Sermon Tone Analysis

Samuel Valencia, B.A. Biblical Studies

Sermon

November 23, 2008

Good Shepherd Community Church of El Cajon

 

TITTLE

 

Coming Back to Give Thanks

 

MAIN PASSAGE

 

Mark 17:11-19

 

INTRODUCTION

 

The topic today is gratitude.

Thanksgiving Day is coming up.

*Thanksgiving Day* “[is an] Annual national holiday in the United States for expressing thanks to God, first proclaimed by George Washington in 1789.

Lincoln’s proclamation of 1863 made it an annual observance and a 1941 act of the U.S. Congress fixed its observance on the fourth Thursday of November.

The original Thanksgiving of the Pilgrims was instituted by Governor William Bradford after the first harvest in Plymouth Colony in 1621.”

[1]

 

Without a doubt the pilgrims had a lot to be thankful for.

However, the practice of thanksgiving did not begin with them… Long before the events of Plymouth Colony men have thanked God.

As long as people have acknowledged and feared God, there have been grateful hearts thanking Him.

Did you know that thanksgiving is a theme that runs throughout the whole Bible?

In fact Israel set aside seven days for a feast of thanksgiving (Leviticus 23:33-44; Deuteronomy 16:13-17).

The Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary states that thankfulness is

 

…the aspect of praise that gives thanks to God for what He does for us.

Ideally, thanksgiving should spring from a grateful heart; but it is required of all believers, regardless of their initial attitude (1 Thess.

5:18).

We should be grateful to God for all things (Eph.

5:20; Col. 3:17; 1 Thess.

5:18), *but especially for His work of salvation… *(Rom.

7:25; Col. 1:3–5; 1 Thess.

1:2–7; 2:13).

[2]

 

Nothing in this world can be compared to what God has given us through Jesus.

Are you a grateful person?

Life is precious but undeniably it is full of challenges, issues, and problems… Life offers no plateau...

In essence life is what God gives us and what we make of it.

We did not pick our place of birth, family to be born in, gender and so on.

But we did make the choices that brought us to where we are today… As we take an evaluation of our lives there are certainly things to be thankful for and things not to be thankful for.

Regardless of our attitude about life the Bible teaches us that we should be thankful.

Ephesians 5:20 says "giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

What God has done for you through his son Jesus is the impetus of a grateful heart... O. Chambers stated “...but the thing that awakens the deepest well of gratitude in a human being is that God has forgiven sin… When once you realize all that it cost God to forgive you, you will be held as in a vice, constrained by the love of God.” [3] We have a lot to be thankful for to God.

Have you thanked God lately?

It is time to come back to God with a heart of genuine gratitude and thank Him for what he has done.

Today we are going to see a brief story in Luke 17:11-19.

This story is about 10 lepers that were healed by Jesus but only one came back to thank Him.

Let us take the example of that one grateful healed man that returned to Jesus to give thanks…

 

*I.

**THE CIRCUMSTANCES (Luke 17:11-12)*

 

As Jesus is heading to Jerusalem he meets 10 lepers near the border of Samaria and Galilee.

Leprosy was a very serious physical illness.

A.

Leprosy

 

There are different types of leprosy… but in general leprosy is a slow progressing and incurable skin disease.

Easton’s Bible Dictionary states the following.

Leprosy is a chronic, infectious disease characterized by sores, scabs, and white shining spots beneath the skin… From the skin the disease eats inward to the bones, rotting the whole body [little by little]…” We have the description of the disease, as well as the regulations connected with it, in Lev.

13; 14; Num.

12:10–15, etc…[4]

 

B.

The life of a leper

 

A person who acquired leprosy lived a horrible existence.

It was bad enough that your physical body rotted slowly away, but even worst “*This disease was regarded as an awful punishment from the Lord* (2 Kings 5:7; 2 Chr.

26:20).

[5] A leper was looked down upon by all his peers since according to tradition God was punishing that person for something…

 

 Lepers could no longer function in normal society.

They “…were required to live outside the camp or city” (Num.

5:1–4; 12:10–15, etc.) …* *[6]* *Easton’s Bible Dictionary states that,

 

“In Christ’s day no leper could live in a walled town, though he might in an open village.

But wherever he was he was required to have his outer garment rent as a sign of deep grief, to go bareheaded, and to cover his beard with his mantle, as if in lamentation at his own virtual death.

He had further to warn passers-by to keep away from him, by calling out, ‘Unclean!

Unclean!’ Nor could he speak to any one, or receive or return a salutation, since in the East this involves an embrace.”

[7]

 

What a pitiful existence… A leper was shunned by family, society, and in traditions view by God…

 

Today modern medicine has all but eliminated this disease after learning proper methods of treatment.

[8] But during Jesus day the only cure was through a divine miracle.

These 10 lepers needed a miracle…

 

*II.

**THE CRY (Luke 17:13)*

 

The type of leprosy that these 10 men had was serious since they had to call out to Jesus from a distance.

They were not allowed to approach…

There is no doubt that these lepers had heard of Jesus...

The news about Jesus had spread all over the area.

Mark 1:28 says that Jesus "…fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee."

How long had these lepers waited for Jesus to go by their area?

On that day when they saw the commotion in the area they knew something was up.

Jesus was going by.

This was their golden opportunity… 

A.

Call Out to Jesus

Have you called out to Jesus?

What is the situation in your life?

Are you trying to find relief for your ordeals in all the wrong places?

The solutions available to us in our culture can only solve our ordeals up to a certain extent.

Our main problem is the sin that separates us from God our Creator.

If we want to fix the root of the problem we have to call out to Jesus.

Jesus said in Matthew 11:28 "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

The best thing you can do is call out to Jesus.

*III.

**THE COMMAND (Luke 17:14a)*

 

This must have been an intense moment for the lepers.

By now they knew that their lot in life was rejection because of their awful decease.

Was Jesus going to ignore them as well?

No! Jesus took note of them and gave them a command.

They were told to go and see the priests.

According to Jewish Law the priests were the ones responsible to diagnose leprosy (Leviticus 13:2-14:32).

It is interesting to note that the ten lepers obeyed Jesus.

They did not argue with him.

They trusted Jesus… This is a good lesson for us to learn.

It is God’s way, not our way.