Title/ Where are the other nine? Text/ Luke 17:11-19 When I first learned about of the Australian coat of arms, the nation’s official symbol, the most impressive part was about the two Australian animals, a red kangaroo and an emu. Besides the fact that both are found in nowhere else but Australia, they also symbolically carry a very significant meaning. It is often claimed these animals were chosen because neither animal can move backward, but only forward, which symbolises ‘progress’ or ‘advance.’ Granted by King George V on 19 September 1912, the Australian coat of arms has been a proud symbol for many Australians who want their lives to be progressive without any retrogression. I also believe all of you want yours to be of advance every single day. Nevertheless, there’s something we have to know. We believe that our kangaroos and emus can’t physically walk backwards, but that is not quite true. In reality, both animals can move backwards, but only infrequently do. In other words, I can say that our proud Aussie animals in the national symbol mostly (or usually) aim for progress, but not necessarily always. I believe that no one wouldn’t mind seeing his/her own life to be progressive. On the contrary, everyone eagerly wishes their lives to be upgraded as much as possible and as often as possible. In terms of finance, family and health, they really want to live at their best. It is very natural to have such a desire, and no one can blame for that. I also hope that my life gets better every time when tomorrow comes. There’s no problem with that. It’s okay to have a better life. Dream a dream, and try to live it. At the same time, however, we have to prepare ourselves for the life that is different from our expectations. Life is full of ups and downs, and we sometimes walk through the dark tunnels, long or short, shallow or deep. There are a few numbers of people whose lives are seemingly too easy to live, but we know that there isn’t a single life that is actually easy. Everyone in this world has a thousand night-long life stories, but only few of them would share their stories with the public. This morning, we hear a story of a nameless Samaritan man whose life has changed so dramatically. As a leprosy patient or a leper, he probably had lived a very miserable life. The disease he suffered from was thought to be a curse in the Middle Eastern area, so any one who was diagnosed with leprosy had to be relocated after the examination by the priest. Leprosy, or “Hansen’s Disease” in the modern terminology, is an infectious disease that damages or deforms the human skin, nerves, limbs and eyes, but the hardest part for the patients was that they had to be removed from their own families and communities. You might be able to understand how they were deeply hurt not only physically, but also mentally. In other words, the lepers in the 1st century Judea had no hope for dream or progress. But all of a sudden, things have changed thoroughly since the ten lepers, including one Samaritan man, met Jesus Christ in their small village when the Lord and disciples were visiting the border between Samaria and Galilee. “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” Ten lepers called out in a voice, one loud and clear voice, while the Lord was passing the village. We know that Jews generally did not associate with Samaritans because of the historic and racial issues, but such a problem was never a problem for the outcasts who were completely excluded by the mainstream society. In a way, leprosy was breaking down some social barriers, and it even helped the lepers to be one before the Lord in the hope of their physical healing. But after they were all healed on the way to their priests, as requested by Jesus, their unified voice was not heard any longer. They all scattered right after they had found their long-suffering disease was miraculously gone. Only one person out of ten came back to Jesus. He was a Samaritan man, who threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked the Lord. The writer of the Gospel, Luke, describes this in v. 15, saying “One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice.” There were as many as ten people who cried for help in a loud voice, but now only one man is praising God in a loud voice. While having a common hardship, all the lepers were united as one beyond their cultural and racial issues, but their solidarity has easily broken down as their disease disappeared. Only one person, who was a Samaritan, returned to Jesus to thank him, while the other nine were gone to their own ways without thanking their healer Jesus. Jesus asked his disciples. “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Ten lepers got their health back, but nine of them didn’t get back to Jesus. All of those ten lepers got a huge advance, but what Jesus got in return was not very huge. The collect rate was just 10%, and the rest 90% was gone missing. Many preachers preach on the subject of thanksgiving based on this story, persuading their parishioners to be in the “thankful 10%” rather than in the “unthankful 90%.” Yes, that’s a good spiritual lesson. But what I would like to emphasize today is that we should remain sincere under any life circumstances. Just think about how the Israelites did in the Bible. When they were enslaved by the Pharaoh, the Egyptian king, they cried and cried to God for help in one voice. But as soon as Moses led them to the Median Desert under God’s protection, they began to grumble. “If only we had died by the LORDs hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death. (Exodus 16:3)” We human beings are so selfish, and tend to stick together whenever there’s a common issue. We pray to God in one voice when we face any difficulty as a church, which is ideal and positive. However, we tend to become lazy and disobedient to God when everything goes well. When life seems to be easy with any given progress or advance, we do not seek God with all our hearts, until we find ourselves at stake. While everything is fine, there is no or little room for God in our hearts, and we do not desperately pray to God for help in union. How selfish and cunning we are! You know that more and more people are leaving the churches in the developed countries in satisfaction of their lives. They once came to the Lord, kneeling down at Jesus’ feet asking for mercy, and now many of them are gone to their own ways without appreciating the Lord’s blessings. Thankfully, more and more people, especially from the third world countries, are returning to God all around the world. Like the Samaritan man who was discriminated by the Jewish society, the marginalized people have begun to open their hearts to the Christian gospel. Christianity now is no longer a religion of the first world country, and I am sure that the Lord will use the third world countries as His tool for the world mission. Nevertheless, we have to remember the Lord calling the people who did not return after experiencing the God’s blessings. “Where are the other nine?” Jesus is calling sinners. He is still waiting for them to come back. Our Lord wants to share their joy with the people whose lives have been progressed, advanced or upgraded in His grace. We have been so much blessed by God’s help, but what about our spirits? Come back to God, my sisters and brothers, to thank Him and praise Him in a loud voice. Let us be united as one in happiness, as well as in hardship. Even though you experience any kind of good or bad things, you are still children of God, your heavenly Father. Never leave Him after receiving His grace, but stay with Him forever. To those who return to Him in thanksgiving, God will certainly pronounce what Jesus did to the Samaritan guy in v. 19; “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” Amen. (Oct. 13th, 2013 Sunday Worship )
Posted on: Sat, 19 Oct 2013 03:08:21 +0000
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