Text: Luke 17:11-19
11 On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. 12 And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance 13 and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” 14 When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. 15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; 16 and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”
If there is any holiday that needs a new marketing campaign it is Thanksgiving. Don’t get me wrong Thanksgiving has always been a favorite holiday of mine, and one that my family has always made a really big deal out of, yet who really believes that they have something to be thankful for? Let’s think about all the things we have, we live in the most prosperous nation in the world so we should be thankful for that right. We should be thankful that we are able to go and gorge ourselves this afternoon and lay around in our heated homes and watch television. Boy that sure seems materialistic while there are people out there struggling to get by, within our city there are people who haven’t eaten in a week, within our church there are people who are laid off and don’t know how they are going to pay their bills.
We could be thankful for our significant other, whether it is our boyfriend or girlfriend or spouse. Yet now every time I go out to eat or to see a movie it cost double. I could be much more efficient if I didn’t have to put up with someone else’s baggage all the time. What is there to be thankful about that?
Okay, how about our government? Some of you are not thankful for that because you are ready to move to Canada since the last election. Others think their there man was elected, yet there is still a war going on. And we know that the more power we give any government the more freedom they will take away from the people just look at the Patriot Act.
We looked at our things, our relationships, our government, and the list goes on and on. Whatever you want to refer to the age we are in as, one thing is for certain deconstruction has won the day. There are no sacred cows in our culture. We can’t be thankful for being Christians because of how the church has oppressed women throughout history, and how the church views homosexuality. Everything is reduce to it’s most negative characteristic and therefore cannot be trusted and no one should every be thankful.
This problem is illustrated in The Incredibles. If you haven’t seen it I won’t ruin it for you. At the very beginning of the movie we are told about this great group of super heroes around the world who kept the world safe from evil. Mr. Incredible is one of these heroes, and after one night where he saved a man falling from a building and stopped a train from running off the tracks, he is sued. The falling man actually jumped and sued because he wanted to be dead, and the people on the train sued because they were injured. As lawsuits mounted and the government spent millions protecting super heroes, finally these heroes had to go into hiding. As one state representative in the movie said, “May their alternate identity become their only identity.” The attitude of deconstructionalism is not new it is what the Preacher expresses in the book of Ecclesiastes, 1:14 “I have see everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.”
Therefore we are left with two alternatives. Whether you are conservative or liberal you fall into one of these camps. The first alternative is a sense of independence. That we don’t need anything from anyone because all will fail therefore I can do it on my own. I am going to get that promotion regardless of what I have to do to get it. God can’t do anything for me that I can’t do for myself. And the second alternative we are left with is a sense of entitlement. Of course I should be given that job, look at what I have had to go through in my life. Look at what I have had to overcome. Of course God should love me, he is the one who made me like this isn’t he, I didn’t ask for this. Most of us waver back and forth between independence and entitlement throughout our lives.
Clip from Pieces of April
The day we realize that we cannot do it on our own. You see the ten lepers were in community. As a matter of fact they had a radical community for the time. Jews with a Samaritan, that was incredibly cross cultural and unheard of at the time. Yet community didn’t solve their problem. They were still outcasts in need of healing. So they cried out to Jesus. They couldn’t do it on their own and they needed help from the one who could help, Jesus. And he does. It says as they went to see the priest they were cleansed. All ten took a step of faith by going to the priest, yet nine turned back to their old ways. Maybe some of them thought now is the time for me to make it. Taking the opportunity to make something of their life by becoming independently successful. For the others perhaps they thought it was owed to them, boy if he can heal a Samaritan surely he should heal me for I am Jewish.
Yet it is only one who responds appropriately to the work of Jesus, and it is only one who is saved by Christ. The others just took the instant gratification and left. Recognizing these two truths about life and God will help us understand why the one responded the way he did. First though we live under the illusion of independence God is in control of all things, Matthew 5:45, For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. We all live under God’s mercy, each day the sun rises and we breathe air until he decides that we should no longer. Regardless of how hard we strive to be good, whether through moral living or acting religious, we do not accomplish what he requires of us, perfection. Romans 3:10-11, 23, None is righteous, no not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. So for those who go off and try to make it by working independently don’t receive the greatest blessing. Second no one is entitled to blessing from God, Romans 5:8, “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” We were God enemies and yet he still died for us, so that we might be saved. We did nothing to deserve it that is grace.
The response of the Samaritan leper flies in the face of our culture which deconstructs everything and it flies in the face of how the majority of the lepers acted. This is that we respond in love to God, who not only can heal us but can save us. Jesus laid down his life, facing all the punishment that we deserved, and rose again so that we may be saved. What does it mean for us to be saved? It means as Jesus said to the thief on the cross, Luke 23:43, Today you will be with me in Paradise. That we have been saved from eternity separated from God, being saved also means that you are made a child of God, Romans 4:6-7, And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. When you are saved God is your daddy, you are now a prince or princess of the king. All his riches are your riches, your inheritance is everything!
This Thanksgiving take a moment and examine your heart. Do you want to be independent of God or do you think you are entitled to be loved by God? He has loved us first, even while we were unlovable. So throw yourself at his feet in gratitude, giving thanks for the amazing work he has done on your behalf.
11 On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. 12 And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance 13 and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” 14 When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. 15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; 16 and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”
If there is any holiday that needs a new marketing campaign it is Thanksgiving. Don’t get me wrong Thanksgiving has always been a favorite holiday of mine, and one that my family has always made a really big deal out of, yet who really believes that they have something to be thankful for? Let’s think about all the things we have, we live in the most prosperous nation in the world so we should be thankful for that right. We should be thankful that we are able to go and gorge ourselves this afternoon and lay around in our heated homes and watch television. Boy that sure seems materialistic while there are people out there struggling to get by, within our city there are people who haven’t eaten in a week, within our church there are people who are laid off and don’t know how they are going to pay their bills.
We could be thankful for our significant other, whether it is our boyfriend or girlfriend or spouse. Yet now every time I go out to eat or to see a movie it cost double. I could be much more efficient if I didn’t have to put up with someone else’s baggage all the time. What is there to be thankful about that?
Okay, how about our government? Some of you are not thankful for that because you are ready to move to Canada since the last election. Others think their there man was elected, yet there is still a war going on. And we know that the more power we give any government the more freedom they will take away from the people just look at the Patriot Act.
We looked at our things, our relationships, our government, and the list goes on and on. Whatever you want to refer to the age we are in as, one thing is for certain deconstruction has won the day. There are no sacred cows in our culture. We can’t be thankful for being Christians because of how the church has oppressed women throughout history, and how the church views homosexuality. Everything is reduce to it’s most negative characteristic and therefore cannot be trusted and no one should every be thankful.
This problem is illustrated in The Incredibles. If you haven’t seen it I won’t ruin it for you. At the very beginning of the movie we are told about this great group of super heroes around the world who kept the world safe from evil. Mr. Incredible is one of these heroes, and after one night where he saved a man falling from a building and stopped a train from running off the tracks, he is sued. The falling man actually jumped and sued because he wanted to be dead, and the people on the train sued because they were injured. As lawsuits mounted and the government spent millions protecting super heroes, finally these heroes had to go into hiding. As one state representative in the movie said, “May their alternate identity become their only identity.” The attitude of deconstructionalism is not new it is what the Preacher expresses in the book of Ecclesiastes, 1:14 “I have see everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.”
Therefore we are left with two alternatives. Whether you are conservative or liberal you fall into one of these camps. The first alternative is a sense of independence. That we don’t need anything from anyone because all will fail therefore I can do it on my own. I am going to get that promotion regardless of what I have to do to get it. God can’t do anything for me that I can’t do for myself. And the second alternative we are left with is a sense of entitlement. Of course I should be given that job, look at what I have had to go through in my life. Look at what I have had to overcome. Of course God should love me, he is the one who made me like this isn’t he, I didn’t ask for this. Most of us waver back and forth between independence and entitlement throughout our lives.
Clip from Pieces of April
The day we realize that we cannot do it on our own. You see the ten lepers were in community. As a matter of fact they had a radical community for the time. Jews with a Samaritan, that was incredibly cross cultural and unheard of at the time. Yet community didn’t solve their problem. They were still outcasts in need of healing. So they cried out to Jesus. They couldn’t do it on their own and they needed help from the one who could help, Jesus. And he does. It says as they went to see the priest they were cleansed. All ten took a step of faith by going to the priest, yet nine turned back to their old ways. Maybe some of them thought now is the time for me to make it. Taking the opportunity to make something of their life by becoming independently successful. For the others perhaps they thought it was owed to them, boy if he can heal a Samaritan surely he should heal me for I am Jewish.
Yet it is only one who responds appropriately to the work of Jesus, and it is only one who is saved by Christ. The others just took the instant gratification and left. Recognizing these two truths about life and God will help us understand why the one responded the way he did. First though we live under the illusion of independence God is in control of all things, Matthew 5:45, For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. We all live under God’s mercy, each day the sun rises and we breathe air until he decides that we should no longer. Regardless of how hard we strive to be good, whether through moral living or acting religious, we do not accomplish what he requires of us, perfection. Romans 3:10-11, 23, None is righteous, no not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. So for those who go off and try to make it by working independently don’t receive the greatest blessing. Second no one is entitled to blessing from God, Romans 5:8, “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” We were God enemies and yet he still died for us, so that we might be saved. We did nothing to deserve it that is grace.
The response of the Samaritan leper flies in the face of our culture which deconstructs everything and it flies in the face of how the majority of the lepers acted. This is that we respond in love to God, who not only can heal us but can save us. Jesus laid down his life, facing all the punishment that we deserved, and rose again so that we may be saved. What does it mean for us to be saved? It means as Jesus said to the thief on the cross, Luke 23:43, Today you will be with me in Paradise. That we have been saved from eternity separated from God, being saved also means that you are made a child of God, Romans 4:6-7, And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. When you are saved God is your daddy, you are now a prince or princess of the king. All his riches are your riches, your inheritance is everything!
This Thanksgiving take a moment and examine your heart. Do you want to be independent of God or do you think you are entitled to be loved by God? He has loved us first, even while we were unlovable. So throw yourself at his feet in gratitude, giving thanks for the amazing work he has done on your behalf.
posted by michaelstevensrev at 1:20 PM
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