11/ 19/ 2000  Worship service            
         
About 381 years ago, 102 Pilgrims boarded the Mayflower in hopes of finding religious freedom in America.  After a long 65 day journey, they arrived in America--a land which they found to be desolate.  Awaiting them in the new continent were cold winter months, undeveloped lands, and primitive tribes of American Indians.  Over the course of the first winter, 52 of original 102 who boarded the Mayflower died of cold and hunger.  

The remaining 50 Pilgrims irrigated land in the following spring and sowed seeds to farm as Indians taught th em.  After 6 months of hard labor, they were able to harvest their crop; despite their meager reap, the Pilgrims invited the Indians who helped them and had a Thanksgiving service.  

This is the history and background behind Thanksgiving we celebrate today--offering thanks for the little harvest that was received during extreme hardship, which had allowed for survival and continuation of life.  The first thanksgiving service was offered in the midst of difficulty, disease, death, starvation, hostility, grief, frustration, heartbreak, and uncertainty.

Today we celebrate the first thanksgiving of the new millenium.  I want this time to be a true time of thanksgiving, where each one of us reflect on all the love and grace that God has provided us over the past year.  In looking back at the first thanksgiving, by today's standards, the Pilgrims did not have much to be thankful about; however, just as they were overflowing with thanksgiving in the fact that God had allowed them to survive, we need to look out to our individual lots in life with faith and be thankful for what we have.  
According to today's scripture, 10 lepers were cured by Jesus; however, only one of the cured came back to Jesus and expressed his gratitude.  

Similar to present day, during the times of ancient Israel, leprosy was considered a disease that was stricken as a will of the heavens; hence, those who were stricken with this disease were quarantined under bridges, in caves, or on remote islands, away from other people.  Ordinary people feared coming in contact with those with leprosy for fear of contamination.  Therefore, in order for a leper to walk down the street, he had to place one hand over his mouth and wave the other hand, yelling "I am an impure being, one with leprosy!  I am corrupt!" to warn other people of his condition.  

People of those days believed that if a leper did not take that precaution, and someone accidentally came into contact with that leper, the whole village would succumb to the disease.  If a leper did not warn others of his condition as he passed their village, he was doomed to stoning and death.
Lepers were indeed a very isolated, lonely, and disgraced people; to add insult to injury, they were not free to worship God.  During the time of Christ, lepers were not admitted in temples of Jerusalem to freely worship God and attend services.  

Lepers were truly unfortunate group of people, not allowed to socialize with those next to them nor worship God Who is over them.  Among the lepers, those who were miraculously cured of their ailment had to prove that they were cured of their disease in front of the priests in the temple to regain their rights as ordinary citizens.  In the Book of Leviticus, chapter 14 verses 2-32, such regulation is described in detail.  Therefore, in the 14th verse of today's scripture, the reason Jesus states, "Go, show yourselves to the priests," is that in light of the Israeli common law, the priests were only ones authorized to make a determination as to whether a leper is cured or not.  

According to verses 12 and 13, when Jesus enters a village, 10 lepers shout out from a distance, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us."  They had the belief that Jesus can cure them of their disease, based on the rumors and stories they had heard that Jesus can cure any disease.  Because of their status and conditions, they could not approach Jesus; instead, from a far, they shouted their plea toward Jesus.  At this time, based on the word of Leviticus 14, He commands, "Go, show yourselves to the priests."  The important fact is that no miracles happened; there was only Christs' command.  It would have been difficult for these lepers to visit the temple of Jerusalem--with their rotting bodily stench and disfigured noses, mouths, eyes, ears, and hands.

However, the 10 lepers, dutifully obeying Christ's command, decide to pay a visit to the priest; en route to the temple, they were cured of their ailment.  In looking at this fact, we can see that each one of them had the utmost desire to cure their disease; furthermore, they had the confidence, the faith, that obeying Jesus would allow them to rid themselves of their ailment.  Obeyance and faith brought forth the miracle that cured these 10 lepers of their disease.

The truly interesting aspect of this story, however, is recorded in verses 15 through 19.  Although 10 were cured, the other nine, happy only in the fact that their disease was cured, went about their separate ways.  Only one--a Samaritan man--came back to express his gratitude to Jesus.  Bible scholars analyze today's scripture as such:  Although ten were cured, nine were cured only of their bodily disease; only the Samaritan had both his body and spirit cured.  To put it different words, nine lepers were saved only half way--instead of having both the body and the spirit cleansed, they only had their body cured--while the Samaritan was the only one that received the whole package--completely cure of both the body and the soul.  We must pay close attention to verse 19, where Jesus "said to him, "Arise, go your way.  Your faith has made you well.""  Because the leper was able to properly and honestly display his gratitude, he was able to receive the salvation for his soul as well as his body.  

The bible scholars often compare today's scripture, a story concerning lepers, with the chosen people of Israel and the other non-Jewish people  Samaritans were the people who were severly discriminated by the Jews at that time, a representative "foreigner" in the eyes of the Jews.  Despite receiving the Grace of Jesus, which had cured his disease, the Jews failed to express their thanks to Jesus and went about their way.  

They forgot the Grace of Jesus which had cured their disease; rather, they were too engrossed in their good fortune.  Moreover, the Samaritan, who has no apparent reason to thank Jesus, instead bows at the feet of Christ, returning all glory and grace back to God.  This is a precursor, an foreshadowing, of the fact that the unchosen masses, rather than the Jews, will be more thankful towards the Grace of Christ.  

In comparing today's scripture to reality, we can almost deduce that the servants of God can sometimes forget to thank God for His grace; rather, it is the people who do not attend church that might show greater thanks to God.  This is the greatest hypocrisy.  It is ironic that sometimes, people who should be thankful are not; it is the people who have nothing that are thankful.

In looking back upon ourselves, we can easily see that during good times, when everything is plentiful and all is going well, we are not thankful; rather, it is when we run into some sorts of misfortune that we truly appreciate why God does for us.  The other nine lepers probably procrastinated in expressing their thanks, and eventually forgot about God' grace.  The one remaining man, the Samaritan, realized that it was through Christ in which he was able to rid himself of the disease, and immediately expresses his thanks.  In verse 17 of today's scripture, Jesus expresses his disappoint, in saying "Were there no ten cleansed?  But where are the other nine?"  Despite that fact that many people benefit from God, relatively a small percentage of those people attend service.  

Grateful faith is beautiful.  Expressing thanks is a sight to behold.  Just like Paul's confession, in which he states "Everything I am, everything I do is because of God's grace," we must be able to be thankful to God, to our parents who raised us, our families, neighbors, and friends who helped us along the way.  God is alive is amongst us today.  And he bestows grace upon us.  God wants to hear the hymn of thanks, from the depths of our hearts, upon our realization of God's grace.  Let's all pray that today, at a minimum, becomes a day in which we can truly be thankful of those around us.  Amen.