« Service that Points to Jesus - Mark 14:1-11 | Home | Always Pray & Do Not Lose Heart-Luke 18:1-8 »

A Sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving-Luke 17:11-19

By Charlie Vensel | June 12, 2008

I can recall three rhetorical questions that accompanied me throughout my childhood. I remember them so well because I have carried on the tradition: The first was, “Were you born in a barn?” That usually came when I left a door open, or didn’t clean up my room. The second was, “When will you ever grow up?” Which was a question I asked my younger sister; a relentless program of persecution. The third one was, “Have you forgotten something?” That was the parental admonition, usually for not saying thank you after receiving some gift.

Which is what I thought of when I read today’s Gospel passage from Luke, the seventeenth chapter, the story of Jesus healing ten lepers. Only one comes back to give thanks. Ten were healed, but only the Samaritan came back. If my mother had been there, she would have said to the nine, “Have you forgotten something?”

It is a remarkable story. All the more so when you examine the details. For example, look at the setting. It is along the Samarian border. Jesus is walking between Samaria and Galilee. Samaria is the word that Luke wants you to notice. Today, we would say “Samaria” is the operative word. It means that Jesus is close to the border. He is dangerously close to the border, across which no Jew was to travel, and close to which no respectable Jew would ever be seen. Jews had no dealings with Samaritans. But Jesus is about to have one, for here comes a band of lepers.

Lepers were ostracized legally. They couldn’t enter villages or cities. They had to stay out on the borders of life. They were to get out of the way on the road if they saw somebody coming toward them, so that that person would not have to encounter a leper. They were to cry, “Unclean! Unclean!” to warn people to stay clear of the contaminated area. It makes sense that this incident should take place along the border, because borders in every country are sort of “no-man’s lands.” You keep away from the border, because it is where you would be sure to encounter something unsavory: outcasts, fugitives, criminals, or lepers.

Jesus is walking along the border. Some lepers approach him. But instead of shouting, “Unclean!” they shout, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us,” which is not the cry of a leper, but the cry of a penitent. Their cry, as a matter of fact, is the Kyrie Eleison, “Lord have mercy.” It is the prayer of the Church. It has been the prayer of the Church for two thousand years. It is the prayer that was known and used by the Church to whom Luke addressed his gospel. And get this. The lepers cry out, “Jesus, Master.” That is the title the disciples used for Jesus. It is not what lepers would say. It is what disciples would say, “Christe Eleison.”[1]

Jesus says to the ten lepers, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” He does not say anything about coming back to tell him what the priests said or did; he does not mention that he expects the lepers to return and thank him for their healing. Yet when one does come back to thank him, he asks, “The other nine, where are they?” The one who returns gives no answer to that question. But he could have said, “They are following your instructions. They are on their way to show themselves to the priests.”

Down through the ages the nine non-returning lepers have been condemned, ridiculed, and held up as glaring examples of insensitivity and lack of gratitude. But can we not say a few words in defense of the nine? They do seem to be law-abiding citizens of their time. They travel in groups, as was the custom for lepers. They stay at a safe distance from other people so as to avoid the risk of spreading the disease. The story takes pains to point out that the one who returns is a Samaritan. Therefore, the other nine must be Jews. But here they are accepting a Samaritan into their group. They travel with him. They share their meager fare with him. Remember that in that culture Jews and Samaritans had nothing to do with each other. Of course, it is their common despair which helps break down the ancient barriers among them. They are all outcasts, Samaritan and Jew alike. But the Jewish lepers could well have driven the Samaritan from their midst with harsh words, such as, “Leprosy makes us unclean enough without adding the uncleanness of this cursed Samaritan.”



Can we not credit the nine with a measure of confidence, even of some level of faith, in Jesus? They evidently recognize him, for they call him by name. “Jesus, Master,” they cry in a loud voice. Jesus knows that the greatest expression of mercy for these tragic souls is to heal them. I wonder if all ten are not somewhat puzzled when Jesus says simply, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” He does not touch them as he has done with other lepers. He does not pray over them. He does not declare them cleansed. But the implication is clear. There were elaborate Old Testament rules for the cleansing of lepers. Going to the priest was the last step in the ritual. The priest did not heal the leper; rather the priest confirmed the cure. It was necessary for the priest to declare the leper healed so that the person could return to society and to a normal life. It seems to me that it takes some measure of faith for the lepers to begin their journey to the priests while the marks of leprosy are still on their bodies.


We do not know how far they travel before someone begins to notice a dramatic change in their condition. Perhaps one feels a sensation like a cooling breeze on his parched skin. He looks at his hands. They are smooth and free of sores. He lifts his robe and examines his legs. No longer are they disfigured and discolored. He appears as sturdy as he was when he was a youth. He gives a great shout. “My leprosy is gone! I am clean! I am clean!” Then all the others with great excitement and anticipation examine themselves and find that all are cured. An almost overwhelming sense of wholeness sweeps over the group. They cry out in joy and wonder, “The man said for us to go show ourselves to the priests. Hurry, let us run like the wind so we can be declared healed and return to our former lives. Come on. Let’s get going!” They take off down the road as fast as their legs will carry them. Their one thought is to reach the priests and be set free…that is, all but one.

One stands in the road transfixed. His mind goes back to the man to whom he pled for mercy. He is immersed in a tingling sea of gratitude. “The priests can wait. I must go back and thank the one who made me clean.” It may be that since this one is a Samaritan he is not as concerned about following the letter of the rituals, as are his Jewish companions. Since he is considered a heretic would he go to the same priests, as do the others? In any case, his joy and gratitude overwhelm his strict obedience to Jesus’ command. While the others are rushing to the priests, the Samaritan is eagerly retracing his steps to the place where he first met Jesus. His is no silent, contemplative journey.

We can imagine him running, leaping, perhaps singing as he praises God with a loud voice. Immediately he recognizes that the source of his healing is the mercy and power of God in Christ Jesus, and he gives joyful expression to that fact. This time as he approaches Jesus he does not remain at a distance. He rushes to him and falls prostrate at Jesus’ feet in humble gratitude. We are not told what words he uses as he thanks his benefactor, but surely he pours out a torrent of joyful wonder and praise. Jesus responds to the healed leper’s litany of praise with three questions. These questions seem addressed not so much to the Samaritan as to whomever has ears to hear. “Were not ten made clean?” “But the other nine, where are they?” “Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Jesus expects no answer from the Samaritan himself. The questions are left hanging in the air for all to hear. Then Jesus adds a benediction and a blessing to the Samaritan’s joy. “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”



This is the second command the Samaritan has heard from Jesus this day. Both include the word “Go” — “Go and show yourself to the priest” and “Go on your way.” The first restricts the man to a particular route and a specific goal. The second recognizes his new freedom. Do you suppose the man ever goes and shows himself to the priests? The story does not tell us one way or the other. But we can expect that the nine complete their ritual journey. They probably appeared before the priests and were declared clean. And then what? 

 They have obeyed Jesus’ command. They are now well. Their story has a happy ending. But their story is incomplete.

They have no idea what they have missed. If they ever again encounter their former companion, the Samaritan, he can tell them what is lacking in their story. He can tell them about a newfound freedom which lives not by the strict fulfilling of rules, but goes beyond obedience into the joyful gratitude of a transformed heart. He can tell them that while their bodies may be cured, their spirits can fully live only through praise, worship, and gratitude to God.[2]

Our passage seems straightforward enough. Surely, it is about thanksgiving, that we are to recognize our blessings? My mother would be proud of him, but is that all? Let’s look a little deeper and take note of a few key things for our edification and the glory of God. I believe we will understand the human condition and our mighty God better if we dig a little deeper.

First, let us look closer at the Samaritan. We are all familiar with the story of the Good Samaritan and the story of the Samaritan Woman at the Well, when Jesus took the Gospel into their land against his disciples’ desires. Today we have yet another story of a Samaritan, the Grateful Samaritan. We have already covered how they were an outcast people. They intermarried with Gentiles and had only a partial form of the Jewish religion. To a Jew, they were the worst of apostates. Being near one was worse than being near a Gentile. The Samaritan in our story today is therefore twice outcast, first for being an apostate and second for being a leper.

Whenever you see the word Samaritan in the Scriptures, that is a clue to pay attention. It is by not mistake that the Lord has dealings with these people. That Luke records them for us is significant. First, the Jews who had the Scriptures should have recognized who Jesus was, but they were more concerned about forms of piety, not substance. To be a good Jew was to obey the laws of God to the letter. It was about the letter of the law, not so much the spirit, or the heart.

When the Lord was dealing with Samaritans, as opposed to the Jews, he is issuing a strong rebuke against the Jewish leaders and their empty religious forms. He is saying to them, “You are missing it. Pay attention. The relationship with the father has never been about outward actions, but a changed heart that produces outward actions. You cannot put the cart before the horse without laboring in vain.” Some grasped it, but tragically most did not. This has implications for us in two ways:

First, regarding the boundaries of the Covenant of God, Jesus in his dealings with the Jews, is making the statement that the Gospel is no longer for just the nation of Israel. It is now for all tongues, tribes, and nations. This is reiterated at Pentecost during Peter’s sermon in Acts 2. Peter began to speak in tongues, “… All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language…Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?… Then Peter stood up with the Eleven…listen carefully to what I say….this what was spoken by the prophet Joel: “ ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people…And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’” (Acts 2:1-21 NIV)

Did you hear that? “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” The Gospel is now for all; it always had been, but this is a tremendous step forward in the evangelism of the earth. If anyone had ever thought that salvation was for the Jew only, there was now no doubt. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. The Gospel is for everyone alike, Jew and Gentile, and yes, even the Samaritans.

But, as a Christian church 2000 years later, we are pretty familiar with that message. I propose to you that in many ways, we have still have our Samaritans though and we still act like the Jewish religious leaders at times. Who are the outcasts of our day? Who do we withhold the Gospel message from?

You know, since I have moved to Colorado, I have been visited by two religious organizations, the Mormons and the Jehovah’s Witnesses. They are both trying to work their way into heaven, checking addresses off of their lists; I’m sure their prayers at night are for enough converts to earn them a place of honor in the after life. I am approached by them too at the gas station, the grocery store parking lot, you name it, I run into them there. It makes me angry to see them working so hard at spreading such heresy. It makes me angry that these are the people that knock on my door at 8:00 on a school night. It makes me angry that the devil is knocking on my door and not a child of the King. I remove their Watch Tower magazines from cars and doorknobs because they are doing such a good job at what they do, their cults are flourishing.

Early after my conversion, I used to tell them to their faces that I believe Jesus is God incarnate, not some lesser God, knowing that will bother them and they will go away. I used not to welcome them into my house. I used to shut the doors in their faces only to go back to my prayer of, “Lord, please send people into my life that do not know you so that I may witness of your greatness to them.” Can you see the hypocrisy? They were my Samaritans.

Convicted of that, I now set up appointments with them when they come. I listen, ask questions, and genuinely take interest in their well-being as fellow humans and those that need the Savior. They are some of the nicest, caring, sincere people I have ever met. Oh, how the Church could learn from them. I do share the Gospel with them after listening to their presentations. I have not converted any, but I hope that in time, the Lord will use my words as fertilizer and lead them out of Samaria and into the kingdom of God.

They may no longer be my Samaritans today, but I assure you that I have others that the Lord reveals to me all the time. Who are your Samaritans, the infirm, the poor, the rich, the unbeliever, the cultists, the people in other religions, people of other nationalities, the family, or the coworkers?

Second, we can learn from the Samaritan in that we too were once Samaritans that have been incorporated into the family of God. As Gentiles we were the outcast. Paul writes, “…Some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root…” (Rom 11:17 NIV) We have been grafted into spiritual Israel, the eternal Church. We are no longer pagans and dogs, we have had our sins forgiven and have entered true religion. Let us be grateful that we are now God’s own and never forget the mercy he has shown to us. For God has washed us clean, taken from us a heart of stone and replaced it with a heart of flesh; he has led us out of Samaria.

May we never judge others as inferior because we have entered true Israel and they have not. Let us never forget the misery we experienced in Samaria, the barren land of sin, death, loneliness, unfulfillment, and brokenness before God called us to salvation. We too, like the Samaritan have been healed of our spiritual leprosy. Our response should be one of praise and gratitude that will carry us into the world with the Gospel. Last week, I spoke of living in the Christian ghetto, a closed-door to relationships towards those who are not just like us; we cannot live there.

So, what about the nine? Well, I hope that I have already cleared their account to some degree and convinced us that they may not have been the nasty people we often portray them to be. They are surely a people with a sense of religious commitment. There is something we can learn from them as well.

First, I’ve already suggested that they had some inkling of faith, in calling out the Kyrie and in following Jesus’ instructions to go to the Temple in keeping with the Law. I would imagine they were thrilled. The thing they had longed for had finally happened; their prayers had been answered. But, that they did not return to Jesus suggests that they missed it, they did not cross over into the family of God.

I have witnessed a lot of divorces in my 41 years. Many times I have seen the adults enter into a church during that particular time of crisis. They need company, they are hurting, and such crises often cause us to look for answers; the church is still seen as a place that can do that by many. But, I have seen almost as many, after a year or two, once the shock of the situation subsides, and the sharp becomes dull and tolerable, fall away. Six months earlier, they were praising God and grateful for the church. Six months later, after they could cope with life again, they never went back.

Perhaps the parable of the sower will make some sense to us here. When the disciples ask the Lord to tell them what it means, he replies, “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.” (Luke 8:11-15 NIV)

“There is a great reason to fear small sparks of faith, which may be extinguished. Although lively faith, which has its roots deeply fixed by the Spirit of regeneration, never dies, we have all witnessed that many possess a temporary faith, which immediately disappears. Above all, it is too common a disease that, when we are urged by strong necessity, we seek after our own idea of God, but, when we have obtained our wishes, ungrateful forgetfulness swallows up that feeling of piety. We might therefore conclude that poverty and hunger beget faith, but abundance kills it.”[3]

Second, we are left to ask about why nominal believers experienced a healing. I think it important to note that Jesus was answering their request for mercy. He wanted to show them love, compassion, who he was, and deliver them from their misery. Is that not the heart of God?

I am sure that Jesus knew the heart of the other nine before he witnessed their lack of gratitude and recognition of him as Savior. It is important to note that God has compassion on his creation. Though many might not belong to him, his great mercy overflows into the unbelieving world. In theological terms, this is known as common grace. We read in Matthew, “…He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matt 5:45 NIV) There are many other places where such a sentiment exists in the Scriptures as well. God cares for his unbelieving creation, upholds it by his common grace, and extends mercy towards all for the sake of those who have yet to come to faith.

To be sure, there are many who come to church for reasons other than true worship. To be near the things of God, especially the worshipping community, they will receive even greater blessings than just rain. They will learn principles that will help them live a more intentional life, they will gain some sense of purpose, and they will enjoy the blessings of friendships and a host of other benefits. This is why so many liberal churches are packed. They are rich in temporal blessings, called the love of God, but there is no real Christ, no real God. They are powerful social structures, but there is no true substance. To sit among the things of God with their hearts seeking only after personal need or fulfillment, is a dangerous thing. In fact, it is better to be outside the covenant of faith on the day of judgment than it is to have sat in the assembly, trample under foot the things of God, for surely, they have been given more than those outside the doors, more is required of them, and they have not responded with true faith, but only self-interest. The author of Hebrews writes this, “How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?” (Heb 10:29 NIV)

Remember, not all of Israel is true Israel and not all of the Church is the true Church. This is a call to examination. Are you sure today, that you are here first and foremost to worship the living God, to bring him your sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving? Is the desire in your heart to seek him and his ways ahead of any personal benefit? If you are sitting on the sidelines of true faith today, dabbling with the things of God only, today is the day of salvation. I implore you not to delay, but submit to the king of Glory who calls you into his wings of eternal life. You will give an account; may it be to His liking.

I suspect that most you here today have that true faith. I also know that many are in the middle of great trials with health concerns, family issues, loss, and suffering. I am no stranger to these things either, and I know from my own experiences how easy it is under the circumstances to come before God for relief. Indeed, we are right to do so, but so many times I come before him with my priorities out of order where that relief is all that my relationship with the Lord entails. If you are like me, and prone to mis-prioritize in crisis, may you once again catch a glimpse of the mighty salvation our Lord grants, his goodness, his mercy and kindness, and enter into his praise and thanksgiving. We must remember, “…seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matt 6:33 NIV).

Lastly, what about the line, “Rise and go. Your faith has made you well.” We touched on that a bit last week. We learned that when the disciples learned of what was required of them, they asked for more faith. Jesus responded, essentially by saying, saving faith is adequate, be you a new Christian or a seasoned one. We were cautioned about the Word of Faith Movement, that name it and claim it variety where God owes you something if you can just produce enough faith. In much the same way, we are again cautioned about that movement. Jesus is not saying that the Samaritan’s faith for his physical healing is what made him well, or he would have said that of the other nine as well. What he is saying is, “Your faith has brought you into the kingdom of God, your salvation is secured, you are spiritually restored and equipped for my service.”

Would you rather have leprosy and know the Lord, or receive just common, temporal grace? My vote is for salvation. I am reminded of Psalm 84:10, “Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.” (Psa 84:10 NIV)

In a few moments, we are going to celebrate communion, the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. May we come forward today with our priorities in order, a renewed vision of the Lord’s goodness, a new excitement over being delivered from our spiritual leprosy, thanksgiving for no longer being outcasts, and a gratitude so strong, it compels us to share these praises with those that have not yet come into His fold.

Amen.

[1] Borrowed and modified from a sermon by Mark Trotter, How About Something Different.
[2] Borrowed and modified from a sermon by J. Will Ormond, And Then There Was One.
[3] Calvin’s Commentary on Luke

Topics: Luke |

Comments