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First Presbyterian Church of Inglewood |
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100 North Hillcrest Ave |
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Inglewood, California 90301 |
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Telephone numbers: (310) 677-5133 (323) 678-0268 |
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Fax (310) 330-8342 Electronic mail: presbyts@aol.com |
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Sunday, October 10, 2004
Rev. Dr. Harold E Kidd
'Jesus asked, "Were not
all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?
Was no one found to return and give
praise to God except this foreigner?" '
Luke
17:17 (NIV)
As
we find ourselves entering into the season of stewardship, I want to lift up a
word from the Lord concerning giving as an expression of thanksgiving and
praise in response to the goodness of the Lord.
I
have a good friend in Baltimore, The Rev. Dr. Arthur Reynolds, who has a
favorite expression when it comes to stewardship, "Life is God's gift to
us; what we do with our lives is our gift back to God." Which is to say,
that if God has been good to us, we ought to be good to God. Amen. And one of
the primary ways in which we show our appreciation to God is to respond to his
goodness in ways which draw us closer to Him and which advance His purposes in
the kingdom.
In
Psalm 116, the psalmist raised the question, "How can I repay the Lord for
all his goodness to me?" We know that we can never repay the Lord for his
goodness and favor, but we can and ought to do something to express our
gratitude. So says the psalmist in these few verses (12 -14).
We
do not know the specific details which precipitated his gratitude, but we do
know according to vss. 1-2 that it was in response to the Lord having answered
his prayers. The psalmist recognized the Lord had been mighty good to him.
Perhaps the Lord had granted him a long life and a reasonable portion of health
and strength. Or perhaps the Lord had watched over his children, and family and
kept them from harm’s way. Maybe the Lord had redeemed his life out of a
horrible pit at one time or another. Or maybe it was just because the Lord had
blessed him in ways we often take for granted, woke him up every morning,
started him on his way, and made provision for food on his table and shelter
over his head.
Our
Sandwich Ministry was in the kitchen this past Thursday making sandwiches that
are used by the Salvation Army and St. Margaret’’s
Center to distribute to the homeless, people who might be in job training or in
some type of a temporary crisis. It’s a wonderful needed ministry. And to think
that something as simple as a sandwich, something we might take for granted
because we have refrigerators and freezers filled with food, someone else might
see as the lifeline between food in the stomach and going hungry.
We
do not know what he prayed for specifically, but when he thought about the fact
that God had been there listening to every prayer, answering
each
prayer to give this psalmist His very best, when he thought about the goodness
of the Lord, he was moved to want to do something that could demonstrate his
thanks. "How can I repay the Lord for all his goodness to me?"
As
he meditated upon the goodness of the Lord in his life, the psalmist was overwhelmed
with gratitude to give something back to God. And like the psalmist, when we
stop and think about the
goodness of the Lord in our lives, surely it ought to inspire us to want to
give something back to God. If God's been good to us, we ought to be good to
God, Amen, as an expression of our thanksgiving.
Giving
is an act of love. It is the highest form of expression, which says I love you,
you matter, you have value. God so loved the world that He gave us His only
begotten Son who is Jesus. Giving cannot be limited to money, because there are
so many ways in which giving can be offered, the results of which money cannot
buy. Giving something back to God is an act of worship, an act of praise and
adoration.
We
can give him our minds as an act of worship. We can give him our bodies as an
act of worship. We can give him our prayers as an act of worship. Making the
decision to love our neighbors with the love of Jesus becomes an act of
worship. A good friend of mine, Gregory Countess, Esq., is a Baltimore lawyer
who for years has worked with Legal Aid. And as sharp as Gregory is, sometimes
I have asked him out of curiosity, Greg why aren't you working for some big law
firm, making all that money? Greg would
always say with a smile, "I decided I would not abandon this community but
would give back some of what God has given to me in a community where there is
so much need and there are those who cannot afford to pay for legal
help."
Yes,
giving back to God can be done in a variety of ways which go beyond the
limitations of money. We would like to think that everyone is appreciative,
thankful, of what God has done and continues to do for them; to the point that
it inspires them to be a giver back to God. The sad note is that not everyone
chooses to give something back to God in thanksgiving for all that God has done
and does for them. In the midst of abundant blessings, some will not give God
the time of day to speak to him in a prayer of thanksgiving. It doesn't have to
be long, but just, “Thank You Lord.”
Have
you ever experienced the eye opener that you can give of yourself to other
people, seem like you’re always giving to help others, but the minute you need
them, "I'd like to but…" -- "Can you call me back?" --
"Well, let me think about that"! While being talented and blessed with
certain abilities and gifts, some will not share these same God-given talents
and gifts with the church. Some want the blessings, but without a relationship
with Him who is the Fount of every Blessing. Some don't mind the Lord blessing
them, but God forbid the Lord should speak and say, "I have need of
you."
In
our text, Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. The Samaritans had barred him from
traveling through their communities. So the Lord turned east and traveled
between Samaria and Galilee. It was while he was traveling between these two
regions that ten leprous men met him. No doubt they had already heard a great
deal about the Lord, how in Galilee and elsewhere he had healed large numbers
of sick and performed other mighty miracles. Now the NIV does not describe
these as ten leprous men but as 'ten men who had leprosy.'
And
we should thank Dr. Luke for his description of this encounter because we tend
to define people by their circumstances -- homeless, destitute, inmate,
addicted, AIDS victim, drunk driver, etc. What I believe Luke is suggesting, as
verified by the fact that the Lord ministered to these ten, is that people have
value beyond their baggage. Amen.
I
wish I knew how to make it plain. Just because you or I may have some personal
baggage, this does not mean that we are not yet human, created in the image of
God, with feelings, with hopes, with dreams, with fears. Only into humanity did
God breathe the breath of His Spirit, and we became living souls. If we are
going to demonstrate the love of Jesus, we must never define people by their
baggage or their circumstances. These were not merely ten lepers, they were ten
men who had leprosy.
Though
having the disease of leprosy, which made them outcasts, marginalized them as a
walking plague to be feared as smitten by God, they were still men, created in
the image of God. Hallelujah! God
desires us to recognize the full humanity of all people, even when they are
living on the margins of our society.
Luke
says (vss. 12-13), "they stood at a distance", probably because by
Jewish law they were required to stay at a distance from other people for fear
of contamination since they were viewed as unclean. Luke says (vs. 13) they
"called out to Jesus with a loud voice, saying Master, have pity upon
us." It is commonly believed that
lepers had to call out "unclean", in warning to would-be passersby.
The Lord never shrank from touching anybody. Amen.
In
this encounter, Jesus does not touch any of the ten. He merely speaks the word, "Go show yourselves to the
priests." They went in obedience to his command. And as they went, they
were cleansed. Is our faith in God of such a quality that we will act before
God manifests the miracle? What a mighty savior we serve. He doesn't have to be in the room with us;
all he has to do is speak the word, and it will be so. You can be on a mountain
cliff overlooking great ocean waves, in a classroom taking the SAT, or in a
crowded elevator of the mall or the waiting room of a hospital; but whatever
the need, all we have to do is ask him to speak the word.
The
sad commentary of this healing is that Jesus healed ten men who suffered with
leprosy, but only one returned to thank him. Nine got so caught up in the
blessing that they forgot about returning to thank the Source of the blessing.
Healed but without expressing thanksgiving. Made whole again, but with no
thought of making a commitment to the Lord.
They
were now able to return to the mainstream of their society, to their families,
but without a word of gratitude. They received His healing, but they did not
receive the One who is the Healer. They had received the blessing, but they had
not received Him. You'll notice that these nine got healed, but they didn't
receive the greater spiritual blessing of knowing Jesus as their Savior.
Blessing that will never fade can be found only in that which can never be
taken from us -- our relationship with God.
Our
Lord is benevolent. God is Love. Because God shows no partiality, because he
blesses the just as well as the unjust, because it is his desire that no one
should perish, God blesses everybody.
But like these nine, you can receive the earthly blessings and walk away
before you receive the greater spiritual blessing of being saved. Amen. The
healing of these lepers was temporary, confined to the limitations of their
mortality. God blessing us with a new car, that dream house, that good career
-- these are only temporary.
Why
get all the earthly blessings and fail to receive the greater spiritual
blessing? Ten were healed, but nine walked away. Notice the contrast, if you
will, of the Samaritan, who returned to thank the Lord. Luke says, "When
he saw he was healed, he came back, praising God in a loud voice. And he threw
himself at Jesus' feet and thanked Him."
Notice
in verse 14 the ten were "cleansed". Meaning it’s in the flesh. It’s
a physical, temporal blessing. Their leprosy was cured. But in verse 19 the
Lord says to the one who returned to give thanks, "Your faith has made you
well." A better translation of
this verse would be: "Your faith has saved you." You’re not cleansed
just in the physical, but you have been made whole in the spiritual. You’re not
just fit to re-enter your earthly community, but you have been received into
the Kingdom's community.
He
did not just bow at the feet of Jesus but, Luke says (vs. 16), "He threw
himself at our Lord's feet and thanked him." An act of reverence, of worship, of homage. An act of yielding
before the one who was now the Lord and Master of his life. This one man got
more out of this healing than just the physical.
And
there is one final thought in this message. Luke informs us that of these ten,
this fellow was a Samaritan. You'll recall that Samaritans were despised and
rejected by the Jews.
This
is not meant as an insult to anyone; but when you look at the movement of this
faith, from its beginning at Pentecost, the folk who have really come to fathom
the depths of who Jesus is, what this faith is about, have been people at the
bottom of the barrel. Those who have been marginalized, ostracized, dehumanized.
I know that America is the World Super Power for materialism, but has all our
national wealth and blessing caused us to lose sight of how blessed we are? Has
it caused us to take God's goodness for granted? Has it caused us to walk away
from the Lord with earthly blessings as a nation, having lost sight of the
greater blessings in the spiritual realm?
What
has made America great is her worship of the one true God. One nation founded
under God. One nation built upon the foundation of biblical truths. What caused
this nation to prosper is that there was a time when we as a people fell at the
feet of Jesus in reverent worship, obedience, and thanksgiving. Like the
Samaritan, America will do well to once again fall at the feet of Jesus in
humble worship and thanksgiving for all the Lord has done and does for us.
Thank You, Lord,
for saving my soul;
Thank You, Lord,
for making me whole;
Thank You, Lord,
for giving to me
Thy great
salvation so rich and free.
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