Give Thanks – Luke 17:11-19
St Petri Nuri 13/10/19

Sermon Notes:  Pastor Steen Olsen

Luke 17:11-19

On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, “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?” Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”

This is rank disobedience to a clear command of Jesus  – Jesus’ command had been very specific:
“Go and show yourselves to the priests”
As they went they were healed of their leprosy
Nine continued on in obedience to Jesus’ word
One degenerate did not
– he disobeyed the command of the Lord of heaven and earth
this blighter strays from the straight and narrow way to return to Jesus
to praise God and give thanks
Jesus condemns the other nine:
“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 commends the disobedient Samaritan:
“Get up and go on your way, your faith has made you well.”
This Samaritan-once-was-a-leper reminds us to “Give Thanks”

1)      Giving thanks is part of our relationship with God
To have faith is to be in a relationship with the living God
He has established that through baptism and the Word
“So faith comes from what is heard,
and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.” [Rom 10:17]
Faith is a God-given trust in God
Christ died in our place, took our sin upon himself,
so we are now the forgiven children of God

2)      This relationship is not all about rules
The 9 obeyed all the rules
Before they could return to normal society
– before they could approach people up close
they had to fulfill the law of Moses

3)     Fulfilling the law began with a visit to the priests as outlined in Leviticus 14
The priest was to examine the leper outside the camp
If the disease is healed a complicated sacrifice is to be made
involving 2 clean birds, cedarwood, crimson yarn & hyssop

Then the ex leper shall wash his clothes, shave his head and bathe
Only then is he declared clean and allowed back in the camp
But wait there is more: for seven days he is to live outside his tent

Then more shaving and washing he is finally considered clean
The point is the 9 healed lepers set off to obey that law

4)      The one leper sees that he is clean
and rather than first go through the ritual to be declared clean
he rushes back to Jesus and invades his personal space
in regard to a leper, in those days, that is rather important

But no, the cleansed leper barges right up to Jesus feet
and falls down before him
and Jesus commends him
This leper has not only been cleansed of his leprosy,
he has found faith and salvation
and come into a relationship with God

5)      If we make our relationship with God all about obeying rules we miss the point
I am not saying that disobedience is good – far from it
The point is that we have a relationship with God, not with a set of laws,
not even with the 10 commandments
Simply trying our hardest to keep all the rules does not make us Christian
or mature us in the faith

It would be a bit like trying to live in a friendship ‘by the numbers’
– for example:
1  greet hello friend
2  affirm you’re looking well
3  petition please make me a cuppa
4  thank thanks
5  praise that’s a wonderful cuppa
That’s no way to build a relationship
Trying to live by the law brings death, not life

6)       Giving thanks is a very important part of our relationship with God
not because the law says so …
but because we are set free from the law,
free to be spontaneous in our love and gratitude
just like the one leper

As we give thanks we grow in thankfulness and gratitude
which builds a healthy outlook on life
and positive attitude in regard to God’s place in our lives
and the world

The one leper seems to have understood that this is a relationship
not just a task to be done – fulfill the requirements of the law
or a prize to be claimed – healing and a normal life
but the truth that my Lord loves me and I love him in return

7)      Being a Samaritan-leper is a bad combination if you had to live in 1st century Palestine
cut off from human fellowship and the worshipping community
The Jews had no time for Samaritans,
and lepers had to live their lives at a distance
Life was hard – they had lots to complain about
They come to Jesus and cry out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
Jesus heals their physical leprosy
but only one of them appears to understand
the deeper healing that was necessary
the healing from the leprosy of sin …

8)      The 9 were healed, but they would get sick again – maybe not leprosy –
but a sickness would bring death
The one is truly healed because his freedom from leprosy
has become a sign of the gift of faith
and the wellness that is salvation
This deeper healing has become far more important for him
than the outer healing of his leprosy
the priests can wait
first, Jesus needs to be thanked

9)      We are here so that people might receive that deeper healing
That is why God has placed us in this community
So that the gospel may be proclaimed
So that people may come to faith and their lives be healed
That is why we are here today
To thank God for this community of faith
and for our relationship in the gospel
We are working together so that people may be healed
through the forgiveness of their sin

We thank Jesus for healing us from the leprosy of sin
and all the other lesser leprosies along way
As we journey through life we may sometimes be healed of leprosy
or one of its modern equivalents sometimes we may not be healed
but may need to keep bearing the burden
Some of us will enter heaven without being healed in this life
healing will only come then …

Others will be healed of some disease in this life
irrespective, we still need that deeper healing that leads to thanksgiving
So lets give thanks to God for the healing that is ours! Amen.

Pastor Steen Olsen
steen.olsen@lca.org.au
Blog: bring Jesus (subscribe at www.lca.org.au/enews – You find it under ‘LCA Districts’)
Assisting the Church to become more missional in its culture, theology and practice.