The Transformative Power of Gratitude

Luke 17:11–19

It was the usual schedule: up at 4:30 a.m., out the door by 5:00 a.m. to take my son to ice hockey practice, pickup another hockey team mate on the way to the rink, dash home, get ready for work and head out the door again. On this morning though, I realized I had not done the grocery shopping. At this point, I knew the grocery list by heart. So as I drove the boys to hockey practice I realized I’d be very close to a grocery store that was open 24 hours a day. So I made a mental shopping list and headed straight to the grocery store from the ice rink.

There were only a few shoppers in the store, but the aisles were full of staff stocking the shelves for the rush of grocery purchases. I zipped along. The last aisle was the frozen food section. As I stood in front of the glass door contemplating the frozen vegetables, I noticed my reflection in the frame of the freezer door. I WAS IN MY PAJAMAS!! I laughed out loud!

As I drove home with my groceries I realized that in my hurried, helter-skelter life I was not living graciously. I was like the plate spinner at the circus. Recognizing that something needs to change and actually doing it can be a true challenge. I realized that I needed to make a change in my daily prayer practice. Instead of listing all of the day’s activities and then asking for help to accomplish them, I took a different approach. I began my prayer with gratitude that God was an ever-present, all power of good; I listened more. This change wasn’t just for a day or a week, it became my regular daily prayer routine. And life became less chaotic and more joyful.

There are researchers who have been focusing on the beneficial effects of gratitude. One study (sited in a Harvard Health News Letter) found that, “gratitude…helps people connect to something larger than themselves as individuals.” Another effect was, “fewer visits to physicians.”

September 1923 - a devastating earthquake rocked the islands of Japan. And just in the city of Tokyo it destroyed nearly 75% of the buildings. The New York Tribune called the earthquake “Undoubtedly the greatest disaster in recorded time.” It was estimated that nearly 300,000 people died, and 2.5 million were left homeless. Japan was so devastated by disease and despair that it seemed that they’d never recover.

THEN HELP CAME!
Help from United States for helpless Japan. Food, clothing, medical supplies & volunteers came by the shipload. The American Red Cross collected $10 million dollars from the citizens of the United States to help Japan. And the Japanese people were grateful. They even put their gratitude into writing. Their very words were, “Japan will never forget!”

BUT … JAPAN DID FORGET.
Less than 19 years later, the AMERICAN ships of mercy were forgotten and - on December 7th 1941 - Japanese planes were sent to Pearl Harbor to wreak death & destruction. (Baptist Bread 2/9/09 Craig Burcham)

How could they forget???

In our Text today we read of 10 lepers that Jesus healed. He sent them to see the priests, and as they were on their way, they were cleansed. Now, undoubtably these men were grateful because Jesus had delivered them from a terrible fate. According to the Old Testament Law, lepers were required to live outside of the city. They were literally quarantined - required to keep a “safe” distance from others so that they wouldn’t touch anyone and make them unclean. Lepers were unclean - both physically & spiritually. A leper was required to keep a distance of six feet between others… including their family members.

Leviticus chapter 13 says: “The person with such an infectious disease (like leprosy) must wear torn clothes, let his hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of his face and cry out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ As long as he has the infection he remains unclean. He must live alone; he must live outside the camp.”

In a small village nestled between rolling hills and meandering streams, there were ten individuals whose lives were intertwined by a common affliction—they were lepers. Banished to the outskirts of the village, they formed a close-knit community, finding solace in each other's company.

One day, as they sat together on the outskirts of the village, they heard whispers of a healer passing through. Rumors of a man named Jesus, who had performed miraculous acts of compassion and healing, reached their ears. Though society had rejected them, a glimmer of hope ignited in their hearts.

Determined to find this healer, the ten lepers set out on a journey. Their tattered clothes clung to their frail bodies, and their faces bore the scars of their illness. Guided by the stories they had heard, they traveled until they reached a dusty road where a crowd had gathered.

Suddenly, through the murmurs of the people, they heard the name Jesus. Hope surged within them, and with feeble yet determined steps, they approached the crowd. "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" they cried out in unison, their voices echoing with desperation.

Hearing their plea, Jesus turned his gaze toward them. "Go, show yourselves to the priests," he instructed. As they followed his command, a miraculous transformation began. The leprosy that had marred their bodies disappeared, leaving behind skin as smooth as a newborn's.

Overwhelmed with joy, the ten lepers marveled at their newfound health. Yet, among them, one man felt a deeper stirring within his soul—an overwhelming gratitude that surpassed the joy of physical healing. Unable to contain his emotions, he turned back, falling at Jesus' feet.

With tears streaming down his face, he exclaimed, "Thank you, Lord! Thank you for restoring my health and granting me a new chance at life!" Jesus smiled warmly at the grateful man and said, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well."

As the man rejoined his fellow lepers, he couldn't help but share the good news of his gratitude. The other nine, however, continued on their way, perhaps too caught up in the thrill of their healing to realize the source of their restoration.
Jesus, watching the departing crowd, sighed with a mixture of compassion and sadness. The physical healing was evident, but the deeper healing—the gratitude that transformed the soul—was a gift received by the one who returned to say, "Thank you."

And so, the village echoed with the story of ten lepers healed, but only one made whole—his body and soul forever touched by the grace of gratitude.

Lepers were outcastes! Totally ostracized from society. It was a devastating and a very lonely life. And then they met Jesus. All 10 of these men came to Jesus because they believed He could heal them. And He did… He healed them. And I suspect they were all kind-of grateful… but ONLY ONE of them came back to thank Jesus personally. The other nine didn’t show up. They didn’t come back. They seemed to have forgotten all about Jesus.

How could they forget?

Well… maybe they didn’t forget. Maybe they just thought they’d have gotten well anyway.

Maybe Jesus just showed up at the right time. I mean (after all) Jesus didn’t really do anything TO them when they stood before Him. Someone once suggested that: One of the lepers might have been waiting to see if the cure was real; Another believed he’d go back and see Jesus later (he just never got around to it): Still another decided that he had never really had leprosy to begin with; And another said he would have gotten well anyway; One might have given the glory for his healing to the priests; Another might have said, “Any rabbi could have healed me”; And still another might have thought: “I was already much improved.”

Now those are all interesting suggestions, but I really think the issue here goes deeper than that. I think the real reason they didn’t go back to Jesus was that they were afraid. They were afraid Jesus would ask them for a commitment. Maybe He would ask them to follow Him. Jesus did that alot.

In Matthew 8 we read that someone suggested they wanted a closer relationship “Lord, let me first go and bury my father." And Jesus said to him, “FOLLOW ME and leave the dead to bury their own dead.” (Matthew 8:21-22) Later, in Matthew 9:9 we read that Jesus saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “FOLLOW ME.” And then in Matthew 10:32-39 Jesus told His 12 disciples “Everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven. Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and FOLLOW ME is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

FOLLOW ME… FOLLOW ME… FOLLOW ME! Jesus was constantly calling people to commit to Him, to surrender to Him, to take up their cross and follow Him. And essentially, that what the 10th leper was declaring. When he returned to Jesus… the 10th leper fell face-down before Jesus THAT was the posture of surrender.

But where were the other NINE???

ILLUS: Just a thought: At this congregation we have many people we help every month. We help with: A Food pantry; $20 or $30 worth of gas so people can take their kids to the hospital or to get to their job; Or we’ll pay for a night or 2 at a local hotel because these folks no place to sleep; Or we help pay utility bills -which always seem to come due TOMORROW (If the bill isn’t paid by 9 am tomorrow… the gas/ electric WILL BE shut off)!

And these folks will often say: “I’m really planning to come to church”. But (of course) they never do. They never show up. And there’s been times when I’ve gotten a little cynical about that. I’ve even said “They want our money… but not our Jesus.” They’re just like the 9 that Jesus healed but who never came back. And so I have to admit, there’s been times I’ve asked myself – why bother? They just want our money… they don’t want our Jesus, so why keep on helping these folks?

So why SHOULD we bother? Why bother helping people who really don’t want Jesus? Well, because Jesus did! Do you think Jesus knew the 9 lepers wouldn’t come back? Of course He did - but He healed them anyway. SO… why did He do it? Perhaps because others were watching and needed to see what He did. Perhaps because the lepers would remember what Jesus did that day and make a decision to come back to Him later.

Every time Jesus healed somebody it was a declaration of WHO He was and a declaration of WHAT He’d come to do! He didn’t come just to heal people’s bodies… He came to heal their minds and hearts and souls. And every time WE help somebody in need it’s a declaration of WHO we serve (JESUS) and of WHAT He wants to do in the lives we touch. We serve a Jesus who cares for these people… but He wants to do more than pay their bills and rent them a room for the night. JESUS wants them to SEE WHO He is!!! And the only way He’s going to get that done - is we are His hands and feet to a lost world.

That’s why Jesus said: “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16) The GOOD that we do should point to Jesus, and to His love for the lost.
Of the 10 lepers that were healed… one of them really was lost. Luke 17:16 tells us “he was a Samaritan.” Samaritans were the lowest of the low - despised & rejected. In the eyes of the Jews they were “sinners” and “outcastes”, unworthy of God’s love or mercy. And yet, this was the man who returned to thank Jesus. Even Jesus said “Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Luke 17:18

We’re told that “when (the Samaritan) saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks.” This guy this man wasn’t just thankful… he was shouting his thanks! He didn’t send a nice little thank you note… he personally came and fell on his face at Jesus’ feet and praised Him. This man was thankful… with a capital “T”!

But why would he do that? I mean... granted he was truly thankful, but there’s more to it than that going on here. You see – he was a Samaritan. He KNEW he didn’t deserve to be healed. Someone once observed: “You can’t be grateful for something you feel entitled to.” (Steven Furtick) You can’t be grateful for something you feel you deserve. And this man was truly grateful because he KNEW he hadn’t deserved to be healed. He’d been an outcast – despised and rejected and unworthy of God’s love.

Now, this is my final point. Of all the people on the face of the earth we should be the most thankful because we’ve received something that we did not deserve. And Ephesians 2:3-5 says “we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ — by GRACE you have been saved.”

We didn’t deserve for Jesus to come and die for our sins. We were “children of wrath”; We were “dead in our trespasses”; We were outcasts – unworthy of God’s love. BUT HE LOVED YOU AND ME ANYWAY.
(PAUSE) It’s virtually impossible to be grateful for something you feel entitled to, but you and I were NOT ENTITLED to be saved. We hadn’t done anything that earned God’s love and forgiveness. That’s why it says “by grace you have been saved.” Someone once explained that “Grace is undeserved favor.” And Romans 6:23 tells us “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

And that’s why we take Communion every week. We eat and drink of the Lord’s Supper to remember we did not deserve God’s love. We drink from the cup which says – Jesus shed His blood for us, and we eat of the bread which says – Jesus’ body was broken for us. At this table we declare we WERE sinners, but now we’re saved by GRACE. Every week, you and I gather here to declare: WE DIDN’T DESERVE THIS!! At the communion table we come before Jesus… and fall on our face and we say “thank You Jesus!”

CLOSE: We’re not told… but I’m convinced that everywhere that 10th leper went he told people about what Jesus had done for him. He told everyone ABOUT Jesus. A veteran missionary once told this story to a preacher named Roland Allen. He said that he’d been a medical missionary for years in India and had served in a region where people were often born with healthy vision, but (over time) many of them began to lose their sight.” Many became blind. Well this missionary had discovered a process that stopped progressive blindness. And when people came to him and he performed his operation, and they would leave realizing that they would have become blind, but now they were going to be able to see for the rest of their lives.

The missionary said they couldn’t say, “Thank you,” because that phrase was not in their dialect. Instead, they spoke a word that meant, “I will tell your name” And everywhere they went, they told the name of that missionary… because they were so grateful!

The question this morning is this? Are you truly thankful to Jesus for what He has done for you? And if you are… DO YOU TELL HIS NAME to others?

INVITATION