The Lutheran Hour
-
"Healing Brings Real Thanksgiving!"
- No Sermon MP3 No bonus material MP3
-
Text: Luke 17:11-19
-
PRAYER: Blessed Heavenly Father: Recent national events in New York and Washington and Pennsylvania remind us that without Thee, we are nothing. In a second, in the “blink of an eye” our life can be “snuffed out.” By Thy Spirit, O Lord, help us see Thy hand in our lives in everyday, simple things. Take away from the heart of everyone hearing Thy Word today, the spiritual disease of thanklessness. And blessed Heavenly Father, fill our souls instead with genuine thankfulness, which comes from knowing Thy Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. In His name, we pray. Amen.
“Where are the other nine?” Jesus asked. “Where are they? Were there not 10 lepers [I healed] from the horrible disease of leprosy, but only one has returned to give thanks.” Jesus had just performed one of the most amazing miracles of His public ministry. He healed 10 men afflicted with a dreaded disease. In Jesus’ day, you see, leprosy was like AIDS is today. And had Jesus not healed these 10 lepers, for them, there was no other hope. One Bible scholar notes that being a leper in Jesus’ day was like being “already dead.” Another Bible scholar points out that to have been healed from leprosy in Jesus’ day, was like being restored to life. And, therefore, Jesus’ mighty miracle was like being “resurrected” from the dead.
Now, so you can have a better understanding of how this historical event affects your life, let me read directly from the Bible. One day, the Bible says, Jesus crossed the boundary or the border between the countries of Samaria and Galilee. As Jesus approached a village, 10 lepers — 10 men afflicted with a most dreaded disease — came out to meet him. However, these afflicted lepers “kept their distance from Jesus.” You see, this was the rule or the law in those days. Infected lepers were to stay far away from the general public.
“And so,” the Bible explains, “from a distance, these 10 sick men shouted, ‘Jesus, Master, have pity on us!’ When Jesus heard and saw these lepers, He immediately had compassion on them. ‘Go,’ He said, ‘Go show yourselves to the priests.'” In those days, the priests were the ones who examined the people, in order to determine whether the sick were healed or whether they were still infected.
The Bible further notes that while the lepers “on their way,” even before they arrived at the priest, while in transit, as we say, were suddenly cured. This is absolutely amazing! Jesus had not even touched them. He had only spoken His Word. But remember, Jesus said, “My Words are Spirit and My Words are life!” (John 6:63). What happened here is what the psalmist was speaking about when he said: “[God] sent His word and healed them and delivered them.”
Now, this is also important for you, my friends, in your life. Maybe you are not physically sick. But perhaps your mind and soul are infected by demons of thanklessness. You think only of yourself. And as a result, life has no meaning and no future. But the GOOD NEWS is this! The Words of Jesus can heal you — just as Jesus’ Words healed the lepers.
Now the Bible points out, one of these 10 lepers, when he saw he was cured, turned around and praised God at the top of his voice. Then, he fell on his face before Jesus and thanked his Lord! You see, this man was not only excited he was healed — he openly and loudly acknowledged it was God who blessed him. Now, how about you? When something good happens in your life, do you first acknowledge God and thank Him?
Jesus said to the one thankful man, “Stand up and go on your way. It is your faith that has made you well.”
Indeed, Jesus did say to the healed leper, “It is your faith that has made you well.” And the Bible says, “By faith, all things are possible.” Our problem, however, is this. Today, we believe we are the ones who provide the faith. Wrong! On our own, you and I are powerless. You and I could never generate a saving faith that the Bible is talking about. Oh, indeed, we can generate determination and courage and conviction but not “saving” faith. The Bible says, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ.” And so, if you are going to be thankful in a real God-pleasing way, it is only the cleansing and life-giving Word of God that has the power to do this.
Now, it should be no surprise that in the Bible, the disease of leprosy is connected with the sin of thanklessness. In a spiritual sense, and in the eyes of God, thanklessness is even worse than leprosy or AIDS or any other dreaded disease.
For example, in the Bible we read, “Even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks and their foolish heart was darkened” (Romans 1:21).
In 2 Timothy 3:2, we read in the last days, “Men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful arrogant revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful…,” that’s right unthankful, “…and unholy.”
Indeed, the Bible speaks very clearly and very directly about the sin of thanklessness. So, let no one take lightly what God in His Word takes seriously — very seriously — the sin of thanklessness.
But, let’s listen to the rest of the story. In His life-giving Word, God also explains how joyful He is when you are thankful.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:18 we read, “In everything give thanks for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” You see, THIS IS THE KEY: God is not interested in our being thankful in some generic way. Rather, God wants you to be thankful in a way that pleases Him — thankful “in” and “through” the Lord Jesus Christ! You see, the one leper was thankful not just because Jesus had healed him; but rather, because Jesus also enabled Him–Jesus empowered him–to be thankful!
This is a lesson from God for you and me today. You and I can be truly thankful only if Jesus heals our thankless heart! And, He does this through the miraculous power of His Holy Word. Thanklessness is a spiritual problem, a spiritual disease that can be healed only in a spiritual way.
You need to know that this healing is something Jesus wants to do for you. And, you need to cry out to Jesus in prayer, just like the lepers cried out to Jesus for help. You and I need to speak the words of the psalmist when he said, “Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your loving kindness; according to the greatness of Your compassion. Blot out my transgressions of thanklessness [O Lord]. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity; and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions [of thanklessness]; and my sin is ever before me. Against You [O Lord], against You only I have sinned, and done what is evil in Your sight [by my unthankful heart].”
As you make your confession of thanklessness, know also the arms of your Savior are open wide, ready to receive you unto Himself. Jesus wants to receive you, to cleanse you, and to restore your heart to sincere God-pleasing thankfulness.
Look to the Lord, my friends. Don’t trust in your human feelings of fickle thankfulness. You see, you and I may often have brief moments of human thankfulness. We may mouth brief expressions of appreciation. But all too often these words are drawn out of our lips by social expectations. This is something expected of us and so we do it.
Oh, how sad it is. Some of you might see yourself in the same light. You would like to be more positive and more thankful. However, just as we cannot cure cancer by doing physical exercises in a gymnasium or in our home, so also we cannot cure our own sin of thanklessness by doing spiritual exercises — no matter what they might be. The only power that can cure our thanklessness is the power of God’s cleansing and miraculous healing Word.
The Salk vaccine has the power to cure polio. Inoculations fight smallpox and diphtheria. But only the Word of God has the power to heal your heart and cleanse you and your soul from the dreaded disease of “thanklessness.” Jesus says His Word “cleanses” us. (John 15:3). Yes! His truth sanctifies us (John 17:17).
In Psalm 107, we read about those who “cried out to the Lord in their trouble.” The Bible says, “In His mercy, God heard their cry.” He “saved them out of their distresses.”
Friends, don’t let your life rest upon the thin ice of emotional and short-lived moments of human-generated feelings of thanksgiving. Rather, look to the crucifixion cross of Christ. On that cross, Jesus died to save you from all your sins of thanklessness. Think what this means for you — not only in this life but also for eternity. And then, with a heart cleansed and healed by God, in all things be thankful. For when your heart is thankful, then God’s heart is also pleased. Let God do all of this for you today, in Jesus Christ. Amen.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for November 25, 2001
ANNOUNCER: I’m Mark Eischer. Joining me is Dr. Wallace Schulz. Surveys tell us our society tends to be self-centered, self-serving, and thankless. Why is this becoming so obvious?
SCHULZ: I think this thanklessness is the direct result of the last 30 or 40 years of telling ourselves that we are at the center of all things. Advertisers have been telling us this for years. You only go around once in life. Therefore, you better get all you can! And, therefore, when you are self-centered and self-serving, thankfulness is simply not going to be part of your life.
ANNOUNCER: Will we be able to change this?
SCHULZ: I would say absolutely not. Thankfulness is not something that comes naturally. Nobody is going to become instantly thankful overnight.
ANNOUNCER: Could you explain that?
SCHULZ: Well, all of us, I suppose, express a certain type of thankfulness from time to time. This is more on the emotional level, as we would say. But when God’s Spirit through the Word of God works deep down in our heart and soul, there is a whole attitude developed within us by the Lord! I am thinking here of the words of the Apostle Paul when he says in Romans 12: “Do not be conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is — that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2).
ANNOUNCER: So you’re saying God changes our stony and thankless hearts through His Word and Spirit?
SCHULZ: Indeed, He does.
ANNOUNCER: Dr. Schulz, do you have advice for our listeners?
SCHULZ: We do. However, rather than give my opinion or your opinion, let me urge our listeners to read the Psalms in the Bible regularly. The psalmist has a way of redirecting our thoughts and reforming our thinking. The psalmist reminds us that God is at the center of everything we do and everything we are. God is the One who brings us into this world. He is the One who determines when we leave it. This is why St. Paul says, “Not one of us lives for himself, not one dies for himself. If we live, we live for the Lord. If we die, we die for the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end, Christ died,” St. Paul says, “and lived again that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.”
ANNOUNCER: Dr. Schulz, what is the bottom line?
SCHULZ: Mark, I think the bottom line today is this: The devil does all he can to pump up our ego and get us to think we are at the center of everything in life, and that we are self-sufficient, etc. When this happens, we think only of ourselves. We forget our neighbor and rarely think of the Lord. Consequently, we are then sinfully thankless. On the other hand, when we think of our Heavenly Father and all that He has done for us and when we meditate on His Holy Word, a change takes place in our life. This is a supernatural spiritual change. Most importantly, when we look at the cross of Christ and see what God has so wondrously done for us, then this Word of God makes more than just a little change. This teaching, this Holy powerful Word, totally transforms us. Looking at the cross, we realize what Paul was talking about when he says in Romans chapter 8, “God, who did not spare His own son, Jesus Christ, but delivered Him up for us all — how will He not also then, with Jesus, freely give us all things.” Let me then finally say this. When this precious Bible passage becomes a reality in our life, when this section of Scripture is the root and the foundation of who we are, then we are not going to have to worry about thanklessness or “me-ism.” Out of us, by the power of God, is going to flow thankfulness and love for our family members and for God Himself. And from beginning to end, all of this is going to be accomplished by the love of God and the Spirit of God and the dynamic and powerful life-giving Word of God.
ANNOUNCER: Thank you, Dr. Schulz.