here at Southern Hills in case you didn't know that. Welcome to what we're
calling a Send Sunday. We're continuing in our sermon series which is Jesus
People and the title for the sermon is Staying Alive. Staying Alive. I mean
enjoyed the student worship team that was up here. Can we just say thank you to
them one more time. I love watching students worship and we had Alex and
then Hannah who's one of our leaders and then Ben and then Gabby and then Johnny
and Isaac on the back there and so man I love watching our students worship and
boy every Sunday night this is what I get. I get to come here Sunday nights and
it's our student ministry. We call it the Ascent and we show up in this room and
we move the chairs in the back half and we move some chairs in the front and
students kind of crowd around here as we do our worship and then we teach the
Word of God and man I love it. I love being apart and so it's a special Sunday
today. Our pastor is out with his family on vacation and then we are leaving for
summer camp in like two hours. We're loading up on a bus and heading up to
Mesquite, Nevada to the Rising Star Sports Ranch and that's where we're
gonna have summer camp tonight. So tonight there'll be about 450 students
from seven churches across the valley that are gathering up there and I'm
asking our church family, I get to see you more than maybe our students do. I'm
asking you how many of you will pray for our students this week as they're at
summer camp even if you just pray right now. Thank you so much. That means the
world and I'm telling you in all my years I've been serving in student
ministry for 12 years now. I'm the old guy in the room you know what I mean and
you probably find that funny but I'm telling you in student ministry I'm the
old guy. I'm telling you right now one of the biggest blessings that I get to
watch is when a student ministry shows up on Sunday morning and gets to watch
the Sunday morning church participate in worship and teach them how to worship
and serve God and it's really cool when they get to see that and then for you
guys to get to see the reverse of that. They were able to be here and lead
worship this morning and so I love, love, love serving and I believe it's a biblical
call to have an intergenerational, a multi-generational church. Amen. Where
we're passing on the faith to the next generation and so I'm so thankful. I don't
take it for granted the trust that you guys place in us to be able to go to
summer camp and then to be also to be able to continue to give and support the
student ministry. So I've got a couple goals this morning. One is to let you
know kind of what we're doing in student ministry. Of course we're going to
summer camp to ask for your prayers and to ask you to continue to support by
being faithful to church and faithful to give and my second goal is pastor's gone
he's on vacation so I want to get you out of here early. Amen. Like I've been in
student ministry for 12 years. I know how to keep students right and you keep
them happy by teaching God's word faithfully but then you let them out
early right and they're like man I like that guy you know. So that's kind of my
goal here this morning. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. God
teaches us to be good stewards of his time. Amen. So that's our goal. Luke 17.
Luke 17 is where we're at this morning. Luke 17 and we're continuing in our
verse by verse study of God's word. We've themed it. We've called it Jesus
people. We're gonna ask this question this morning. How do Jesus people stay
alive? What are the lifelines for Jesus people according to the ministry and
teachings of Jesus? Luke 17 verse 11 is where we're at. The Bible says now it
happened as he went to Jerusalem that's Jesus that he passed through the midst of
Samaria and Galilee. Then as he entered a certain village there met him 10 men
who were lepers who stood afar off and they lifted up their voices and said
Jesus master have mercy on us so when he saw them he said to them go show
yourselves to the priests and so it was as they went that they were cleansed.
And one of them when he saw that he was healed returned and with a loud voice
glorified God and fell down on his feet, fell down on his feet giving him
thanks and he was a Samaritan. So Jesus answered and said were there not 10
cleansed but where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give
glory to God except this foreigner and he said to him arise go your way your
faith has made you well. Can't you just see it? Like a scene out of the chosen.
Here there's 10 lepers standing afar off and Jesus is walking along with his
disciples and as they see him the the proper method that they would see
strangers and people approach them as they would have to call out and say
unclean unclean but this time they see Jesus and we don't know how they knew
him. We don't know where they'd heard about his fame. The Bible says that his
fame had spread throughout the country but they see Jesus and they think this
is my shot. This is our opportunity to try and get healed. So Jesus is walking
by and instead of them putting more distance between them they call out and
they say Jesus son of God have mercy on us and then Jesus says go show yourselves
to the priest. So now these 10 lepers who were outcast who were outside of society
turn around and again the thematic music is in the background. They walk back into
the village that they had been cast out from and as they walk back the music
picks up and it sounds like a familiar tune and then one of them starts to sing
well you can tell by the way I can hardly walk. I'm a leprous man no time to
talk. I was kicked out but Jesus spoke and now I'm back among the normal folk.
Now it's alright it's okay you may look the other way whether you're a brother
or whether you're a mother you're staying alive staying alive come on you're
gonna say what did pastor Caleb teach on? We don't know but we sang the song
together you know what I mean like something about staying alive in it right?
This morning we're gonna unpack this truth it's true these 10 lepers who were
headed for death who were outcast from society found three lifelines to help
them stay alive and we're gonna ask ourselves this question as believers as
Bible teachers as Bible students this morning as seekers of truth we're gonna
ask this question what are the three lifelines that Jesus people use to stay
alive? The first lifeline that I see in this story is mercy mercy mercy is where
God values the least look at Luke 1711 now it happened as he went to Jerusalem
that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee Luke as he's writing
this story remembers the location that this story took place and he says it was
kind of in no man's land if you put yourself in context and do a little
study on what was this location it would have been known as the borderlands or no
man's no man's land between Samaria and Galilee and it says as he entered a
certain village there met him 10 men who were lepers who stood afar off first we
see the people who need mercy first we see their situation they were in the
borderlands they were outside of community this miracle as Jesus leans
into these people show us that these people had been separated from any sort
of inclusion or sense of belonging they had been outcast from their own own
family outcast from society they had been told that they had to live on the
outskirts matter of fact for most of them as they were told to live outside the
city because there was no known cure for leprosy for this communicable disease as
they were told to live outside the city many of them I wouldn't have anyone who
cared for them or anyone who even remembered them as they lived outside
the city most of their sustenance if you could call it that they found in the
trash heaps the garbage piles outside the city outside the gates where people
would come and throw their trash that's how they would feed themselves we see
their situation was dire this disease that not only left them outside the city
also oftentimes would leave a person disfigured not only were they
emotionally and and relationally in community cast out from society but now
they were separated by even the way they looked they feel like they're on the
outside looking in Jewish law stated they couldn't re-enter society until they
first went to the priest to be checked before receiving a certificate that they
were now clean but even in their situation even with their desperation
they made a calculation to call on Jesus and that he would give them mercy I
can't help but look at this passage this morning and as I share it with a group
of believers I want you to think about the time that you called on Jesus and
found mercy in his eyes amen when you were outcast when you were left out when
you felt as if there was no way for you to come back in you called on Jesus and
found mercy in his eyes I don't know where you're at this morning maybe you
feel like you have a lack of community I don't know if you feel like you have
this identity crisis where you feel like man every every room that I walk into
people know how I failed people know how I've let God down people know how my
marriage didn't make it people know how I'm the one who walked away and now I'm
back and so I have to hang my head and friend I'm here to tell you that with
Jesus his mercy is available for all Jesus didn't pass by any other side
Jesus didn't say I'll come back when I'm done healing the
no he made his mercy available for all lamentations 322 says this through the
Lord's mercies we are not consumed because his compassion's fail not they
are new every morning great is your faithfulness isn't it awesome as
believers as Christ followers that we can come under the mercy of God this
morning friend I don't know what lie the enemy has told you to make you feel
like you're less than or like you should be outcast maybe you grew up in a very
traditional religious setting and now your life looks a little bit less
traditional and maybe you're here this morning and you're like I don't know how
to qualify or quantify this all I can do is cast myself on the mercy of Jesus I'm
here to tell you friend his mercy for you is new this morning fresh and ready
to be lavished upon your life maybe you're in here this morning and you have
an addiction or you have a habit and you're like I've tried to break it I've
tried to walk away from it I feel like this is just who I am and I'm here to
tell you that in the same way Jesus healed the leprosy that was uncureable in
that day Jesus can give you the strength and the power to walk away from
whatever it is you feel like you can't walk away from whatever it is that you
have just this morning as I get up I I've noticed that I mentioned earlier
I've served in youth ministry for 12 years now and so I'll be I'll be 35 this
summer I'm turning old right all the students like Pastor Caleb you're old
and what I found is the more mature and wise I get amen the more mature and
wise I get the earlier I get up in the morning you know what I mean like I've
got a two-year-old a four-year-old I just I don't sleep in anymore so I
usually wake up about five or five thirty so I got up this morning about five
o'clock and went out and and made my coffee and went sat in the front room and
I was looking over the sermon for this morning and as I did I was thinking
about the truths that I wanted to teach and the truths I wanted to communicate
and the Holy Spirit of God whispered to me as I was trying to look over the and
prepare for the sermon this morning wait a minute before you share mercy with
anyone else aren't you gonna receive mercy from Jesus and I started thinking
about how I think Christians a lot of times what we do is we think I'm so
thankful I received mercy from God when I got saved but no lamentation says the
mercies of God are new every morning look at what Titus 3 says but when the
kindness and the love of God our Savior toward men appeared not by works of
righteousness which we have done but according to his mercy he saved us
through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit whom he
poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior that having been
justified by his grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal
life friend I don't know where you're at this morning but can I tell you the
mercy of God is available for you in his book the bruise read Richard Sibbs
famously wrote we have this for a foundation of truth that there is more
mercy in Christ than there is sin in us amen aren't you thankful to have access
to have been an outcast but now you're in for with and and receiving of the
mercy of Jesus please don't let the enemy tell you that you're outside of
God's mercy because in this story as the 10 lepers were outside of community
mercy in the form of Jesus Christ himself came walking to them and they
received it I was thinking this morning of of something that happened in our
student ministry not long ago just a couple weeks ago as a matter of fact I
was thinking about the goodness of God and and the mercy of Jesus and how we
can receive it and I moved here five years ago matter of fact last Sunday
church family you're so generous thank you so much for loving on me and my wife
but last Sunday we celebrated five years here in Las Vegas five years at
southern Hills we moved here in May of 2018 me my family and I and it was just
me my wife my wife was pregnant with our son who's four and a half now Gatlin
and when we moved here I remember moving here in the middle of middle of May and
or beginning of May and it was already a hundred degrees by the way y'all know
it's not been a hundred degrees yet this year knock knock on wood or something
you know I mean like there is a God you know and he loves us and it's been
nice it's supposed to be nice this week and we moved here was a hundred degrees
I remember moving here and and I remember I didn't tell us in the first
service but y'all the ten o'clock people y'all can take this okay I remember
moving here and I remember unloading my truck the first day we moved here I
moved in we stayed for a couple weeks with with our in-laws as we found a
place I remember moving here and the neighbor was out and the neighbor was
we'll just say smoking some of the good stuff and I walked up and I remember it
was so hot and dry I was like downing bottles of water and then that smell came
over me and I don't partake and so I was like where have I moved to you know I
mean like what has like a hundred and fifteen degrees I'm like what happened
and we moved here and I started getting in the flow of ministry and I remember I
typed up an email when we first moved here and sent it out to all the families
and I said hey I'm the new youth pastor and I sent a picture of me and my wife
and my name is Caleb this is Ruthie and we want to serve you in any way we
possibly can and I remember I think most people were like okay you know like
welcome and and the church was kind and welcomed us and did all that but I
remember someone replied to that email and I remember the reply because I saved
the email and the reply was from Linda Scott and she wrote this she said welcome
Pastor Caleb and Ruthie may you settle soon and begin to feel at home in our
city as you begin your next chapter here at Southern Hills and then she began to
tell me some of her story and I asked Miss Linda this morning she was right back
here for 830 service and she said absolutely I want you to share that
with our church family and she said how when we if you don't know the story of
Southern Hills we started in a in a storefront location and then we moved
this is our first building that we've built and we're actually growing out of
this building if you came in and struggled to find a seat you're aware of
that we're building a new building out here and when they moved they moved
upstairs the student ministry moved upstairs to a room and because of the
location and because of some of the changes Miss Linda writes that her
grandson struggled to adapt and she says even Nana becomes overwhelmed at
times with our growth you see Pastor Caleb my grandson is autistic and now
that he's a teen it's even more difficult for him to feel a good fit but we
continue to try harder we go every Sunday morning and he loves that because he
loves Pastor Josh and his sermons she writes a little more and then down later
she says please understand I'm not criticizing anyone but God just leads
me to educate others should a door open and you open that door I love Miss Linda
she said you see I never understood disabilities or autism until my daughter
passed away her grandson is hunter hunter's mom passed away and I adopted him
and became his caregiver I've learned so much in the past several years after
losing my husband too it is by God's grace and mercy that those who love and
accept us at Southern Hills and God has carried us this far then she writes at
the very end of the email who knows what the Lord has planned but he sent you and
I sure am thankful and believe that you will make a great addition and difference
as the new youth pastor and I thank you for taking time to listen God's blessing
to both you and your family respectfully Linda Scott and I remember getting that
email and I remember thinking and probably feeling the way you feel right
now feeling burdened and I remember thinking Lord I don't know what you're
gonna do or how you're gonna do it and I can't forecast the future but God if
there is a way will you give me enough of your mercy will you share enough mercy
that I can share that with someone else and two weeks ago matter of fact I think
we have a picture two weeks ago Hunter Wadi Love graduated from high school and
Hunter that's Hunter right there and you can see he's not a small guy Hunter
gives the best hugs Hunter walk up to you and we call him Hunter Bear hugs and
he'll walk up to you and give you a big hug and throughout the years Hunter began
to become more a part of our group and attend student ministry on Sunday night
and he even went to a couple winter retreats and even a summer camp with us
and as he began to be more involved I I watched as God's story of mercy and
grace began to unfold in Hunter's life and when Hunter graduated we do a
grad night for all our seniors and we had ten students stand up here on a
Sunday night and Hunter was one of them and we invited I always give them a gift
and then I say would you like to share a testimony with the group and now you've
got to know about Hunter and if you know and love anyone in your life that's on
the spectrum or as autism you know that sometimes you never know what they're
gonna say and so I said Hunter I love you and I gave him a big old hug and you
know kind of hugged me you know and I said Hunter would you like to share a
testimony and Hunter came up and Hunter usually likes to tell jokes and have a
good time and so I said Lord please help him you know and Hunter came up and on a
Sunday night and he leaned in and Hunter wasn't joking Hunter was very serious
and Hunter leaned in and Hunter said well I'm graduating high school which if
any of you know school has been very very hard for me I've always been the
weird kid but on Sunday nights I get to show up and I get welcomed and love for
who I am and Hunter I'm telling you all there was a holy hush over all the
students and Hunter standing there just as genuine and as humble as honest as
can be and I'm I'm the professional youth pastor has done this for 12 years and
I walk up and I'm like Hunter we love you man and I'm telling you in that
moment the mercy of Jesus just fell upon our group and I'm here to tell you
watch this it wasn't just me every time Hunter would show up Hunter would would
walk up to one of his best friends junior Burgess Jeremy Burgess and Jeremy
would walk up and give him a you know skin or whatever and do their little
secret handshake and he just love on Hunter make him feel welcome and when
Hunter came to summer camp with us Hunter came up and he was a little bit
overwhelmed he's like pass you need to take me home to my grandma right now and
I thought I'm gonna have to drive four and a half hours and take you home to
your grandma right now from summer camp and guess who walked in the room Jeremy
Burgess junior Burgess and junior said Hunter it's okay man we can do this we
can get through this together and junior showed the mercy of God and Hunter's
life in just an incredible way when I showed up at his graduation two weeks
ago I was running a little bit late and I was like hey Miss Linda I'm on my way
I'm gonna be there or you know save me a seed and when I got there there's Miss
Linda and they're sitting with our faithful church members Gary and
Melanie Graves loving on Miss Linda before I even ever got there church family
I'm here to tell you the mercy of God and the mercy of Jesus is available for
everyone but listen to me it's available for everyone when we as a community
decide to share it it's available for everyone when we as a community say I'm
gonna be a representation for the mercy of Jesus and boy I stood there on that
stage with Hunter and I remember if you ever think that serving in ministry
doesn't have its moments where you're like I hope I hope what I'm doing is
making a difference I remember standing on the stage with Hunter and just the
mercy of Jesus washing over me afresh and anew and thinking man Jesus thank you
so much for letting me play a small part in Hunter's life and here's the
reality Hunter it wasn't just that Hunter needed us it was that we needed
Hunter Hunter taught us the mercy of God in afresh and a new way and as Jesus
people we believe in mercy we need it we receive it and then we freely give it to
others the mercy of God is a creed by which we live but it's not just the
mercy not only do we believe in mercy we also live by faith as we read the
story in Luke 17 the mercy of Jesus becomes so evident in the lives of these
lepers but then look at Luke 17 14 so when he saw them he said to them go show
yourselves to the priests and it was so as they went that they were cleansed
Romans 1 17 says for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from
faith to faith as it is written the just shall live by faith here's the great
truth of scripture here's the great enigma here's the great paradox of our
faith watch this when we are given faith it is not to reside calmly and
passively in our life when we are given faith to trusting God that faith calls us
forward to action when Jesus wanted to heal the lepers he could have said you're
clean you're done instead he says go show yourselves to the priest Hebrews 11
6 says this but without faith it is impossible to please him for he who
comes to God must believe that he is and that is the and that he is a rewarder of
those who diligently seek him the faith that God gives to us is a faith that
God calls us to action with James 2 14 says it this way what is it profit my
brethren if someone says he has faith but does not have works can faith save
him if a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food and one of you
says to them depart in peace be warmed and filled but you do not give them the
things which are needed for the body what does it profit thus also faith by
itself if it does not have works is dead but someone will say you have faith and I
have works show me your faith without your works and I will show you my faith by
my works what is this paradox what is this call of Christ in our life about
this faith unfortunately religions have wrongly identified it this way it's a
formula of faith and the formula is not that faith plus works equals salvation as
you read this passage as you study the story Jesus is not saying that if you
have faith and you have works then you receive healing he's not saying that
James is not saying that if you have faith and you attend church regularly if
you have faith and you read your Bible every day if you have faith and you
pray then you'll be saved that's not what he's saying this is the wrong formula
what he is saying is that faith saves Romans the just shall live by faith
action call to action the just shall live by faith he's saying that faith saves
and he's also saying that the faith that saves also works the formula in James
the formula in scripture is that if you have the faith that saves that faith
does not like dormant in your work in your life that faith calls you to action
that faith that saves is also a faith that works and calls you forward let me
give you an illustration it's a cent Sunday so I have student stories for
you when we first moved here we went to summer camp and had an incredible time
at summer camp and then my family had just purchased our first home here in
Las Vegas and so I came back on Friday on Saturday our pod showed up at our new
home I unloaded the entire pod the pod got taken away I came to church on
Sunday and then on Monday I left for junior camp it's fun I'm telling you
there's there's no life like it so junior camp was like fourth and and fifth
graders and all these students that are that are going and again I'm new to the
desert I'm new to the heat so where do we go to junior camp ironwood Christian
camp which is in Newberry Springs California it's not far from a place
called Death Valley you don't mean like we believe in spiritual life but we're
gonna take you to Death Valley to find it you know so we go there and we show
up and it's like 115 degrees when we get there and I'm like yeah this is amazing
alright kids go have fun I'm gonna go take a nap you know and I remember I
got there and I'm like man what is going on I'm ministering to these kids
because when I first moved here I was student pastor and kids pastor for a
little bit before we hired pastor Andrew and his wife Carrie I'm so thankful for
the Olsons amen okay so I was doing all these things and we showed up the first
night and and I'm trying to engage and minister to the students and as we're
doing that they taught the gospel story they taught salvation and then they
said if anybody wants to be prayed with and talk more about this raise your hand
and sure enough one of our students his name is Johnny raise his hand and I'm
like let's go it's all worth it 115 degrees God it's for you okay I'm
sweating for Jesus you know and I'm going over and I'm like it's okay this is
gonna be awesome it's I go over to Johnny I'm like Johnny you want to pray
tonight and he's like yeah I would love to pray I'm like Johnny what do you want
to pray about because you're not supposed to you know give them like you
want to get saved right I'm like Johnny what do you want to pray about and he's
like I want to pray about my family and I'm like oh okay that's sweet not really
what I was looking for but sure let's pray for your family and so I'm like dear
Jesus help Johnny's family and we love them and the hardens are real faithful
and and they come here and so I said just just help him I think it was his his
sister and his cousin and something that we prayed for him okay next day goes by
comes to the night service they teach the gospel they say if anybody wants to be
prayed with raise your hand Johnny raises hand I'm like all right here we go
go over to Johnny Johnny you want to pray tonight right and he's like yeah I want
to pray Johnny what do you want to pray about
Jesus and salvation right and he's like no I want to pray
for my family I'm like okay I'll pray for your family and so I take Johnny and I
go pray for his family third night Johnny raises hand I'm like man this is
all right maybe maybe i'd go over to him like Johnny you want to pray today
and he's like yeah what do you want to pray about Johnny I want to pray for my
family okay Johnny we'll pray for your family so I pray for his family fourth
night comes along Johnny raises hand I'm like we're gonna pray for his family
tonight. And so I go over and I'm like, I'm like, Johnny, what do you want to pray
about? No, no, I went up to him and I said, Hey, Johnny, I said, do you want to pray
for your family tonight? And he looks at me with a bewildered look on his face.
And he goes, No, I want to get saved. And I was like, Well, yeah, we can do that too.
You know what I mean? Like, I'm like, Okay. And so Johnny, who was like, Yay, tall at
the time, Johnny was up here on the worship team. Johnny Harding is like six three now.
And Johnny's saved and serving in our student ministry. Here's what I love about it.
Watch this. I see it over and over and over again in students' lives. When the faith of God,
when the seed of faith is planted in their life and it begins to blossom, what happens is it
calls our students forward to action. Here's a great question for us. If the faith of God planted
in the lives of students, students calls them forward to action, shouldn't do the same thing
with mom and dad, shouldn't do the same thing on Sunday morning with our adults, shouldn't
do the same thing with grandma and grandpa. The faith of God is not to just lie dormant
in our lives, but it calls us to action. This is what Jesus does with the lepers. He says,
go show yourselves to the priest. This is the illustration. Second Corinthians five seven
says for we walk by faith, not by sight. Galatians five 22 says, but the Holy spirit produces
this kind of fruit in our lives, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness and self control. So if God has planted the faith of salvation in our life,
here's a good question for you. What is growing in the garden of your heart? What is growing
in the garden of your soul? What is growing in the garden of your home? Is it love and
joy and peace and patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control? We
see that as Jesus people, we are called to live by faith and faith requires action, but
not only do we believe in mercy and not only do we live by faith as Jesus called the lepers
to go show themselves to the priest. Luke here adds an ending to the story. Now this
story in totality is not recorded in any other gospel. Luke is the only one that records
this story and he's very specific about a few things. He's very specific about the
mercy that Jesus lavishes upon the lepers. He's very specific about the call to faith.
Go show yourselves to the priest, but then he's also very specific about the third truth
that we practice, the third lifeline by which we stay alive and it's this one, number three,
gratitude. God invites us into the healing process. God invites us into healing. Look
at the story, Luke 17, 15. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned and
with a loud voice glorified God and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks
and he was a Samaritan. So Jesus answered and said, were there not 10 cleansed? But where
are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except as foreigner?
And he said to him, arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well. The Samaritan's
thankfulness for his physical healing shows evidence of a deeper spiritual healing, which
is proof of his salvation. Now it's interesting to me that Jesus himself draws a sharp contrast
between the one who is thankful and the other nine who were not. And as I was studying for
this, I wanted to make sure that I'm applying it in the truest context of what Jesus is
saying. He is not saying that the other nine were not cleansed. He's saying, were there
not 10 that were healed? So all 10 received the mercy of Jesus, all 10 acted in faith,
but only one entered into the healing process of gratitude. And as I read this story, instead
of me saying, oh, well, I'm a part of the one, I try to be thankful regularly and giving
myself a hall pass. What if instead we looked at these 10 as the 10 daily opportunities
we have to be thankful to God? And the ratio in this story is that 90% of the time we miss
the on ramp of gratitude, 90% of the time we miss the opportunity to be thankful for
what God has done and what God is doing in gratitude. Perhaps in this illustration, it's
less about, am I a part of the nine who were ungrateful or the one who was and more about
of the 10 times I received mercy from God each day, am I only likely to take advantage
of gratitude once? Maybe the ratio of nine to one isn't about others, but about my inability
to find gratitude 90% of the time. In approaching the story this way, all of us are invited
to a deeper commitment to the work of gratitude. Instead of looking around the room and thinking,
I think I'm part of the 10%, we turn the camera, we turn the focus inwardly and say, man,
there's room for improvement in my life. There are opportunities where I miss the on
ramp of gratitude. And it seems that scripture reinforces this discipline as being part of
my sanctification process. Ephesians 5 20 says, giving thanks always for all things to
God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 5 16 says, rejoice
always pray without ceasing in everything give thanks for this is the will of God in
Christ Jesus for you. It's interesting that most Christians everywhere would know and be
familiar with the spiritual disciplines of Bible reading and prayer, but few Christians
practice the spiritual discipline of gratitude and thankfulness. Psalm 101 says, a Psalm of
Thanksgiving, make a joyful shout to the Lord all you lands serve the Lord with gladness
come before his presence with singing know that the Lord he is God it is he who has made
us and not we ourselves. We are his people and the sheep of his pasture enter into his
gates with Thanksgiving and into his courts with praise. Be thankful to him and bless
his name for the Lord is good. His mercy is everlasting and his truth endures to all generations.
Philippians 4 6 says, be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication
with Thanksgiving, let your request be made known unto God. Psalm 116 17 says, I will
offer to you the sacrifice of Thanksgiving. I'll put the work in. I'll make sure that
I take my own way and my own will and my own attitude and sacrifice it so that I can give
you Thanksgiving and we'll call upon the name of the Lord. Psalm 95 2 says, let us come
before his presence with Thanksgiving. Let us shout joyfully to him with Psalms.
Scripture continually repeats this theme that as believers, we are called into the process
of healing. If you look at the story in Luke 17, Jesus ends by saying this, where there
are not any found who returned to give glory to God, except as foreigner, and he said to
him, arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well. It's interesting that Jesus says
to this man, not now go show yourself to the priest, but instead he says, you've entered
into the healing process of gratitude and it has made you well. It has accomplished
the work of the gospel in your life. I'll tell you this story and then we'll be done
early like I promised. So many of you over the past few months have caught me between
services or sent me a text saying, Hey, Pastor Caleb, we're praying for your mom. How's she
doing? If you don't know, if you're new to our church family at the beginning of this
year, January, my mom was diagnosed with a grade four glioblastoma, which is the most
aggressive type of brain cancer that there is. You've been so kind and many of you who
have asked about how she's doing and the truth about her is she really is doing well. She's
completed a full round of 30 treatments of targeted radiation as well as 30 treatments
of chemo and she has her next MRI tomorrow afternoon down at Cedar Sinai in Los Angeles
and that will determine next steps. Several of you have kindly followed up after asking,
Hey, how's your mom doing with, by the way, how are you doing? And you've been so kind
and so compassionate to encourage my family and I as we've walked through this. And can
I tell you, I don't know if there's any way and if you've walked this road with a family
member that you can fully prepare yourself for the highs and the lows, the onslaught of
emotions that come with watching someone you love so dearly who's so young walk through
something like this. But I'll tell you this, if I've had a focus, if I've had a target
as I've walked through this time, I've just tried to be grateful. I've tried to be thankful
for all the blessings God has given us along the way. My mom just came in town this past
weekend and unfortunately she wasn't feeling well enough to join us for services, but she
was here and she spent some time with us and our family and our grandkids at our house.
And on Wednesday, this last Wednesday, my mom and dad celebrated their 37th wedding anniversary
and my wife and I were able to take them to dinner and go out with them. I think we have
a picture of that and go out with them and able to take them to dinner. And as we went,
I was, I was trying to think of a way to just be able to enjoy the time. I was trying to
think of a way to be able to just be grateful for the extra time that I had with my mom.
And so on the way there, I asked my mom to tell me the story of her and my dad's wedding.
What was it like? Who was there? What do you remember most after receiving all the treatments
that she has? Some of her memories were faded a little bit and so she asked my dad, what
wasn't this true? Isn't this the way that it happened? And slowly they came back and
she told me the restaurant that the ceremony took place at. And my wife and I enjoyed learning
some new things about that day, 37 years ago on Wednesday. She told me who was in attendance
and who played music as she walked down the aisle. She told me how proud her dad and my
granddad was as he walked her down the aisle. And for the next few moments as we reminisced,
my mom didn't have cancer. She was 22 again, marrying the one who had stolen her heart.
I asked her and my dad if they had any advice for us. They've been married 37 years. What
can we do better? What can we do more of? And they both said that while they haven't
been perfect, every night before they go to bed, they try to tell each other that they
love each other. Simple gratitude. What I found is that when I enter into gratitude,
I enter into healing. It's a cathartic process that reframes the way I view myself and others.
It reframes the way I view God. And as we sat there at that restaurant, instead of me
thinking, God, why us? Why me? I got to rejoice with my mom and dad and be thankful for the
journey. I got to be thankful for the 37 years that they've been married. I got to be thankful
for the 35 years that I've been in their care and my mom has been a prayer warrior for me.
I got to be thankful for my mom's chipper attitude, almost to a fault. If you ask my
mom, hey, how are you doing? She'll say, I'm doing good, even if she's really hurting.
And that's probably why to this day, my wife says to me, wow, you're really in your Lin
mode. My mom's name is Lin. And usually I'm in a pretty good mood because I had a mom
who loved on me and taught me the value of gratitude. And so as we sat there and just
enjoyed our time, we were able to just be thankful for the journey that God has called
us to. And as she goes down tomorrow to Aver MRI at Cedar Sinai, albeit summer camp with
450 students, and I get to just enter into gratitude and say, God, I'm so thankful for
where you've called us and what you've called us to. And I'm trusting that what you're
doing in my mom's life and with her health is from you. You see, as Jesus people, we
practice gratitude. And I'm not saying it's easy. Matter of fact, I identify with the
90% of the time it's way easier to onboard in not being thankful. But I want to make
sure that I take the opportunity to enter into the healing process. I want Jesus to
look at me and to say that my faith has made me whole. See, Jesus people practice gratitude.
And Jesus people live by faith. It's a call to action. The faith that God has given us
spurs us onward. And then Jesus people believe in mercy, mercy to receive and mercy to share
with those we come in contact with. Let's pray this morning.