Only One Gave Thanks

Luke 17:11-19 KJV; Thanksgiving Day; Only one in ten who were healed gave thanks and he was made whole.

The Prophets Foretold

Matthew 11:2-15 KJV; 3rd Sunday in Advent; The prophets foretold the coming of John the Baptist. They foretold the coming of Jesus the Messiah. Many believed. Many did not then nor do they today..

We Have Been Made Whole In Christ!

Luke 17:11-19; 10 were healed; yet, only one gave thanks. How often do we truly give thanks to God?

Thank God For The GIfts

And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.

And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:

And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.

And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.

And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,

And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.

And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?

There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.

And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole

                                                                (Luke 17:11-19 KJV)

How many times in our lives have we been reminded to count our blessings?  In this very materialistic world we seem to always want more of something. Yet, the more we have the more we want and what we have already received often gets ignored and neglected. That would include friends and family. Do we take them for granted?

When our sons were little we always had them open their gifts from family and friends on Christmas Eve. Santa's gifts were reserved for Christmas morning. We hoped that by doing this they would not be in a big rush to tear open the presents and be at least little more appreciative and thankful for both the gift and the giver.

Christmas is supposed to be a celebration of the great gift of Jesus being born into this world and for this world. However, that gift is often neglected not just on holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas but on every day of the year. How much do we really appreciate and give thanks for the gift of his life for us? 

The ten lepers were all given a gift of healing. Nine of them ran off without even giving one word of thanks to Jesus for that gift. Only one of the was so grateful that he turned to thank Jesus. This one received even more than the gift of healing for his physical disease. He was made completely whole because of his faith in Jesus. 

Let us not just consider the gifts of God on Thanksgiving and on Christmas; but, every day of our lives for by faith in his death and resurrection we have been made whole.  Thanks be to God!

Let us give thanks for all of the gifts that God has given us!

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Revival

Photo taken a few years ago in the sanctuary

at the Zeba Indian United Methodist Campground

For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. (Isa 57:15 KJV)

Last night was the final worship service of the Methodist Camp Revival in Zeba for this year. I have attended the annual camp meeting often over the years and have had the privilege of preaching there for many years including this year. Last night, the guest preacher Rev. Jerry Bishop, pastor at the Baptist Church in L'Anse wanted to know what we were really thankful for. At that moment, among other things, I was thankful that I was there to hear the Good News of what God in Christ Jesus has done for us. Rev. Jerry was speaking in regards to the story of the ten lepers who were healed; but, only the one who was thankful was made whole. An outstanding message; a message to inspire us to look within ourselves, humble ourselves so that our spirits were revived. 

Methodists also apparently like to sing and sing a lot! Many, many, hymns were sung each night as well as special music. Last night Courtney (Clishe) Jones made me cry TWICE! with her sweet voice as she sang "In The Sweet Bye and Bye" and later "Amazing Grace" in English and Ojibwa (or Anishinabe). 

The camp meetings, held annually, began in 1880! Imagine, 139 years ago! They are held at the Zeba Indian United Methodist Campground. The sanctuary is log with open walls and dirt floor strewn with cedar boughs. They have most recently been held during the first week of August at 7 p.m.. Consider joining us next year! 

God's Peace - Pr. J.

One Returns to the Great High Priest

As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner? Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.” 

                                                                       (Luke 17:13-18 NRSV)

Ten were made clean. Ten with a most horrific disease; a disease that separated them from family and friends, begged Jesus to have mercy on them. He did. Jesus had mercy. They were made clean. The horrible sores and disfigurements just disappeared. But, only one turned back to give thanks to Jesus. Only one was truly grateful for the grace and mercy shown to him and went back to thank Jesus for healing him. Only one turned back to have the great high priest, who is Jesus the Christ, declare him well. We assume that the rest rushed off to abide by the law and show themselves to the priests in the temple so that the priests could declare them clean and they could go home. 

There is one high priest. There is one great healer. His name is Jesus. While we were yet outcasts from our heavenly home, he was wounded for our transgressions; upon him was the punishment that made us whole. By his bruises, we have been healed. How often do we go to him and fall upon our knees at his feet to give him thanks? It is thanksgiving. While we are kind of, sort of, giving thanks for the people around us; are we giving thanks for the one who has healed our sin sick souls? On this thanksgiving day and every day, let us remember to give thanks to the great high priest who has made us whole.

Surely he has borne our infirmities
   and carried our diseases;
yet we accounted him stricken,
   struck down by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions,
   crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the punishment that made us whole,

   and by his bruises we are healed. 

                                             (Isaiah 53:4-5)

God's Peace - Pr. J

Ultimate Concern?

The young man said to him, “I have kept all these; what do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions. (Matt 19:20-22 NRSV)

These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment. Take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for laborers deserve their food. (Matt 10:5-10)

I often fall asleep listening to something on YouTube and I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night listening to something horrific! Last night it was a televangelist wife saying things like:  Do good for your own self; and something to the effect of, you don't got to church to worship for God's sake, you do it for yourself.  She is right in part. God does not actually "need" us to worship Him.  He desires and even expects our devotion; but, He does not actually "need" anything from us. And, yes, because of our sinful nature we probably do go to church for our own sakes. We are selfish, self-centered people and a whole lot of what we do, if not all that we do, is truly for our own sakes. But; just because we are self-centered, that does not mean make it right. 

As I rolled this late night sermon  around in my head for awhile and considered with great discomfort all those very rich pastors, I decided I should get out of bed and see what kind of budgets their congregations actually have. What I found was pretty interesting and pretty disconcerting. I decided to compare the estimated budgets of Joel Osteen's Lakewood Congregation with the budget for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). I chose the ELCA because it is one of the largest denominations in the country. I found what I wanted. The ELCA has about 4,000,000 members. Lakewood Church has about 50,000 members. The ELCA's estimated budget for 2018 was around $90,000,000.. Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church budget was also estimated at about $90,000,000.. Amazing! How does it happen that one congregation; albeit a very large one, has a budget comparable to an entire denomination? I have only served small congregation so maybe I simply just don't understand budgets for humongous congregations.

It is the fall and the fall tends to be the time when many of us begin looking at stewardship of finances and our budgets. Unfortunately, budgets and numbers in the pews are all that some pastors, councils, and congregations worry about. They have not yet figured out that the church is not about surviving and surviving happily, happily, happily. We are supposed to be about sharing the Good News of the Kingdom of God given to us freely through the sacrifice, the bloody sacrifice of our Lord and Savior. 

Please, don't get pulled into the happy, happy, happy and wealthy, wealthy, wealthy theologies that false preachers present to you. It is not all about you. It is not all about me. It is not all about being happy and wealthy in this world. It is about Jesus willingly giving his life so that all who believe in him might receive eternal life in his presence in the Kingdom of God. It is about Jesus who died for you.

Although; we do have to deal with them, budgets are not our ultimate concern. Proclaiming the Good News through Jesus the Christ is or at least it should be.

May the whole church on earth focus on our ultimate concern, who is Jesus Christ our Lord and our Savior.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Appearances Can Be Deceiving

Appearances can be deceiving. In my Florida room lives my one and only pet. Izzy is a bearded dragon. He is so easy to care for; much easier than any furry pet we've ever had. You do not have to worry about leaving bearded dragons alone in the house. They do not make a mess. When Izzy sheds his skin I can pick it up in one piece and I don't have to get the vacuum out. He also enjoy being held (sometimes). Izzy opens his eyes and lifts his head whenever he hears me talking. But, bearded dragons are not for everyone. Some people simply do not like them because they crawl on their bellies like snakes. And... anything snake or serpent-like really doesn't have too good of a reputation.

We often jump to unfair judgments based on appearances. It is not just lizards we jump to conclusions about; but, people, as well, by their outward appearances. But, when Jesus came, he turned all that around. It was the widow who put but two copper pennies into the offering that Jesus said had given more than the rest. (Mark 12:41-43) Tax collectors and other various sinners were chosen by Jesus as his dinner companions. (Matthew 9:10-12) He healed gentiles and even lepers; physically touching, at times, those who were thought by others too unclean to be touched. (Mark 7:24-30; Luke 7:21-23) And... who were the first to be called by Jesus? Fishermen! (Luke 5:1-11) He called mere fishermen; or at least they were mere in the eyes of many of the day. Have you any clue what a man or woman who makes their living fishing looks and smells like after a long day or night out on the boat? Jesus does not call anyone because they look good on the outside or even because they act so good. He calls whom he will call to follow him.

Appearances can be deceiving. There are those who smile on the outside and are happy, happy, happy whenever you are around. But, on the inside are like empty tombs. There are others who may appear to be most ferocious; but, within them a great concern for the well-being of humankind.

Appearances can be deceiving. Do not judge one another by appearances. Take the time to look more deeply into the person or the matter.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Appearances Can Be Deceiving

He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny.  Then he called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. (Mark 12:41-43 NIV)

Appearances can be deceiving. One of the easiest pets I've ever cared for is Izzy, a bearded dragon. You do not have to worry about leaving them alone in the house. They do not make a mess. They do not whine or cry or bark or make any noise that will disturb the neighbors. They also enjoy being held. Izzy is waiting for me most mornings when I get up; his beard usually black as he anxiously waits for me to give him some attention. But, bearded dragons are not for everyone. Some people simply do not like them because of how they look and because they crawl on their bellies like snakes. And... anything snake or serpent-like really doesn't have too good of a reputation.

We often jump to unfair judgments based on appearances. It is not just lizards we jump to conclusions about; but, people, as well, by their outward appearances. But, when Jesus came, he turned all that around. It was the widow who put but two copper pennies into the offering that Jesus said had given more than the rest. (Mark 12:41-43) Tax collectors and other various sinners were chosen by Jesus as his dinner companions. (Matthew 9:10-12) He healed gentiles and even lepers; physically touching, at times, those who were thought by others too unclean to be touched. (Mark 7:24-30; Luke 7:21-23) And... who were the first to be called by Jesus? Fishermen! (Luke 5:1-11) He called mere fishermen, or at least they were mere in the eyes of many of the day. Have you any clue what a man or woman who makes their living fishing looks and smells like after a long day or night out on the boat? Jesus does not call anyone because they look good on the outside or even because they act so good. He calls whom he will call to follow him.

Appearances can be deceiving. There are those who smile on the outside and are happy, happy, happy whenever you are around. But, on the inside are like empty tombs. There are others whose appearance on the outside might look to be most ferocious; but, within them dwells the love of God.

Appearances can be deceiving. Do not judge one another by appearances. Take the time to look more deeply into the person or the matter.

God's Peace - Pr. J