Pastor Ralph Douglas West - What Are The Odds? 1 Out Of 10 - Luke 17:11-19

0:03 This is the day the Lord has made. We rejoice. Let me say that one more time. This is the day. I know you're still caught up with His goodness and His mercy, but this is the day the Lord has made. We rejoice, and we are glad in it. Thank you choir for blessing us as you do every week.

0:32 I hope that you pray for them. That's a lot of work that go into encouraging us on this morning. Thank you for the musical selections and the comfort not only that it brings to us as a congregation, but in light of our hearts been broken, our sister, Sheila Jackson Lee, folding up a tent at such a young age of 74. I know at 20 you think 74, the person is an Antinuvian, but you get closer along the way, you see how reachable that age is. And for you to select the music that you did today brings comfort, I pray, not just to us, but also to her family as we pray for them and comfort us as a congregation living in a time and a climate that we're living in.

1:32 And so we are rejoiced today to be here, to hear God speak to us through scripture and through prayer and through sermon. Luke chapter 17 is our text for this morning. If you have the title of the sermon, it sounds like I'm going to give you some tips on how to gamble. Not. But I want to tag this text, what are the odds? If you had a spread one to ten, what would be the odds? Let me read to you the story. And then you think along the lines and you too ask yourself, well, what are the odds?

2:31 Bring all of yourself to this story. Now, in fact, you might want to read it with me. And let's read it slowly, intentionally. We're not in a hurry. It's not a long sermon today, maybe 15 minutes. Well, 17, 30, I don't know. But let's read it together. And you pick out and ask yourself, well, what are the odds? Beginning at verse 11. Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.

3:27 When he saw them, he said, Go show yourselves to the priests. And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this one foreigner? Then he said to them, rise and go your way. Your faith has made you well. This is the word of God.

4:21 Amen. You may be seated. I could tell you enjoyed reading that story. If you were asked to draw a picture of what gratitude or thankfulness of mercy looked like,

4:47 what picture do you think that you would draw? Children have such an imagination. I've always enjoyed, even though I never had the ministry to minister to children, I've always found children's responses to the religious fascinating. Their minds wander all over the place. This actually happened when a Sunday school teacher asked her class to draw a picture of what the gratitude of mercy looks like. That's a big order to fill. But if you don't tell children of its enormity, they can do it.

5:43 And so the images came in, the sketches that these children worked at in their Sunday school class came in. One fabulous painting was of chocolates. They were thankful for chocolates. Well, I mean, I know that you don't eat chocolate, but chocolate lovers, they're thankful for chocolate. See? One student in her class drew the picture of a house

6:20 and explain why they were grateful for that and another painted the picture of parents and family and they were grateful and thankful for that. And then one student drew a hand, a hand to define the thankfulness and the gratitude of mercy.

6:47 And the hand needed some explanation. And the student simply said, well, I remember you and I drew your hand. It's a picture of your hand. When I came to this class, I didn't know anybody. it was your hand that opened the door and welcomed me in.

7:09 When I was afraid and lonely because of the unfamiliarity of the people in the room, it was your hand on my shoulder that comforted me. It was your hand that escorted other students in the class toward me, and you introduced me, and so I thought hand described the gratitude, to the thankfulness of mercy. Children draw the darndest thanks.

7:39 You know, the hand is a big image in the Bible for God. We know that God is spirit and we worship him in spirit and truth, but there's a big word we throw around, anthropomorphism. And it simply says we put these human appendages in play to help us define who God is. Anthropomorphism. And so what happens is we talk about the eyes of God, the ears of God, the mouth of God, God's speaking. And we know that's different, but it helps us put our arms around it. But the hand of God, you said it yourself, God's hand was on me. You bypassed something that could have been a tragedy. God protected me. God's hand was upon me. And in some ways, this story, though it's not a highlight of hands. As a metaphor, you see God at work in the life of 10 lepers that's taken a journey on the borderlands on their way to Jerusalem. Jesus is always on his way somewhere.

9:06 That's one of the unique characteristics you pick up when you read about Jesus, that he's never stationary in any one particular place. He's always on his way somewhere, always going somewhere. And here when we read in verse 11, we see that he's on his way to a specific place and it's called Jerusalem. And he's on his way. He's making his way from one place to the other. And while he was traveling the borderlands on the edge of Samaria of Galilee, and as he was going through a village, he sees 10 lepers. That's a sight to behold. 10 lepers.

9:57 You could say 10 dying men, 10 men that's just waiting for the leprosy to progress to a point to which they completely collapse. And then the emphasis when we tell the story rests, unfortunately, on the nine who didn't say because of what Jesus would do for them, thank you. The real strength rests on the line that one said thank you. And that's it. That's the sermon. What more do you want?

10:38 I mean, what more do people want this morning? There were nine, ten lepers walking the borderland, and they were healed. and unfortunately we pay more attention to the nine than the one and the story is one said thank you and the benediction was given and they went home and that was it a couple of things happened in between this that I want to focus in on now If you're not careful, you can confuse, you can confuse ritual acts, good acts, A-C-T-S, acts of worship for the mercy of gratitude. Let me say it one more time.

11:37 If you're not careful, you can do all the right things, but there's no guarantee that you have expressed genuine gratitude to God. Let me say it one more time. Your life can be spared. you can say words like God and Jesus and grace and still not say had it not been for the grace of God I'm not throwing no shade.

12:19 My job is to listen to words, how words are used, and interpret those words for those who will hear to say, what does this mean? So don't confuse your ceremonial act to believe that it stands in the place of gratitude. I don't believe you, Pastor West. I knew you wouldn't believe me, so let's look at the story for just a moment. Verse 11, you see it? we're in Jerusalem or we're on the borderlands, we're coming through a village and there are, can we agree, that there are 10 leopards on the road.

13:10 And three things happen with these leopards on the road looking backwards after one says thank you. look at what they do together on the road where if you read too fast you'll say what's the big deal? They at least were ceremonially rich in the way that they responded to Jesus. Well, here's what I mean. You can have reverence without gratitude. We've come here this morning and I would say that as I listened and I was jotting my last notes down, trying to clear my thinking, to unclutter it. I said, listen to that music and the way that the people are responding.

14:11 I wanted to see it. I was not looking at it on the screen. I said, listen to the voices of the people. there is a vocal reverence that's being projected, not just from the choir, but from the response of the people. I said, that is reverence. Pastor West, where did you get that from? Look at where the lepers stood when they approached Jesus. The scripture says that they were at a distance. leopards knew the rules of culture that they were not a stand up where the wind would blow down and the spores could peel against their skin and those spores collect upon and contaminate people in that distance so they had to stay at a distance and one of the words of reverence then would be that their cultural religiosity is that they stood at a distance away from the Lord whom they would call upon.

15:16 And so they are reverent in their disposition in coming to Jesus. The same way that you are. I mean, you come here and you know that this room is different from all the other rooms that you have visited in the past week. And you say, this is a reverent room. In fact, you'll say it to your children or grandchildren or you'll say it to a friend that you would bring who may not be familiar with church. And you say, no, we're just saying that this is a reverent space. You may not want to light your cigarette up this morning in church. You may not want to pull out your scotch.

15:59 That's what I mean. It's a reverent space. Well, you would say the people who are unfamiliar with the environment, there are things that we do and things that we do not do here because of the reverence. And what they did was out of reverence, they stood at a distance. And yet you can be reverent and unthankful.

16:23 There are people who will come here week in and week out. And I was so thankful to see Kenneth lead us all and let you sing some of it. Because if you're not careful, you can come through an entire church service. And you'll sit there and you'll never open up your mouth. But you too are a worshiper that must participate. I said must participate. So anytime that you don't get anything out of worship, it's because you're not giving in worship. Reverence and yet you can be reverent And not be grateful For God's mercy It moves from Reverence to a recognition They cried out Jesus Have mercy on us This is a chorus that they Incorporated in their dying This would be what they would call what?

17:25 A requiem. So they raise their requiem. They know they're dying. They're just waiting to fall over and die. They have been excommunicated from their community. Nobody wants to be bothered with them because they're lepers. They're dischargeable, disposables. And they're about to die. And yet they raise their voices. Son of David have mercy on us Active pity Do you have just a little mercy That you could give to us and there's this recognition in us that we know that there is a power greater than ourselves that is able to do something with us son of David have mercy on us parents know exactly what I'm talking about that moment when you have to release your children to the world and you can't be there to oversee them.

18:31 And you say, Lord, whatever happened, have mercy on my children. Yeah. You're going out into the world, into a new space to work, or interact with people, have mercy on me. A recognition. But then finally these leopards have a response. they receive mercy and they go and they're cleansed the response is God hears that cry have mercy on us Jesus says go show yourself and be cleansed. That's why I said about the hand of God, though it's not, the metaphor implies that God is guiding them. God's hand is on them.

19:27 And that's the sermon. What more you want? Oh, I know what you like mean. There is another side of it. All ten are lepers. For those of you that really don't understand leprosy, let me in short, because I don't want to get caught up on... Leprosy was a death sentence. Leprosy started in some undetectable, minute place, and it begins to eat away at the neurological system. your sensitivities began to not only be desensitized,

20:17 but you die in an area and it becomes progressive. And after a while, it is so severe that literally fingers and toes and nose and ears just start falling off. There are leprous colonies now, and this is where people go because you're just gonna die. And now, out of mercy, these people have been cleansed. I'm trying to let you see if you can get this. Now, don't be the Christian that have heard the story so much that you lose it. Okay, that didn't work. You didn't get that. Imagine God.

21:04 After your doctor has pronounced death on you, spares your life longer than intended. that's the point that's the point I mean all of us are going to die I mean we're going to all fold up our tents and we're going to move upstairs that's just part of life it's part of life I remember when the doctors diagnosed my mother at a particular year she actually lived 27 years longer than the doctor predicted. I remember that. Yeah, you know. So it's amazing about people that's coming to the end. She called her children in, she says, and she described to us how she wanted things done.

21:59 And then she said, now don't be falling all over the casket. Those of you who knew my mother, she could be a little different. And she said, don't be falling all over the casket. She said, and I forgot about it. She said, because remember now, I'm living 27 years longer than the doctor. So I'm living off of mercy and grace. Now you get to, there you go. And so that's the story. That's the end of the story. That would have been it. They go on to the priest. They get their certificate. They're recommitted into society. And so the 10 are moving in that direction. All 10 received the same mercy. All 10 were in the same condition.

22:53 All 10 heard the same words. All 10 were at the church without walls. There you go. And on that way there, one turned back. And here's where the story moves from a kind of a confusion to a refusion. If it's a word, I make it up, baptize the same to play. So you look at the second part of the story and it focuses in on the gratitude of the mercy that had been extended to all of them and it says, I'm asking you, how many came back? One.

23:47 Just one. Let me say it one more time. All 10 heard the same message, got the same response, same instructions. Nine went on. That's important. I'm going to come to that at the end. Nine goes, but one at this point moves from don't confuse to the whole idea of don't refuse the gratitude of mercy that has been given to you. Look at a couple of things that happened to this. I love it. You see in this second move that something happens. it begins with a perception they're all on their way verse 15 to show themselves to the priest to be cleansed and praising God and all that kind of stuff but then it says verse 15 one of them when he saw he was healed, came back.

25:03 Now, I don't mean to wear you out about this, but I'm asking you. because you can get so excited about how God has healed you that you forget to see that God has healed you. I'm not trying to play on words, be clever, any of that. But the writer, Luke, who's a physician and a historian, knows how to use words. He says, one came back when he saw. And so he returns because of his perception. He sees what God has done. God not only says, now go show yourself, but he sees that he has been healed. And one of the things that we could ask God to do today is, Lord, peel back the scales from my eyes that I might be able to see your goodness and your mercy at work in my life.

26:13 Some years ago, I read about a hawk, the acuity of the vision of a hawk. A hawk can perch on the edge of the Empire State Building in Manhattan, New York and locate a quarter on the street below. All because of its ability to see. The kingfisher bird has two sets of eyes. One set that the kingfisher bird sees while he's cruising over the water to locate his fish and then dive into the water and open up the second set to see underneath the water, in the water, to catch the fish that he sees above it. And I thought years ago when I read about the hawk and the kingfisher bird, if an animal has the sense to see a coin and a fish, surely all of what God has given to us, we ought to be able to open our eyes to be able to perceive what God has done for us.

27:33 And there comes that moment where you have to say to God or say to yourself, Lord, open my eyes that I may see your goodness, see your mercy, see your grace, that God's mercy and grace is new every morning. then in the same line when it says that he saw that he was healed then it moves from perception to a growing proclamation because the next thing it says is praising God in a loud voice Now I'm not getting ready to ask you to start yelling all over the building But sometimes When the Lord does something for you You ought to open your mouth And be a witness Now this is not accidental That he opens his mouth in a loud voice and praise God.

28:56 Because remember in the preceding verse, they didn't have a problem opening their mouths in a loud voice asking God for what they needed. And so with the same voice, if you can ask God in a loud voice for what you need, you ought to at the same time have a loud voice to thank him for what he has delivered to you. Preach, Pastor Wes.

29:26 Now, the loud voice is not just making noise. Not just making noise. And all the people that sit down, that's undignified. I've seen some of y'all at sporting events that I'm ashamed to know who you are. I am. I said, Lord, they said, that's your memo. Don't, don't. I said, I know the way when I'm preaching on Sunday, they don't ever say anything about how good God is. I know they're not sitting up there because somebody caught a ball, yelling and screaming with a beer in their hand. I know they're not doing that. Now, I'm just giving you a rough time, but the truth is there are people that would give more honor and praise to a team that ain't never won a Super Bowl, about a player that ain't never woke you up in the morning, to the God that wakes you up every morning and watches over you all day and all night.

30:35 And somewhere you ought to learn how to open up your mouth and shout loud and thank God for what God has done for you. Or wave your hand or clap your hand or stand on your feet. Now, let me tell you what happens. Many times when you at least act like you believe in what has been said, your witness affects people sitting in the room. I'm telling you I always tell people this I respect so much what all of you do I want you to respect the integrity of what I'm doing you can change a person's life if you act like you believe do you know what one of the criticisms in Christianity today is where people say why don't you follow Christ they say because the people they say they follow him if that's what you look like in following Jesus, I don't want to have nothing to do with it.

31:48 Sometimes you ought to just act like you're excited about who God is and what Jesus is doing and the Holy Spirit that lives in you. And if you're not, then you ought to say, Lord, fill me this morning with your Holy Spirit that I may experience the joy that I used to have 30 years ago when I met you, 20 years ago when I met you, With a loud voice.

32:15 He praised God. And then you ought to praise God sometimes for what the Lord has done for you. Let me ask you this question. Has God done anything for you that you would say, now that's worthy of my praise? Now I know how tough this can be. I know how tough this can be. Let me, I shouldn't tell you this, but I'm going to say it anyway. You know, I always tell people, confession good for you, so it ain't worth nothing for your reputation. I know how tough this can be because I'm a self-contained, very into. my presence kind of person. I never want to be out of my presence in a way.

33:12 Now, don't judge me. I'm looking at people. This is my story. This is my story. And so, so, so, so, I know I represent you. I never want to be out of sorts. That's my point So at times people like me I know none of you are like this But people like me There are other people like me Who say well I want to be I want to be dignified For the sake of The people that I represent And then I look back In the rear view mirror Thank you. and I start thinking of what God has done. See, because I got my story, you know, of how God healed my body and how I've had to live with my own sickness and my own disease and how God has kept me.

34:20 And every now and then I got to watch myself because I get real excited and I really don't care who's around. So my point is, I know how you can get, especially men when you say, well, I don't want to see people, let me see like that. But at the same time, I know they sit down and say, now if the Lord can move west, I know the Lord can move me.

34:49 The point is, there comes a time in your life with all of your dignity, sophistication. God says, I'm not interested in all of that. I want to know, do you have the common sense to open your mouth and just give me praise for who I am? And what I don't want God to have to do is allow me to experience some kind of hurt or injury to get praise out of me. So when I wake up in the morning, literally, I used to say I'm glad to get up in the morning, but when I say that now, I'm aware, aware, I don't have to be here, and so now I'm able to say, Lord, if it had not been for your mercy and your grace, I would not be here this morning. Yeah. I'm almost through.

35:48 But then something else. Now, you begin with a perception. Why do you get excited, Pastor West? Because I see what God has done. And it grows into a proclamation where I raise my voice and I praise God. I mean, I wait. when I come in here I come in the room to worship God.

36:19 I come in this room to wave my hands and to pray and praise and to worship God. And then notice the last thing that the man does. Do you see it? It's the fruitful of frustration. He falls before God. Now what's funny is as much as I may be hesitant to yell out on certain things the one thing I'm not ashamed to do, this is strange because you would say, well it seems like it's easier just to yell out and praise God than prostration I'm never ashamed to lay out before God And now that's the one thing.

37:11 Because 36 years ago, that's where I was, prostrate before God. When the Lord revealed to me, see, whatever you think of me, whatever you say about me, The one thing I'm clear on, 36 years ago on my face, the Lord told me to do what I'm doing right now in this place. Priest Pastor West. Now that much I'm aware of. And there comes a moment where your gratitude ought to put you in a state of prostration where you're laying before God. It's your way of saying to God, I thank you. I can't get any lower than I am to say thank you. And if you want to change the temperature in your home, let thankfulness be the thermostat that controls the temperature and just say thank you sometime.

38:07 Let your children know that whatever you have or don't have is a result of the goodness and the grace and the mercy and the gratitude of God. I may not have all of what I want to have But the Lord still watches over me Every single day of my life Preach Pastor West I'm done now I'm done I'm done One last thing Don't abuse Don't get it confused Don't refuse And don't abuse Don't you dare abuse gratitude don't do that Can I ask you one last, who came back and said thank you? And the identity of the one is what?

39:06 There you go. Now that's not there by accident. For those of you who didn't hear it, it's a Samaritan. The other nine evidently were Jews. And the rest on this one out of ten business is that if you were taken aback, it would have been the unlikely thinker that would have said thank you. Because the unlikely didn't have nearly as much to thank God for as the nine. The nine are Jews. The nine got the Torah. They got Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, and Joshua. The nine got the story. They know how God opened up the Red Sea, delivered Israel from the hands of Pharaoh, crossed them over the Red Sea.

40:08 And even in that disobedience, God kept them for 40 years. They ate without planting a tree. They drank from wells that they never dug. Their clothes never ran out. Their soles and their shoes were always in place. And when you think about how good God has been to his covenant people It should have been them that came back saying Lord I want to thank you But if you're not careful God can bring you through Yes he can He can bring you through COVID and hospitalization And sickness and death and you'll turn around and never open up your mouth and take the disposition that God should have done this for us. But the fact that you are here and I am here is not because we're deserving to be here.

41:08 We're here because of the mercy and the goodness and the grace and the love of an eternal God. Don't you ever get so sophisticated. you can't open your mouth and tell God thank you. And I'll tell you this, not only don't you ever get that way, God expects you. Not your mom and your daddy. Not your brother and your sister. God says, if I woke you up, you open up your mouth and tell me thank you. I'm done now. And I'm going to tell you, I've met a lot of people that say they're Christians. and I think that's one of the places if we have missed it is to just call it what it is there are many of you that say you're Christian I don't know how much Christian you are if you never open your mouth to tell God thank you I'm not talking about volume now I'm talking about genuine authentic gratitude I got a lot of stuff God has blessed me Let me tell you something I ain't never said I never looked at stuff And equated stuff As God's blessings I want you to hear what I'm saying.

42:46 Because I hear this foolishness. I got a lot of stuff. Over the years, you accumulate. If you live, you just accumulate a lot of stuff. I ain't never went in the closet and say, because I got that, God blessed me. That ain't no blessing to me. That's just, either you bought it, got a good deal.

43:08 I'm serious about that. I drive up to my house. I never go there and tell them, man, look at what the Lord has done. I thank him, but I ain't, no. Because I know houses over the last weeks that got destroyed in the hurricane. Go out to my car. I appreciate them. But all that's just tin and rubber. It's some nice tin and rubber. But it's tin and rubber you got to pay for. but that ain't what I I ain't never spend no time thanking God on a Sunday for that but I can tell you what I do thank him for when I look at my family or my wife my children I say Lord thank you when I see that God has kept them because here's the other thing when you really become a person of gratitude you've changed the focus less on you and on somebody else.

44:09 I didn't make that up. When they started the prayer, they didn't say, Lord, have mercy on me. In this one, they said, Lord, have mercy on us. We are lepers. And when God has been good to you, you stop thanking God just for you. And you start thanking God for other people. Every single day of my life as a pastor of this church, I spend some time thanking God for the people of this congregation. And ask God, watch over them. Keep them. Sustain them. Protect them. Bless them. I'm done now. That wouldn't mean to grow in Christ. If I'm still praying the same prayer I prayed 36 years ago, I ain't done nothing.

45:06 But it's really when you can begin to pray and intercede for other people. I look in this congregation and I know people who had tough times, rough. They worked, they served. and it looked like the more they moved forward, the waves of life always pushing them backwards. Lord, be merciful. And yet, they're the ones that never complained. Never complained. I got to sit down now. But in all things, the scripture says, give God thanks. Don't sit down yet. Let me tell you this story. That way, you won't sit down and stand back up. just finish it with me and I'm through and I'll give you the abbreviated version for those that like to read stories and maybe a mission history of what God is doing remember the name Corrie ten Boone Corrie Boone becomes this world famous Christian who tells her stories of surviving Nazi Germany, her sister Betsy but one of the famous stories that she tells is in the concentration camps where women were just stacked, literally stacked on each other, having to live under those conditions.

46:25 And the word she used, it says, it was nauseating because you would come across those stalk fields and smell that scent. Her sister Betsy would get sick and the women would be abused by these soldiers. Abused. Whatever abuse that you can think of, they would be abused by. One day, Corrie said that she was slapping at her head and on her legs, and they looked in there and said, Lord, fleas, fleas, it just infected the barracks.

46:58 And on this day, these Nazi, the SS, these soldiers were coming in to do what they do and abusing these women. But when they saw the fleas, they backed out. And Corrie had noticed that her older sister Betsy had been praying. She said, what are you praying about? She said, I just wanted to thank God for the fleas.

47:30 Some of you have grown in your gratitude like Betsy. People, friends have said to you, how can you be thankful in what you have been through?

47:53 How can you really show gratitude with what you've gone through? and you're able to say, look, I don't like it either. I prefer conditions to be different. But I read in 1 Thessalonians 5, in all things, give God thanks. As we cry for God's mercy this morning, can we begin as a congregation?

48:31 I had a wonderful meeting with our new deacons in our church, and I told them, I said, you know, what we used to have in 2020, we don't have that no more, but we got better. let's focus on what we have and no attention on what we used to have. Thank God for remembering all that. But we still have a city and a community of people who are lost and need Christ. We still have children that we have to bless and young people that we have to care for and young families that we have to help nurture and young people and single mothers that are raising their children and caring for them. Those are the people that we have to care for. So it ain't nothing we can do about what's in our rearview mirror.

49:27 So we got a window to look to the future. And let's be thankful that God has given us that. And that could be the change of everything that we do in the life of our church. Our Father, we thank you. This morning for your word and for your mercy, for your gratitude and for your grace. and we all stand in agreement that the most likely people we thought would say thank you turn out to be those that didn't say thank you and the most unlikely people people with bad backgrounds and messed up resumes and horrid stories and brokenness and fractures here are the ones that you say, but that's the one that came back to give me thanks.

50:26 May we go home today with them last words where you champion and said, your faith has made you well. Thank you for this congregation of people, those that are listening around the globe. May we in our own homes today when we prepare to eat whatever it is that somebody say, let's thank the Lord. Let's really thank him for what he's provided for us. In some cases it will be more and others it will be less. And then Lord, we know that you're able, we know that you're able to supply our needs according to your riches and glory in, through, with, and by Jesus Christ. It's in his name we pray and we thank you.

51:22 All God's people say together, amen. Give God praise today, church. The door to church is open.