Luke 17:11-19

It's hard to remember the way things were. It’s hard to see where we’ve come from. It seems like where we are is where we’ve always been. Life is the same as yesterday is the same as last year is the same as 10 years ago. Oh, sure, there’s differences. The kids have grown older, maybe the job has changed. There’s a few more pounds around the middle and a few less hairs on top and a few more wrinkles around the eyes.

But for the most part, we’re the same people we’ve always been. We think the same. We act the same. Not much has changed.

I hope I’m wrong about this. I hope there have been changes made. If we are saved, if we are Christians, if Jesus is our Savior and Lord, then the Holy Spirit is in us, and He’s at work. He’s been pointing out parts of our lives that need to be changed. He’s been identifying sin, and carving it out. He’s been changing our language and our values and our thoughts and our practices. He’s been getting rid of old habits and creating new ones, holy ones. In other words, He’s been exchanging our old, dead life with Jesus’ new, eternal, resurrected life. It’s been 28 weeks since we celebrated Easter, and just like we’re still remembering Easter 2007, His resurrection still has effects. At least it better.

Now, here’s the problem. IF there are effects, and IF our life is being changed, have we noticed? Have we paid attention? And have we been grateful? Have we come back to Jesus and thrown ourselves down at His feet and thanked Him for the work He is doing through the Spirit? Are we the one, or are we the nine?

Jesus has been moving around, healing, teaching, bringing the kingdom of God to this earth. Now, He’s heading to the capitol. Verse 11:

Right away, with this verse, there is a sense of tension and loss, a rumbling of a problem. Samaria’s on one side, and Galilee is on the other, but they’re world’s apart. The hatred, the animosity between these two people, you could cut the tension with a knife. The Samaritans are outcasts. The only good Samaritan is a dead Samaritan, is how the Jews think. And of course that hatred is returned. The Samaritans had nothing good to say about the Jews who hated them so much. The Jews were the oppressors. They kept the Samaritans from all the good jobs, from the good life.

And there Jesus was, walking between them, a Jew, who had come to save the entire world. And, verse 12:

Talk about outcasts. If the Jews hated the Samaritans and the Samaritans hated the Jews, everyone hated lepers. The two nationalities could agree on this. Lepers were to be avoided at all costs. Everyone knew this. Even the lepers knew this. Verse 12:

These men are hopeless. There is no cure for their disease. There is no way they will be able to return to the lives they once lived. These are sons, they used to be little boys, they used to be brothers and husbands and fathers, and their lives are finished. They can’t go back to their children. They can never embrace their wives again. There is no cure.

So what motivated them to call out to Jesus? What could He possibly have to offer them? Were they asking for bread and water? Were they asking for a kind word? Were they just asking for Jesus to pity them, to feel sorry for them?

I don’t think so. They didn’t just ask Jesus the man for help. They asked Jesus the Master, the Lord, for His compassion. Jesus’ reputation for healing had gotten around, even to this isolated group of lepers. And they were looking for whatever compassion Jesus would give.

And Jesus was giving. He was willing. Verse 14:

Now understand. When Jesus said this, they were not healed yet. The disease had not left their bodies. Leprosy is not a painful disease. In fact, that’s the problem with leprosy. They don’t feel any pain, which means they damage their bodies and they don’t even know it. They cut their fingers and their toes, they rub holes in their feet, and they have no idea it’s happening. At this point, when Jesus says this, their fingers and toes and feet and skin are still bleeding. Their bodies are still falling apart.

So why would they go to the priests? The priests are just going to chase them out of the temple. Why would they turn and start walking? Because Jesus said so.

And because Jesus said so, and because they started walking, verse 14:

Jesus spoke and they listened. And that brought their lives back. Their skin wasn’t flaking off. Their fingers weren’t bleeding, their toes weren’t cracked. Their bodies were whole again. They could be fathers and husbands and sons again. Jesus had given them life.

But Jesus had more to give them, if they would receive it. He’d given them health, but at this point only physical health. He’d given them life, but so far it was only temporary life. He had more to give, but He would only give it to one of them. Verse 15:

He remembered. The nine had moved on to their new lives. They were healed, and they never looked back. Just a moment was enough to forget the pain and enjoy the health and forget Jesus.

This one, though, remembered. And because of the change, because he knew where he’d been and he knew Who had made the different, he came back, praising God, praising Jesus, which is the same thing. Verse 16:

He came back to Jesus, and he thanked Him.

Now, which was stranger, the he came back and thanked Jesus, or that nine others didn’t come back and thank Him? Verse 17:

You know, when Jesus asks a question, we better pay attention. This is a rhetorical question. Jesus knows full well where the other nine are. In fact, Jesus knew full well that the other nine wouldn’t be coming back to Him after they were healed. And knowing this, Jesus healed them anyway. In His kindness, in His mercy, He gave them the physical healing they wanted.

Still, it was sad. Jesus asks, in verse 18:

If anyone is going to come back to Jesus, it should be the Jews. They’ve known God longer than anyone else. They’ve had His scripture for a couple thousand years. Why, then, is it a foreigner, a stranger to God, who comes back? Could it be that the Jews had come to take God for granted? They were used to Him. They hardly noticed Him. It took a stranger to see the Savior.

But when he did, when he came back, he found something better. When he came back, Jesus told him, in verse 19:

Well, not just in the finger sense, not just with healthy toes and skin, but well in the full sense. The Greek word there is "saved", your faith has said you.

In other words, the story began with a man, lost in sin, lost in pain. And that sinner was saved by Jesus’ pity, through faith. A sinner, saved by grace, through faith. And that’s our story, too, if we can remember. We were sinners, lost in sin, lost in pain, and we’ve been saved by Jesus’ pity, His grace, through faith.

But the question tonight is, can we remember? Can we think back to how things were, and then are we thankful for what Jesus has done? We know that we were sinners, generally speaking. But what, specifically, has Jesus changed in us? What did we use to be, and what are we now? If we're living in the shadow of the resurrection, with the effects of new life, what’s changed? And if we don’t know what’s changed, how can we be thankful? Are we on our knees, thanking Jesus for what He’s done? Or are we going about our business, with hardly a backward glance at Him?

Do we remember the anger that used to control us, and do we know the peace we have now, the peace that passes understanding? And are we thankful? Do we remember the lust that used to drag us down, and do we know the purity we enjoy now? And are we thankful? Do we remember the despair that overwhelmed us, and do we know the joy that lifts us up? And are we thankful? Do we remember the values that used to drive us, the motivations that led us in the wrong direction? Do we know the focus, the purpose that Jesus has given to us, the reason for living, the reason for working, the reason behind our business decisions? And are we thankful?

We can go on and on. At least I hope we can. Again, I hope there has been some changes in our lives over time. If we are the same people we were a year ago, 10 years ago, something’s wrong. And if there have been changes, and we can’t see them, then something again is wrong.

If we can’t see the changes, if we’ve just moved on without a thought, then what are we doing here in worship? What’s the point? What do we have to be thankful for? Are we just saying thank you because we’re supposed to, or do we know, do we remember how things were? If we can’t remember, then we’re going through the motions, and this will be very boring. Worship will be stale, because there’s no reason to praise.

And if we can’t see the changes, if we’ve forgotten what He’s done, then what is there to talk about to people who don’t know Jesus? We know they need Jesus as their Savior and Lord. But they don’t know that, yet. And they’ll ask us, "Why should I believe in Jesus? Why should I trust Him?" If we’ve forgotten what He’s done, if we’ve forgotten how He’s healed us and changed us, we’ll stare at them with a blank face and have nothing to say.

But if we remember, if we know, if we’re thankful, we’ll have plenty to say. You know the man in our story never forget. If someone asked him, "Why should I believe in Jesus?" you know what he’d say. I was done. My life was done. I’d lost my family. I’d lost my body. I’d lost hope. And then Jesus came, and He gave that all back to me. More than that, He saved me. He made my life...well...well. Whole. Complete. Saved.

And you can say exactly the same thing. This is the way I was, and this is the way I am, and it’s all because of Jesus. And when we come to church, this is what we’re thinking. This is the way I was, and this is the way I am, so absolutely, I’m praising the Lord. And every day, every hour, we come back, and we fall at Jesus feet, and we praise Him. We thank Him.

And we know we’re not finished yet. We know that there is some more healing that needs to happen, some more sin that needs removing. So we’ll be thankful tomorrow for what Jesus is doing. And next week, we’ll be thankful. And next month, and next year, until we again fall down at His feet, when we finally see Him, and we praise Him for what He’s done. He saved us. He saved us! Thank you!