Old Testament Lesson; Ruth 1:1-19
Epistle Lesson; 2 Timothy 2:8-13
Sermon Text; Luke 17:11-19

A mother and a father once approached their pastor and asked if they could give a gift to the church in memory of their son who had died, when he was at war. The pastor asked that couple if he could share that request with the congregation the following Sunday. And so, the following Sunday, the pastor shared that request with the congregation. After worship that day, another couple was going home from church in the car, and the husband said to his wife, "Let us also give a gift to the church, in memory of our son."

But the wife said, "But our son did not die when he was off at war."

To which the husband replied, "All the more reason for us to give a gift in memory of our son out of thanksgiving that God has kept him safe."

Oftentimes in life we ask God for food, clothes, physical blessings, and health. And when we receive those things, we oftentimes forget to stop and say thanks for all of the physical blessings He has given to us.

Today's scripture reading

is a lesson for us

in thankfulness and gratefulness.

I have included a map here, to help set the stage for exactly what is taking place with this account in scripture on the ten lepers.

Let me point out a few things, this morning. For the three years of Jesus' ministry, He was mainly in two places. He was down in the south in the Judea and the Jerusalem area, and then He was also up in the north, in Galilee. You see in between those two areas there is this region in the middle known as Samaria.

The Jews and the Samaritans did not like each other. And oftentimes when people were traveling from Galilee to Jerusalem, or vise versa, from Jerusalem to Galilee, they would try to travel to their location going on either side, without passing through Samaria.

In our text for today, we see Jesus. He is going between the region of Galilee and Samaria. He is traveling right along the border, when He comes in contact with these ten men who have leprosy.

Leprosy was a death sentence. If you had leprosy, you were going to die.

Notice what is taking place in our text for this morning. These two groups of people, the Jews and the Samaritans are coming together. Misery loves company. The barriers between the Jews and the Samaritans were broken down, as this group of ten, (nine Jews and one Samaritan), are living together in a leper colony, outside of the city. You see, when a person had leprosy, they were shut out of the community. They could no longer live in the village anymore. They had to live outside the city. If they ever came close to somebody else who did not have leprosy, they would have to cry out, "Unclean. Unclean."

As Jesus is traveling into the village, they see Jesus coming. Now, these men must have heard about Jesus, because prior to this section in scripture Jesus had had compassion on many people. And, He had healed many people of their illnesses and sicknesses. Here, these ten lepers then cry out to Jesus, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us."
I do just want to change up one of the words that they said here. In every other section of scripture, where the word ‘pity’ is used here, it is the word ‘mercy’. The Greek word here is 'eleison.' We don't say it anymore in our liturgies, but we used to say,

"Christe eleison."

"Christ have mercy upon us."

"Kyrie eleison."

"Lord, have mercy upon us."

And, this is what these lepers are doing, crying out to Jesus, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us." "And, show us your compassion in our distress."

Look at what it is that Jesus does. He tells them to go and show themselves to the priests and they will be cleansed. Oftentimes, as I look at this section of scripture, I wonder if the lepers were disappointed that Jesus did not heal them right there, 'Johnny on the spot' as He had done, as He had healed other people.

As these lepers are going to show themselves to the priests, they were cleansed. As they were walking along the way, they could look at their skin and see that they no longer had leprosy, anymore. At which point, one of those lepers came running back to Jesus, (prior to going and showing himself to the priest), throwing himself at Jesus' feet, and saying thank you. He truly was grateful.

But, there is more to this account in scripture than this Samaritan leper being healed of his leprosy. Something also happens spiritually, because Jesus responds in saying, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well."

You see, not only was this Samaritan leper cleansed of his leprosy, but he had also come to faith to believe in Jesus as the coming Messiah and the Savior of the world! He came to faith, to believe. Jesus said, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well."

Our sermon text for today is a great application for us in our lives. You see, you and I are those ten lepers. We have ‘leprosy’, which is known as sin. And, according to the Law, our sin shuts us out of the 'village'. Our sin shuts us out of the Kingdom of Heaven. That leprosy of sin is a death sentence.

Which leads us to seek salvation outside of ourselves, so we cry out to Jesus,

"Jesus, Master,

not only have pity on us,

but Jesus Master,

have mercy upon us."

Kyrie eleison.

"Lord have mercy upon us.

And please, in your compassion,

look upon us in our distress."

What is it that Jesus does? Jesus does have compassion on us in our distress, and He has cleansed us from the leprosy of our sin. Scripture says the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all of our sin. By cleansing us of our sin, God has removed that sin from us.

In the Old Testament, as David was reminiscing on the forgiveness of sin that he had received, he wrote this psalm. These verses are wonderful, showing the compassion that God has upon us. Here is what David says, in Psalm 103.

"The Lord is compassionate and gracious. Slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will He harbor His anger forever. He does not treat us as our sins deserve. Nor does He repay us, according to our iniquities. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. The Father has compassion on His children. The Lord has compassion on those who fear Him."

God has removed our sin

as far as

the east is from the west.

Just this last summer, these directions were made known to me and I want to share them with you, today. You can go north, and a point will come when you have to start going south, when you hit the North Pole. Or, you can go south, and you will start to go north, because you have reached the South Pole. But, if you go east, you will never meet west, because you will keep going east. Or if you go west, you will never meet east, because you will keep going west.

So great is God's love for you, so great is His compassion for you that He has removed your sin as far as the east is from the west. That sin is completely removed from you. And, you and I are cleansed.

If there were a five-minute exercise that you could do to extend your life for five years, would you do it? I am sure most of us would say, "Yes." Well, if there were an exercise that we could do spiritually, not only to extend our lives five years, but to extend our life for eternity, would you do it? I think all of us respond, "Yes!"

As the grateful Samaritan came back and thanked Jesus for being cleansed of his leprosy, may we also continue to gather together for worship, study, and read God's Word on a daily basis, because it does not just extend our lives for a few years, but through the blood of Jesus, being cleansed from sin, our lives have been extended for eternity.

Knowing that Jesus has had mercy upon us, what is our response? Will we go forth in life like the nine Jewish lepers, who were not thankful, or will we go forth in life like that one Samaritan leper, who came back to Jesus and said, "Thank you." To which Jesus said, "Arise and go. Your faith has made you well."
Before I close this morning, I just want to take the opportunity publicly, before you as a congregation, to say, "Thank you." I want to thank you on behalf of our Savior for everything that you do for your church and for your school. And while it may be the case that there are things that you do that maybe go un-thanked, they do not go unnoticed. And so on behalf of the leaders here at Holy Cross, thank you for everything that you do. May you continue to look for ways in which to show your thankfulness for our Savior.

The one Samaritan Leper was grateful. May we also be grateful. This morning I close with a section of thanksgiving. Here the apostle Paul writes in Colossians.

"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body, you were called to peace, and be thankful. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly, as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, with gratitude in your hearts to God. Whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of our Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father, through Him."

May we go through life being the grateful Samaritan.

Amen.