Introduction:

I recently read that "the average paperboy in the United States makes more than 72 percent of the world's population." To me, that is amazing. Our God has blessed us so richly. Consider your own wealth. Consider the gifts that God has given his church. Count our blessings.

Today as we celebrate God's loving mercy, the loving mercy which moves God to provide for us every day, let's stop and give thanks. Let us not just continue on our way, but as we just sang, NOW thank we all our God. He deserves our thanks. He looks for our thanks.

I. He deserves our thanks

In the gospel lesson before us, Jesus was making his way to Jerusalem. This was his final journey. For he was about to carry out His Father's will and sacrifice himself for the salvation of all mankind. Jesus was resolute in his mission. He was determined to conquer the evil foe.

But Jesus did not blindly go forward, completely wrapped up in his own trials. He noticed those around him, especially the ten lepers who cried out to him for mercy. These ten men were stricken with a terrible disease. It caused lumps, sores, deformities, and people would lose their voices. The people of the day believed it was incredibly contagious and so they banned anyone with leprosy from being a part of society. Lepers had to live in seclusion in small colonies outside of the cities. According to Jewish law leprosy also made a person ceremonially unclean. That meant many things, including the fact they could not go to the temple to worship or offer sacrifices. And at that time in history there was no known cure for leprosy. These poor people were literally the outcasts of society because of the disease.

But they had somehow heard about Jesus and cried out for mercy. Jesus did not ignore them. He told them to go to the temple and show themselves to the priests. They had to be tested by the priests in order to return to society and live normal lives cured of their leprosy. These ten men obviously had faith that Jesus could heal them because they left for Jerusalem without being cured yet. As they traveled to Jerusalem to see the priests, they were miraculously healed by Jesus. Not only did they get their health back, but they would get their lives back.

Can you imagine the joy of those ten men when they were healed? Can you imagine the celebration they must have had as they were walking along? What a tremendous blessing Jesus bestowed upon those lepers! The Son of God truly deserved their thanks. Nine of the ten lepers continued their journey without looking back. One did come back. He shouted in loud voice, praised God, and thanked Jesus. Jesus deserved this thanks for he healed those people of their disease.

We too are sick and deformed. We suffer under the plague of sin. We destroy ourselves with disobedience and ungratefulness. Consider all that God has entrusted to you in this life. Are you using it now to thank God? Are you putting your appreciation to God into practice? Or do you show your ungratefulness by thinking that you will give your time, talents OR treasures instead of your time, talents, AND treasures back to God? Do show ungratefulness for your family members by how you treat them? Do you show your ungratefulness for your job with persistent laziness and inadequate work? The sickness of sin is in us all. And we deserved to be banished from God's house for all eternity. We deserve to suffer hell instead of living in the comfort of heaven.

But God allowed us to cry out for mercy. God hears our cries. He does not ignore us. We are healed because he loves so much. He loves us so much he sent Jesus to cure us from our sickness. Romans 4:25 tells us that "[Jesus] was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification." Jesus lived the holy, innocent life that God demanded as payment for our sins. Jesus gave up all that he had to be put to death on the cross as our substitute. And Jesus was raised to life so that when stand before God on Judgment Day, He will declare us not guilty. We will be allowed back into God's eternal presence for all eternity through faith in Jesus Christ as our savior from sin.

And not only that, but the book of Romans goes on to tell us, "Christ Jesus, who died - more than that, who was raised to life - is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us." Jesus is still hearing our cries for mercy. He is still going to the Father on our behalf. He is still the Good Shepherd who leads his sheep to green pastures and quiet waters. And he is the one who continues to go to the Father when we sin, and He speaks in our defense. In the Gospel of John, Jesus said, "whoever comes to me I will never drive away." Jesus has promised to always be there to heal us spiritually. Jesus Christ truly deserves our thanks.

Transition:

I have seen the gratefulness of God's people here at St. Stephen. As a public minister of the gospel, God provides for my wife and me through your gratefulness to God. I have seen men, women, and children give their time to proclaim God's word to strangers. I have seen dedicated believers giving their talents to God on a weekly basis taking care of God's house and caring for His sheep.

I am not the only one who sees the gratefulness. God sees it also. In fact, He looks for our thanks. He expects our thanks. And that is fitting, because He is God and He gives us a bountiful harvest every day.

II. He looks for our thanks

One leper came back to thank Jesus. He didn't go with the other nine to Jerusalem. It may seem like he was in the minority, but I would propose that with God on his side that one healed leper became the majority. So heeding the will of God, the one leper turned back from the other nine who were healed also. He was living "NOW thank we all our God." He wasn't waiting a minute longer.

One man offered praise and thanks. Jesus was looking for it. He expected it and He showed considerable disappointment when the other nine did not come back. Only the Samaritan foreigner came back to thank Jesus and the Lord commended him for it.

Jesus told the man, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well." Jesus does not throw around the word, "faith" casually. And so I believe that this man had saving faith in Jesus as his Savior, the one who could heal his sins and cure his diseases. The man's faith, given to him by God, made him well both spiritually and physically.

That one man who came back to Jesus put those other nine lepers to shame that day. Does he also put us to shame? We are living and have all that we need due to God's love. Lamentations 3:22-23 tells us, "Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."

God takes care of us spiritually. He gave us His Son to be our Savior from sin. He gives us faith through the Holy Spirit. He allows us to bask in the forgiveness of sins when we receive God's Word and Sacraments. We enjoy a constant healing from sin and look forward to a perfect life in heaven.

God also takes care of us physically. He promises that He will never give us more than we can handle. There may be pain and sickness. There may be trouble and heartache. But if we only look at those things, we will never see how much our blessings from God outweigh those bad things. We have so much food. We have so much money. We have so many clothes. We have such nice houses. God gives and gives and gives.

Let us thank our God now and let us never stop thanking him. Let us thank God with our hearts and hands and voices. May our hearts show the gratitude that we have. God is looking for our thanks. May our hands be lifted up in prayer and sacrifice to thank God. God is looking for our thanks. May our voices shout out our thanks to God for all that he has done. God is looking for our thanks.

Conclusion:

Now thank we all our God. God has truly blessed us with a bountiful harvest. He deserves our thanks. Gratitude is not merely a feeling that we keep trapped inside of us. Thankfulness also shows itself in words and actions. That is a fact. Jesus is looking for our thanks. Now thank we all our God. AMEN.