On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us." When he saw them he said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they went they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice;and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered, "Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?"And he said to him, "Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well."- Luke 17: 11-19 (ESV)
So we come to Thanksgiving 2014. A day when our country pauses to be thankful for all they have before going out the next day and trampling each other at the mall to get a hold of what they do not have. Only in America can something as greedy as Black Friday follow a holiday about giving humble thanks. Maybe that is not even what it is about anymore in these last days. Maybe it is more about football. Maybe it is more about a great meal. Maybe the love of most has truly grown cold. Perhaps though this should always be a day of hope. That people actually stop their lives long enough to be thankful. Sure they might be thankful for their parents or their boss. For their family and their friends. But any reflection deep enough must inevitably lead us to God. The one provider of all blessings. At least it should. Unfortunately our human nature too often rules who we are. The blessings from God are almost treated as an expected entitlement. So let us pause this holiday and reflect back on a story told in the Bible about the blessings of God and about thanksgiving. It is the found in the key verses today and is the story of when Jesus healed the ten lepers.
I think sometimes in Scripture we read about things that have no direct relevance in our daily lives anymore and as such, we assign lesser consideration to them. Leprosy is one such consideration. We read about it throughout Scripture but it simply is no longer a concern in modern day America, so we probably think less of it than we should. It was a devastating condition in the days Jesus walked the earth. It was infectious. It was communicable. It often resulted in the afflicted literally losing pieces of their body to the disease. Fingers and toes would often fall off as the malady spread. From a religious standpoint it was even worse. You were considered ceremonially unclean. You were considered not able to worship God. You were ostracized from the community of believers. It carried with it physical burdens, spiritual burdens, and psychological burdens. It was the Ebola of their day, without the mortality rate. When you suffered from leprosy, there was no easy escape of death. It was suffering.
So we pick up the story and find Jesus on His way to Jerusalem when ten lepers stand at a distance and asked God for mercy. This is our first lesson for today. We ought to understand what we are asking of God and who He is. The "friend of God" theologies of today have warped the thinking of far too many Christians. God becomes our buddy or our sidekick. A cosmic ATM who is just dying to throw open the windows of heaven and rain down blessings upon blessings upon us. God's sovereignty? Routinely robbed by charlatan pastors and wolves in the pulpits. Teaching the people of God that "decreeing and declaring" are acceptable forms of prayer. That our words have the power of creation. That we are in fact little gods. If you believe in little gods than you believe in a lot of heresy beloved. Teaching people that God has no choice but to heal us. That it is always His will. That God actually needs our permission to do anything on earth in our lives. The late Myles Munroe taught this false theology until the day his plane recently crashed, taking his life. I guess God did not need his permission after all.
Here is today's deep theology beloved. God is God. We are not. We are the created. He is the Creator. We need to approach God as the ten lepers did - understand who He is. Master they called Him. Master He is. The word implies the proper roles. He is supposed to be in charge. He is not our pal. He is our Lord. He is our King. That makes us His subjects. His servants. Jesus once lamented about people not understanding the roles:
"Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do what I tell you? - Luke 6: 46 (ESV)
Jesus is not in the advisement business. He is in the Lordship business. If we have areas of our lives that are seemingly out of control I would wager those are areas where we still retain lordship. The truth is we are horrible lords. We are horrible kings. The good news however is we do not need to be in these roles because we know the King of all Kings and the Lord of all Lords!
We could talk about the important role faith plays in our lives. That as they went to the priests they were cleansed. Jesus did not heal them on the spot. He gave them instructions and as they followed in faith, they were healed. I will leave that for another devotional because this is thanksgiving and I want to close focusing on the end of the story. The giving of thanks. The first thing we see is the unbridled joy the one man has at the healing he has received. He does not merely walk back to Jesus and shake His hand. He was praising God loudly! He was yelling his praises! There was nothing timid about his thanksgiving. He then fell at the feet of Jesus on his face! All the while still giving Him thanks. There was humility in his thanksgiving. A recognition that Jesus was sovereign. That He did not have to heal Him but through His infinite mercy chose to heal him. Do not listen to the snake oil salesmen who rob God of His sovereignty as our Lord and King.
Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids--blind, lame, and paralyzed.One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, "Do you want to be healed?" The sick man answered him, "Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me." Jesus said to him, "Get up, take up your bed, and walk." And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. - John 5: 2-9 (ESV)
This is the great story of Jesus healing the man at the pool of Bethesda but what is often overlooked is the fact that He did not choose to heal everyone. Look at the opening verses carefully. There were a multitude of invalids there but Jesus focused on this one man.
Back at our key verses we see some profoundly sad Scriptures. Where are the nine? Were not ten cleansed? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner? How sad beloved. When I look out across Christendom today however I think I see the same dynamic playing out. Nine out of every ten professing Christian takes the blessings of God for granted. When you believe that God is required to heal you, why would you be over-joyous in your praise? Why would you fall at His feet if you think that your declaration and decreeing had something to do with your miracle? We are too often found robbing God of the one thing He will not share - His glory. Here is verse 18 from the NLT:
Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?" - Luke 11: 18 (NLT)
That is what thanksgiving is beloved. It is giving glory to God. It belongs to Him. We tend to place everything into a negative light instead of seeing what glory God deserves. The kids are getting on our nerves but glory to God for we have a family. The burden of cooking Thanksgiving dinner is immense but glory to God that we have food where many do not. The job is causing me untold stress but glory to God that I am employed in this bad economy. I miss someone I loved who was taken from me far too soon but glory to God for the time we did have with them. Thanksgiving is a day for family, football and friends. It is a day to stop and truly reflect on what we should be thankful to God for. It is a day to celebrate His sovereignty. His Lordship. His mercy. It is a day for His glory.
Happy Thanksgiving and thank you Jesus for everything You have done for me. I fall at your feet and scream your praises for your mercies are new every day. You alone are Lord. You alone are King. To you alone belongs the glory. Amen.
Rev. Anthony.
