Gratitude and Fellowship
Luke • Sermon • Submitted
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· 4 viewsHe heals us from all of our uncleanness so that we might rejoice in him.
Notes
Transcript
Scripture
Scripture
A Psalm of David.
1 Bless the Lord, O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget not all His benefits:
3 Who forgives all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases,
4 Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The Lord executes righteousness
And justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known His ways to Moses,
His acts to the children of Israel.
8 The Lord is merciful and gracious,
Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.
9 He will not always strive with us,
Nor will He keep His anger forever.
10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor punished us according to our iniquities.
11 For as the heavens are high above the earth,
So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
12 As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father pities his children,
So the Lord pities those who fear Him.
14 For He knows our frame;
He remembers that we are dust.
15 As for man, his days are like grass;
As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
16 For the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
And its place remembers it no more.
17 But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting
On those who fear Him,
And His righteousness to children’s children,
18 To such as keep His covenant,
And to those who remember His commandments to do them.
19 The Lord has established His throne in heaven,
And His kingdom rules over all.
20 Bless the Lord, you His angels,
Who excel in strength, who do His word,
Heeding the voice of His word.
21 Bless the Lord, all you His hosts,
You ministers of His, who do His pleasure.
22 Bless the Lord, all His works,
In all places of His dominion.
Bless the Lord, O my soul!
Prayer
Prayer
Eternal Father, strong to save
You are unchanging, immovable, from age to age the same
Your power opened the Red Sea; drowned the Egyptians, gathered your people together into one
And your power is still the same – you can gather and defend your people.
To you who ride upon the heaven of heavens which are of old, we lift up our voices.
You have promised that your people will come from the north and the south and the east and the west and sit down at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – and even today we see you filling your banquet hall with guests to the feast.
This morning, we plead with you for our community. Call your people together, out of this world of darkness and night and into your glorious light.
Give us patience to endure the night, as we await the dawn. Give us perseverance to keep awake and alert, to keep watch – for you have said, “Blessed is the servant whom the lord will find watching when he returns” – give what you command, Lord, and command what you will.
Eternal Father, immutable and eternal in the heavens, forgive us our sins – We are too often restless, untrusting. We are quick to condemn others and too quick to justify ourselves.
We have not shown the love of Christ as we ought to the watching world.
Forgive us, and create in us clean hearts, for we lay them bare before you. You have said, “Where are you” and now we come – out of hiding, out of crouching among the captives, and we stand before you without pretense, without guile…
Waiting your word – Speak to us the words of peace.
“Neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more.” Command what you will, and give what you command
Eternal Father send out your word of peace not only to us, but to the world today. Bless the ministry of the word wherever your people gather – in Pakistan, in Nepal, in the Congo, in Kenya, in the Philippines. Gather, defend and preserve them.
Mighty Father, strong to save, hear the cries of your people in China and Afghanistan – give boldness in persecution and overthrow the kingdom of the devil with its terrors and condemnation and violence – speak peace to the captives and release them.
Give wisdom to our governor and other leaders. Give wisdom to our president and senators and representatives. And above all, give us peace. Lift our eyes to a greater kingdom, where justice and peace reign without strife and wickedness. Where sin and misery and death are overthrown forever.
In our congregation, we pray that you would give strength to the weak, to all who know what it is to suffer from pain and trouble in the flesh – keep the spirit strong, hold them closely, strengthen their faith.
Bless Zechy’s surgery tomorrow. Guide the hands of the surgeon and give a speedy recovery.
Give Kay patience and health. Give her doctors wisdom.
And in all of our trials, protect us from discouragement. Provide for us. Plant our feet firmly on the foundation of Christ and his gospel, and cause our weary hearts to rejoice.
Be our refuge through the storms of life. Be our rock when our feet give way. Lift us up when we stumble and drag us back when we go astray. Deliver us from the evil one.
Fill us with your spirit and lead us to everlasting water
Text
Text
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.”
Sermon
Sermon
Last week, I closed with this:
“This is what the gospel is - he came to seek and save that which was lost. We can’t. We can’t raise the dead. We can’t change the heart. We can’t heal the sick or open the eyes of the blind. But we can point them all to the one who receives sinners and sets them free.
“He makes the paths smooth. He forgives freely. He has the power to take away the curse, and he is doing that. And so we wait.”
In the context of the conflict with the Pharisees, Jesus is warning us of that same Spirit - like the older brother, resenting those who find freedom in Christ and resenting God for welcoming and receiving sinners. The Pharisees, in their thinking, we striving to be good slaves.
If we strive only to be good slaves, even if we did everything perfectly, we still would only be good slaves.
But Jesus came to cleanse us and to make us obedient and beautiful, beloved sons and daughters.
The account
The account
And now, to illustrate what he is teaching, Jesus heals 10 lepers.
He is on his way to Jerusalem where he will be crucified. And he is passing through a region that is between Galilee and Samaria. It is a no man’s land. A place for the outcasts of society.
Lepers
Lepers
A leper was one with a disease of the skin. It wasn’t fatal, but it was painful. And worse than that, it made you an outcast in Israel.
45 “As for the person who has the leprous infection, his clothes shall be torn and the hair of his head shall be uncovered, and he shall cover his mustache and call out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ 46 He shall remain unclean all the days during which he has the infection; he is unclean. He shall live alone; he shall live outside the camp.
These ten have been outcasts for years - but they see Jesus. They do not approach, but they cry out
“Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
They use the term “master”. This is different than the normal “Rabbi” or “sir”. This is a term that an inferior uses towards a superior. They are acknowledging that that are completely at his mercy.
They are desperate. There is no hope for them, if Jesus does not have mercy on them.
This illustrates what I was speaking of last week. We can’t heal the blind. We can’t raise the dead. Jesus warns us against casting traps and snares in front of people. The Pharisees would not allow a sinner to come close - they guarded the door to the kingdom so that they didn’t enter themselves, but would allow anyone else to enter either.
But at bottom, we are all lepers. If Jesus did not receive sinners, none of us would be here. we are all outcasts and unclean. We have been cast out of Eden, away from the fellowship of God. If we were to be in his presence it would destroy us.
We were created to bond, to attach - to each other and to God. When a baby is born, he learns how to attach from the attentiveness of the parents. And when attachment doesn’t happen, the child will struggle with relationships his whole life.
This illustrates the human condition. We are born to attach to God - to live with him in eternal blessedness, to praise and glorify him.
But we have been cast out of his society, his presence - because our sins have separated us from him. All of us have attachment issues when it comes to our fellowship with God. It affects everything. To be cast out of God’s presence tears at the heart of who we are as human beings.
When I was a child, I attended a fairly large (200 members, or so) congregation. We also had a lot of room to spread out afterwards.
When a large group has enough room to spread out, and they are standing and talking, they generally form circles for conversation. As a child, I spent a lot of time observing circles of people having conversation. You can see it here after church as well, but the circles are smaller, and usually broken up by the chairs in the way...
I could divide people up into several types.
The first type were those who easily fit into circles, and paid attention to the outsiders, making space for those wanting to join in.
Then there were those who easily fit into the circles, but actively shifted their bodies to keep the undesirable ones out of the circle. My brother was like this. If he was in a circle that I wanted to join, he would shift his body to put his back to me so that I would know I wasn’t welcome in that circle.
Then there were those who easily fit into the circles that were oblivious to the drama going on around them.
And then there were the outsiders, discouraged by the closed circles and drifting away.
It happened again recently when Susan and I were at a wine tasting. The wine-maker was talking to us, and then a large group joined us. We opened to let them in, and then they closed ranks to shut us out.
I have tried to make it a point to make sure that no one around me is shut out of the circle. If you have ever been closed out of a circle by those that you loved, then you know what that pain is like. But it has always affected me - oftentimes easier to stay on the outside than to risk the rejection of the closed circle.
When a visitor remarks that a church is unwelcoming, this is generally what they are referring to - they were closed out of conversation by subtle body cues.
Anyway - The reality of our situation is that we have been shut out of God’s circle - we were cast out of Eden.
The attachment was broken, and now all of our relationships are broken.
But the Pharisees of every age believe that they are the exception. They are the righteous ones and it is their duty to keep the unclean, unrighteous ones out.
And what is more unclean and unrighteous than a leper? These ten represent the human condition. They are every man. The circle of God’s fellowship has closed. God’s face was withdrawn and the blessing of his smiling countenance was taken away by sin. The lepers are US.
But they, unlike the Pharisees, knew their condition, and cried out. They longed for attachment again. They longed for connection and they knew that the reason that they were lonely, outcast and unclean was because of their leprosy. Their condition separated them from God.
And they also knew that Jesus could do something about that, if only he would show mercy.
The prayer
The prayer
So they cry out. This is the prayer of pain, of helplessness - have mercy on us.
Jesus, Master, have mercy upon us.
Notice the simplicity. There were no traps and snares laid, no conditions, no bureaucracy to go through.
With all of our health struggles over the years, we have found many wonderful doctors. But the steps and the levels and the bureaucrats that need to be appeased before you get to the doctors is astounding.
The referrals are lost. They are put in a stack. Then the wrong number is put in the box, and they get sent back to the sender. Where they are put in a stack and lost.
We call the doctor’s office and they find the referral and the fix the wrong box and send it again, and it gets lost again. We call the doctor and they say we sent it to insurance, where it is in another stack.
Once you get through that, then it lands on the desk of the doctor’s assistant that you need to see and they lose it, or put it in their stack, or deny it…and then it starts over.
But the Great Physician isn’t like that.
The ten call out to him, and he answers them. There is no admin assistant, no referrals department, no bureaucracy. He paid the price, he offered the sacrifice, he broke through the veil to the Holy of Holies
And every generation seeks to add the layers back into our salvation. Rome had a whole series of steps you needed to take. Access to God was only through the hierarchy of the priests. When Martin Luther studied the scripture, he saw that the veil has been taken away and the priesthood has gone away and each believer has direct access to God because of the work of Christ.
And today, there are so many in Reformed circles that seek to bring that hierarchy back - they teach that the man of the home is the priest for the family - and no one comes to the father except through him.
The church cults throw stumbling blocks in front of souls - one rule right after another - or they will cut off access to God.
But Jesus paid it all. Every sacrifice complete, the priesthood abolished, the temple destroyed. He opens his arms wide. He desires all of us to enter that circle of fellowship. He is the High Priest over the House of God and He invites you in - with no exceptions.
19 Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and having a High Priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
So the lepers cry out directly to Jesus. Not to his admins. Not to his gatekeepers. But to him. And he sees them.
He sees them!
The command
The command
He gives them something to do. Old Covenant had not yet been done away with - the temple and the priesthood were still standing, for Christ has not yet risen from the dead -
So the old order is still standing. So Jesus tells them to show themselves to the local priest. It was the local priest that would certify that the leprosy is gone, so that they could again join society.
Jesus is opening the door for them to re-enter society. Go.
And to their credit, they believe him and go.
And on the way, they are healed. Each one of them.
3 Who forgives all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases,
4 Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
The aftermath
The aftermath
And one - the Samaritan of the bunch - is so overwhelmed with gratitude that he rushes back falls on his face with awe and joy, and praises God.
The rest continue on the way to see the priests.
And Jesus remarks - where are the nine? Didn’t I cleanse 10 men?
He calls him a “stranger” - that is, a foreigner. One who is not part of the seed of Abraham. His blood is mixed. He is an alien to the covenant promises.
And HE is the one that loudly praises God and rushes back to Jesus.
Quite frankly, the scripture doesn’t tell us. There could be all sorts of reasons.
We could speculate that it is because they felt entitled to Jesus’ miracles - some say that.
Some say that they weren’t saved and so they weren’t thankful.
But none of that is in the text.
I think in the context of the chapter, there is on reason why -
They were Israelites, thoroughly trained in the doctrine of the Israelites - they were good slaves.
They were doing what it was their duty to do. Jesus told them to go to the priests, so to the priests they will go.
Obedience is good. In fact, God wants obedient children.
But he desires obedient CHILDREN.
Gratitude
Gratitude
Our catechism teaches us how we are to be thankful to God. Obedience is a very big part of that.
But without prayer and thankfulness, we are simply acting like good slaves. Jesus is teaching us to look higher. Look at the table, set for us in the presence of our enemies. Feast with him. Laugh, sing, fall on your face, rejoice, shout - lose your dignity!
Can you imagine this man - cured from this horrible disease, entering society, so tremendously blessed by God - falling on his face before Jesus and glorifying God with a loud voice, and then pointing out the flaws of everyone around him?
Or hasn’t his heart been completely made new.
Last week, I concluded that when our faith is as a seed of mustard, we can overcome all obstacles - and the result is that we treat one another with compassion and mercy, we desire to bring all to the feet of the savior.
And now we see it in action - he has fallen on his face.
He isn’t going to be a gatekeeper throwing snares in front of people, but he will be telling them all about Jesus.
He isn’t going to live in harsh grudges against his neighbor, because he was once a leper and now he is clean!
THIS is the obedience that God delights in. Yes, the man will go and show himself to the priest - it will be out of joy and gratitude. It won’t be a burden to him because it is a sign of his deliverance, not a mark of his bondage. He will be obeying the voice of Jesus while skipping and singing and laughing and dancing, glorifying God with a loud voice!
His circle will be wide because he was made clean and welcomed into the presence of God.
Contrast this to the leaders of the Jews -
You aren’t doing it right. Those are the wrong sort of clothes. Those are the wrong sort of people. Those are the wrong sorts of sacrifices. You are walking too many steps on the Sabbath. You are not doing it right!
This is the heart that has not been set free. A heart enslaved by fear and sin and the slavery of trying to earn enough credits for a stingy God to throw you a bone.
And when you view God like that, nothing is every good enough.
To borrow a story from Philip Ryken - a boy is ripped from the arms of his mother by a tornado. The mother cries out to God to have mercy and return her boy to her. Her boy falls from the sky and lands safely in her arms. She looks him over, and then looks to heaven and says, “Lord, he had a hat...”
This is the attitude of someone who hasn’t quite grasped the concept of mercy.
Jesus healed ten. Only one came back to rejoice. His obedience will now be marked with love and joy, and everything will change.
As for the other nine, perhaps they will come later. Perhaps they will stay hardened. Perhaps they will regret their choice and change their mind. We don’t know, and I don’t want to speculate on what the scripture is silent about.
Conclusion
Conclusion
But I will say this.
Every good and perfect gift comes from God.
The food that we eat, the wine, the oil, the rain, the harvest,
The fall leaves, the pumpkin spice, the roast pork with apples in the oven
Apple cinnamon doughnuts and banana cream pie.
Aged scotch and and small batch beer.
The lips of your spouse, the smell of her hair. The laughter of children.
The voice of the child shouting “Hey lo, grandpa!”
The smell of cut grass, the sound of the oboe perfectly played in its proper place
And even when there is adversity - the gatekeepers lose the referral again, the pain gets worse and no end is in sight, enemies attack and put you on defense, friends never speak to you again...
Even then - we are reminded that we are simply on the journey and even in pain, he hasn’t abandoned us. He is taking us to where he is.
He is good, when we are rich.
He is good, when we are in adversity.
And his goodness isn’t in the abstract, but in reality. He is good TO ME.
The adversity isn’t worthy to be compared to his riches that he has abundantly showered me with.
And we are so blessed by God.
The word blessed is an interesting word. It comes from Deuteronomy, which outlines the duties of the covenant with God. If the people obey God, God will pour out blessings on them; if they disobey, God will curse them.
But that covenant was broken, over and over and over again.
In Christ, he kept the covenant perfectly so that the blessings would come on us, even as the curse came on himself.
13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a Tree”—14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
You see - the curse of the covenant came on him - shown to the world in the crucifixion. That the blessing promised Abraham might come upon us.
And this blessing is on all who are in Christ. When God’s good gifts are showered on us. When the leprosy is taken away and we feast on roast lamb - we are blessed.
And when the fig tree fails and the olive tree doesn’t blossom - we still are blessed in Christ, and can still rejoice in the God of our salvation.
For he is good, and his mercy endures forever.
17 Though the fig tree may not blossom,
Nor fruit be on the vines;
Though the labor of the olive may fail,
And the fields yield no food;
Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,
And there be no herd in the stalls—
18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
19 The Lord God is my strength;
He will make my feet like deer’s feet,
And He will make me walk on my high hills.
To the Chief Musician. With my stringed instruments.
Because the blessing isn’t really about the good things - although there are plenty of those.
The blessing is about rejoicing at the feet of Jesus, sitting in his presence, having all of our sicknesses, uncleanness, sins, attachment disorders healed - safely lying in his arms, resting in his bosom -
And when those attachment issues are taken away, we also relate to others as we were created to - with safety, mercy, and joy.
Dancing, singing, feasting, rejoicing together int he presence of God without fear, all the days of our lives.