Reading Plan:
Luke 17

Author: Gray Strickland

Growing up, my brothers and I were always taught to say “please” and “thank you.” With every request we made, our parents would remind us to say “please”, and with every gift given to us or kind gesture made toward us, “thank you” was to be communicated. Before the gift could be fully received, there was always a quiet voice behind us whispering, “What do you say?” For most of my life I thought this was just a southern thing; like, “God bless em’!” right before or after we say something negative about someone! (In the south, we think we can say anything about anyone, as long as we include, “God bless em’!”)

Today’s passage in Luke 17 serves as a great reminder that gratitude is way more than a southern thing. In this passage, Jesus encounters ten guys who have leprosy. In the Jewish culture in the first century, if you had a disease or sickness that was highly contagious, you had to separate yourself from the rest of society - think Covid quarantine, but for the entirety of your life. This is why Luke tells us they “stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, ‘Jesus, Master, have pity on us!’” Upon seeing and hearing them, Jesus says, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.”

Why the priest? If the sickness or disease was ever healed, the priest had the authority to allow you to rejoin society. Essentially, the priest could give you a clean bill of health - you know, like your negative Covid test! These men would have understood why Jesus sent them to the priest, and they would have been stoked!

Luke tells us, “as they went, they were cleansed.” At some point on their journey to the priest, they were healed! Don’t miss this, these ten guys took Jesus at His word. They started walking, believing they were going to be healed. They were obedient before they ever saw the outcome! And get this, it wasn’t like the temple and the priests were across the street. We learned earlier that Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem and was somewhere between Samaria and Galilee. If Jesus wanted them to go show themselves to the priest in Jerusalem this would have been a two or three-day journey. These guys had some serious faith!

Here’s what’s interesting though. While the faith of the ten lepers is certainly a powerful focus of the narrative – it isn’t the only point Luke makes. Luke describes that when they discovered they were healed, one of the men returned to Jesus in gratitude. Jesus answered the man, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?” I do not believe the one who returned was the only one who was grateful. I bet if you could have run down the other nine guys and asked them if they were grateful, they would probably tell you, “Absolutely, we are grateful!” Maybe they would go on to tell you how great it is to no longer be an outcast, to see their families again, and to be a part of the community.

Maybe they would tell you that they were so caught up in celebrating that expressing gratitude just slipped their minds. Whatever their reason, only one returned, and based on Jesus’s response to him, we see that expressed gratitude is important to Jesus.

This passage reminds me that unexpressed gratitude feels like ingratitude. Being grateful is always important, but it is just as important to express our gratitude to those in our lives who acted graciously towards us, no matter how small the act. Think about it this way: ingratitude has the same feeling as rejection, and no one likes to feel rejected. On the other hand, gratitude feels like acceptance, and we are drawn to the environments and people who accept us. Something as simple as a genuine “thank you” to a coworker, family member, sales clerk, or a stranger holding a door communicates that they are seen, loved, and accepted.

What a simple way to communicate a powerful message!


Reflection and Response:

• Busyness often prevents us from recognizing all the things we have to be grateful for and expressing our gratitude to those who need to hear it. Take time this morning to pause and make a list of those you need to express gratitude toward. Be intentional today to give them a call, send them a text, or write them a quick note to let them know.
  

Father, as I seek to give thanks to those in my life, I want to first give thanks to you! Thank you for saving me from my sins and giving me a life of purpose. Thank you for loving me as much on my worst days as you do on my best days. Thank you for never giving up on me!

Family Application: I can say thank you.

• In Luke 17 Jesus has an encounter with ten men who had a sickness. When the men first see Jesus, they call out to him and ask to be healed by Jesus. The men did not run up to Jesus because they were so sick that they were not allowed to be around anyone unless they were already sick. Jesus healed the men but only one of the men ran back and told Jesus, "Thank you." The other men never came back and thanked Jesus for healing them.
  
• What can you thank God for today?
  
• Who is someone you can thank this week by writing that person a thank you note?
  
• You could write to a friend, a teammate, a neighbor, a teacher, a mailman, a garbage man, there are so many people we can tell, "Thank you!"