S2006.16
“A Disgrace to God’s Grace!”
Luke 17:17
Pastor Steve N. Wagers
April 9, 2006
Sermon Outline
1. Grace that was DEMANDED!
A. Their Defiled Condition
B. Their Desperate Cry
C. Their Divine Cleansing
2. Grace that was DECLARED!
A. A Public Expression of Gratitude
B. A Personal Expression of Gratitude
3. Grace that was DESPISED!
A. A Thoughtless Heart
B. A Thankless Heart
Since November 26, 1941, the fourth Thursday in November has been observed as a national day of Thanksgiving. Why we as a nation celebrate Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday in November is an interesting story. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed two national days of thanksgiving. One was
On August 6, to honor Union victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg. The second was on November 26, the last Thursday of the month, to celebrate a year "filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies."
Lincoln didn't intend to make Thanksgiving an annual event, but when General Sherman captured Atlanta in September 1864, the president proclaimed the last Thursday in November a day of thanksgiving for the second year in a row. After Lincoln was
Assassinated, succeeding presidents turned it into a tradition in his honor. By the late 1890's, the last Thursday in November was celebrated as Thanksgiving by nearly every state in the Union.
The move from the last Thursday in November to the fourth Thursday finds its roots going back to 1939. You see, Thanksgiving was as much the start of the Christmas shopping season, as it was a holiday in its own right. In 1939, retailers, still trying to dig their way out of the Great Depression, were worried
since there were five Thursdays in that November instead of four. That meant there would only be 20 shopping days until Christmas.
In the spring of 1939, the National Retail Dry Goods Association lobbied President Franklin Roosevelt to move Thanksgiving back one Thursday, arguing that it would boost retail sales as much as 10%. Roosevelt agreed, and announced the change during the summer. In short, the reason we celebrate Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday in November is so that you can have more days to shop for Christmas.
I would like to say, that for the believer, Thanksgiving should not just be one day each year, but every day of the week. Thanksgiving should not have anything to do with how many days we have to shop for Christmas, but because God has been so good to each of us.
Today I want us to look at, not only the story, but the question Jesus asked in Luke 17:17, "Where are the nine?" It is a question that addresses the issue of thanksgiving and whether or not we are grateful for the Lord's grace and mercy experienced in our life. Follow me as we look at the story. First notice with me:
1. Grace that was DEMANDED!
In Luke 17:11-19 we have the story of ten lepers. Jesus is passing through Samaria and as He entered into a certain village, ten lepers meet him. The greatest need of these lepers was the grace of God. The grace of God was demanded because of:
A. Their DEFILED CONDITION
Verse 12 tells us these ten men were lepers. William Barclay says that in the New Testament there is no disease regarded with more terror and pity than leprosy. You find that leprosy in the Bible is always taken as a type of sin. Habershon in his book, "The Study of the Types" says that leprosy represents the
corruption of sin, and speaks to us of its activity and progress.
Verse 12 tells us that these lepers met Jesus but "stood afar off." Leviticus 13 describes how leper was brought to the priest and pronounced unclean. He was then ordered to dwell outside the camp so that he would not come into contact with another person and spread the disease. When anyone came near he would cry "unclean," to warn others that he was a leper. A leper
had to live in isolation.
These ten lepers met Jesus but kept a certain distance as was commanded by law. That's why they “stood afar off.” Again, leprosy in the Bible is a type of sin. It reminds us of how we were once separated from God.
Furthermore, the progression of leprosy reminds us of how sin destroys our lives and the pitiful condition it leaves us in. Before God saved us, we were all spiritual lepers! We lived in a condition in which there was no human cure.
Grace was not only demanded because of their defiled condition, but:
B. Their DESPERATE CRY
We read in verse 13, "And they lifted up their voices, and said, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us." These ten lepers were in a helpless and hopeless condition. The dreadful disease of leprosy was eating away at their body every day. I can see them in their hideous condition, some with no fingers and toes, with nothing but nubs for hands and feet.
I see the others with disfigured faces and bodies. They were ten lepers that were shunned and discarded by society, the refuse of humanity. They in their terrible and tragic condition cry out, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us."
How well I remember that blessed day when I cried to the Lord for mercy. On August 10, 1985, I knelt at an old fashion altar as a spiritual leper, separated from God. I was but nineteen years old at the time, but my case of spiritual leprosy had progressed to a serious stage. I was a hopeless and helpless sinner that was
in terrible shape. But I cried out to Jesus to have mercy on me.
It is possible that some of you were not in the worse stages of leprosy. Leprosy starts with a white spot or patches on the skin. But in time develops in putrefying sores that eat away parts of the body. You may have only been in the white spot stage. You may
not have been in as bad a condition as others. You may have been a good person, but nonetheless, you were a leper and you needed mercy. The only difference between you and the person whose life is wrecked by sin is the stage of spiritual leprosy. In either case you are a spiritual leper and need mercy.
Thirdly notice:
C. Their DIVINE CLEANSING
We read in verse 14, "And when He (Jesus) saw them, He said unto them, "Go shew yourselves unto the priest. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed." Under Mosaic Law, if a leper had reason to believe that by some miracle he had been cleansed, the priest would go to the leper to examine him. He did not first go to the priest.
If the priest upon examination determined that he was cured, then he would take two birds. One would one be killed in an earthen vessel over running water. The priest would then take a piece of hyssop and dip it into the blood of the bird that had been killed and sprinkle that blood upon the leper seven times. Then
the living bird would be dipped into the blood of the bird that had been killed and let loose. Then the priest would pronounce him clean.
In the case of the ten lepers, Jesus told them to go and show themselves to the priest and as they went they were cleansed. That is, they were healed on their leprosy. They took Jesus at His word and were cleansed.
Like those ten lepers, when we cried to Jesus for mercy, He cleansed us. As I said earlier, I knelt at the altar a helpless and hopeless leper. Someone showed me Romans 10:13, "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." I took God at His word, and blessed be His name, He gave me mercy and cleansed me from my sin.
Oh, happy day, Oh happy day
When Jesus washed my sins away.
You ask me why I’m happy
Then, I’ll just tell you why
Because my sins are gone!
I love the story of Prince Edward's visit to a veteran's hospital. In 1934, a British magazine told of when the heir to the British throne visited a small hospital where 36 hopelessly injured and disfigured veterans of the First World War were tended. He stopped at each cot, shook hands with each veteran, and spoke of words of encouragement. As he was being conducted to the exit he mentioned to the head nurse that he had only met 29 men and it was his understanding there were 36 patients at the hospital. The nurse explained that the other seven were so
shockingly disfigured that for the sake of his own feelings he had not been taken to see them.
The prince insisted that he see them and he was taken to see them. He again shook hands with each man and thanked them for the sacrifice they had made for their country and assured them it would never be forgotten. He then turned to the head nurse and said, "But I've only seen six men. Where is the seventh?" He was informed that no one was allowed to see him.
Blind, maimed, dismembered, he was the most hideously
disfigured of them all. The nurse pleaded with the prince, "Please don't ask to see him." But the prince could not be dissuaded and the nurse reluctantly led him into a darkened room.
When the royal visitor stepped into the room and saw the man, he suddenly stopped and just stood there. He stood there was white face and drawn lips, looking down at what had once been a fine man, but was now a horror to look upon. Then the prince began to weep and with loving impulse, walked over, bent down and reverently kissed the cheeks of that broken war hero.
Friend, I want you to know that one day, there was one who stooped far, far lower, and kissed a far, far worse ugliness. It was not the physical disfigurement of a broken hero whose brokenness called forth reverent gratitude, but the leprous, evil ugliness of hopeless and helpless sinners. He looked down, came down, and reached down and showed us mercy! Glory be
to His name!
Not only do I want you to see what was sought by the ten lepers, but secondly notice with me:
2. Grace that was DECLARED!
We read in verses 15-16, "And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan." You can only imagine how excited these ten lepers must have been when all of a sudden they were cleansed and healed.
But we see one of the lepers, after he was healed, coming back to Jesus. We see him returning to declare and express his gratitude for what the grace of God had done for him. Notice this one leper. First notice:
A. A PUBLIC Expression of His Gratitude
Verse 15 tells us that as he was returning, with a “loud voice” he “glorified God.” Now, think with me about that statement for a moment. I love this statement. It implies 2 things. First, this leper praised God audibly. The Bible says that he glorified God. That is just another way of saying that he was praising the Lord.
His praise was more than just something he felt on the inside. His praise was articulated. What he felt was expressed in words.
Furthermore, he praised God visibly. We’re told that he “glorified God” with a "loud" voice. The word indicates that his praise was more than raising his voice a bit. He shouted out his praises.
In other words, we see him out in public, coming down the road, praising God at the top of His voice. Everybody around
him knew that something had happened to him. I'm sure everyone could see him praising God. It is certain; everyone heard him praising God audibly, and everyone saw him praising God visibly.
I think about how it ought to be every time we come to church. The Bible says, in 2 Corinthians 3: 17, that “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” I understand that not everyone is a shouter, a weeper, a clapper, or an ‘AMEN-er,’ but if the Spirit of God is at work, then there should be liberty to worship, and express yourself however you feel led to do so.
I know that not everyone likes “emotional” services. Someone might say, “Well, preacher I don’t know about all of this emotion. It might get out of hand.” In my experience, when God shows up that is exactly what happens. He takes it out of the hands of men and puts it into the hands of the Holy Spirit. I’ll be honest with you; I’d rather try to tone down a fanatic than to resurrect a corpse.
If your fear of what someone might think is what keeps you from expressing yourself in worship to God, then you have never gained a true recognition of who Jesus is, and what Jesus has done for you. When you see Him, and you see what His grace has done for you, you won’t give a rip what someone might say, think or do.
You should never be inhibited about clapping your hands for the Bible says in Psalm 47:1, "O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph." You should never be inhibited to lift your hands for the Bible says in Psalm 134:2, "Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord."
You should never be inhibited to shout for the Bible says in Psalm 32:11, "Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart." You should never be inhibited about coming to the altar for the Bible says in Psalm 95:6, "O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker."
You ought to and you should never be inhibited about
saying “Amen” for the Bible says in Psalm 106:48, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting: and let all the people say, Amen. Praise ye the Lord." You should never be inhibited about testifying for the Bible says in Psalm 107:2, "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy."
Our Sunday services around here ought to be a Sunday
celebration. Our services are to be a public gathering of