1. Luke 17:11-19 Jesus Heals Ten Men With Leprosy
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!”
14 When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.
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 Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

2. Living in gratitude Luke 17: 11-19
One came back to thank
Living in gratitude
Luke 17: 11-19
When I was asked to speak and was given this subject, I wondered what I would find to say
But when I thought and prayed over it I realized, as we always should, that God’s Word opens up things new with things that are familiar, that can lead us in our lives and understanding of discipleship of Christ

3. What messages are there?
The passage reveals:
A fundamental principle for our life in Christ ……. What difference a characteristic of thankfulness and praise makes
Insight into the human culture of our Lord Jesus
An eye-opening to the outreaching mission of the Gospel

4. Consider the depth of despair in Leprosy
The pain is all social
Rejection, separation from family and all human contact ……. Unclean and Untouchable
Mother Theresa’s Sisters of Charity: “We have drugs for people with diseases like leprosy, but these cannot treat the main problem of not being wanted or loved”
Jesus touched one leper on the occasion he asked for healing (Matt 8 and Luke 5)
On this occasion, all ten were asking for healing and were “cleansed” while only one returned to offer thanks and praise to God
We are not sure what happened to the nine who did not come back to acknowledge Jesus
….. but we shall dwell on the one who did return because Jesus also touched more of his life that he came to offer
You’ll remember maybe that the Leper pleaded with Jesus “If you want, you can make me clean”
First I want consider the significance of the fact that the one who returned was a Samaritan

5. Who are the Samaritans? Why did Jesus call them foreigners?
Samaria was the capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel
Israelite descendants of the Northern tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, who survived destruction of the Northern Kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians in 722 BC.
Racially mixed – The Assyrians actively settled other conquered peoples into Samaria
Those with Jewish background were still monotheists, but there was strong animosity between the two.
Their temple was on Mount Gerizim, as opposed to Mount Zion in Jerusalem
Mount Gerizim considered Holy from the time that Joshua conquered Canaan
Now they were considered unclean and contact was avoided
Only a small proportion of Israelites were deported from Samaria (27,000), so it is quite possible that a sizable population remained that could identify themselves as Israelites even though II Kings 17 tells us that Samaria was re-settled with people from many areas such as Babylon
Mt Gerizim, the Mount of Blessing, & Mt Ebal, the Mount of Curse. (Deut. 11:29; 27:12; Josh. 8:33).
While considered unclean and avoidable, they proved themselves open to the gospel as we shall see

6. What did Jesus think? V. 18 Samaritans were “foreigners”
His ministry and miracles heavily weighted towards Galilee & Judea
He did not visit Samaria very much. He usually would have taken the longer route along the Jordan valley
But on one occasion he purposely went through and stopped in Sychar, Jacob’s well, meeting the woman at the well and then stopped to live & teach in a Samaritan village (John 4:1-42)
When he left Galilee for the last time & headed for Jerusalem he traveled by Samaria (Lk 9:51)
He healed the ten lepers near the border (Lk 17:11-17)
Samaria
Nazareth was an obscure and small own. Jesus spoke with a Galilean accent
It was not a place from where the Jewish leaders expected to see anyone important
Though just a few kilometres to the North of Nazareth was Sepphoris, a large city with Greco-Roman colonades, a forum, a palace, public bath, beautiful villas. Herod’s winter resort town, Tiberias was also in Galilee, on the lake.
Samaria  West Bank It still presents a barrier from North to South
Being a Jew in AD 30 was akin to being a Palestinian today
Occupied by Rome
Every rebellion was met with a hammer blow 10x heavier
The AD 30 Messianic environment: Zealots, Essenes, Pharisees…… who to identify with?
Today in Palestine: Hamas, Fatah, Palestinian Liberation Front, etc

7. Key lessons 1)
The grace of God through Jesus is given indiscriminately to all, but wholeness is granted to the person who turns in faith and thankfulness to the giver
No evidence that the nine weren’t thoroughly healed if they went to the priest and were declared clean. They all reached out for Christ to heal them
But the Samaritan who responded with thanks and praise to God received the blessing: ”Arise and go . Your faith has made you well”
Turning in gratitude and living a life that continues to recognize his role in our life’s events and unfolding story is the Bible’s to us

8. For what should we be thankful?
Often biblical texts simply call on us to thank and praise God.
A "fill in the blank" exercise ……… Reflect on how God has been good recently to us, our family and community.
The perspective to look for the sun in our lives; to look for God’s hand and leadership
Focus on God and the people he has brought into our lives
Pause at all times for thanks, but especially when we enter key events and times
Don't focus on things (possessions), Many Psalms reflect this, also see David’s prayer in 1 Chronicles 29:10-13….. Thanking God for his powerful presence and availability
We are asked to simply be thankful and to return God praise for everything
“God is good … all the time?”
I encounter a prosperity gospel in Africa …….. One of the leading evangelical denominations appears to be Winners Chapel.
I have heard the possessions people have as evidence of his blessing, but those should not be the focus of our thanks …. Of course …..
Some Proverbs promise that God will reward faithfulness but never suggest to focus on possessions, rather on the poor and needy

9. Scripture examples of thanksgiving & praise
Thank and praise for who God is, and that he is our maker (Ps 95; 100),
For his enduring love and faithfulness (Ps 118),
For His deliverance in tough circumstances (Ps 35:18),
Meeting friends after a long, arduous journey (Acts 28:15),
Other believers and for the testimony of their faith (Rom 1:8),
The gift of salvation that enables us not to sin (Rom 6:17), for delivering us from our tendency to sin (Rom 7:25),
For resurrection hope (1 Cor 15:57),
For testimony, deliverance and victory in the midst of persecution (2 Cor 2:14),
For the support of a colleague in ministry (2 Cor 8:16),
For other believers (Phil 1:3; Col 1:3; 2 Tim 1:3; Philemon 4),
For those who respond to God's Word (1 Thess 2:13),
For being able to serve God (1 Tim 1:12)
Here’s a broad sweep of Biblical examples calling us to be thankful. Check them from the website if you want to see them and study them

10. Key Lessons 2)
Recognize evidence of faith in unlikely places and people
and give grace and shalom to them ……..Pause to think of cases
Jesus did not go far beyond his Galilean home and Judean religious establishment in his ministry but he gave enough hints and illustrations that the Gospel is:
Inclusive of all – race, gender, status, rich or poor, respected and despised,
“Outside the box” of the common religious observance
Global – Matthew 28
…………. How can we apply this in our individual and church life?
Examples of people I have met in my business travels in East Africa or Pakistan, Iran whose faith or interest has stopped me
A colleague in Pakistan who decided not to emigrate to Australia because he was concerned about the negative behavioural influences that could out his children at risk
Iranian colleagues who recognized in me a personal relationship to God which they did not know in Islam
Philip Yancey in “The Jesus I never knew” states that Jesus moved the emphasis from God’s holiness (which was exclusive) to God’s mercy (inclusive).
He turned upside down the wisdom of his day:
Touching an unclean leper
Refusing to condemn an immoral woman
Accepting the feet-washing of an immoral woman
Healing on the Sabbath day
Defying custom to enter a pagan’s house
Eating with Gentiles, sinners
Telling parables that hinted at a new understanding of God’s favour
Then, if God loves the poor, the suffering, the persecuted and the repentant, so should we and find ways for them to be in their pathway

11. Passages that illustrate Jesus’ and the Holy Spirit’s attitude to the “foreigner”
Samaritan opposition because Jesus was headed for Jerusalem – Like 9: 51-54
Disciples wanted to punish them, but Jesus ignored that
Woman at the well ….. He went “well beyond” and into the open Samaritan village – John 4: 1-42
The Good Samaritan parable – Luke 10: 25-37
The centurion “I have not found such great faith even in Israel” – Luke 7: 1-10 & Matt. 8: 5-13
You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth – Act 1: 8
Through Philip, the Samaritans soon became the first non-Jewish community to accept the gospel and receive the Holy Spirit – Acts 8:1-25.
Paul converted on the Damascus Road and appointed as an Apostle to the Gentile World
God’s plan for salvation to the non-Jewish world confirmed to Peter in a vision and the visit to the home of Cornelius
Let us also look at how Jesus’ sense of mission and outreach develops in the Gospels and the Spirit of Jesus leads after his ascension

12. Final thoughts
An attitude of thanks and praise should characterize us.
The quality and breadth of our minds for mission should reflect that of Christ
….. The openness and compassion of our hearts to touch others
….. Willingness to spread the shalom of the gospel indiscriminately, specifically and globally