Ten Healed of Leprosy
11Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy[a]met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!"
14When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed.
15One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice.
16He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.
17Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" 19Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well."
Day 2 in South Carolina has been an awesome day. The weather here is so beautiful that it causes you to simply stop and bath in its Glory. It really does make you aware that someone greater than you and I is responsible for this.
So by now, you are asking yourself why the scripture, to open the blog? Well, this was todays Gospel. Today I attended church with my friends Cameron and Wess. They identify as Episcopalian. This is the second time since we have been friends that I have worshiped with them, and every time I attend church with them, I fall deeper in love with the Episcopalian faith. Today, we attended St. Stephens Parish here in Charleston, SC. www.ststephenscharleston.org The church was recommended by their Bishop in Knoxville, TN.
The liturgy that was giving by the priest was phenomenal. This story is a very profound story in the bible. This is the story of 10 men who were afflicted with leprosy (the concordance will say that they didn’t have leprosy but they had a disease of the skin). The 10 men have an encounter with Jesus as he is making his way into Jerusalem. (First, important fact: Whenever there is an encounter with Jesus you should expect to never be the same.) The cry out to him from a distance “Jesus, have mercy on us!” (Second important fact: you can cry out to him from wherever you are. You are never to far from God, for him to change your circumstances.)
The story goes on to explain that Jesus advised the men “to go show yourselves unto the priest”, the scripture continues to tell us that “and as they did they were cleaned.” (Third important fact: He will do what he said, he will do.)
But, the Juice of the scripture comes when we look at the adoration and gratitude the men had for what Jesus had just done for them. These 10 men had been living with leprosy, and if you know anything about biblical times, you understand that living with leprosy was the worse thing that could happen. A lepor was cast from civilization, in most places they were not even allowed into the village. So here we find these lepords who have been afflicted all of their lives, and treated like third class citizens, and in the matter of one simple cry-out to Jesus they were healed of their affliction.
The scripture goes on to say that of the 10 only 1 returned with adoration and gratitude to Jesus for what he had done. WOW, are you kidding me! Only 1 was grateful and humble enough to go back to the source of his healing, and say thank you. This 1 lepor was also a Samaritan; he was the one that should not have been as grateful as he was. In the scripture Jesus identified him as the “foreigner.”
So as I listened to the sermon this morning, I stopped and thought about the times I asked God to do something for me, and when he did it. I don’t ever remember saying “Thank You.” How many times do you wake up and put your feet on the ground, without taking a few minutes to simply say “Lord, I thank you for today’s awakening.” I’m guilty, I don’t do it everyday. It should be a daily. I’m thankful for the sun, the rain, the dirt, the sounds of birds; because it simply could have been me who was lacking the ability to experience those things. I am grateful for being chosen to live on this planet that God in his wisdom called Earth. Can you imagine what it would be like to be on Mars, and looking at Earth? LOL!
Don’t be like the 9 and become arrogant. Be the odd man out, and remain humble when God blesses you. Remember to give him all the adoration, he is due. You gotta dance with the one who brought you boo!
Sorry if my grammar is incorrect, and off, but when this hit me, I had to get it off my chest.
Live, Laugh, and Love as much as you can!
Kindrick
