Worship - Lee Heights Community Church

Luke 17:11 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud voice, ``Jesus, Master, have pity on us!'' 14 When he saw them, he said, ``Go, show yourselves to the priests.'' And as they went, they were cleansed. 15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He threw himself at Jesus'' feet and thanked himand he was a Samaritan. 17 Jesus asked, ``Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?'' 19 Then he said to him, ``Rise and go; your faith has made you well.''

2 Chronicles 5:7 The priests then brought the ark of the Lord''s covenant to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim. 8 The cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark and covered the ark and its carrying poles. 9These poles were so long that their ends, extending from the ark, could be seen from in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are still there today. 10 There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt. 11 The priests then withdrew from the Holy Place. All the priests who were there had consecrated themselves, regardless of their divisions. 12 All the Levites who were musiciansAsaph, Heman, Jeduthun and their sons and relativesstood on the east side of the altar, dressed in fine linen and playing cymbals, harps and lyres. They were accompanied by 120 priests sounding trumpets. 13 The trumpeters and singers joined in unison, as with one voice, to give praise and thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, they raised their voices in praise to the Lord and sang: ``He is good; his love endures forever.'' Then the temple of the Lord was filled with a cloud, 14 and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the temple of God.

In the past few weeks we have been looking at how we please God through our faith. Our faith gives us the courage to give back to God, knowing that all we receive comes from God. Our faith allows us to have patience, knowing that ultimately God has a better plan. Our faith is pleasing to God. And through this study of God's word on faith, we have primarily focused on how God views faith, and how faith pleases God. Yet we have also seen examples of how faith is a blessing to us. In Micah God promises to open the floodgates of heaven, and such attributes as patience build our character, as well as our faith. Faith is not easy. The disciples of Jesus who followed him as he walked on the earth, cried out for God to increase their faith. (Luke 17:5) To which Jesus replied ``If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ``Be uprooted and planted in the sea,'' and it will obey you. This is not the first time he used the mustard seed illustration, he has already reminded them that the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, which is so tiny, but grows into a massive tree. So it is with faith. Though it begin tiny, faith grows, as long as we allow it to grow, and provides us with a mighty relationship with God. The more we trust, the more we believe, the more we seek, the more we act, the more we experience, the more we tell, the more we pray, the larger our faith. Faith has a direct influence on our life, as well as our sense of well being. We see this illustrated in the events that unfold as Jesus is traveling to Jerusalem. We are told that 12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud voice, ``Jesus, Master, have pity on us!'' Now, this is nothing new for Jesus. He was well known as a healer in a world where Doctors had very little to offer, especially for serious illnesses like leprosy. Everywhere he went he was surrounded by people with all kinds of illnesses and other problems, wanting to be healed. From the accounts we read in scripture, Jesus provided the physical healing when he was approached, when he was asked, and even at least in one woman's situation, when she reached out and touched the hem of his garment. Jesus showed mercy, and provided healing, and so often people would crowd around him, looking for what he could and would provide. The same is true for the church today. The testimonies of healing we have at Lee Heights are astounding. So people who are hurting, who need healing who cry out for prayer come to the church. People who need counseling and direction they can trust, come to the church. people who need financial assistance, especially when jobs are scarce, come to the church. The church, as the hands and feet of Jesus in the world, does its best to show the same mercy, the same grace, and provide the healing and comfort through our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ. And to point each person in the direction of Jesus who remains the ultimate healer. Although there are different ways in which people are healed, there is only one way that they can be made whole, to be in communion with God and that is through Jesus. And so we rely on Jesus in the same way his disciples did while he walked with them.
The ten men in this event, and in this way, were no different than the thousands of people who crowded around Jesus daily. What was different, was the fact that they did not join the crowd. They stood at a distance. They were following the Jewish tradition that called skin disease a sign of uncleanliness and required the unclean to separate themselves from the clean. They were making sure that they did not touch the people in the crowd. So these men knew the law. They knew the custom. They were primarily Jewish men, although we are told later that one of them was a Samaritan. Samaritans were hated by Jews, but something tends to happen to hate when serious illness sets in. I noticed this when I worked at the Cleveland Clinic, that when people who were fighting cancer, met each other, this one thing that they had in common usually overcame any differences that they might have had. I often called it the great equalizer, because rich or poor no longer mattered so much, race no longer mattered so much, culture no longer mattered so much, people began to see that they were in this battle together, and help each other out. Perhaps it was this way with the ten, despite their differences, they had this common bond. Not only were they supposed to remain apart, as they encountered ``clean'' people, they were to shout in a loud voice unclean, unclean, so that the clean people could avoid them. Now they were all outcastes, with the same condition, and so they cried out, but in this case they did not cry out unclean, they called out in a loud voice, together, (17:13) ``Jesus, Master have pity on us!'' And he did. Jesus said to them, ``Go, show yourselves to the priests.'' And as they went, they were cleansed.
Now there are three different words, even in Greek that are used for what happened to these men. First there is this word cleansed. Their skin was cleansed of this disease. All ten had their skin cleansed. As they did what Jesus told them to do, as they walked toward the priests, their skin disease was removed from their body. They had to go, at least the nine Jewish men, had to go to the priest, because it was the priest who would say one way or another, if they could rejoin society. It was the priest who could say that they were healed. If the priest looked at their skin and found the disease gone, then they were allowed back among the people. They could go back to their families, back to their jobs, they could even join the crowds that gathered around Jesus. But if the priest found one blemish, any evidence that the disease was still active, they would have to remain isolated. They would still be unclean. This was a requirement of the law. All ten men did what Jesus said. One has to sense their level of despair, and desperation, that they would immediately do what Jesus told them to do. This was a disease that had ruined and was continuing to ruin their lives. As they walked, they were cleansed.
In verse 15 we find the second word used for what was happening to these men. They were all healed. They were all declared healed by the priests. 15 One of them, when he saw he was healed. This word healed is almost always used for physical or spiritual healing and is a little stronger than cleansed, for it means that at cure has taken place. It is like the difference in cancer treatment between remission and cure. Cleansed clearly means the signs and symptoms of the disease are gone. Once the priest examines them they realize they have been healed, they have experienced a cure for their disease. The disease is completely gone. Both of these events, cleansing and curing, occurred at the mercy of Jesus, for the only faith these men had was to listen to his word and obey. It was not their faith that provided this cleansing, it was not their gratefulness that provided this healing, it was the mercy of Jesus. So far, the ten have only asked and received help. And all ten have been cleansed and healed.
Now there is this event that unfolds that Jesus calls to our attention, through his words. I am sure that through the three years of his ministry many people came back to say thank you. Some of those events are revealed in scripture. I am sure that there were also those who received healing and went on their way without a word of thanks. This is how many people live their lives. So there were probably many times when Jesus could have called attention to this kind of behavior. But here, with this mass cleansing, with this healing of ten, comes just a wonderful opportunity to point out the way in which our response to miracles is either pleasing or displeasing to God. All ten came begging, ``Jesus, Master, have pity on us!'' Jesus had pity on all ten. Jesus provided cleansing and healing, a cure for all ten. But ten men did not return to give thanks. Only one man returned, and him a Samaritan, one who didn't even know the right law, one who was despised by the very people to whom he was returning. This Samaritan comes back to the crowd, back to Jesus 16 He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him. He was grateful for what Jesus had done.
Now I must say that this ration of nine out of ten not even saying thank you does not surprise me. In the church we get used to people saying thanks to God, and to each other, and so we sometimes forget that in the world this does not readily occur. People do not naturally give thanks. You have to teach children this attitude, as they are likely to treat whatever they receive as an expectation, rather than a bonus. They are more likely, until they learn how to say thank you, to ignore the giving behind the gift. Adults who have never learned this behavior or who choose to live apart from God also loose their gratitude, and gratefulness for what they receive, usually because deep down they believe it is not enough. In their minds, someone else got more, and they got less than they deserved. Just like Jesus we experience this attitude of ingratitude in our ministries to the world. I remember one of the first people that came to the church, early on in my time as Pastor, for food, during one of those times when the hunger center was on holiday. And I went out of my way, went to the grocery store, took food off of my shelves, trying to come up with food for him and his five children. When I got to the house, it became apparent that he had told a half truth about the children, he did have five, but they didn't live with him, and as he unloaded his groceries, he complained about every item. Not once did he say thank you. Not once did he give praise to God.
Sometimes when I talk to people about our ministries, because they are so impressed, they ask the question, well how many people come to church because you helped them. I would answer that if the number is one in ten we feel blessed, for it may, more likely be one in a hundred. Then I quickly add that this is not why we do what we do. It is our calling, we reach out and show mercy to those in need as God leads us, and so we are obedient to God, and if there is thanksgiving and gratitude, it should be directed toward Jesus anyway. And I learned, early on in my social work career that the gratitude of people you help has little to do with how much you have done, how much time and resources you put into them, nor the results the quality of the work. And it is a truth that has followed me into the pastorate, that some of the people with whom you spend an inordinate amount of time, energy, money, and resources are the least grateful, while some who receive by comparison, so little, are just overwhelming in their gratitude. The first are truly a challenge to Pastors, and to churches.
Sometimes it even afflicts people in the church, this attitude of ingratitude. It wasn't that long ago that I received an e-mail from someone that decided to join another church, after years of attending Lee Heights. Now there is nothing wrong with leaving a church to go to another church as God leads you. God has a purpose for all relationships, and will direct us to where we are needed. Many of our former members are now involved in other faith communities, around the country and they take what they have been given and use it to God's glory. There is, however, a problem, when people leave without gratitude for what they have received. This is one of the lessons in this event. This person left complaining, had to send back an email listing all of their issues with Lee Heights. Now I have to admit that this created an issue within me, because as I think back, this person and their family received more of my time, more of the church's resources, more prayer, than 90% of the members in the church. In those years, Lee Heights has responded to this family's needs year after year, assisted with counseling, prayer, finances, I don't know how many thousands of dollars were spent on tuition, and in fact, one of the many complaints that this person shared in the email, was a false perception that we had stopped our tuition assistance for their child. And as I read through the email, filled with complaints about not fitting in, about mistreatment that never occurred, about every possible misstep we as a church might have made, I just felt so tired, overwhelmed with this same reaction Jesus had with the nine who went on their way. I mean we did all this for their family, and there is no mention of any appreciation. Now I have to say that I took it to the next level, which was, why bother helping people, if all they see is what you might have done wrong. Jesus quickly reminded me that this is not why we do what we do, for the gratitude of people. After prayer, I was able to respond to those complaints, with more forgiveness than I felt. Now, as I read through this scripture, I am convicted that my own thoughts of complaint about this person came out of a lack of faith. Even this situation and those complaints were part of God's plan, part of the lessons I needed to learn. The truth is, that every person that joins this church, every person who visits this church, every person who is helped by a ministry of this church, we are given to each other for a God intended purpose. Even those who cause problems for each other are part of the plan and purpose of God. So for me to complain is to question God's plan and purpose. And as I begin to remember our relationship from the benefit side, from the blessings received, instead of complaining, I find myself praising God for putting that person, that family in my life. By being grateful and praising God, my faith in God, my faith in Jesus increases.
This is one of the lessons Jesus is telling us through this event. Another is the fact that people react differently to the same blessing. One man returned to give thanks. Nine went on their way. Although there is no record of complaining, I can almost guarantee that at least a couple of those nine, went on their way complaining. Well, he took care of my skin, but what about my big nose, couldn't he have fixed that while he was at it. Or what about my need for a job, or how about my lack of a love life. I am sure, based on human behavior that somebody who received that miracle of healing left complaining. That is the way we are, and the truth is that God understands. Even David as you read through the Psalms, had his list of complaints, but as he prayed about them, his prayers turned from complaint to praise. And that is what we are to do. If we are like the one who returned, how wonderful the praise, and relationship with God. But even if we are not. If we are one of those who receive a miracle and go on with life, or one who receives a miracle and complains, it is in our own best interest that we move from complaining, move from complacency, to full thanksgiving and praise.
We find this plainly stated in Jesus response to the situation. Jesus points out the problem in verse 17, Jesus asked, ``Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?'' So gratefulness and gratitude is giving praise to God. How does that work? Well it is a measure of your faith. If you understand that God has blessed you, it means that you understand that God exists, that God has worked out circumstances in your life for your benefit, as well as the benefit of others, and that these blessings are worthy of thanksgiving. When you give thanks, it is praise, as surely as playing instruments, singing and shouting praises, as surely as living your faith, is praise. It is pleasing to God. But there is more. Jesus says to this one man, this one person who came back to give thanks, 19 ``Rise and go; your faith has made you well.'' Here he uses a word for healing that can best be interpreted, saved, or made whole, And what Jesus is telling us, is that our gratitude, our gratefulness, is not only praise, not only seen as pleasing to God, is not only a measure of our faith, it also has implications for our well being. Giving thanks to God does not change God, adds not one thing to God who is already whole. Giving thanks to God changes us. We are the ones who are saved. We are the ones who are made well, we are the ones who are made whole. Giving thanks to God is a part of how we are healed. So let us this morning give thanks to God.