21-Reaching the Outcasts
7-3-11
Intro:
I.Luke 17:11-19
II.“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” Emma Lazarus, 1883
III.Ephesians 2:19-20
Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. NKJV
Body:
I.Showing Us Mercy
11 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!"
A.Jesus is always looking for those society tends to marginalize
1)LEPROSY CARRIED WITH IT NOT ONLY PAIN, BUT DEEP SHAME
a)It was highly contageous and incurable
b)It was considered a punishment from God
c)Those with it were not allowed to live in camp (Leviticus 13:46)
2)Acts 2:17-18
“In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.”
3)BRINGING STRAYS IN WHEN I WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL
“Cause He brings people to your door, and you smile and say, ‘God bless you, be at peace.’ And all heaven just weeps. ‘Cause Jesus came to your door, and you left Him out on the streets.”—Keith Green, Asleep in the Light
B.Everyone needs God’s mercy at some time in their life
1)Grk (eleeo) mercy me (mercy is a verb)
2)Hebrews 4:16
Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
3)IT IS BY GRACE—THERE IS NO FAVORITISM
II.Washing Us Clean
14 When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests."And as they went, they were cleansed.
A.How can we be healed if we are not honest about our condition?
1)THE PRIESTS—GOING TO THE DOCTOR
If we claim healing when there is none, it defrauds the genuine
2)2 Corinthians 12:10
That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
3)COUPLE IN OREGON CITY SENTENCED TO 90 DAY & 3 YEARS
“Doveryai, no proveryai”—Ronal Reagan (Trust but verify)
B.When God has made us clean, we are clean indeed
1)KID’S CLAIMING TO HAVE TAKEN A BATH
2)Titus 3:5
He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
3)PETER’S VISION—WHAT GOD HAS MADE CLEAN
III.Making Us Whole
15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him — and he was a Samaritan. 17 Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" 19 Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well."
A.God’s desire is to make you whole all the way
1)“Your faith has made you whole.” (KJV)
Grk (sozo) safe, well, healed, whole
2)Matthew 9:22
But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.KJV
3)WOMAN WITH THE ISSUE OF BLOOD
B.In every adversity there is a reason to give God the glory
1)Why did the other nine not come back?
a)They did not recognize the source of their healing
b)They were still to focused on their condition
c)Life is 10% what happens to you, 90% how you respond to it
2)1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
3)GOD ANSWERING EVERY CRY OF DAD’S HEART