A fraternity of common sufferers: (Luke 17)
· Ten men with a shared affliction.
· Ten facing a gruesome death.
· Ten incurables.
· Ten dealing with the sorrow of relational isolation and social rejection.
· Ten with a desperate plea. Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!
· Ten with an unexplainable visitation of grace. “And as they were going…they were cleansed!”
Can you imagine? “Hey, look at you! Your hand is clean. Your ear is a healthy pink. You look normal again!” “Yah, and look at YOU! You are well! You are healed. WE are healed!” What emotion must have flooded those ten outcasts. What wonder and confusion and excitement and joy and…by dinner tonight they would be home! They would feel the warmth of a family hug. They would be so close to those they loved that they could see their eyes and hear their whispers of wonder. They would walk the crowded streets and no one would flee their presence. They would return to their jobs and everyone would welcome them back. They would be in Synagogue come Saturday, and they would listen like they had never listened before. Life was good. They had received mercy! Ten had been made whole by the word of the miracle worker from Nazareth.
Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan.
But only one remembered to go back and say, “Thank you.” Only one. Only ONE. ONLY one! And the one was a double outcast. For not only was he a member of the fraternity of lepers, but he was also born a Samaritan, a racial outcast who no longer had a common bond with those nine Jews. But he recognized the source of his incredible blessing…a Jewish teacher from Nazareth…and the Living God, the God of Israel.
Then Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine—where are they? Was no one found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?”
Arrogance: The unwillingness to admit that I was once an outcast leper.
Self-sufficiency: The delusion that I am adequate for all things, a self-made man.
Entitlement: The self-centered attitude that I deserve only good things in life.
Arrogance…Self-sufficiency…Entitlement…Three attitudes squelching a thankful heart and silencing words of gratitude.
Thanksgiving: An attitude and act of humility confessing personal need, personal inadequacy, and unmerited favor. Giving thanks in EVERYTHING honors God and recognizes Him as Sovereign Lord in ALL things.
Happy Thanksgiving, Church!
Pastor Tom
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