BUT WHERE ARE THE NINE?

(Deeper Thankfulness)
Elder Uzoma Onyeije November 23, 2013

Scripture reading: Luke 17:11-19 (NKJV) Good morning CPC. It is that time of the year when thankfulness is on everyones mind. So lets start by talking about some folks that I believe really understood thankfulness. In September 1620, a small ship called the Mayflower left Plymouth, England, carrying 102 passengers to a new home. The trip to the new world promised free practice of their faith for some and the pursuit of prosperity and land ownership for others. They endured over 2 months on the open ocean then had to deal with a harsh first winter in which most of the colonists remained on board the ship suffering from exposure, scurvy and other disease. In the spring, only half of the Mayflowers original passengers and crew had survived. With assistance, they learned to cultivate corn, extract sap from maple trees, catch fish in the rivers and avoid poisonous plants. These survival skills made the difference between death and life for the Pilgrims and it left them with a deep sense of thankfulness. So, in November 1621, after the Pilgrims first corn harvest proved successful, they organized a celebratory feast to express their thanks. Here are a few things I takeaway from the Pilgrim story. First, they were in a desperate situation that they didnt know how to fix. Second, they needed some help to make things better. Third, their rescue resulted in a spirit of thankfulness. And, finally, they were willing to openly express their thanks. This will be a theme in todays sermon. Lets repeat the elements of this theme:

A bad situation that you cannot fix. Just in time you receive the help you need. The blessings you receive inspire a spirit of thankfulness You express your sincere thanks for the benefits received.

Today we will explore deeper thankfulness. I have entitled this sermon But where are the nine. But first, let us pray. [PRAY] BAD SITUATION To really be thankful of assistance that you have received, you have to first appreciate the situation that you are in. Often this involves a conscious and honest assessment of your desperate needs. Ill never forget 4 years ago when I contracted the highly contagious H1N1 strain of the flu. At the time, Karen was pregnant with our twin girls and H1N1 was considered especially dangerous for pregnant women. It is the most intense that I can currently recall. To be honest, it was just a pitiful time. A few days really made me feel isolated. My family put me in a guest room and would drop off food at the door and run away. But no matter how bad my situation was, it was nothing like contracting leprosy. Today leprosy is known as Hansens Disease. It is named after a Norwegian doctor who, 140 years ago, discovered the bacterium that causes the disease. Leprosy is not just in the past, Every year, an estimated quarter million people worldwide are diagnosed with leprosy, There are actually several kinds of leprosy but they all share one common feature -- the disease is progressive: First, you can have leprosy for years before physical symptoms appear. Second, a patch of skin is discolored. Third, the patch turns white or pink and begins to spread rapidly in all directions. Fourth, the disease spreads to various internal organs.
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Fifth, tissue begins to disintegrate causing the hands and feet to become deformed. Sixth, the nerve endings of the body are destroyed. The sufferer loses the ability to feel pain. Blindness may follow. And finally, Leprosy is not short in duration. The disease could take 30 years to run its course.

You know that this is the same progression of sin! You get infected with sin before the outward signs are visible. Often it starts off small. But then it grows. And then it grows some more and starts to destroy us from the insideout. And then it grows to the point that we get distorted After that, sin gets so deeply rooted that it desensitizes us. What once horrified us is tolerated. What once made us cringe is enjoyable. What once was despised is embraced. And yes, sin can blind us to the condition that we are in. And finally, sin like leprosy can often become a chronic, decades-long condition.

Understanding the unyielding and progressive nature of the disease provides more context to the special instructions found in Leviticus chapters 13-14 concerning the diagnosis and treatment of leprosy. It essentially says that any swelling or rash or skin infection must be immediately presented to the priest for his inspection. The priest would examine the sore and skin surrounding it as well as the color of the persons hair within the infected area. White hair was considered to be a danger sign. Did I say white hair? Dont be surprised if I am clean-shaven next week! If infection were discovered, the person would be quarantined for seven days. At the end of seven days, if the infection had disappeared, he or she could go back home. If not, then the person diagnosed as having leprosy was banished from society during the time of his infection. This is how Leviticus 13:45-46 explains the lot of a leper: The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang
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loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, Unclean, unclean. He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp. With all that as background, lets reread the text for today. Luke 17: 11-19 11 Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. 12 Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. 13 And they lifted up their voices and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us! 14 So when He saw them, He said to them, Go, show yourselves to the priests. And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. 15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, 16 and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. 17 So Jesus answered and said, Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? 18 Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner? 19 And He said to him, Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well. I often tell people that I have a very vivid imagination. And when I read the bible I like to let my mind fill in some details so the story can have a more powerful impact. Is that ok? Sometimes I try to imagine what the 10 of them were like before they had leprosy. Did they have families? Hobbies? I imagine that there are some new lepers that just went through the crushing blow of hoping and praying every day for seven days that their skin would clear up only to discover that they were worse and had to be banished away from there loved ones. Perhaps there was one that went through the seven-day quarantine twice because there was no noticeable change in the condition after the first seven days. I imagine that on his second seven day quarantine his prayer and petitions are unending yet his condition remains. I imagine in the colony there is also longterm sufferers whose bodies ravaged for decades now vividly display the inevitable and hideous physical toll of the dreaded disease. I see depression, rage, regret, fear, and loneliness. I see torn filthy rags that serve as clothing. I imagine you can smell their untreated, open sores and decaying flesh even
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before you could see them. With all this, long gone are the days of pride and self-absorption. As a leper, you let all pettiness go. In fact, it was not uncommon to find Jews mixed in with the hated gentiles in a leper colony. Before leprosy they would have judged each other. But now they are just ten men with the worst disease of the time. Missing fingers, missing toes twisted limbs. Luke says that they stood afar off from Jesus. Beyond the pain of the disease, the isolation must have been the most heartbreaking aspect of it. They were shut out and cast off. Family gone. Friends gone. Neighbors gone. Coworkers gone. No support whatsoever. Longing to hug their child or kiss their wife. They were also shut out from church. They were literally hopeless. Without a doubt, they were in a bad situation that they could not fix. I.HELP RECEIVED

But all that changed when they saw Jesus! You can do better than that! What I am telling you is that when you are in a hopeless situation that no one can see the way out of. Jesus will make a way out of no way! Sometimes you have to look past your condition and see your healing. What I find interesting is that these lepers were in the presence of Jesus and they still choose to stand afar off. They didnt know that they could boldly approach Jesus, even in their condition. Perhaps some of you dont know that you can boldly approach Jesus, even in your condition. I guess they had not met the man in Matthew 8 who went straight to Jesus, kneeled before him and said Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean. What was Jesus response? Immediate acceptance. He reached out his hand and touched the infected man and cleansed him. I am here to tell you that you serve a God that is not afraid to get his hands dirty! So dont believe Satans lies when he says that you are too dirty to approach Jesus. The truth is that you are too dirty NOT to approach Jesus! Just remember that while leprosy and sin separate, the mission of Jesus is to

save. I spend a lot of time with members of the public safety community, police, fire fighters and EMS. And one thing I know is that unlike a lot of other folks, they get intimate in order to save. There are right there in the crisis. Administering first aid and CPR. They will even carry us if needed. Can you imagine that you serve a God that can see you in the death grip of leprosy whether physical or spiritual and want to get intimate with you in order to save you? Only Jesus! In their desperate state, the lepers didnt fully understand that Jesus is approachable, what they did understand was the character of Jesus. Remember when the disciples claimed that Jesus had no time for children? Jesus cleared up that misperception by telling them to let the children come to him. Well imagine the temptation to say Jesus aint got no time for us lepers. Thank God the story didn't end that way. Rather, verse 13 states And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. They understood their need. Lets face it, you dont pray for help unless you feel your need. And when you are brought low, sometimes you better understand your need. The loneliness and the pain of this disease were evident to these ten lepers. They knew they needed help and there was none to be found except maybe in this one called Jesus, whom they heard healed the sick. So they didnt hold back, they cried out for mercy. But this only further shows the desperate nature of their situation. Remember when I said that leprosy attacked internal organs? Well, one of the internal organs that gets debilitated by leprosy is the larynx. Im not a physician, so let me put this in laymans terms inside the larynx are the vocal cords. Are you starting to get a better picture of this story? We have ten desperate men with an incurable disease. They are far away from Jesus. And the disease has destroyed their ability to shout! So they do what they can do.
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They lift up their voices. Imagine with me these desperate men yelling at the top of their lungs but only able to make a low raspy sound. Thats right the disease actually made it more difficult to call out for help. But Jesus didn't answer them based on how hard they tried or how loud they cried. He was looking at their hearts. Dont ever think that Satan has you so beaten down that you cant call out to Jesus. You can shout his name, call his name or whisper his name, its all the same! He will be there for you. When Jesus answers the lepers, He tells them to go to the priest. Think about this. The priest would only report on what they saw. So what sense does it make to go to the priest when all that the priest was going to see is their hideous bodies wracked by leprosy. But when Jesus says go, CPC you have to go! These lepers had faith in Jesus and were obedient. So off they went. Shuffling, limping toward the priest. 10 smelly, disheveled, torn clothing wearing lepers. And this is how I see it in my minds eye. One step still lepers Two steps still lepers Three step still lepers. And on they continued their journey with no transformation. But then at some point, the transformation happens. Perhaps the most powerful words in the story of the 10 lepers are these: As They Went, They Were Healed. They were healed as they went. Not before. Not after. But in the act of going they were healed. Why? Because it was the act of going that was the act of faith. It didnt matter how they felt about it. God honored their going in spite of their doubts. When Jesus said, Go show the priest he was really saying, Act

as if you are already healed. Let that soak in. Jesus wanted them to claim the blessing long before there was any outside sign of its delivery. We dont hear any lepers questioning why they should go see a priest while still afflicted. You dont see them secondguess Jesus directions. You dont see them suggesting that it doesnt make sense. If you are waiting for everything God says to make sense to you, you could be waiting a long time! It doesnt make sense to build an Arc on dry land. It doesnt make sense to sacrifice your son on Mount Moriah. It doesnt make sense to get dreams of greatness and then be sold into slavery. It doesnt make sense to escape Egypt only to be trapped with water ahead, mountains to the side and an army behind. It doesnt make sense to spare Sauls life when you finally have your archrival concerned and helpless. Should I go on? Well, ok! It doesnt make sense to return a tithe when the bank account is low and the rent is due. It doesnt make sense to be honest when you are dealing with cheaters, liars and thieves. It doesnt make sense to turn the other cheek when you are treated unfairly. But it doesnt have to make sense! God has never asked us to critique his work. What does make sense is obeying God, period. Dont wait till it makes sense, take action when you hear his voice. Take a lesson from the lepers and you too might be healed as you go. Live by the old saying: God said it, I believe it and that settles it! There are two things Christ required for the lepers healing. The first is faith in the Word of God, and the second is obedience to the Word of God. So let me ask you, does your hard times lead to faith and obedience? I know it not easy but you are not the only person who has had hard times. In case you didnt know, Christ had a few hard times as well.
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So if the story ended with the miraculous healing of 10 men simultaneously, it would be a tale of faith and faith in action. But that is neither the end of the story nor this sermon. We are just warming up because another miracle is about to happen to one of the lepers.

II.SPRIIT OF THANKFULNESS Do you remember our themes? First, a problem that could not be fixed. Second, a blessing in the nick of time. And next is a spirit of thankfulness. But in order for us to experience thankfulness, we must avoid attitudes that get in the way of us developing sincere thankfulness. To put it simply, in our society today, there is an epidemic of ingratitude. Websters Dictionary defines Ingratitude as: Forgetfulness of, or poor return for, kindness received. It can also be defined as not appreciating or valuing what you have, or have been given. In addition, Unexpressed gratitude is also ingratitude! Just saying thank you often seems like a big chore for many of us. Perhaps we are so accustomed to having so many things that we do not permit ourselves to express thanks for the things we receive! After all, in the United States we have so many blessings that sometimes we take it for granted. Lots of food, adequate shelter, reliable electricity, clean water, dependable transportation, sanitation just to name a few. If we fail to recognize the value in the things we have we start down a road that often leads to disparaging the very gifts we have received. Put another way, the natural by product of our ingratitude is that we become critics. Criticism is inconsistent with thankfulness. Let me give you an example. I consider myself to be what I will call a moderate techie. I like technology and like the efficiencies it provides me in my life. One of the technologies I rely on greatly is that of the smartphone. And by all accounts, modern telephone technology is amazing. Let me give a history lesson for the younger folks in the audience. Not so long ago you called someone from a fixed point to another fixed point. What this meant is that your fixed point might be the

kitchen and their fixed point might be their bedroom. So you would call hoping they werent in their basement or backyard or car or the park. It they werent in their bedroom you would just have to hang up and try again later. You couldnt even leave a message because answering machines didnt exist. Now, location is irrelevant. It doesnt matter where I am and it doesnt matter where you are. We can get connected. And voice calls are only the tip of the iceberg. On my wireless phone friends, family and colleagues interested in talking to me can call, facetime, google chat, skype, and use oovoo. As an alternative, they can text, group text, tweet or send me an update or message on Facebook, Linkedin or Pinterest. In fact, with some friends I spend a lot of time communicating through the chat feature on the words with friends app. But communication is not limited to voice and text, I can also receive both archived and live video on my phone. Recently I was in a remote park in Virginia and captured a video of my children and sent it around the world within seconds to relatives in West Africa. And, if I happen to be absent minded and misplace this awesome communications device, I can track it remotely and provide instructions on its screen to anyone that pick it up on how it can safely be returned to me. It is amazing what we can do in the palm of our hand. But this same amazing invention is the object of fierce criticism. Have you ever paid attention to the new release of a new phone? At the same time that some people are lined up down the block to buy the device, others are setting up webpages and YouTube channels to criticize it. I have a friend that told me after one day with a new phone that she hated her phone and her wireless company. The sad part is that her complaint boiled to unrealistic expectations. The phone in her pocket was literally powerful enough to power certain miniature satellites in orbit, she wanted more. And despite all the many ways that her phone made her life easier, her one concern overshadowed all of the good. Anyone and anything is fair game for criticism. Honestly, we have become a nation of critics. We criticize the taxes we pay even though they contribute to our quality of life.

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We criticize our jobs even though they help feed our families. We criticize our political leaders even though we couldnt do a better job! We criticize the church even though we are the church.

And the list goes on and on. And with social media, we no longer grumble under our breath we publicize our criticism for the world to see. We are always seeking more and more. But do we stop and give thanks for what we already have? With a culture of criticism and ingratitude, it is difficult to make us happy. In many ways, we are just like the little boy who was hungry while at the market one day. In response to his whines and his growling stomach, he is given an orange by a generous vendor. When the boys mother asked, What do you say to the nice man? The little boy thought for a moment and handed the orange back to the man and said, PEEL IT. And while the story of the boy is humorous, we have to pause and ask ourselves if this is how we treat God. God does so much for us. He is so dedicated to us and is so invested in us. As the song says, "Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe." But despite this we hardly take the time to give him thanks. It is believed that about half of Americans dont even offer thanks over their meals. Think about that for a minute. The standard prayer of thanks for a meal is God is great, god is good and we thank him for our food. By his hands we all are fed, give us Lord our daily bread. That prayer takes seconds. I have even heard a shorter prayer of thanks for our meals: rub a dub dub, thanks for the grub. And ye, half of our country doesnt have a few seconds to squeeze out any kind of thanks for Gods bounty. This should not be. And if you are in the half that regularly gives thanks, it is time to move beyond

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the rehearsed lines and truly express our gratitude to the Lord. We have to understand that thankfulness is not simply a mealtime activity or reserved for a single day in November or even a particular season of the year. We too are pilgrims. We too have been brought over a treacherous journey and have been preserved through trial after trial. Our thanks should reflect the mighty provision of our Savior. The important thing to remember is that thankfulness is not an activity; it is a lifestyle. If you dont believe me, just consult the scriptures. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 states In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. In how much are we to give thanks?? That's right, everything! That is a pretty big list. I can understand giving thanks for the good stuff. But the scriptures say give thanks in everything. Wow. I would imagine that it would take a lifestyle change to be thankful even when you are in the midst of a sickness or a job loss or a foreclosure or a broken relationship. Jesus has a radical plan for our lives. And lets face it; Jesus would not have to tell us to be thankful when great stuff happens. He wants us to be in a constant state of thankfulness. Psalm 106:1 adds additional light on the idea that thankfulness is a lifestyle. The text states: Praise ye the Lord. O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. Did you catch that? We are to be thankful because his mercy endures forever, which means that we are forever thankful. On a personal note, I have made it a point to teach my children the importance of thankfulness. One of our family traditions is to recount the blessings of the week every Friday evening to welcome in the Sabbath. Heres what we do, we go around in a circle. The instructions are that you can never have too many blessings and you can always supplement with more blessings if you remember something after your turn is over. I truly love this tradition. I love to hear my three year olds talking about the blessings of the week. They remind me that no blessing is insignificant or unimportant whether it is yummy food

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or the stuffed bears that they call bearie. But when I look at Psalm 34:1 and imagine living out the admonition that his praise will continually be in my mouth, I realize that we could never do our blessing ritual too frequently. That is why I say that thankfulness is a lifestyle. It is an attitude that we should have everyday, every hour and every minute. And one of the best examples of that spirit of thankfulness is the reaction of one of the lepers in Luke 17. III.THANKFULNESS EXPRESSED Verses 15 and 16 say that Then one of them, when he 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. Now he was a Samaritan. Notice that the first time he interacted with Jesus he just lifted his voice. Basically doing the best he could do under the circumstances. But now, the bible makes it plain that objectively speaking this man is getting loud. Wouldnt you be loud too? Let me share something with each of you. I know how to get excited when something unexpected and amazing happens. And, sometimes I get loud. For example, during Superbowl 42 I probably set a new high for loud cheers when I watched the famous helmet catch in. If you dont know what I am talking about, it was arguably the best play in the history of football. The play allowed the New York Giants to get a 1714 upset victory over the New England Patriots. The play began with Eli Manning escaping multiple defenders and then David Tyree making a leaping catch by pressing the ball against the top of his helmet. You can check it out tomorrow on Youtube! But my excitement and that of millions of NY Giants fans pales in comparison to the joy of this one leper. Luke says he fell on his face before the Lord. Hes been healed of leprosy. His life had suddenly changed. His hope was now renewed. The doubts were silenced. He was healed. He is whole again. Healthy again. Clean again. No longer an outcast. No wonder he shouted. I wonder if he did a happy dance!
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This is radical gratitude. He had been in the presence of God and he wanted more than physical healing. He went back hoping to get from God what he knew he really needed. He was seeking a relationship with the divine Healer. He wanted to give himself to that divine Healer. He fell on his face at the feet of the divine Healer as a sinner and worshiped and adored Him, as well as praise Him and thank Him. Jesus was not just a healer. He was also the Redeemer and Savior. The former leper was not content with just the physical. He understood need for reconciliation to God. In return Jesus gave him much more than healing. While many translations quotes Jesus as saying, "your faith has made you well." Everybody was made well, all ten lepers. The verb is not the word for healed, iaomai which is used earlier in the story in verse 15, it's not the word for cleansed, katharizo which is used also back earlier in the story in verse 14. It's the word sozo. And sozo is the word for salvation. Amen? This is a critical point. In Luke 7, Jesus forgives the sins of a woman and in verse 50, He said, "Your faith has saved you." That is the same word he used with the healed leper. Your faith has saved you. The man comes back and worships the Lord and is given salvation in addition to healing. Think about it. This Samaritan man was given salvation when he came back to thank Jesus. It is hard to imagine anything in Jewish culture of that day lower than a Samaritan with leprosy. In the Jews view he had the worst of both worlds. But he knew Jesus had healed him and he knew enough to be grateful to God. And that made all the difference! The ten lepers in Luke 17 were given a great gift. The problem was, nine of them didnt receive it with true thankfulness. They don't have any interest in Jesus anymore. They got what they wanted and went along their way. They had no desire to worship and adore Him or even thank Him. Sure they were happy that they had received the gift of healing, but they didnt choose to thank the gift giver. When Jesus asked, Where are the other nine? He clearly was asking, Why arent they giving thanks to God? The same question could be asked of us today: Why arent these people giving Me thanks? Jesus has given us the unbelievable free gift of forgiveness. We didnt have to do anything to earn it. Even though our sin
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deserves to be punished, Jesus took that punishment for us when He died on the cross. We shouldnt accept the free gift of forgiveness and never do anything to show our THANKFULNESS to Jesus. Lets not be like the 9 lepers and so many other that say to Jesus: Give us healing, give us food, deliver us from demons, do miracles, but do not expect worship. Do not expect praise, adoration or even thanks. Do not expect us to acknowledge you as God. Closing In closing let me share this old story. A large dog walks into a butcher shop carrying a purse in its mouth. He puts the purse down and sits in front of the meat case. "What is it, boy?" the butcher jokingly asks. "Want to buy some meat?" "Woof!" barks the dog. "Hmm," says the butcher. "What kind? Liver, bacon, steak ..." "Woof!" interrupts the dog. "And how much steak? Half a pound, one pound ..." "Woof!" The amazed butcher wraps up the meat and finds the money in the dog's purse. As the dog leaves he decides to follow. The dog enters an apartment house, climbs to the third floor and begins scratching at a door. With that, the door swings open and an angry man starts shouting at the dog. "Stop!" yells the butcher. "He's the most intelligent animal I've ever seen!" "Intelligent?" says the man. "This is the third time this week he's forgotten his key." Here is my question to you: Are you thankful for the blessings that are staring you in the face? Everyone likes to think that they would be the one leper that turned back and offered thanks. But we need to reexamine our lives and make sure that is so. We must move beyond the kind of religion in which God blesses us with the proverbial orange and yet we still demand that he peel it. Despite the great blessings received by the nine lepers, ingratitude was still prevalent. This is one of the most amazing miracles in the bible and only one recipient bothers to say thanks. We can never underestimate how deeply ingratitude is rooted in our hearts. On the outside, the lepers appeared identical.
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All were outcasts from society. All were determined to do something about it. All had heard about Jesus and believed he could help them. All appealed to him. All obeyed his word. All were healed. Yet there was a big difference. One returned. Nine went on. One was grateful. Nine were not. One man found forgiveness. Nine did not. One man got two miracles. Nine got one. All ten were healed. Thats one miracle. But the Samaritan was healed and forgiven. Thats two miracles. And thats what Jesus means when he says, Your faith has made you well. [APPEAL]

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