Rev. David Holwick ZK The Quest for the Real Jesus, #10
First Baptist Church [portions taken from serm96zl.pco]
Ledgewood, New Jersey
November 23, 2008
Luke 17:12-19
|
I. How many do you think thanked him?
Back in 1860, an excursion boat on Lake Michigan collided with a
freighter and began to sink less than a mile from the shore.
Hundreds of passengers began screaming as they leaped into the icy
water.
Edward Spencer was a student at a nearby seminary, and he ran down
to the beach to see what he could do.
A strong swimmer, for six hours Spencer swam out and back, pulling
people ashore, battling stormy waves and the powerful undertow.
By dawn, he had personally rescued 15 people in as many trips.
Exhausted, he sat down until someone spotted two more people still
in the water.
Spencer dove in again and found a man and a woman clinging
desperately to a piece of wreckage.
He brought them in, too, and collapsed on the beach.
Out of 393 passengers, only one-quarter were rescued, and 17 of
them were saved by Edward Spencer.
His own health, however, was permanently damaged by his act of
heroism.
He was never able to return to school and ultimately lived out his
days as an invalid.
Years later, a reporter doing a story on Great Lakes tragedies
found Spencer at a nursing home in California and asked for his
recollections of that night.
Spencer said bitterly, "The only thing I remember is that not one
of the 17 ever thanked me."
#18680
A. Genuine gratitude has always been in short supply.
1) Perhaps it is in our fallen nature to always think of
ourselves first.
2) That is why the Bible continually reminds us to put other
people first, and to give credit to God.
B. Jesus taught a fair amount about gratitude, and he lived it.
1) Where do we stand with it?
2) How can we get a new perspective?
II. It began with a dreaded disease.
A. Leprosy has never been an easy disease.
From the National Geographic, December 2008 (the current issue):
An article on health workers in rural India mentions the case
of Sakubai Gite, age 32.
When she was in her teens, she contracted leprosy.
Indians who got leprosy usually didn't seek treatment openly -
- if the neighbors found out, the sufferer would be shunned.
Before Sakubai got cured, she lost parts of her fingers and her
hand became gnarled and deformed.
Her husband banished her from the home.
1) Victims of leprosy faced similar rejection in Jesus' day.
a) Had to live outside of town.
b) Had to wear special clothes and warning bells.
c) Leprosy covered a broader range of skin diseases back
then, but everyone dreaded it.
1> Once you got it, your life changed forever.
B. The encounter.
1) Jesus runs into them outside of town, and even then they
stood way off the road.
2) They plead for pity (obviously, they're seeking healing).
3) Jesus tells them to show themselves to a priest.
a) The Old Testament requires this for a person
to be certified leprosy-free. Lev 13
b) Jesus seems to assume they have already been healed
and only need the priest's OK to re-enter society.
4) The men have enough faith (and obedience) to do what
Jesus says.
a) Along the way, they realize they actually are healed.
C. The response.
1) One returns to Jesus, praising God.
2) Curiously, he is a despised Samaritan.
a) From the Jewish perspective, Samaritans were
heretical half-breeds.
b) Jesus commends him and announces his faith in God
has brought the healing.
c) (Most of Jesus' healing miracles relied on a
person's faith as well as Jesus' power.)
D. Ingratitude to God is nothing new.
1) Many experience God's blessings (he gives some to everyone)
but only a few show gratitude.
In his book FOLK PSALMS OF FAITH, Ray Stedman tells of an experience
H. A. Ironside had in a crowded restaurant.
Just as Ironside was about to begin his meal, a man approached and
asked if he could join him.
Ironside invited him to have a seat.
Then, as was his custom, Ironside bowed his head in prayer.
When he opened his eyes, the other man asked, "Do you have a headache?"
Ironside replied, "No, I don't."
The other man asked, "Well, is there something wrong with your food?"
Ironside responded, "No, why?"
"Well," the man said, "I saw you sitting there with your head down and
I thought you must be sick, or that there was something wrong with
your food."
Ironside replied, "No, I was simply thanking God as I always do before
I eat."
The man said, "Oh, you're one of those, are you?
Well, I want you to know I never give thanks.
I earn my money by the sweat of my brow and I don't have to give thanks
to anybody when I eat.
I just start right in!"
Ironside said, "You're just like my dog. That's what he does, too!"
#14314
2) For Jesus, gratitude to God is at the center of genuine
faith.
III. How Jesus showed gratitude. #388
A. For common necessities of life. John 6:11,23
1) Feeding of 5,000. Thanks emphasized, twice.
a) It is easy to take the common things in life for granted.
b) We usually don't appreciate them till they're taken
away from us.
2) Note that Jesus gave his thanks publicly, not in a corner.
a) Thanks should be audible.
b) He was not ashamed to acknowledge the Giver of every
good and perfect gift.
B. For answered prayer. John 11:41
1) Jesus prayed at the raising of Lazarus.
2) We should pray more, and thank God for answered prayer.
C. For his death. Matt 26:27
1) He thanked God for cup that represented his own blood.
"All the agonies He was to experience in those awful hours,
as He hung a bleeding victim on Calvary, were
represented by the cup He held in his blessed hand,
and He thanked God." #388
2) He could see beyond the pain to the glory of salvation.
IV. Healing comes on different levels.
A. All ten lepers had enough faith to obey Jesus.
1) While still lepers, they began walking to the priests.
B. Only one combined faith with gratitude.
1) He comes back to thank Jesus personally.
a) Every other time the word "thanks" is used in the
gospels, it is directed to God.
b) Here alone, a person gives it to Jesus.
c) He is acknowledging that Jesus had given him what
only God can give.
2) This leper alone ended up saved - he had physical healing
and spiritual healing as well.
3) The others believed for a time, but fell short of the
ultimate healing - salvation. [Robert Stein]
V. We can thank God even when our healing is incomplete.
A. Blessings can always be counted.
Pastor Jack Hinton from a Baptist church in North Carolina
took some members of his church on a short-term mission trip
to the Caribbean nation of Tobago.
They were working on a leper colony on that island, and Jack
was leading worship music at a chapel service.
There was enough time left for one more hymn and he asked if
anyone had a favorite.
Jack noticed that one of the patients was sitting on the back
pew, facing in the opposite direction.
Now for the first time, the leprous woman turned around to
face the front.
Jack said, "I found myself staring into the most hideous face
I had ever seen.
She had no nose and no lips - just the bare teeth, like a skull."
As she turned, she raised her hand in the air.
Except it wasn't a hand. It was the bony end of her arm, just
a nub.
As poor Jack was trying to take this in, she asked, "Could we
sing `Count Your Many Blessings'?"
That's when the pastor lost it.
He stumbled out of the pulpit and through the door into the
yard.
Tears filled his eyes.
Someone else stepped up and led the hymn and one of Jack's
members walked outside and put his arm around him.
"You'll never be able to sing that song again, will you,
Jack?"
"Oh, yeah, I'll sing it," Jack said, "but not in the same way."
#4897
B. All of us can be "praise generators."
1) Jesus generated much praise for God through his miracles.
Matt 15:31, Lk 18:43, Luke 19:37
2) Our good deeds can also generate praise for God. Matt 5:16
"In the same way, let your light shine before men, that
they may see your good deeds and praise your Father
in heaven."
3) If we truly recognize God's hand in events, we should be
compelled to praise him.
a) If we don't, he says even the rocks will.
VI. How much healing have you had?
A. Believe in Jesus as your Savior.
1) Ten men were touched by the healing power of Jesus.
a) Only one realized that what had happened deserved a
personal, heartfelt response to the Savior.
Wilcock
2) Have you ever publicly responded to Jesus?
a) Or are you ashamed to acknowledge him?
b) Perhaps the problem is not with Jesus, but your lack
of genuineness.
B. Live as if Jesus is your Lord.
1) Gratitude is best shown by actions, not words.
a) We almost emphasize faith and grace too much.
b) Genuine faith bears good fruit.
2) Commit every area of your life to him.
a) Christ's victory over sin and death is our greatest
cause for thanks. 1 Cor 15:57
b) Do everything in name of Jesus. Col 3:17
3) Trust in him, even through calamity.
=========================================================================
SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
# 388 "What Jesus Was Thankful For," by Dr. Richard Beal, Biblical
Evangelist, November 1988, p. 1.
# 4897 "He'll Never Sing It the Same Again," by Pastor's Update; Foreign
Mission Board Of The Southern Baptist Convention; Richmond,
Virginia, May 1996, p. 4; this version of the story is from
Preaching Now email newsletter, September 25, 2006.
#14314 "Just Like My Dog," Rev. Ray Stedman, Fredericksburg Bible
Illustrator Supplements.
#18680 "The True Focus Of Thanksgiving," by Paul Brewster, Baptist Press,
http://www.baptistpress.org, November 26, 2008. Brewster is
pastor of Barlow-Vista Baptist Church in Hampstead, N.C.
These and 30,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
=========================================================================
Copyright © 2024 by Rev. David Holwick
Created with the Freeware Edition of HelpNDoc: Full featured multi-format Help generator