remember this holiday movie about a Depression-era family in rural America. The story is set on Christmas Eve on Walton's Mountain, and the close-knit clan prepares to celebrate the holiday together--only to have their love and courage sorely tested as they wait for their father to return home during treacherous weather. THE HOMECOMING celebrates the value of home and family, of love and hope.
Last year I was amazed at how many of you came to church on Thanksgiving Day. The reason for this is that most of the churches my family attended did not have services on Thanksgiving. This is because when they held services they were poorly attended, and thus discontinued. At first, it would seem, that these people were ungracious and thankless. I’m sure this is the case for some of the people. But it also occurred to me that many of these people were not in church because they had made a homecoming journey of their own. That is why so many of you are here today. Many of you have made a home coming journey toady to this place you call home. Today, many of us will experience the sights and smells and taste of home…a turkey in the oven, a glass of wine, a piece of pie, and then later the Green Bay Packers on T. V. Most of us would say, its great to be home.
While we celebrate and remember this homecoming, we have gathered here today to celebrate and give thanks for the ultimate homecoming as the family of God in Christ. Here too we remember the sights, sounds, and the taste of our eternal home. We remember that we are on a homecoming journey of our own that will culminate with a heavenly feast of which we have a foretaste today. We give thanks because we know how far from home we have been, what it took to get us home, and how precious it is to us now.
In today’s Gospel lesson Jesus is approached by ten men with the dread disease of leprosy. From a far ten lepers called out to Jesus, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
Then Jesus spoke: "Go, show yourselves to the priests." These were strange words of hope, for the only time a leper would go to the priest was after he was cured. Ten lepers hear these words, and they start out to find the priests. As they go, they are cleansed. Their sickness is gone, because Jesus has healed them. He has taken their infirmity into Himself, and He will bear it to the cross for destruction.
The Hebrew word for leprosy was tsaraath, meaning a “smiting,” a “stroke,” because the disease was regarded as an awful punishment from the Lord. Leprosy begins with specks on the eyelids and on the palms, gradually spreads over the body, and causing terrible sores and swellings. From the skin the disease eats inward to the bones, rotting the whole body. In deed it was a terrible disease.
As terrible as the disease was the consequences of having it were even worse. In Christ’s day no leper could live in a walled town, though he might live in an open village. Wherever lepers went they were separated from those who were not infected. They were not allowed to go to the temple or participate in the temple worship. This meant that they were not able to offer sacrifices for their sins. Wherever they went they were required to have their outer garments rent as a sign of deep grief, men had to go bareheaded, and to cover their beards with head cloth, as if in lamentation at their own virtual death. Further, they had to warn passers-by to keep away, by calling out, ‘Unclean! unclean!’. Nor could they speak to any one, or receive or return a greeting, since in the East this involves an embrace.” They were completely separated from family, friends, community and especially home. They could never go home.
Jesus gift of healing is astounding. These men not only have their health back, they have their lives back. By God’s grace shown to these men through Jesus Christ they are enabled to go and hug their wives and kids for the first time in who knows how long. They can chat with friends in the market square. They can sit at the dinner table with family and friends. Now they could return to the temple to offer sacrifices for their sins and to give offerings of thanks to God. All this happened because Jesus spoke His powerful Word. Instantly, ten men were healed. Instantly they have their lives back. Instantly they are on a homecoming journey of their own
Most of us know the rest of story. Of the ten, one returns, a Samaritan man. You may recall that the Jews hated the Samaritans and treated them like lepers, keeping totally separated from them. This man falls on his face at Jesus' feet, and glorifies God by giving thanks.
The other nine aren't looking back. First they are going to the temple; then they are going home. They're not going to let anything stop them, because they have their life back and so much lost time to make up.
And these nine men really messed up, but not for the reason that you think. It’s not because they were thankless. I believe that they were plenty thankful for being delivered from their disease and their return home. After all wouldn’t you be thankful if you were in their position? The big mistake is this: They didn’t recognize Jesus as the source of their blessing and they ran away before Jesus was done giving, and He had so much more to give them. These men may have had faith that Jesus was a healer and that God was working through Him, but they did not see or believe that Jesus was any more than that. They didn’t understand that Jesus was able to do more than restore them to their earthly homes and relationships. They didn’t understand that Jesus was able to restore their relationship to God the Father and to enable them to go to their eternal home.
This is why Jesus came to earth and this is why He performed miracles, to give witness that He was the promised Messiah, God’s son, sent into the world to save the world and to prepare an eternal home. Jesus was preparing this home as he journeyed to Jerusalem where he would be crucified dead and buried. Through His sacrifice for the sins of man, He would take all diseases which have separated us from each other and from God upon Himself. Through, because of sin, we were far from God and our eternal home; through the cross of Christ he made our eternal home coming possible.
Today, throughout our country, many people are giving thanks. They are thankful for all the blessing that they have received, their health, family and homes. Unfortunately, many of these people do not know or understand where their blessings come from. They are like the nine lepers, thankful, but not recognizing the source of their blessing.
Though we have come here today to give God thanks and to recognize that Jesus Christ is the source of all our blessings, we too must recognize that we are not as thankful as we should be. We are more inclined to ask from God than to thank Him. As we have been delivered from our troubles we may have cried out “Thank God!” but we did not continue to live each day in conscious gratitude. And as things may have gone badly for us, we have not been inclined to thank God for the good that can and will come to us even through these trials? We all fail to be thankful enough to our God who has given us all things. For this we confess and for this we know that we have God’s forgiveness, for the sake of His Son Jesus Christ and His Holy suffering and death.
By God’s Spirit working in us, God enables us to be His Thanksgiving people. We remember that Jesus has not healed us of leprosy; He has done something much greater. As the Christ of God Jesus died to deliver us from Satan, sin, and hell and then He rose from the dead to declare His victory. Now He sustains us in our faith by means of His Word and Sacraments. Daily He gives us more than we ask for. He gives us life and comforts us in death. He gives us health, or the strength to endure illness. He gives us more than what we need and the ability to be satisfied with what we have. He gives us family in which we give and receive love, friends who support us and work that fulfills us. He has given us a country in which we enjoy political freedom and freedom to worship Him. The blessings of God overflow into our lives.
Conclusion: In all these things we celebrate our coming home to the blessings of God, both in this life and in eternal life through Jesus Christ. Today the sights, sounds and tastes of home will warm our hearts and bring back the memories of family and home. More importantly, we remember that we have been joined to the family of God in Christ. Because of Jesus Christ we will always have a place of warmth, comfort and love, a place to call home. Now thank we all our God, with hearts and hands and voices, Who wondrous things hath done, in whom His world rejoices; Who from our mothers arms hath blessed us on our way, with countless gifts of love, and still is ours today