Be The One

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.”

Earlier in the week when I was deciding which scripture to use for the sermon this week, I read through the scripture I just read to you and I thought, “I don’t know how I want to preach this...” So I moved onto a different scripture that I thought I could preach “better” but God had other plans for me this week.  There were a couple things that happened this week that caused me to completely change my understanding of this particular scripture.  And that statement right there is why it is important for us to read scripture throughout the week.  Lesson number one for this morning is that we do not always fully understand the scripture we may be reading but God may have plans for us that allow us to better understand scripture.  When I read about these 10 lepers this week, I had no idea how to make this scripture preachable but throughout the week, God made it clear as to how this scripture applied in my life, and hopefully in yours.  

The first thing that happened to me occurred less than 12 hours after I had chosen the initial scripture for this morning Tuesday morning.  At one of the farms, we had to pick a wagon of corn to be able to get to the patches of beans but the corn was too wet to put into the bin that did not have a drying fan so I was given the task of taking it to town.  Initially this was not a big deal because I have done this several times but it still makes me a little nervous because it is a little bit of a trip with a tractor and wagon but nothing I couldn’t handle.  The wagon I was taking was the best wagon that Dan has which helped put my mind at ease.  But less than 1/8 of mile from the farm, everything changed.  Just as I had gotten up to full speed, about 20 miles per hour, the front right spindle broke on the wagon and before I could hardly react, the second front spindle broke.  Then the tongue broke out of the wagon and I got away from the wagon and could only watch.  The wagon finally came to a stop perpendicular to the road and about 50 bushels of corn spilled into the ditch but the wagon did not roll over.  As I get out of the tractor, my adrenalin is flowing and I immediately call Dan so we can figure out what to do.  It took him several minutes to get there and in that time, my adrenalin and heart rate was able to slow down and I that is when several different emotions started to settle in.  The first thing I thought of was that I could not wait to get home to see and hold Griffin and Cheyanne.  The second emotion I had was that I was so thankful that others were not hurt and thirdly I was thankful that I was not hurt.  I was scared, nervous and thankful all at the same time.  By the time we had gotten the wagon out of the road and the corn cleaned up, I’ve had a lot of time to think about what all had happened and what I was feeling and the scripture of these 10 lepers kept coming back to me but I still didn’t know how to exactly preach the scripture.

Then, yesterday morning it became pretty clear after I had a online meeting with my mentor in the CMEP program.  Many of you may already know that Lynda Carlson is my mentor and I meet with her most Saturdays while I am in class each semester.  She asked me what scripture I was using for this morning, so I shared with her the story I just shared with you and through our discussion it became clear on how God wanted me to use this scripture.  Lynda talked about the one who turned back Jesus after being healed, the one who praised Jesus and was made well.  I had known after the events of Tuesday that I was going to use this scripture but Lynda helped me see this scripture more clearly.  It was not until after that experience Tuesday afternoon that I was able to put a lot of things into perspective.  I called our insurance agent Wednesday morning and started the process of life insurance.  The feeling of wanting to tell Griffin and Cheyanne that I loved them had not felt so strong since the day Griffin was born.  It is not that I have not told them that I loved them since then but that experience Tuesday changed things for me just as it did for the Samaritan who turned around.  Christ told all 10 of them to go to the priests, yet one turned around to praise Jesus.  What made him turn around, what made him different from the other 9?  It is so incredibly easy for us to the other 9.  It is easy for us to take the mercy and grace given to us by God and go on our way but how often do we turn around and thank God for all that He has done for us?  It is very likely that the last time we thought about our faith this in this manner was the last time you had an experience similar to the one I did Tuesday.  But why does it take something so extreme before we feel that feeling of thankfulness?  I don’t know the answer to that question but I am going to try to live a life like the Samaritan each and every single day.  There will be days where I don’t but I do not want to have any regrets.  When we lose someone we care very deeply about, we often think, “I wish I would have gone and seen them...” or “I wish I would have called them the other day when I thought about them...”  I doesn’t have to be like that.  From this day forward we have the option to be like that Samaritan, to live everyday so thankful for all that has been given to each of us.  We don’t have to ask ourselves “what if” when we live our lives like the Samaritan.  Be the one who turns around.  Be the one who is so incredibly thankful for the mercy and grace that everyone you encounter knows it.  Be the one whose faith has made you well.  

The other 9 were healed from their ailment but only one was made well.  All 10 had received the one thing they wanted: to be healed.  Yet 9 turned away.  I am sure they were happy to be healed but they missed out on something special.  They were healed but they were not made well.  In our weakest moments we often pray harder and more meaningfully than we have before and once our prayers are answered we often turn around and go on our way until the next thing comes up and we find ourselves praying more than we did before.  Don’t get me wrong, this is not uncommon.  I am as guilty as anyone here of doing this but from this day on I am encouraging all of us to do things differently.  Be the one.  It is so easy for us to take our faith, to take the love shown to us on the cross for granted.  We might only think about that love during Easter or during communion each week but let the Samaritan be a lesson to all of us.  Each and everyday be the one who takes time to praise God for all that He has done for you.  Sure, we will encounter things and events that cause us to question God and our faith but as we work through these times in our lives let us never lose sight of the cross and the love shown to us. The Samaritan did not question Jesus as to why he was afflicted with this ailment in the first place.  We often ask God, “Why me?”  Those words never came out of the Samaritan’s mouth, only praises of gratitude.  Let us learn another thing from Samaritan: quit wasting time asking why me... The quality of your faith is not based on whether or not you live a life free of tragedy or anxiety.  The quality of your faith is found in how you handle those situations, not whether or not those experiences happen to you in the first place.  I read a facebook status this week about a classmate of mine who had lost their first child after she was 8 months pregnant several years ago.  The purpose of the status was not to dwell on the fact they lost that child, it was not to blame God for losing that child... The purpose of that status was to thank God for the four healthy kids they have had since.  Tragedy is a part of life, but the purpose and meaning of this life is found in how we handle that tragedy moving forward.   

Do you remember when I said at the very beginning that I did not know how I was going preach this scripture?  I was extremely selfish in my thinking.  I did not even ask God how He wanted me to approach this scripture.  From this day on I encourage all of you first thank God for each and every day.  We can never repay God for His blessings but we can try by living out the faith like the Samaritan showed.  Just like the 10 lepers, God’s mercy is there for all us.  The events of the cross are done but how many of us are going to turn around, throw ourselves at the feet of Christ and thank Him for what He has done?  Be the one is thankful.  Be the one lives out their faith.  Be the one turns around.  Be the one who has not only been healed but also made well.  Be the ONE.  Amen.  

God Bless,

Clinton

Fairview Christian Church