"Daily Thanksgiving!" Luke 17:11-19

Thanksgiving Eve                                                 11/22/23
Sermon Text: Luke 17:11-19
Sermon Theme: Daily Thanksgiving!
I. Thank the Lord for Infirmities That Bring Us Together!(vs.11,12)
II. Thank the Lord Who Hears and Answers Our Prayers.(vs.13,14)
III. Thank the Lord Who Receives Our Thanksgiving! (Vs. 15,16)
IV. Thank the Lord Who Raises Us To Follow Him! (Vs.17-19)

I.N.R.I. In the 116th Psalm, the Psalmist asks, “Psa 116:12 What shall I render to the LORD For all His benefits toward me?” What benefits did the Psalmist receive from the Lord? Sickness. Surrounded by the pains of death. Despair. A troubled conscience laid hold of by the pangs of hell. Sorrows. Trouble. Struggling he gathers with the church praying, "O LORD, I implore You, deliver my soul!" .   In the Temple the priest proclaims God’s Word promising to hear all who call upon Him in faith. At the altar the gracious Lord draws near to His people through the sin offering assuring them of His righteousness and mercy. Clinging to the promise of Christ the Psalmist rejoices singing, Psa 116:5-9 Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; Yes, our God is merciful. (6) The LORD preserves the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me. (7) Return to your rest, O my soul, For the LORD has dealt bountifully with you. (8) For You have delivered my soul from death, My eyes from tears, And my feet from falling. (9) I will walk before the LORD In the land of the living.”
  What will he render to the Lord for all benefits? How will he celebrate “thanksgiving”? You know! You sing his response in the offertory of Divine Service 1- remember? “I will offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving and will call on the name of the Lord. I will take the cup of salvation and will call on the name of the Lord.” The Psalmist will feast on the unleavened bread of thanksgiving on that day along with the flesh of the peace offering.(Lev. 7:11-15). He will drink the wine of the cup of salvation calling on the name of Jesus.
    How will you celebrate thanksgiving? Get drunk tonight? Watch a parade? Run a turkey trot? Eat a lot with relatives? Drink more? Watch football? Fall asleep? Frenziedly plan your strategy to seize black Friday bargains? What will you render to the Lord God for all His benefits to you? Learn from the thankful Samaritan - Daily Thanksgiving!
I. Thank the Lord for Infirmities That Bring Us Together!(vs.11,12)
II. Thank the Lord Who Hears and Answers Our Prayers.(vs.13,14)
III. Thank the Lord Who Receives Our Thanksgiving! (Vs. 15,16)
IV. Thank the Lord Who Raises Us To Follow Him! (Vs.17-19)
I.   Jesus teaches the Father’s baptized children to pray, “Our Father, give us this day our daily bread.” What does this mean? - We believe, teach, and confess: “God certainly gives daily bread to everyone without our prayers, even to all evil people, but we pray in this petition that God would lead us to realize this and to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving.”
      What daily bread do we find in this historical narrative? (Lk.17:11-12). Jesus is headed to Jerusalem. All sacrifices will find their fulfillment in Him. He is the Lamb of God. The One Innocent Man without sinful spot or blemish on whom the Father has laid the entire sins of the world. He is The Scapegoat for all of Adam’s sons and daughters. He is the Bread of Heaven - come down to bring life to this world by offering His flesh and blood to reconcile sinners to God the Father.
    He journeys on the border of Samaria and Jewish Galilee - members of a family long divided by rebellion, sin, and exile. Entering a certain village - a blessing of the Father’s daily bread. Ten men meet Him. They have received a special blessing of daily bread - leprosy. Incurable. A death sentence that isolated them away from the healthy. Is suffering a disease a reason for thanksgiving? Shouldn’t we rather “curse God and die!” as Job’s wife advised him when stricken with an incurable skin disease? Remember Job’s answer? Job 2:10 But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
    Leprosy had driven these ten men away from their families. When healthy the nine Jewish men of their group would’ve had nothing to do with a half-breed Samaritan. Their disease brought them together as fellow sufferers. It taught them compassion and care for one another.
    Daily thanksgiving means that we thank our Father even for our cancers, diabetes, arthritis, miscarriages, and our sinful weakness and failings. Thank the Lord for infirmities that bring us together to have compassion and care for one another - dropping the labels and seeing one another as God’s precious child whom we serve in our weakness. Paul teaches us daily thanksgiving in suffering. 2Co 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, (4) who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. (5) For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ.
II. “A thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan” is what Paul called his infirmity. What did he do? Pray! Daily thanksgiving is fervent praying - throwing all our worries on our Heavenly Father for He worries for you! (Lk.17:13) Their sickness has served them well - they are brought to Jesus - they pray to Him! “Have mercy on us!” Three times Paul leaded with the Lord to take his infirmity away.
    Jesus hears and answers the prayers of the congregation of the lepers. (Lk.17:14) He sees them with His compassionate eyes. He speaks His Word of Promise filling them with hope. “Go, show the priests!” The priests alone could declare them healed - they cling to His Word of promise obeying His Word. Immediately as they walk towards Jerusalem their leprous sores are healed, flesh fully restored, the stench of death is replaced with newborn skin - the sweet smell of new life fully restored.
    Daily thanksgiving is rejoicing that our heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers through our Brother Jesus comforting us by the Holy Spirit with forgiveness of all sins, life restored, salvation assured. We hear Jesus’ voice as He prays His Words through our mouths by His Spirit back to Our Father in heaven.  
    Jesus heard Paul’s prayer also, but not with physical healing for the thorn in his flesh. 2Co 12:9-10 And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (10) Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” Never doubt that your prayer is heard. Jesus Himself prays the Father for you. The Holy Spirit prays through your suffering painful groans. He hears. He answers. His strength is made perfect in your weakness. How can you be certain? He mercifully chose you in Christ before the foundation of the world to be His own beloved child. How can you be certain? He called you by name in Holy Baptism sealing His Name upon you for His sake. The doctrine of election fills us with thanksgiving for suffering. We believe, teach, and confess, “48 Furthermore, this doctrine provides glorious consolation under the cross and amid temptations. In other words, God in His counsel, before the time of the world, determined and decreed that He would assist us in all distresses. He determined to grant patience, give consolation, nourish and encourage hope, and produce an outcome for us that would contribute to our salvation. 49 Also, Paul teaches this in a very consoling way. He explains that God in His purpose has ordained before the time of the world by what crosses and sufferings He would conform every one of His elect to the image of His Son. His cross shall and must work together for good for everyone, because they are called according to God’s purpose. Therefore, Paul has concluded that it is certain and beyond doubt that neither “tribulation, or distress,” neither “death nor life,” or other such things “will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (See Romans 8:28, 29, 35, 38, 39.)(F.C.SD Art. XI).  
Give thanks daily - pray - your Lord and Father promises to hear and answer your prayers through His Son! Perfect healing awaits us on the last day when God the Holy Spirit raises our corruptible bodies incorruptible - eternally freed from sin - to be like Jesus - seeing our Father with immortal eyes.
III. Receive your daily bread- all that supports your body and life - with thanksgiving. It is your heavenly Father’s free gift. Sinners who deserve nothing are given life. (Lk.17:15-16) One of the ten former lepers seeing his flesh restored returns to give thanks to Jesus. He comes to Church - Jesus is present the God/Man in His flesh - where two or three gather to hear His Word preached.
      Jesus doesn’t shun the Samaritans praise and thanksgiving. He doesn’t reject him worshiping at His feet because of his past disease or blood line. He receives this healed man’s loudly giving glory to God clinging to His feet giving Him thanks.
      Daily thanksgiving is rejoicing that Jesus receives us clinging to His living body and blood in bread and wine at His Table. He doesn’t shun us sinners. He invites us to His table - we take up the cup of salvation giving thanks to our God and Lord - Jesus - who is here with His body and blood for our salvation - ever making us new again.
IV. Daily thanksgiving flows from Jesus to us. He raises us up to follow Him. (Lk. 17:17-18) We love to fixate on this passage, as we identify as the Samaritan giving thanks - aren’t we here tonight?? We miss hearing the heart of our Savior breaking for those who walked away from Him to get on with real living. We are like them - let’s worship when it fits our schedule and make it quick - we want to get on with real living.
      Listen to what Jesus speaks to the thankful Samaritan. (Lk. 17:19) Greek doesn’t specify if you are coming or going - contextually the word πορεύομαι which in our text is translated - “go your way” could be just as well translated, “pursue the journey you have entered.” Jesus raises this man from thanksgiving to thanks living. “Follow Me! Journey to Jerusalem! Behold My glory as I am crucified for you! See, the other nine who didn’t return - as the Good Shepherd - I am going to Jerusalem, to betrayal, suffering, the cross, death, the grave, to the resurrection, marching triumphantly through hell preaching Satan’s defeat, and forever bursting the bonds of death. I will seek out those nine -by sending the gift of the Holy Spirit upon My Church through the preaching of the Apostles. Cutting them to the heart that they repent are baptized and return to give thanks at My Table - in the breaking of bread and the prayers.”
    Daily Thank the Lord Jesus! Daily God the Holy Spirit raises you up from sin, death, sickness, despair to new baptismal life, richly forgiving you all your sins through Christ’s sacrifice. Daily He calls you by the Gospel. Enlightens you with His gifts. Sanctifies and keeps you pursing the journey of faith following Jesus - began at the font, strengthened through His Supper, soon to be completed - as we sing, 4 Even so, Lord, quickly come To Thy final harvest home; Gather Thou Thy people in, Free from sorrow, free from sin, There, forever purified, In Thy garner to abide: Come with all Thine angels, come, Raise the glorious harvest home.” (LSB #892) Psa 116:12-13 What shall I render to the LORD For all His benefits toward me? (13) I will take up the cup of salvation, And call upon the name of the LORD.”Amen