October 13, Luke

Let me share this story with you this morning.  Two old friends met each other on the street one day.  One looked forlorn, almost on the verge of tears.  His friend asked, “What has the world done to you, my old friend?”

The sad fellow said, “Let me tell you:  three weeks ago, my uncle died and left me forty thousand dollars.”

“That’s a lot of money.”

“But you see, two weeks ago, a cousin I never even knew died, and left me eighty-five thousand dollars, free and clear.”

“Sounds to me that you’ve been very blessed.”

“You don’t understand!” he interrupted.  “Last week my great-aunt passed away.  I inherited almost a quarter of a million from her.”

Now the man’s friend was really confused.  “Then, why do you look so glum?”

“This week . . . nothing!”

I bet we all know someone who would respond this way, for it is a problem for all of us with the things we receive on a regular basis.  In fact, most of us don’t think about the fact that we have woken up and gotten out of bed today, or that we had a box of cereal and milk so we could eat breakfast.  These things are just part of our daily routine.  We are not bad people, but we just take what we have for granted most of the time.  It is only when we lose something of value to us that we realize that it is gone.  We don’t mean to be ungrateful; it just happens because for most, what we need on a daily basis is not at the top of our mind.

Today’s Gospel lesson is not only a story of faith, but a story of thanksgiving and gratefulness.  Last week we talked about the topic of faith.  To have faith is to live it, and to live it is to give thanks. The famous theologian, Karl Barth, said that “the basic human response to God is gratitude, not fear and trembling, not guilt and dread, but thanksgiving and gratefulness.   To have faith is to live faith, and to live faith is to give thanks.  Living into a real life of gratitude is to live a life of faith”

Let us also be aware that Jesus’ love and mercy is for everyone, no matter their race, sexual orientation, or position in life.  Notice that we are told distinctly that, “On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee.”  It was normal for Jews to travel around the region of Samaria when going to Galilee so that they did not have to encounter any Samaritans.  The Jews hated the Samaritans, but we can see that Jesus most likely took this route deliberately.  Jesus did not hate the Samaritans; it was they who hated Him.  You may remember the story from Luke 9.  As they traveled in Samaria, Jesus sent some messengers ahead to reserve a place to stay and to have something to eat. However, the Samaritans were not friendly at all, and would not let the disciples make any arrangements for their rabbi.

When James and John saw the Samaritans rude behavior, they quickly asked Jesus, “Can we call down fire from heaven on these guys and teach them a lesson and destroy this Samaritan village?” Jesus rebuked James and John and said, we’ll just go to another village. In the King James translation, Jesus replies, “I did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them”.

Taking this route gave Jesus an opportunity to show His love to the Samaritan’s, despite their negative feelings regarding Him.  It also shows us that we too should love our enemies and treat them with respect and care no matter how they feel about us.  It gives new meaning to Jesus command to love our neighbors as ourselves.

We can also hear the disappointment in Jesus’ voice when only 1 out of the 10 returned to give his gratitude after being healed.   And Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean?  But the other nine, where are they?  Was there no-one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”  Notice that is was only the Samaritan that returned to give thanks.

It is clear that Jesus expects us to show gratitude, and we hear His anger at the nine who did not return and were unthankful.  As disciples of Christ we have much to be thankful for each day.  For all good things come from God, and who can forget what Jesus did for each of us on the cross.  That alone should fill us with thanksgiving and make us want to give thanks to our Lord on a regular basis.  A life of thanksgiving is a life of prayer.  The life of a Christian is prayer first before anything else.  How else can we regularly give our praise?

As the late Billy Gram said, “We must not allow a spirit of ingratitude to harden our heart and chill our relationship with God and with others.  Nothing turns us into bitter, selfish, dissatisfied people more quickly than an ungrateful heart. And nothing will do more to restore contentment and the joy of our salvation than a true spirit of thankfulness.”

As we leave here today, let us make a daily effort to recognize the many blessings each of us have and often take for granted, and to thank God for them on a regular basis.  May God help us to focus on what we have rather than what we do not have.  As beloved children of God, let show our gratitude and give Him the thanks He deserves.

Amen

Let me share this story with you this morning.  Two old friends met each other on the street one day.  One looked forlorn, almost on the verge of tears.  His friend asked, “What has the world done to you, my old friend?”

The sad fellow said, “Let me tell you:  three weeks ago, my uncle died and left me forty thousand dollars.”

“That’s a lot of money.”

“But you see, two weeks ago, a cousin I never even knew died, and left me eighty-five thousand dollars, free and clear.”

“Sounds to me that you’ve been very blessed.”

“You don’t understand!” he interrupted.  “Last week my great-aunt passed away.  I inherited almost a quarter of a million from her.”

Now the man’s friend was really confused.  “Then, why do you look so glum?”

“This week . . . nothing!”

I bet we all know someone who would respond this way, for it is a problem for all of us with the things we receive on a regular basis.  In fact, most of us don’t think about the fact that we have woken up and gotten out of bed today, or that we had a box of cereal and milk so we could eat breakfast.  These things are just part of our daily routine.  We are not bad people, but we just take what we have for granted most of the time.  It is only when we lose something of value to us that we realize that it is gone.  We don’t mean to be ungrateful; it just happens because for most, what we need on a daily basis is not at the top of our mind.

Today’s Gospel lesson is not only a story of faith, but a story of thanksgiving and gratefulness.  Last week we talked about the topic of faith.  To have faith is to live it, and to live it is to give thanks. The famous theologian, Karl Barth, said that “the basic human response to God is gratitude, not fear and trembling, not guilt and dread, but thanksgiving and gratefulness.   To have faith is to live faith, and to live faith is to give thanks.  Living into a real life of gratitude is to live a life of faith”

Let us also be aware that Jesus’ love and mercy is for everyone, no matter their race, sexual orientation, or position in life.  Notice that we are told distinctly that, “On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee.”  It was normal for Jews to travel around the region of Samaria when going to Galilee so that they did not have to encounter any Samaritans.  The Jews hated the Samaritans, but we can see that Jesus most likely took this route deliberately.  Jesus did not hate the Samaritans; it was they who hated Him.  You may remember the story from Luke 9.  As they traveled in Samaria, Jesus sent some messengers ahead to reserve a place to stay and to have something to eat. However, the Samaritans were not friendly at all, and would not let the disciples make any arrangements for their rabbi.

When James and John saw the Samaritans rude behavior, they quickly asked Jesus, “Can we call down fire from heaven on these guys and teach them a lesson and destroy this Samaritan village?” Jesus rebuked James and John and said, we’ll just go to another village. In the King James translation, Jesus replies, “I did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them”.

Taking this route gave Jesus an opportunity to show His love to the Samaritan’s, despite their negative feelings regarding Him.  It also shows us that we too should love our enemies and treat them with respect and care no matter how they feel about us.  It gives new meaning to Jesus command to love our neighbors as ourselves.

We can also hear the disappointment in Jesus’ voice when only 1 out of the 10 returned to give his gratitude after being healed.   And Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean?  But the other nine, where are they?  Was there no-one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”  Notice that is was only the Samaritan that returned to give thanks.

It is clear that Jesus expects us to show gratitude, and we hear His anger at the nine who did not return and were unthankful.  As disciples of Christ we have much to be thankful for each day.  For all good things come from God, and who can forget what Jesus did for each of us on the cross.  That alone should fill us with thanksgiving and make us want to give thanks to our Lord on a regular basis.  A life of thanksgiving is a life of prayer.  The life of a Christian is prayer first before anything else.  How else can we regularly give our praise?

As the late Billy Gram said, “We must not allow a spirit of ingratitude to harden our heart and chill our relationship with God and with others.  Nothing turns us into bitter, selfish, dissatisfied people more quickly than an ungrateful heart. And nothing will do more to restore contentment and the joy of our salvation than a true spirit of thankfulness.”

As we leave here today, let us make a daily effort to recognize the many blessings each of us have and often take for granted, and to thank God for them on a regular basis.  May God help us to focus on what we have rather than what we do not have.  As beloved children of God, let show our gratitude and give Him the thanks He deserves.

Amen