THANKSGIVING DAY - 2007
First German Evangelical Lutheran Church
Faith and Love…Nothing Else Matters
Luke 17:11-19 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 him-- and 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." There are many customs and traditions that are associated with Thanksgiving Day. Some of these customs involve gathering with friends and family, eating a turkey dinner with all the trimmings, and sitting on the couch watching football on TV. One custom many families have on this day is to go around the dinner table and have each family member say a few things for which they are thankful. The answers that people give usually tell something about who they are and what things they feel are the most important. Someone might be thankful for their family, someone else might be thankful for their health, and someone else might be thankful for their new car. There is nothing wrong with being thankful for all different kinds of blessings. But the point God’s Word makes for us today is this: in the end, there are only two things in your life that really matter: faith and love. It is faith that receives all the blessings God gives us and it is love that gives to others. Our text today is the familiar story of the ten lepers. Today we will see how the one grateful leper teaches us about the absolute importance of faith and love. It was a horrible thing in Jesus’ day to have leprosy. Today, we know that leprosy is treatable and curable through multi-drug therapy. In those days, leprosy was treated with isolation. Once you were diagnosed with the disease, you were placed in a leper colony. This meant you were excluded from your family and others and were forced to live away from inhabited places. Food for
lepers was deposited in pre-arranged places. Lepers were forced to walk around with their garments torn, their heads bared and their chins covered as though they were mourning their own death. Anytime someone came near they had to announce themselves as lepers by yelling, “Unclean!” You can only imagine the utterly helpless feeling of despair that would result from this disease. It is in this helpless state that these ten lepers met Jesus as Luke records, “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!" No doubt these men had heard some of the stories of Jesus’ power and ability to heal the sick. They looked to Jesus to use that power to help them in their seemingly helpless condition. And that is exactly what Jesus did. He didn’t make a big show of it. He didn’t wave his arms in the air and recite some magic formula. He didn’t tell the men to go out and perform some ritual or take certain medications to bring about their healing. He simply said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed. This was truly a miracle. One of the lepers recognized this fact. One of the lepers saw the bigger picture. He saw that he had looked to Jesus for help and Jesus, as his loving Savior, had provided that help. That is why he went back. That is why he fell at Jesus feet. It was because of the faith in his heart. That is why Jesus said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” Recognize that Jesus is speaking about more here than simply being healed of leprosy. The ten had been healed. But only this one had been “made well” in the sense that he was saved not only from his disease, but also from the greater problem of his sin. This eternal blessing of salvation had come to him through his faith in Jesus as his Savior. In this way, this leper teaches us about the importance of faith. Without faith, he may have been healed from his leprosy, but he would still be lost in sin. Do you realize how important your faith is in your life? Do you recognize that without faith, giving thanks on a day like today would simply be a mental exercise but would hold no real value? In order to understand the importance of faith, it might be helpful to think of yourself as that leper. Maybe it seems hard to relate to someone with a horrible disease, excluded from society. You can, however, relate to the dread disease of sin. That is how you came into this world—infected with sin, excluded from God’s family and completely helpless to do anything about it. Think of what life would be like if you were still in that state. Think of wanting and waiting to be healed but finding no relief from
your guilt and your shame. It’s a horrible thought. Sin is a horrible disease. But now think of calling out to Jesus for help and hearing him say, “You are healed.” This is what faith is all about. Faith looks to Jesus to accomplish what we could never do on our own. We are powerless. Jesus is all-powerful. The same Jesus who displayed his power over disease by healing those ten lepers displayed his power over sin by dying on the cross and rising on Easter Sunday. All the blessings that Jesus won for you—forgiveness of sins, new life, and salvation—come to you by faith. And the amazing thing is that faith itself is a gift from God! You are not responsible for your coming to faith—this is a gracious act of God on your behalf. He planted the seed of faith in your heart. He watered it with his Word and made it grow. This Thanksgiving, be thankful for the faith the Lord has given you. Be thankful for the people the Lord has used in your life to bring that Word of God to you—your parents, your pastors, your Christian friends and family members. Without faith, you would be helpless and lost. With faith, you are able to see all the blessings in your life for what they truly are—gifts from a loving God. Faith is something that truly matters in your life because faith is what receives all those blessings from God. And what is the other thing that really matters after faith? It’s love. The two go hand in hand. Faith is what clings to Jesus and receives his blessings. Love is the response to those blessings. In our reading, we first see the love of Jesus as it is displayed in the miraculous healing of the lepers. We then see the love of the one leper who returns. He shows his love for his Lord by calling out his praises in a loud voice. He shows his love for Jesus by falling at his feet and thanking him. That is where the story ends, but don’t you think we can assume this leper also displayed love towards his fellowman after he went away from Jesus? The gratefulness in his heart resulted in loving actions toward his Lord and toward others. It’s interesting that of the ten lepers, this one was the Samaritan. The Samaritans were often looked down upon by the Jews. The Samaritans were the result of intermingling between Jews and Assyrians. Their religion was a mixture of Jewish and heathen religion. For the Jews, this Samaritan leper would be the last one that they would expect to display a great faith. But the Lord is in the business of doing the unexpected and changing people’s hearts
and lives. The leper’s ethnic background didn’t matter. What mattered was his faith in Jesus and the way that faith expressed itself through love. That is all that matters in your life as well—faith and love. As you recognize what a blessing it is to have faith in Jesus, your natural response is one of love. As you think today about those things for which you are thankful, also be thinking about the ways in which you will say thanks. Giving thanks to God is nothing more than showing love to God and to others. How can you express your love for God? Can you increase the amount of time you spend in his house, worshipping him? Can you increase the amount of time you spend in his Word in private devotion? Can you bring glory to his name by telling an unchurched friend about the love of Jesus? Other ways for you to say thank you to God involve showing love to others. If you are gathering with family today, tell them that you love them and show them love in kindness, patience, and understanding. In the days to come, think of different ways you can show love, not only to your family members, but also to friends, neighbors even complete strangers. This is all part of giving thanks. Enjoy your Thanksgiving celebration today. Eat your fill. Have fun. But also take some time today to reflect on what is really important to you. Recognize that, in the end, your whole life comes down to two things: faith and love…nothing else matters. May our Thanksgiving prayer today be a prayer for a stronger faith, by which we receive God’s blessings and a greater love, by which we share those blessings with others. Amen.
Sermon No. 178 November 22, 2007 Pastor Steven Hahm pastorhahm@hotmail.com 920.684.0101