Luke 17:11-19
In 1620 a group of religious separatists left Southampton, England with the hope of finding a better life and greater freedom to practice their beliefs in the New World. The ship, the Speedwell, proved to be unseaworthy, so they changed ships. At Plymouth, they boarded the Mayflower and made their way across the Atlantic. They had initially planned to settle in the warm climate of Virginia, but winds blew them off course and they landed in Massachusetts. They named their landing place, Plymouth Rock. They built shelter and endured a tough winter in which more than half their number died.
In the spring, the survivors established friendly contact with the Indians, planted crops, and improved their homes. When they had been there a year, they decided to commemorate the first anniversary of their arrival. They were divided over whether to celebrate their survival…or to memorialize the dead. The majority held out for a thanksgiving observance.
We should choose to have an attitude of thanksgiving in our lives every day.
In our text we run across some people who made different choices under identical circumstances.
- THE PLIGHT OF THE LEPERS
Among the ten lepers that Jesus encountered, at least one was a Samaritan. Racial and national barriers are broken by their common affliction. Leprosy kills the nerves. It rots the flesh, a little bit at a time. People lose their fingers joint by joint, ears drop off, eyes fall out. It’s terrible to even think about. In addition to their suffering, the lepers were outcasts. (Leviticus 13:45-46)
Apart from divine intervention, there was no cure. For some reason the lepers believed that Jesus could do something for them! These were desperate men, but Jesus healed their affliction. Even though they had faith in Christ, we do not remember them for that. We don’t remember them for their obedience. We don’t remember them for the great things they did following their healing. We remember them because of their ingratitude. Only one came back to thank Jesus, a Samaritan.
- WE SHOULD LEARN FROM THE LEPERS!
Many of us lack gratitude because we don’t see our blessings. We see that which we do not have. We are envious of those who do have. There was an immigrant shopkeeper. His son came to see him one day. He said, “Dad, I don’t know how you ever keep up with your profits. You keep your accounts payable in a cigar box. You keep your accounts receivable on a spindle. You keep all your cash in the register. You never know what your profits are. The old shopkeeper said, ‘Son, let me tell you something. When I came to this country, all I owned was the pants I was wearing. Now your sister is an art teacher. Your brother is a doctor. You are a CPA. Your mother and I own a house, a car and this little store. Add all that up and subtract the pants and there is your profit.'”
Only one…a Samaritan .. chose the response of gratitude. Ephesians 5:19-20 “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Why do Christians sing? Notice verses 15 and 16. “Be very careful, then, how you live — not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” How do you deal with “days that are evil”. “Don’t get drunk with wine, Be filled with the Spirit.” How do Spirit filled people act? Spirit filled people living in the context of trouble, “Sing and make music in their hearts to the Lord.” ” . . . always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
“And in the evening, when I lie in bed and end my prayers with the words, “I thank you, God, for all that is good and clear and beautiful,” I am filled with joy…. I don’t think then of all the misery, but of the beauty that still remains…. My advice is: “Go outside, to the fields, enjoy nature and the sunshine, go out and try to recapture happiness in yourself and in God. Think of all the beauty that’s still left in and around you and be happy!” …I’ve found that there is always some beauty left–in nature, sunshine, freedom, in yourself: these can all help you. Look at these things, then you find yourself again, and God, and then you regain your balance. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl Tuesday, 7 March, 1941. “
In the midst of problems she found blessings. May we always choose to reflect the attitude of gratitude, found in the earliest settlers on our continent, in a single healed leper, and in outstanding people in history who made a difference because they were grateful.
Resources:
Articles in All About Families by Norman Bales.
Devotional by Mike Bondora