Why Hasn’t Anyone Returned?

I know we’re in this weird season where we’re in between Thanksgiving and going into Christmas. I don’t know how many of y’all, those who work or I guess those who are in school, hopefully y’all are just winding down. Finals are probably going through finals now, but if you work, man, I am slowly checking out for the rest of the year, but it’s a good time. It’s time that we all get to be with family and have time to spend together in fellowship, and so it’s awesome to see you all here this evening.

We are going through a series called 10 Questions Asked that Jesus Asked, and tonight we are going to address a question that Jesus asked in Luke 17:11-19, and the question is, why hasn’t anyone returned to thank me except this foreigner? Let me be honest, when I read that question, I didn’t know what I was signing up for, and I did not understand that question until I was able to get into the word and grapple with it and try to figure out what it says, but one thing I have to appreciate before we get into the text is the title of the series, 10 Questions Jesus Asked.

As a lawyer, we’re taught part of our job is to ask questions, ask questions to witnesses and whatever they say, take that and make arguments based off of that, and one really cool part that we get to do is cross-examination, and during school, being taught what cross-examination is, is typically it’s not you’re not asking a question, wondering what the answer is. You’re asking a question regardless of what the answer is because you’re trying to make a point, and it’s impressive how good Jesus is at doing that. He goes in and that question, it’s almost, it’s a rhetorical question. He’s not asking for a response. He’s asking, he is trying to create a thought to the person he is asking the question to and for us as well, and so let’s jump into that and discover what is that point that Jesus tried to make to us.

Luke 17:11-19, it’s on the screen, but I’m gonna read it for us. 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 pity on us. When he saw them, he said, go show yourself to the priests, and as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw that 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 foreigner? Then he said to him, rise and go, your faith has made you well.

And so what what I’m gonna do here is, is we’re, the verses 11 through 17 are leading us into that context of what’s going on and setting up the scene, and so that’s what we’re gonna do, is work through those first eight, six, seven verses, and then get to the question, and and hopefully have it set up to where we could understand what is the point that Jesus is making here.

And so verse 11 reads that, that now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. One thing that we know about this area, and here’s a map that I pulled out from Google, but showing kind of where everything is in in the land of Palestine at the time, where Israel was, and we see Judea at the bottom, that’s where Jerusalem is, Bethlehem, Bethany, and then you you see north of that Samaria, and then north of that Galilee, and so Jesus is traveling from Galilee to Jerusalem, okay. So if you see where Galilee is, he has to go south. Now what we know is that typically Jews, they do not want to go through Samaria, they want to go around Samaria.

And so, and and why is that? Why do we, why why is that noted? Why is that common? Why was that a common practice by Jewish people at the time? It was because of who lived in Samaria. Samaritans. What we know about Samaritans, the the Jews of the day, back when Jesus was on the earth, disliked Samaritans because of their unorthodox religious practices, and because their mixed racial heritage. And so a lot of these people were people who were not purely Jewish. They were intermarried with other races, ethnicities, and along with that, when you mix in races and ethnicities, is other cultures, and also influences of other religions. And so it’s no longer, and Samaritans are practicing what the Levitical law says, but at times also incorporating the influences of other cultures and other religions. And so because of that, the Jews, because they’re so clean, says back and says, we don’t want anything to do with that. We do not want to influence ourselves with them. And to the point where they don’t even travel through Samaria, they travel around Samaria.

And so we find Jesus traveling along the border between Samaria and Galilee. And he he comes to a certain village, and we go to the next verse, and it says, and he was going into a village. It doesn’t say exactly what village, but he goes into a village. And ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance, and called out in a loud voice, Jesus, Master, have pity on us.

And so we see that there are ten men. And why, let’s first talk about leprosy for a second, and talk about what does that mean? Why is that, why do we have to emphasize that? And so leprosy here, we’re talking about a disease affecting the skin, a general term for a skin disease. It is not a specific disease, but a general term for a disease affecting the skin. And it’s not limited to leprosy as we know it, but it’s a generic term for skin conditions. And what the Levitical Law says regarding that, Leviticus 13:45-46, if a priest sees that a person has leprosy, and confirms it, then the leper has to do this. Let’s read along. Now the leper on whom the sore is, his clothes shall be torn, and his head bare. He shall cover his mustache, and cry, unclean, unclean. He shall be unclean. All the days he has a sore, he shall be unclean. He is unclean, and he shall dwell alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp.

And so what does that verse, what does that, what do those verses tell us? Imagine being a leper in this time. Well first of all, you have ten men, and we’re gonna get down to the identity of these ten men when we get to the last verse, when Jesus asks the question. But what we end up finding out is that one of them’s a Samaritan. The identity of the other nine, were they Samaritans, were they Jewish? The portion of scriptures that we look at does not say, but what it says is that these ten men were in a village near the border of Galilee and Samaria. And look at what their lives encompass. Okay, they lived their lives out saying, unclean, unclean. And the purpose of that is to identify to others, hey I have leprosy. Not that you could already see it, you could already see it on them, but on top of that they have to tell the people around to notify them, hey I’m unclean, unclean. They’re unable to live with their family, so they’re stripped away from the people they they grew up with, their parents, their siblings, uncles, aunts, spouses, and and so they can’t live with their family, and then they have to go and live outside of the city. They can’t even live with other people that are clean, they have to go and live with outside the city or outside the camp and and live with people like this, where there’s a group of others who are lepers. And so likely this ten people, these ten men, were men who were having to live together because they were unclean, and that’s what’s bonding them together, is their status of being unclean.

And many people at the time, Jews, believe that that people were afflicted with a disease, and specifically leprosy, as a punishment for God’s sin. And so the outside world, everyone outside of that group of ten or whoever else is who is unclean, everyone else is looking at these people who are shouting and proclaiming to themselves that they’re unclean, they’re unclean, who don’t have any contact with their family, who live outside of the city, and on top of that they’re judged, they’re judged because they’re presumed to be sinners. And that just leads you to have a mentality where you’re just hopeless, where you don’t have contact with other people, you don’t have community, you’re labeled a sinner. Just imagine that lifestyle, day in and day out. What is life like that? What what fulfillment do you have in a life like that?

I think you could, most of us could remember COVID-19, and just a few years ago, just imagine whenever first when the first wave started coming out, and God forbid you had COVID-19. It was scary, because all of a sudden not only do you feel bad, and you don’t know if this is deadly, but on top of that if someone found out, you’re just, you’re kind of marked. Everyone found out, oh my, oh my, they had COVID-19, and now we look at it and look back, and it’s not that big a deal, but they, but think of it like that. Think, we had a little taste of it, but this is their life. They’re meant, they’re marked as being unclean, and there’s no medicine for this. There was no modern medicine that’s going to help them get better or give them any hope of becoming clean. They are perpetually found to be unclean.

And so it’s, it’s key to look back and see in verse 12 to 13 that these ten men, while Jesus was going into the village, so I’m assuming based on the Levitical law that they’re forced to be outside of the village, and those ten men were likely there, commonly there, being, watching people come into the village, and leaving, and, and they’re unable to go in, and they see Jesus coming in, and, and they had to stand at a distance, because they’re unclean. They don’t want, you, people do not want the disease transmitted, so they’re required to stay so many feet back away from other people, and so they had to be at a distance. There was no way that they could come close to a person that’s clean, and they see Jesus from a distance and called out in a loud voice saying, Jesus, Master, have pity on us.

What’s interesting is them calling out to Jesus saying, Jesus, Master, this is a time where there was not social media, there’s not photo, photography where you could take photos and, and put it up, and, and be, or an ID card that says, hey, this is Jesus, this is what he looks like, there’s none of that. And so you have to assume at some point either these people saw Jesus before, knew what he did, heard of what he’s done, and believed. And because in such a hopeless situation, that’s all they had, was just that little glimpse of hope, of seeing Jesus walk into this small village. And when they see Jesus, they, they, they don’t say Jesus, his name, or Jesus of Nazareth, they say, Jesus, Master. And so they already recognized what authority he had. They already knew what he can do. They knew his capabilities. And so they’re, they’re just putting everything out there saying, Jesus, Master, in a loud voice, have pity on us.

When we get to verse 14 to 16, it reads, when he saw them, he said, go show yourselves to the priest. And as they went, they were cleansed. It seems like such a short interaction there. There’s ten men standing at the gate of a village and saying, Jesus, Master, have pity on us. And then, and then Jesus’ response is, he sees them and says, go to the priest, show yourself. And, and so they had, they received that command, and they follow. But why does Jesus have to say, go to the priest? Why can’t Jesus just heal them right there?

Leviticus 14 tells us, Leviticus 13 we read that what happens when someone is, is found to be unclean with leprosy. And they have to say, unclean, unclean. They have, they have to go and live outside of the city, outside the camp, and all the restrictions are placed on them. And Leviticus 14 comes and, and then it says, this is what happens if someone is cleansed, if someone no longer has leprosy. And Leviticus 14 lists out this process they had to follow, and it says that they had to be brought to the priest for examination. And the priest, when they examine, has to verify whether or not they’re, they indeed were cured of that leprosy or healed. And if they were healed, then the leper then has to go and get two living clean birds. Along with those two clean birds, go get some cedarwood, some scarlet, and hyssop. I don’t know where you find any of that. But they went and found all that, and then what they do with that, reading this, I was, I was kind of taken aback. They take all of that. The priest kills one of the birds over water, and so one of the clean birds killed over water. The blood is in the water. Then he takes the living bird and dips the living bird into the water that has the blood of the killed bird, along with the cedarwood, the scarlet, and the hyssop. And then after that, the priest takes the water after it’s dipped, and sprinkles the healed leper seven times. And then after that, the leper then leaves, goes and remains separated from the rest of the population for seven more days. And then on the eighth day, the leper then has to come back to the temple and offer not only a burnt offering, but then a sin offering, and then a grain offering.

And so we come back to what Jesus just told them to do. He said, when he saw them saying, Jesus, Master, have pity on us, he said, go show yourself to the priest. Because Jesus knew the law, and Jesus told them to go show yourselves to the priest, to do all of that. And they did. They started walking over to the priest. And when they started walking over to the priest, imagine, they started walking and they were not healed yet. Okay? As they were walking, they were cleansed. As they were walking. So we’re gonna get to what the difference between the ten, the nine, versus the one. But right here, we have to recognize that all ten of them had some level of faith. All all of them recognized who Jesus was. All of them had enough faith to believe and to go and act. And so there was an act of faith by all ten of them.

Now the, now imagine this, you get, you have a, let’s assume that the other nine were Jews. And we know that there’s one who’s a Samaritan. This Samaritan, this whole time, his whole life, regardless of being a leper, still could not go to the temple. So where was he going? Why was he going? The lep-, the, the Samaritan, 2nd Kings 17:24 describes the Samaritans as a mixed race. They were idolaters. They lack strict adherence to Jewish law and customs. They were not pure. They were not clean. Most, the, in Joshua 20:6-7 and 21:21, it says that in the, that people were sent to Samaria, the region of Samaria, if they were Jewish criminals or refugees from justice. John 4:9 explicitly says that these people in Samaria were rejected by the Jewish people.

This one Samaritan, when he was told go show yourself to the priest, where was he going? The other nine, even if we assume that they were Jews, we knew where they were going. They were going to go and follow what Leviticus 14 said. But this Samaritan, he didn’t, he didn’t have any reason to go. Even, even if he went, he would not be accepted. And so we see, we start seeing the distinction. That after, after they left, we see that one of them, when he saw that 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. And so we find the distinction between the nine and the one. And Jesus asks the question, we’re not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?

Then he said to him, rise and go, your faith has made you well. And so we look at the distinction between the other nine and the one. The nine, possibly Jewish, maybe, it’s unclear, but even if we could assume that they’re Jewish, the, the nine, when they’re on their way to, when Jesus says, go to the priest, and they start walking over to the temple to complete the law of what Leviticus 14 says, once they’re cleansed, once they’re cleansed and see, and see that, just imagine that moment, all ten of them are walking together, and then slowly or immediately, they become healed. And all ten of them start looking at each other, there’s no mirrors there, and, and so they probably just see another person, you don’t look the same, and, and then see, wait, you don’t look the same either, and then starts looking at themselves and realize that they’re healed in that moment of healing in their hearts. Imagine that, all ten of them. All of them probably ecstatic, all of them probably filled with joy, all of them probably like, oh, we have to, he told us to go to the priest, and they went, but then one, one turned around and went back to Jesus.

And so the other nine probably continued on to the priest, probably did exactly what Leviticus 14 says, and followed what the law requires them to do, but can you imagine what they were thinking at that time? They were thinking, eight more days and I get to see my family, eight more days and I get to be with, with all the other Jews that I grew up with, eight more days and, and imagine just my life is back to normal, eight more days, I just need to do this last bit and then I’m there. After years or decades of hopelessness, and now they found hope and they found something to look forward to, but they were thinking about all the things that are going to benefit them, they’re thinking about all the things that they’re about to enjoy, they’re thinking about what it must have felt like if heaven was on earth, that all of that was returned to them, and they were so excited for that, but they were so focused on the blessing and not the person who gave the blessing.

Meanwhile, you see the one, you see the Samaritan. Jesus calls him a foreigner because he’s, he’s not a Jew. He, Jesus says you’re not a Jew. Why has this one returned, the foreigner? And even in the same condition as the other nine, this Samaritan came back to Jesus and he fell at his feet and he worshipped him. And then when we, when we’re reading that portion, we also see that he returned to Jesus and Jesus says to him, rise and go, your faith has made you well. And so what, Jesus did not tell that to the other nine. He only says it to the one. And so there’s a distinction made right there between what the nine received and what the one received. The nine received all the blessings here on earth. The nine received everything that they ever hoped for here on earth. But the one came back and Jesus said, rise and go, your faith has made you well. There’s not only a spiritual healing on top of the physical healing. He got the physical healing as the other nine. But in addition to that, a spiritual healing. His faith. Not just what’s here on earth, but what’s up there in heaven. And that’s the distinction between what, what I hope for us and, and others.

And so let’s dig into that a little bit. But before we go into that, I want to, I want to point out Psalms, the portion of scripture that we read, Psalms 58 through 15. It touches exactly at what the distinction is here. The other nine following the sacrifices that they had to make. Following all the things that, that the Levitical law says. But then here’s Psalm 58 through 15. A portion of scripture that they already had. And this is what God is saying. I will not rebuke you for your sacrifices or your burnt offerings which are continually before me. I will not take a bull from your house nor goats out of your folds. For every beast of the forest is mine and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the mountains and the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry I would not tell you. For the world is mine and all of its fullness. Will I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? Offer to God thanksgiving and pay your vows to the Most High. Call upon me in the day of trouble and I will deliver you and you shall glorify me.

That last verse points it out so perfectly. It says offer to God thanksgiving. All the other sacrifices, God has all of it. This is, he created it all. But what he created us for was to give him thanksgiving. Pay your vows to the Most High. Call upon me in the day of trouble. God is saying call upon me and I will deliver you. And it’s not that you can if you want glorify me. You maybe should glorify me. It says you shall glorify me. So think about that and what we’re focused on when we are reminding ourselves of what scripture says.

And through this I want to take us back through what just happened and make three points. And the first one is that gratitude relies on your perspective and your focus. The perspective of the nine who left and did not return was a Jesus in the review. Jesus was behind them. Jesus was past. Their focus was on running towards the benefits of that healing. They were running towards the benefits that they could receive here on earth. But the one, the Samaritan, he was running to Jesus. Jesus was before him and his focus was on the source of the benefit, not just the benefit. And so when we’re looking at gratitude and what that tells us what we should do is we should have the right perspective and we should have the right focus on on what we receive. Our life here is not about the earthly things that we could accumulate but how we could be vessels for the things that we accumulate to bless others and to bless God. And our focus should always be through this how can I glorify Jesus. Through this how can I serve his kingdom.

And so when we see that the the difference between the other nine and the Samaritan we could also point out what was Samaritans life like. Okay at some point we could assume that the the Jewish people at some point had the full rights of being a Jew. Being able to be in in the temple and worship with others. They had the opportunity to do that and that was all taken away from them when they were lepers. But the Samaritan his whole life he was separated. His whole life was hardship. And that difference is what allowed the Samaritan to know that all those things I do not have anywhere here on earth. But my entitlement the only thing that I can get is my faith in Jesus. And realizing the source he ran back to that source. Versus the Jewish men they were entitled. They lived with a sense of entitlement where they knew what they could get out. They knew what they could be there the what could be restored back to them. And they wanted that. That was their focus. There was a sense of entitlement in their minds. Versus the Samaritan who had nothing but knew where everything was.

And one thing I looked at was the way that the the Samaritan when he comes back he just fell to the ground and began to worship Jesus. And that act alone falling to the ground and worshiping Jesus at his feet. The gratitude that he had. Sometimes for us and often in in my life I could tell you that I I’m praying for something. I’m praying for something. I’m hoping for it. I’m dreaming of it. And then and then I get it. And all that time that I spent praying to God. Asking God for it. I I find myself that I draw closer to God. And in the moment I get what I want all of a sudden my prayer life slows down. My my desire to be in God’s presence slows down because I got what I wanted. And now that’s distracting me. That’s what’s keeping my attention. That benefit is what I’m focused on. But when you could focus on the source and then at that posture what ends up happening is all of a sudden your your heart is filled with gratitude. And and you’re wanting to give God praise for what he’s done. And so that prayer life stays consistent. That prayer life continues. Because you’re not relying on yourself but you’re relying on God and you realize who the source of your benefit is.

And and outside of outside of Luke just talking about gratitude. Outside of scripture actually. Just looking up if you I just googled this benefits of Thanksgiving. Benefits of having gratitude. And and there was like multiple lists of things that of how it benefits for you to just be thankful. And and so I just started jotting that some down. And these are from mental health professionals. Benefits of gratitude. What ends up happening is you’re more content. You’re more content with life because you you’re identifying the things that that you’re blessed with. And so you’re content. You actually sleep better. You have improved focus. Increased patience. You have better relationships. You have lower blood pressure. I think all those things we could use if we’re more if we have more gratitude. And and so what it does is it helps your mind. It helps you slow down. Helps you understand what you truly have in life. But way before any of those articles or any of those points by mental health professionals were made, God’s Word tells us what gratitude does.

Philippians 4:6-7. I’ll read it. It says, do not be anxious about anything but in every situation by prayer and petition with thanksgiving present your request to God and the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. And and you could I often read that verse and I just like man if I just pray God’s gonna take all my anxiety away. I don’t have to worry about anything. Everything’s gonna be fine. But when you slow down and read it, the middle of that verse says, with thanksgiving. And when you inject thanksgiving into your prayers and your petitions to God, what slowly happens is you start realizing all the things that you don’t have to be anxious about. Because what you start praying for is all the other times that God has already led you through it. And then you rest in that security. You rest in that provision. You rest in those promises that God’s already done it before. Why are you worrying about things you can’t control now?

And so sometimes yeah, mental health professionals help us. But sometimes it might be better for you to just read some scripture slowly and understand what it’s saying so that you could actually garner the Word of God and how much wisdom there is in it.

The second point I like to make is being content with blessings will make you distracted by those blessings. What ends up happening is when you start feeling like, God, all this thing, the things that I wanted, the thing that I prayed for, the thing that I petitioned to you for, and then you gave it to me, and then I leave you behind now and I just focus on what you’ve done for me, and I’m enjoying the blessing, what ends up happening is that relationship with God slowly starts to dissipate. We become so satisfied with that physical healing that we no longer need that spiritual healing.

And I think what we need to focus on there is that God is not putting you through trials, is this world is going to, it guarantees trials. You’re going to be, you’re going to be tested, you’re going to be tempted, you’re going to go through trials in this life, that’s guaranteed. Those things are not meant for you to end up relying on yourself or thinking that you could do it all on your own, or then just during the season of your trial, praying to God, and then once you’re out of the season of trial, forgetting God. What God is trying to do is, in every situation, He is trying to mold us. He is trying to form us into a perfect, a more perfect image of who He is. And so when we’re so focused on how to get out of the trial, and then God blesses us and gets us out of it, but then we forget about the spiritual portion of that, that spiritual healing, what is God actually trying to teach me in this moment, what we end up doing is, all we’re doing is just living trial by trial, and just, and just stirring our in despair, when we’re not realizing God is working here. God is, is moving within me. God is making me a better Christian. God is making me rely on Him more, rather than myself more. And when I get to rely on myself less, and my human self, and trust in the Almighty, what ends up happening is that I realize that I was never in control in the first place. God’s always been in control. And when you just let that go, all that anxiety, all that stress, you realize that you’re just leaving at the feet of Jesus and trusting Him.

I think a few weeks ago, Pastor Sunil was talking, speaking from Acts, and, and talking about healings, and when, when there was an act of healing, it was not just for the healing itself. The healing is, is a good thing that happened, but what God was looking for in that healing was a salvation. God was looking for the salvation. He was looking at who is turning to Him, whose heart is turning to Him. And so it might not be, you might not feel like, hey, you know, this trial, or this situation, whatever is going on, or whatever blessing you received is, is not just impacting you alone, but there might be someone else who’s seeing your life and is impacted by that, is seeing how God is using you, as God is working in you. And there could be a spiritual healing in that sense, where there’s someone who’s being drawn closer to God through your testimony, through your life.

And so when we seek, being content with blessings, what, what, and, and being distracted by those blessings, what ends up happening is, what we don’t want is that we just start seeking gifts, rather than seeking the giver, because at that point, we miss out on a relationship.

And we’re in the season, about to go into Christmas, and so a good example of that is, imagine if, if it’s Christmas morning, and, and I come out, and I say, hey Sonia, I got it, I got a gift for you. And, and her, her focus that whole time is, you better have a gift for me. There better be something for me in a wrap. And, and her focus is also, yeah, I remember what you got me last year, better be something better than that. And, and all she’s focused on is, is the gift. But she’s not recognizing who is giving that gift. If all she’s hoping for is getting that possession, or that item, whatever it might be, it’s not enhancing our relationship. Our relationship isn’t based on me giving her gifts, and her giving me gifts. Our relationship is, is based on love and trust, and out of that, there might be some gifts, right?

And so with, with our relationship with God, is the same way. We’re not sitting here saying, God give me this, God give me this, bless me with this, bless me with that. I need, I need, I need to get this degree by, by this year, God, and then that way I could follow my parents timeline, and I could get married by this year, and then, and then after that, I could have this profession, and then I could make all this money, I could buy this house, I could buy this car, I could, I could do all these things. God, help me, bless me, do that for me, God. What ends up happening is, we’re focused on God just being, giving us all these gifts to us, but we’re forgetting about our relationship with God. When our relationship with God is the biggest prize, is the gift.

And my last point that I want to make was, the inside does not match the outside. And, and so, thinking about this, the, the lepers, the nine lepers who left and went to the temple, they were healed, just like the, just like the Samaritan. They were similar in that sense. They were all healed. They no longer had leprosy. They were all clean on the outside. But the only person who had salvation and was clean on the inside, because of who Jesus is, was a Samaritan.

Imagine this, okay, you’re, I don’t know how many of you have been house hunting, but you, you go and you’re, you’re excited about seeing a house because you saw the outside of it, it looks beautiful, it has that modern white and black going on, new windows, lawn looks great. And, and so you’re so excited thinking that the outside looks this good, I can only imagine what the inside looks like. And then you walk inside and it’s just like 80s, you got some wallpaper going on that’s not very aesthetic, you got some, you got some of that thick carpet that, who knows when was the last time it was cleaned, there’s a smell going on, it’s just not open space, it doesn’t look good, it’s just like that. On the outside it looks great. On the outside, those lepers look great, but on the inside, where’s their salvation? Where’s their actual eternal hope?

Matthew 23 verses 25 to 26, it says, Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and the dish, then the outside of them may also be clean.

There’s so many people around us, there might be some of us here today, where it’s all clean on the outside. We look great and I think the way we’ve grown up, and worship team come up, the way that we’ve grown up, it’s our whole practice is to put on the facade. That’s how we grew up. That’s what we were taught from young age, is don’t let anyone else see anything, any of the bad, any of the ugly. We can’t be transparent. And the outside, we put on a show, and we’re professionals at it. But the truth is, what’s going on the inside? What’s our inside looking like?

Matthew 7 verse 13 to 14, it says, enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide, and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow, and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few. Luke 13 verses 23 to 24, then one said to him, Lord, are there few who are saved? And he said to them, strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able to.

Those two verses put together, there’s only one truth that I could garner from it, that the majority people won’t go to heaven. And that’s the harsh truth. The majority of people will not go to heaven. And I think a lot of that’s based on what we’re doing on, specifically for our culture, and how we’ve grown up is, how does it look on the inside? We can make, you know, we’re probably healed from our leprosy, healed from our sin, and that’s how we portray it on the outside, but inside, do we have that relationship with God? Inside, are we, are we devoting ourselves to having a better relationship with God? What are we offering God today? What are we offering God? Are we offering a living sacrifice that’s pleasing and acceptable to God? In our Thanksgiving, are we fixing our eyes on the healer and not just the healing?

During this holiday season, we got, we got a good time to reflect on this topic, and, and I hope that we get some time to spend and reflect on who God is, and what He’s done for us, and the blessings that we have. Here’s individuals, families, as a church, but more importantly, we have to remind ourselves of the ultimate gift that we have, is our salvation.

I’m gonna read one last verse, Romans 5:11. Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom we have now received reconciliation. That verse sums up exactly what we have. It’s only through Christ Jesus that we have reconciliation, and that’s exactly what that Samaritan had. He said, when God said, when Jesus said, your faith has made you whole. It’s no longer just the outward healing that he had, but he had an inward healing because of his faith.

And so we’re all sinners, we’re all, we’re once lepers, we’re all part of the tent. And Jesus came into our lives, and He had mercy on us. So what’s our response today? Are we running to fill, fulfill what we want? Are we running to fulfill and get the benefits of this world? Or are we running back at the feet of Jesus and acknowledging, what’s the actual reason for, for us being here, for us gathering together like this?

And I pray that the Holy Spirit just works in our hearts to be able to recognize that, day in and day out. And I think I’ve said this multiple times, it’s not a, it’s not a one-time deal. This doesn’t happen overnight, it’s a journey. It’s something that we do daily. And I’m just hoping that I’m, I’m one of the few, and I hope that this, this church and everyone here, is one of the few that ends up in heaven. But that’s all determined based on what’s our relationship with Jesus, what’s going on in the inside. So I hope that the Holy Spirit works in us, and we can become more like Him each day.