Luke 17:11–19 (ESV) - Palermo Christian Church

Where are you? Luke 17:11–19 (ESV) —11 On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. 12 And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance 13 and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” 14 When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. 15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; 16 and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.” Jesus asks, “Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” I have entitled this message, “Where are you?” We play this game with my granddaughter. I will walk into her house and she will be sitting on the couch under a blanket hiding from me. I will ask, “Where’s Samantha?” A little voice will come out from under the blanket that says, “Here she is.” It’s hard to hide very well when you are telling everyone where you are. Jesus looks around and what does he see? He sees no one except this one man. So he asks, “Was no one found to (or who) return(ed)…? Who can be found that returned? This one man! What was he doing? “giving praise to God…” Why? Luke 17:11–19 (ESV) —11 On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. 12 And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance 13 and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” 14 When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. He is praising God because he had been healed from leprosy. Several details are helpful for us to understand what is happening here. 1.
He is on his way to Jerusalem. This is Luke’s way of saying that he has the cross before him. 2.
Lepers would congregate together as no one else would come near them. 3.
Not only would no one come near them, they would not come near others. These lepers stand at a distance. 4.
This might include Hansen’s disease or what we call leprosy, but would also include other skin diseases as well. 5.
The Jews believe that leprosy was a result of someone’s sin, so the lepers were unclean in body and soul. 6.
The word must have gotten out…they call out as a group to Jesus, “Have mercy on us…” They wanted healing 7.
They would go to the priests for healing as confirmation to the community that they were cleansed. 8.
When they turned and started walking, they noticed immediately that whatever the skin problem was, it was gone! 9.
The fact that the ten started to go to their priests was a visible sign that they believed that Jesus could heal them. 10. We can only imagine the joy they felt when they were healed. R. Kent Hughes comments, “There were no mirrors to reflect the dramatic change, but they saw it in each other instantly. From cadaverous faces reemerged ears, noses, eyebrows, lashes, hairlines. Feet—toeless, ulcerated stubs—
were suddenly whole, bursting shrunken sandals. Knobby appendages grew fingers. Barnacled skin became soft and supple. It was like ten new-‐births. The dust of a wild celebration quickly began in the bright sunlight.”1 1 R. Kent Hughes, Luke: That You May Know the Truth, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1998), 170. 15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; Isn’t this what forgiven people do? Can you identify with the Psalmist who said, Psalm 107:17–22 (ESV) —17 Some were fools through their sinful ways, and because of their iniquities suffered affliction; 18 they loathed any kind of food, and they drew near to the gates of death. 19 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. 20 He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction. 21 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man! 22 And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, and tell of his deeds in songs of joy! We live in a world ruled by psychology. We are looking for this reason and that reason to understand our problems. While many problems we face are because of things outside of our control, a lot of the problems we face are because of our own sin. We overspent so we are in debt. We were mean to those who were mean to us and now we have lost a friend. We lied and got caught, we drank to excess or used illegal drugs and are now paying the price. We were caught in deception and now we are in a bad place. Some of us have been there. But when we came to Jesus, he turned our lives around. We may have felt like lepers until we heard the voice of Jesus saying, “Go to that church, read that Bible, listen to the voice of Jesus” and we did and now we have been wonderfully cleansed. Look at this man who was healed and is now praising God. 16 and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. He comes back to Jesus, falls at his feet and thanks him for his healing. What is more amazing was that he was a Samaritan. He was a non-‐Jew. He had an Assyrian background. His forefathers had been given land in Samaria and he was not a Jew by birth, or by religion. 17 Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Where are the other nine? Where are the Jewish lepers who were healed? Why didn’t they come back to praise and thank God? Look around? Who was found to return? Only this Samaritan, this man who was the least likely and the least worthy, only this man came back to praise God and thank Jesus. Paul says in Romans 10:20 (ESV) —20 Then Isaiah is so bold as to say, “I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me…” referring to the non-‐Jews. This man found Jesus, but the other nine were nowhere in sight. Who is to be found that will praise God? Who is to be found that will thank Jesus for his goodness towards them. We have met a lot of people who want the benefits of the Christian faith without Christ. They come to church because they have a problem. If you have a problem, you are welcome here. One trait that is common to all of us is that we all have problems. Welcome to the group. However, many who have their problems solved never set foot in church again. They are healed of their problem, but they have not been healed in their heart. This man was not only healed of his problem, he experienced the salvation that comes only from faith in Jesus. 19 And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.” The words “made you well” are literally “saved…” Your faith has saved you. Saved him from what? Saved him from leprosy for sure. But also, as compared to the others, brought him into a good relationship with God through Jesus Christ. I know what this man was talking about. I don’t have leprosy, but God has blessed me. I want to be one of the ones who is “found to return…” So here I am. Before I left on Sabbatical, one of our elders, Ralph Littlefield, mentioned that my absence was a test for the church. Would people step up to the plate? I want to thank God for those who did. I will miss some, but please forgive me if I don’t mention your name. God knows who you are. I walk into the church and see the outside steps covered over and the new sound room in operation. I look at the building fund. Out of the $25000 we need, $21500 is in. Praise God! Phil, Sandy, Gerald, Dave and Ralph took major responsibilities this summer. Many of you stepped in to help them. Praise God! Bruce and Susan allowed Ellen and I to use their home on Campobello Island for the first week of the Sabbatical. What a wonderful place to study, pray and relax that first week. I was on the hillside where Jesus may have given the Beatitudes. It was overlooking the Sea of Galilee. I could imagine Jesus teaching at this place and the people listening with such a beautiful view in the background. “Blessed are the poor in spirit for of such is the kingdom of heaven…” I was overwhelmed. And I thought, “I am here by the grace of God and by the grace of God’s people. I don’t deserve this, but I am thankful that God made it possible through the congregation at Palermo.” I had another time that I was all alone in the garden tomb for about 45 seconds. It struck me. I was all alone in this tomb. No one else was there. I was the last of our group to go in…one of them were there. Jesus had risen…he wasn’t there. It was an awesome moment that I praise God for and will never forget. I experience the same kind of emotion as I sat in the Brooklyn Tabernacle beside Dan Sprague on a Tuesday. It was noontime and about 750 people had come to the church to pray…during their lunch break. Other than soft background music there was no entertainment to pull them in, no high-‐
powered bands or charismatic speakers. There was a five-‐
minute devotional at the end, but that was it. People just came to sit in quietness and to pray. And many stayed the whole time. I would never have experienced this if it weren’t for the grace of God and the generosity of those who gave both money and time to let me go. I have many more stories I could and will share. I don’t want Jesus to look around and ask, “Did you find anyone else who returned…” without my being there to say, “I am here, Jesus.” Some of you have had incredible blessings come your way. Have you joined this Samaritan man to come with a loud voice and praise God and thank Jesus? Some of you have been through some real bad stuff: Sickness, death, loss of job, loss of friends because of your faith, trying and hard times. Have you joined this Samaritan man to come with a loud voice and praise God and thank Jesus? The apostle Paul puts what Jesus is saying into a very clear sentence. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (ESV) —18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. God! Open your mouth and fill it with praise to the glory of Give Thanks Pg. 170 Verse 1 Give thanks with a grateful heart Give thanks to the Holy One Give thanks because He's given Jesus Christ His Son (Repeat Verse 1) Chorus 1 And now let the weak say I am strong Let the poor say I am rich Because of what The Lord has done for us And now let the weak say I am strong Let the poor say I am rich Because of what The Lord has done for us Ending Give thanks

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