Title: THE TARGET OF THANKSGIVING
Focus: Jesus is the target of thanksgiving
Function: To encourage the people to come to Jesus and direct their thanksgiving to him, for Jesus is God’s Son, the Savior of the world.
Text: Luke 17:11-19
INTRODUCTION
Bull’s-eye! That’s what I am aiming for today. For a few minutes I want to hold before us one of America’s most familiar shopping symbols—the symbol of a target. And I want to tell you that Jesus is the target of thanksgiving.
A target helps us to aim and shoot at something. I believe that many Americans need a target on this Thanksgiving Day, because they are missing the boat. They fail to recognize the target of thanksgiving. The late humorist and columnist Erma Bombeck once referred to Thanksgiving Day as that “day set aside on the fourth Thursday of November when no one diets. I mean, why else would they call it Thanksgiving,” said Bombeck. She also observed in one of her columns that “Thanksgiving dinners take eighteen hours to prepare. They are consumed in twelve minutes. Half-times take twelve minutes. This is not coincidence.”
Do you see what I mean? If we think that Thanksgiving is about turkey dinners and football games, we are missing the target of true thanksgiving.
This may come as a surprise to an entire generation of children who attend government-supported schools. About a year ago, there was a news media report (Fox News) saying that Maryland public school students are free to thank anyone they want while learning about the 17th century celebration of Thanksgiving—as long as it’s not God. One public schools curriculum and instruction director explained the matter saying: “We teach about Thanksgiving from a purely historical perspective, not from a religious perspective.”
Thanksgiving Day, then, has become a problem for many secularists today. Silence is their solution. But not so for the Christian church: In this context of public silence and ignorance about thanksgiving, let me say it once more: Jesus is the target of thanksgiving. He is the bull’s-eye!
The scripture comes to us with a story about Jesus healing ten lepers. The story is very simple and on the surface its message appears very simple. As we enter the story together, let’s first of all take note of the geography. Luke, the gospel writer, is very specific when it comes to locality. We read, “Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee.” Luke’s audience, upon hearing these introductory words to the story, would perk up their ears. For Luke’s audience included not only Jews but also Gentiles.
The Jews have all kinds of feelings, mostly negative feelings toward the people living in Samaria. And in this region of Galilee there were also a lot of Gentiles. And Jews and Gentiles did not always get along very well, because the Jewish people in the days of Jesus thought of themselves as superior to the other nations of the world. They tended to forget that God had chosen them as his people to be a blessing to the nations.
So, by referring to these geographical boundaries of Samaria and Galilee, Luke touches upon the emotions of his hearers: the Gentiles would be wondering if this Jew called Jesus really cares about them; and the Jewish listeners would have their defenses up, because really “what good can we expect from Samaria?”
Jesus, however, blows his listeners away. Normally, the average Jew in Jesus’ days would not travel through this region. They would travel east of the Jordan River and bypass Samaria and this Gentile region if at all possible. But not Jesus. He is on his way to Jerusalem, and he decides to visit a Samaritan town. The message? “I care about Samaria! I’ve a message for them and for all who live in this region.”
Things get more interesting yet. For now we notice that Jesus comes across a small colony of lepers. They must have heard that Jesus--this Master teacher with a reputation for having healing powers—has come to their neck of the woods. Lepers are seen as outcast in Jesus’ days; they must be ostracized and shunned. To be a leper is to be lonely; to suffer from leprosy is to waist away; it’s a horrible, slow, and deadly disease.
So, imagine their excitement when they hear that Jesus is in the neighborhood. They begin to call out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
In their cry for mercy, the lepers pack a pile of hope; in their voices you hear a tremor of yearning for healing and wholeness. And in their reaching out to Jesus, they display a strong desire--call it faith--to be healed.
Jesus’ response seems to be very short. Luke tells us that “When (Jesus) saw them he said, ‘Go, show yourselves to the priests.’” That’s all. No “magic” touch of limbs, no spittle on their arms, no testing questions. No nothing but a word of power: “Go, show yourselves to the priests.”
Jesus does what is prescribed in the law of Moses. When a leper concluded that he/she was healed, that leper needed to go to the priest, who would examine him, and who would then declare him healed. Once declared healed, the healed leper was to present an offering of thanks to God in the temple.
The lepers, however, are not yet healed when Jesus spoke his power word. Yet, the lepers acted upon Jesus’ instruction; they turned around, and thus they obeyed; and in the act of turning around and obeying, they discover a change in their condition. They discover their healing.
It is very likely that their
discovery of healing took place when they were still close to Jesus and his
disciples. In other words, they could have easily turned around, thanked Jesus,
and then go on their way to the priests. But only one of them actually went
back to Jesus. Luke says: “One of them, when he saw he was healed, came
back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked
him—and he was a Samaritan.”
The story unfolds, and we hear
Jesus responding: “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?
Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”
Can you imagine a devout Jew listening to this story? Jesus’ rebuke would not go unnoticed. Can you imagine a Samaritan or a Gentile listening to this story? Jesus’ implied praise toward the healed leper would not go unnoticed. But why is this matter of thanksgiving and praise an issue with Jesus?
Aren’t these 9 lepers, presumably all Jews, doing what Jesus told them to do? Why fault them for going straight to the priests?
The answer is because Jesus is the bull’s-eye. Jesus is the target of thanksgiving and praise to God.
Take note of the following insights in the text:
But in this story, Luke brings out this very point: Jesus is the target of thanksgiving to God; in fact, Jesus is the way to God; Jesus is God. Listen again to the text: (vs. 15) “One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.” In other words, this foreigner—this Samaritan—did what so many others in Israel refused to do: he worshiped Jesus as God! This Samaritan offered his thanksgiving, his praise, and adoration to God through Jesus. This Samaritan is doing what Jesus is asking from all of us today: Embrace him as the way to God! Bow down before him as your Mediator, High Priest and King. For Jesus is truly divine—God in the flesh! And thus we take note of this final insight from the text:
But this Samaritan leper received more than physical health. He also received spiritual healing, for he came to Jesus and worshiped and thanked him; he responds to Jesus as the way to God. He bows down and worships Christ as God. And in response, Jesus says to him:
“Rise and go; your faith has made you well” (or, literally, Jesus says, “your faith has saved you”).
And this is why I declare to all of us today: Jesus is the target of thanksgiving. Thousands of people today give thanks to God; they are grateful; but many of them bypass Jesus; they do not bow down to him; they do not offer themselves to him as living sacrifices.
Millions today have a generic faith: they believe in some kind of God, some kind of higher being, or some kind of intelligent design, perhaps. They enjoy and receive God’s graces and gifts, including the benefits of riches, medicines, family and friends. They have so many reasons to be thankful—and they are indeed. But they bypass Jesus.
Remember,
all ten lepers had faith and responded to Jesus’ word of power and mercy. All
ten received physical healing. But only one did the right thing: he bowed down
to Jesus and worshiped him. Nine lepers heard these words from the mouths of
priests: “Yes, you are cleansed from your leprosy.” But only one heard
these additional words: “Rise and go; your faith has saved you.”
Our deepest needs do not center on physical comfort and healing; they go to the core of our human condition; we need salvation from sin, from the tyranny of the devil, and from the misery of sin in our broken world. Jesus provides that healing. His salvation is complete. Go to him today. For Jesus is the bull’s-eye of our thanksgiving.
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.