Did you Remember to day Thank You

October 13, 2019 Luke 17:11-19 18th Sunday after Pentecost Year C Did You Remember to say Thank you Object: A bow (from a gift) Good morning, boys and girls. There are some words that are more important than all others. For example, "œI love you." Wow, those are important words. Would you like to get an instant smile from your parents or your grandparents or someone close to you? Simply say, "œMom, I love you. Or Dad. Or Grandmother, I love you." None of us probably say those words enough. There are two other words that are almost as powerful. They are "œThank you." I brought this bow with me to remind us that all of us enjoy getting gifts. Some of you have birthdays this time of year. Soon it will be Christmas--I know that you are not looking forward to Christmas. Oh, you are? I'm not surprised. One of the most important lessons you can learn in life is to say, "œThank you." Our lesson from the Bible this morning is about ten men whom Jesus healed from a terrible disease, but only one of them came back to say thank you. You know, God has given us many gifts, hasn't He? He's given us healthy bodies, good minds, families that love us, sunshine and rain and flowers and trees--and the list goes on and on. That's one of the reasons we come to church each week--to say "œthank you" to God. When anyone gives us a gift, we need to say "œthank you." God has given us more gifts that we can possibly even imagine. So let's remember to say thank you to God. Dynamic Preaching, Collected Sermons, by King Duncan Stewardship Moment When I visited Greece during a tour in 2000, we were all surprised that everyone that we met spoke English. Someone explained that the economy of Greece was dependent on tourist, so they had taken a lot of time to communicate with us. But they felt that the least that we Americans could do was to learn to say hello and thank you in Greek. I can’t remember hello, but luckily one of my friends taught me an easy way to remember thank you. Say F. Harry Stowe. So now you can say thank you if you ever found yourself in Greek. Modern Greek has changed a little from the greek that we know from the bible. Efaristo is the modern pronounciation for Eucharisto or Eucharist. When we take eucharist or communion it is our way of saying thank you. But it is important for us to remember that thank you is more than words of endearment – they are a way of life. it is how we treat other people, it is how we prioritize life, it is our relationship with God, it is how we live our faith. In today’s scripture Jesus says that it is that Eucharistic faith that heals us and makes life better. How do you say thank you? Luke 17:11-19 Common English Bible (CEB) Jesus heals a Samaritan 11 On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he entered a village, ten men with skin diseases approached him. Keeping their distance from him, 13 they raised their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, show us mercy!” 14 When Jesus saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” As they left, they were cleansed. 15 One of them, when he saw that he had been healed, returned and praised God with a loud voice. 16 He fell on his face at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. He was a Samaritan. 17 Jesus replied, “Weren’t ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 No one returned to praise God except this foreigner?” 19 Then Jesus said to him, “Get up and go. Your faith has healed you.” Common English Bible (CEB) Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible Imagine being a young man, in the prime of your life, just married the woman of your dreams, and one day she notices some white spots on your neck – and your life as you know it is over – because she has to report to the community and the priest that you have leprosy – and have to immediately move away from the community. Or imagine that your first child has been born two months ago – a son to carry on your name – and you too are diagnosed with leprosy- Or after a long period of trying to find your life work – you realize that you want to go into farming with your father – and as you celebrate your new found life – you lose it to leprosy. The laws in the book of Levitcus are very clear – if anyone notices a swelling in his skin or a scab or boil or pimple with transparent skin they are to be brought to the priest for examination. If the spot turns white – or if it looks more than skin deep, then the priest must declare him a leper. It could happen to anyone at any time in life. If they were a leper- the most important thing was protecting the rest of the community from they – so they were to live outside the gates of the city. They were to keep their distance from everyone and to declare to all that they were one of the untouchables. Life as they knew it was over – no family, no job, no meaning in life. Just gathering together with other lepers – totally dependent on the goodness of others to live. I find it interesting that the modern interpretations of this verse identify the 10 subjects of this story as men with a skin disease. Whereas older versions just calls them lepers. Their whole sense of humanity is tied up in their sickness. It takes over everything about their life. They couldn’t be with family, they couldn’t work, go to temple. All they could do was to sit by the side of the road and ask for mercy. That is exactly what they ask of Jesus – mercy. But Jesus gives them so much more than that. It is no surprise that Luke as a doctor would be the only one to tell this story of a physical healing that turns into so much more. We know that Jesus heals all ten of the lepers, we know that only one bothers to come back to say thank you. We know that the one who comes back is not only an outsider because of his physical condition, but also because he is a Samaritan. Even Jesus calls him a foreigner. Perhaps the other nine were jews. And they did what jesus told them – go show yourself to the priest so that you can return back to your life. perhaps instead of saying thank you, they chose to live thank you. Living thank you is a matter of stewardship in the way we give to others, it not only requires repentance, but being grateful also means returning. Maybe that it why we go home for thanksgiving to be with family and friends in order to return to the things that we are grateful for. But for the one that does return to Jesus – Jesus gives him another gift – he says that your faith has made you whole. Or in some interpretations, your faith has saved you. Our version says your faith has healed you. Who packed your parachute story Every now and then someone sends you something on the email which is worth Keeping. Some years ago a friend, and I can't remember who it was now, sent An email entitled "who packed your parachute". I was interested to see Recently that it is doing the rounds again. It was one of those you are meant to send on to people who have a special Place in your life. It is the story of a US fighter pilot from the Vietnam War, called Charles Plumb. After 75 combat missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air Missile. Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemy hands. He was captured and Spent 6 years in a Vietnamese prison. He survived the ordeal and now Lectures on lessons learned from that experience. One day, when Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man at another table came up and said, "You're Plumb! You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. You were shot down!" "How in the world did you know that?" asked Plumb. "I packed your parachute," the man replied. Plumb gasped in surprise and gratitude. The man pumped his hand and said, "I guess it worked!" Plumb assured him, "It sure did. If your chute hadn't worked, I wouldn't be here today." Plumb couldn't sleep that night, thinking about that man. He says, "I kept wondering what he might have looked like in a Navy uniform, a white hat, a bib in the back, and bell-bottom trousers. I wonder how many times I might have seen him and not even said, "Good morning, how are you?" or anything because, you see, I was a fighter pilot and he was just a sailor. Plumb thought of the many hours the sailor had spent on a long wooden table in the bowels of the ship, carefully weaving the shrouds and folding the silks of each chute, holding in his hands each time the fate of someone he didn't even know. "Now," Plumb asks his audience, "who's packing your parachute?" Everyone has someone who provides what they need to make it through the day. Plumb also points out that he needed many kinds of parachutes when his plane was shot down over enemy territory --- he needed his physical parachute, his mental parachute, his emotional parachute, and his spiritual parachute. He called on all these supports before reaching safety. Transactional Theology Barbara Brown Taylor, a professor at Piedmont College and Columbia Seminary, in an article “Easter Preaching and the Lost Language of Salvation,” writes: On the occasions when Jesus praises peoples’ faith, most Christians automatically assume that he means their faith in his divinity, which he then rewards by helping them out; but that is just another sorry example of transactional theology. According to this theology, if you believe the right things about Jesus, then he will help you. If you don’t, he won’t. I am not sure where this idea comes from, but in the first three gospels Jesus seems much more concerned with making people well than with making them believe in him. (p. 21) Jesus does not proclaim himself, but the coming of God’s kingdom. The only thing people have to believe is that God can help them. In Luke’s gospel, when Jesus heals the ten lepers and the lone Samaritan among them comes back to say thanks, Jesus does not say, “Rise up and follow me.” He says, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.” The faith that helps Jesus do his saving work; the faith that makes people well; is their full-bodied trust that God can act in their lives, both to forgive and to heal. (p. 22) Barbara Brown Taylor, ‘Easter Preaching and the Lost Language of Salvation’, quoted by Don Fisher, Saving Faith After hearing this story, of how a leper, a foreigner , made a long journey to becoming a healed whole of God. it is not surprising that Jesus intentionally created a church of outsiders, and refeguees. In his ministry he went after the gentiles, and hoping that one day the insiders would join him as well. No matter who we are, some of us are in need of healing, some of us are well, some of us are insiders, some are oustiders. But we our faith has made us whole – as long as we remember Jesus is the one who packed our sails. As we take communion – let us remember to say F. Harry Stow – thank you in all that we do. Let us pray… Extra illustrations…. Magic Words When our grand-daughter Sarah was two years old, she was extremely active. She was always busy, always moving and always in a hurry… because at two years of age, she had already realized that there are so many exciting things to do and see and experience in this incredible world God has given us. One day Sarah interrupted her play-time just long enough to run into the kitchen in search of a mid-afternoon snack. Hurriedly, she said to her mother: “Banana, Momma, Banana!” Jodi, her mother, handed her a banana. Sarah quickly grabbed the banana and turned to rush back out of the kitchen. However, before she took very many steps, her mother said: “Sarah, come back. What are the magic words?” Sarah screeched to a halt, turned back around and said: “Please! Thank You! You’re Welcome! God Bless You! And I Love You, Mommy!” At this point, Sarah got a second banana!... And a warm hug! The magic words Sarah’s mother was looking for were “Thank you.” She got more than that… but those were the words she was looking for… because Sarah’s mother knows how important it is… for us to learn how to stop and say thanks.” James W. Moore, Collected Sermons,www.Sermons.com Continuing Gratitude A friend began his ministry at little First Presbyterian Church in Aberdeen, Mississippi. His first year as pastor he was visited by three men inquiring about one of his members, a widow who lived by herself. Was she getting out? Were her friends in Aberdeen keeping in touch? Was there anything they needed to know? The three men explained the situation, gave him their cards—one lived in New Jersey, another in Oklahoma, the other in California—and he was told to call them if there was anything they could humanly do to make her life happier or easier. These three men arrived each year bearing presents their wives had picked out in the shops of San Francisco and New York. The men had hired a family who mowed the woman’s yard, trimmed the bushes, and checked on tree branches and gutters. One of the men prepared the woman’s tax returns each year, another contracted repairs on her house or made them himself. Sometimes they helped her shop for a new car. They were meticulous in wanting to check on everything and anticipate every difficulty the woman might face. Each year they visited the President of the Bank of Mississippi in Aberdeen—there was a regular turnover in young bank executives—passed out their cards, explained that he was to notify them of any worldly need this woman might have, and they explained to the Bank President the situation. The situation was this: Sixty years ago the three men had been three soldiers standing on the ground floor of a house in Normandy just a few days after D-Day when a German potato masher grenade came bouncing down the stairs. A fourth soldier, the woman’s husband, threw himself on the grenade, absorbing most of its impact. The three men lived because of his death. After the war was over in 1945 the three men began making their way to Aberdeen, Mississippi on a regular basis to make sure that this man’s widow would lack for nothing they had within their power to provide for her. They had been doing that for more than twenty-five years when my friend was pastor of First Presbyterian Church. Isn’t that a remarkable story? I’ll tell you another remarkable thing: there were eighteen soldiers on the first floor of that house in Normandy. All eighteen of them were spared by the action of that one soldier’s leaping on a grenade, and after the war was over three of them made their regular pilgrimages to Aberdeen, Mississippi. Three out of eighteen: that’s 16 2/3%. How difficult it is to imagine 100% gratitude. What does it take for us to recognize that life is a gift, and the only possible human response is gratitude? Patrick J. Willson, Deep Gratitude God In the Ordinary Once upon a time, there was a far-away land that was ruled by a vicious king. His iron hand reached into every corner of his subjects' lives. Every corner - except one. Try as he might, he couldn't destroy their belief in God. In his frustration, he finally summoned his advisors and asked them: "Where can I hide God so the people will end up forgetting about him?" One suggested hiding God on the dark side of the moon. This idea was debated, but was voted down because the advisors feared that their scientists would one day discover a way to travel into space travel and God would be discovered again. Another suggested burying God in the deepest part of the ocean. But there was the same problem with this idea, so it was voted down. One idea after another was suggested and debated and rejected. Until finally the oldest and wisest advisor had a flash of insight. "I know," he said, "why don't we hide God where no one will ever even think to look?" And he explained, "If we hide God in the ordinary events of people's everyday lives, they'll never find him!" And so it was done. And they say people in that land are still looking for God - even today. ChrstianGlobe Illustrations