Luke 17:11-19
"Returning to Jesus"

      I want us to think a minute about what God has given to us.  God has given us the gift of life.  God has given us other people in our lives - our families - other Christians - our friends.  And, most importantly, God has given us his son Jesus, to show us how much God loves us. We need to tell God how thankful we are to him for his constant care of us.

      There was once a couple that lived with their only son Conrad in a modest house at the edge of a great forest.  Though they were not rich, they lived a comfortable and happy life together.
      One day the man's father was invited and came to make his home with the young couple.  The old grandfather's eyes had grown dim, his ears nearly deaf, and his hands shook like leaves in the wind.  When he ate, he was unable to hold his spoon without spilling food on the tablecloth and the floor.  Often bits of food would run out of his mouth, soiling his clothing.  For months the young couple discussed the irritating behavior of the old man.  Finally they set a table for him from which to eat in a corner of the kitchen.  As he ate, he looked sadly at his family.  When he spilt some food, he would sob.
      Finally one day the old man's trembling hands could no longer hold the glass bowl, and it fell to the floor, breaking into a dozen pieces.  The woman scolded him and immediately went to the market where she purchased a wooden bowl for the grandfather.  As the days passed the old man said very little as he sat in his corner of the kitchen eating out of his wooden bowl.
      Late in the fall the father came home from a long day's work to find Conrad sitting in the middle of the floor carving a block of wood.  "What are you making, my young man?" asked the father.
      "It is a present for you and mommy," answered the child.  "I am carving two wooden bowls so that you will have something to eat from when you live with me in your old age."
      The husband and the wife looked at each other for a long time.  That evening they moved their old grandfather back to the family table in the dinning room.  From that day on he always ate with them, and they said nothing even when he spilled his food.

      This is a folk tale from many years ago of a family who learned to be grateful for the presence of another in their lives.  How easy it is for us to forget how much our lives have been influenced and touched by others.  Our Sabbath scripture calls us to be thankful to the one who is able to touch us as no one else can.

      In a village between Galilee and Samaria, Jesus encounters a group of men suffering from a dreaded disease - some call it leprosy.  As is their common routine, these sick persons cry out with a prayer of mercy.  They shout out: "Jesus, Master, Have mercy on us!"  In their sickness, in their loneliness, and in their poverty, these sick men reach out for help.  Indeed Jesus comes to their aid, giving them more than they could ever expect from a passerby.  "They were made clean."  I think this affords us an opportunity to contemplate the places where we have been made clean.  How have we encountered the healing presence of God in our lives?

      For nine of the men, this is where their encounter with Jesus ended.  Sometime, I would like to try to think of nine reasons why they might not come back.  We know nothing more of them.  Did they take advantage of their new possibilities?  Did they use this renewed contact with people in positive ways?  Did their newfound cleansing spur them on to great accomplishments?  Since the scripture is silent, my guess is that nothing positive came from their encounter with Jesus.

      But one of the men found it within him to return to Jesus in gratitude.  As soon as he noticed that he had been healed, he turned back to Jesus "praising God with a loud voice."  Not only does he praise God, he falls at Jesus' feet.  What a contrast to the nine who perhaps felt it was their rightful reward to be healed.  This one sick - now healed - man exhibited the spirit of thankfulness for having been touched by Jesus.

      Sometimes, I think that, because I really have nothing to complain about and everything to be thankful for, I am all too often found in the group of nine who took their blessings for granted and went on their way.  But I think that I hear the call of our text to leave that group and join the one who fell on his face in thanksgiving and praise before Jesus, the Christ.

      I believe that all those sick men believed in God - in his ability to heal.  But only the Samaritan - the foreigner - is addressed by the words of Jesus: "Your faith has made you well!"  Faith involves more than belief in the miracle-working power of God.  It also involves the recognition that God's mercies are undeserved.  Thus, being thankful, our gratitude is essential to our faith.  Nine were healed physically and despite that their selfishness hadn't been changed.  Only one responded spontaneously to God's goodness and recognized the relationship between the person of Jesus and God's mighty acts in his life.  Thus only one had faith.

      Let us not be guilty of taking what we think we need from Jesus, and then setting his place at a different table.  Let us continually cry out our praises to our God in gratitude.