Be-Gratitudes
“Be-Gratitudes”
By Pastor John Morgan
July 4, 2021
On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, 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 cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”
Luke 17:11-19 (ESV)
These are the attitudes of gratitude that each one of us should have in our life. The marked characteristic of a Christian should not be based on what we wear or what we don’t do; it should be based on who we are on the inside, our words, and our actions.
Jesus described our godliness as more determined by what is happening on the inside of us than what we are doing on the outside (Matthew 23:23). The characteristic trait of Christianity should be our bigness of spirit. The mark of a godly man or woman should be developing an attitude of bigness on the inside. Moreover, if we cultivate a largeness of spirit on the inside, the Bible says that our world will get bigger on the outside as well (Proverbs 11:24).
As Christians, we should be marked by our generosity. We need to be generous in our finances, in our words, in our love, and in our gestures. If we become generous on the inside, then we will become generous on the outside.
In Luke 17, we learn that ten lepers were healed by Jesus, but only one of them came back to thank him. Jesus told him that his faith had taken him to a level of healing that the others did not experience. He used the word “sozo,” which means something more than just physical healing; it refers to healing, blessing, prosperity, and abundance.
Gratitude and thankfulness should be a marked characteristic of our Christianity-- more than our clothes or the restaurant that we eat at or the movies we don’t watch. It should be on the inside - that attitude of gratitude. Let’s consider the examples of the nine lepers who did not show gratitude with imagined backstories that can work as parables for us to reflect on ourselves.
Pedro the Procrastinator. Pedro had spent his entire life dreaming of how great his life could be if he did not have leprosy. Then Jesus showed up and healed him. Pedro started walking toward the priest, but then thought he should go back and thank Jesus. Instead, he put off his expression of gratitude for another day, saying he would thank Jesus the next time he was in town.
The opportunity of a lifetime always exists within the lifetime of the opportunity. From Pedro the Procrastinator, we learn that every opportunity to show gratitude comes with a use-by date.
Average Allen. Allen was average in every way before he came down with leprosy. He did not have great faith or expectation but he went with his friends to see Jesus. When he saw that he was being healed, he wanted to thank Jesus for healing him of leprosy. But, not wanting to stand out of the crowd, he continued walking toward the priest without saying thanks.
What we learn from Allen is that we have got to be willing to be different. It is uncommon in our society to say thank you and show great appreciation when we don’t want something in return. The Bible said that only 10% of the people Jesus healed went back to say thank you. Go against the crowd and be someone who shows appreciation and gratitude.
Opinionated Olivia. Olivia thought it was a terrible idea to stand on the road and wait for Jesus, but she went along anyway. When Jesus commanded them to go and show themselves to the priest, she was indignant and offended at his words. She never noticed herself being healed because she was distracted and lost in her own personal opinion.
How many blessings do we miss because of our opinion? We need to have the attitude of being flexible. The problem with opinion is that when our opinions are out of control, it can destroy us. When we surrender our opinion, then we can receive our healing.
Lazy Leroy. Leroy did not want to walk all that way to meet Jesus--he thought it was a lot of effort for something that was not a sure thing. When he received his healing, he did not want to expend the time and effort to thank Jesus for being healed.
What we learn from Leroy is that gratitude is a deliberate act. The gospel is a message that demands a response. When we are thankful to God or to other people, we need to demonstrate our appreciation. It doesn’t have to be a huge gesture, but it does need to be something.
Familiar Felicia. Felicia doubted that Jesus was anyone more than the son of the carpenter who used to babysit for her. She was so familiar with him that she did not recognize Jesus for who he really was or the healing that he had given to her. It’s so easy for us to fall into familiarity. We need to be sensitive to what God is doing. When we become too familiar, we can fail to notice the blessing around us.
Clueless Candace. Candace was the most beautiful and popular girl in her high school, but not the brightest. She was clueless that Jesus was a healer, and when she was healed, she thought that Jesus was just doing his job. Often we don’t realize what it takes to provide what has been provided for us. We don’t always thank our parents or our bosses for all that they provide for us. As Christians we should be the most thankful and the most sensitive to what others do for us.
Let us be Christians who live life with an attitude of gratitude, and that gratitude would overflow from the inside out and mark us in the world.
Reflection/Discussion Questions:
1. Is your Christianity based more on who you are on the inside than what you wear or abstain from doing?
2. Are you a generous person financially, with love, with words, gestures, and attitude?
3. Do you have an attitude of gratitude?
4. Which of the lepers discussed in the message do you most identify with? How can you be more intentional this week in demonstrating your gratitude?
