Gratitude Takes Practice - Luke 17:11-19 | Pastor Daniel Reese

Gratitude does not come naturally to us, we have

to train for it. In Luke chapter 17 verses 11

Luke 17:11–19

to 19, we see the story of 10 lepers who were

healed, but only one returned to thank Jesus.

This passage reminds us that thankfulness is

more than a reaction, it's a discipline we practice

daily. True gratitude shapes our perspective,

draws us closer to God, and transforms the way

we live. I'll give you a few minutes to turn

there. Over the last few months, I have had a

hard lesson in gratitude and what it is. It's

always easy to look back on a good day and recognize

it, right? be on a nice vacation with your family

and be grateful for the gift that they are. Those

are easy, but what happens when things aren't

going so well and it's hard to see the things

that we should be grateful for? What do we do

in those moments? Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians

1 Thessalonians 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5 that we should be thankful in all circumstances.

That we should be thankful in all circumstances

and if you are like me, I hated when someone

would quote that verse to me in the midst of

a difficult situation, in the midst of a difficult

season in my life. Don't quote that verse to

me. It just frustrated me. Like, how am I supposed

to be thankful when my son is getting life flighted

to Iowa City? How am I supposed to be thankful

when I get the call that my daughter was in a

car accident? What is there to be grateful for

when there is a group of people calling for me

to be fired? Because this verse isn't give thanks

in good circumstances, give thanks when things

are going well, give thanks when you feel like

it, it's give thanks in all circumstances. And

so this past summer, I really tried to take that

verse to heart. To really understand what that

means to be thankful in the midst of uncertainty

To give thanks when it feels like the world is

against me. I'm sure we've all had seasons like

that To try and see God's plan through confusion

and anger to see the good when every single day

was a struggle and so maybe you were like me

and and have been at times and you really don't

like that verse in the middle of a hard season.

Maybe you're in that place right now and the

last thing that you want to be hearing is a message

on gratitude because you don't want to be grateful,

you want answers to your situation. You want

justice for things that have been done wrong

to you. And so my hope for you this morning,

is that you will join me on this journey that

I have walked through and I'm still walking through,

and that you will see how God can completely

change your heart if you let him. He's done it.

And so we're gonna look at a story in Luke chapter

Luke 17 · chapter mention

17. I hope you will see what a difference that

gratitude can make in your life. We're gonna

read verses 11 through 19. If you are willing

and able, we'd love for you to stand as we honor

the Lord's word together. It reads, On the way

to Jerusalem, he was passing along between Samaria

and Galilee. And as he entered a village, he

was met by ten lepers who stood at a distance

and lifted up their voices, saying, Jesus, Master,

have mercy on us. When he saw them, he said to

them, Go and show yourselves to the priests.

And as they went, they were cleansed. Then one

of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned

back, praising God with a loud voice. and he

fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks.

Now he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered,

were not 10 cleansed? Where are the nine? Was

no one found to return and give praise to God

except this foreigner? And he said to him, rise

and go your way. Your faith has made you well.

Let's pray. Father, I thank you for this morning.

I thank you for your word. Thank you that you're

faithful. I pray Father that we will walk out

of here with a completely different heart when

it comes to how we view you and our circumstances.

I pray Father that because of your word we will

walk out of here thankful today. I ask all these

things in Jesus name. Amen. Now before we get

into the heart of the text there's a little bit

of work we need to do. Just for understanding.

In the first century, Jews and Samaritans were

divided by racial prejudice, they were divided

by religious prejudice, the Jews hated the Samaritans

because they were these Assyrian Jewish hybrids

and they viewed the religion of the Samaritans

as a perversion of Judaism because the Samaritans,

they only believed in the first five books of

the Bible, they only believed in the law, they

didn't really want the rest of the Bible if you

will. Whereas the Jews, they held onto the whole

Old Testament. That was the entire Bible at the

time. So now, if you were in Israel right now,

or back in the day, and if you were to travel

from Jerusalem to the Sea of Galilee or Capernaum

or any of those things, there is this big section

of land in the middle of your country called

Samaria. And the Jews hated the Samaritans so

much that they would literally take extra days

to not have to walk foot through Samaria. instead

of just taking the straight line straight north.

But because of their prejudice towards the Samaritans,

the Jews wouldn't want to go through Samaria.

They would inconvenience themselves so they didn't

have to potentially come across a Samaritan.

Now, like the Samaritans, the lepers were outcasts

and outsiders. And even though they were allowed

inside the city, to beg for money to make a living,

they were required to live outside the city walls.

Now, even in Samaria, because they believed in

the Old Testament law of Moses, the Samaritans

also considered the lepers to be unclean. And

according to Old Testament law, people with the

disease of leprosy were quarantined outside the

city and required to keep a safe distance from

people so there wouldn't be an accident and you

would actually touch somebody and make them unclean.

They would have to shout as they walked through

the city streets that they were unclean so that

people could run away from them. So that nobody

would potentially touch them. So according to

the Jews, The Samaritans were below them. But

below the Samaritans were the lepers. So to be

a Samaritan leper was a pretty isolating life.

It's as low as you can go in regards to living

life. Now, the type of leprosy these men had

is probably what is now called Hansen's disease.

And although there is a cure for it today, there

wasn't a cure for it back in the time of Jesus.

And so just for your own information, because

I had to read it, I'm gonna share it with you,

leprosy begins with a pale discolored patch of

skin that turns numb, and it becomes insensitive.

So even the leper can't feel if a needle touches

its skin in that spot. Now gradually these patches

they multiply and they spread across the body

now frequently they will be found on the face

Which makes it impossible to hide the fact that

you have leprosy and then here's the fun part

soon spongy nodules Form on your face while the

disease simultaneously begins to invade your

internal organs and the soft tissues between

like your the bones of your hand and in your

feet eventually just Disintegrates and you're

left with all these types of deformities and

you're unable to use your hands and your feet

anymore Now, compounding on top of this, the

nerve endings, they grow so desensitized that

the victims remain unaware of any injuries such

as an animal bite. Right? So you have to remember,

they're outside the city walls. There is no protection.

They're sleeping on a sleeping bag, if you will,

in the elements. Now, some animals are nocturnal,

right? Like raccoons and possums or whatever

they had back in the day in Jerusalem. I'm not

sure, but they have those things. And so what

would happen is because of the disease, these

animals would come gnaw on your limbs and the

leper would never wake up because he couldn't

feel it. That's gross to me. This is a horrible,

horrible disease. Now, while this form of leprosy

is ultimately fatal, what really got them was

all the bacteria and all the infections that

came about with this type of disease. It was

a horrible condition to live with. And so you

can see why there was a desperate cry out to

Jesus for healing. They wanted to be healed.

They all had a cry for mercy to Jesus. All of

them had their sickness healed, but only one

of them returned. And so my question is, why?

That was Jesus' question. Where are the other

nine? Where's the other nine? Did not 10 get

healed? Where are the other nine? And not only

that, according to verse 18, the one who came

back was a Samaritan. He was a foreigner. Now,

maybe he came back. Because he was the only one

who had like a double dose of bad luck when it

came to life, right? He was a Samaritan and he

was a leper. Maybe he maybe maybe that's why

the the text doesn't tell us But what the text

does tell us is that nine didn't come back Nine

didn't come show gratitude and I think there's

a reason for that and the reason for that is

because of our sin nature And our sin nature

Because of it, gratitude does not come naturally.

We have to train ourselves in it. And so I want

us to consider a few things that gratitude does

and also try to understand why it is so important

to understand. The first thing that we should

understand about gratitude is that it helps us

see the goodness of God. The Samaritan saw his

healing as he's walking away and recognized that

this was God's work. The other nine, they got

the same exact healing, the same miracle, but

kept walking. Perhaps they were too focused on

their next steps. Perhaps they were too focused

on who they were gonna tell. Perhaps they were

whatever, but they did not return. Gratitude

begins when we train our eyes to see God's gifts,

whether they're big or whether they're small.

We train our eyes, and I think sometimes we live

with an entitlement mindset. And so we have a

hard time showing gratitude because we are entitled,

right? We earned that promotion. We worked hard

and got that house. These people are lucky to

have me. My family's lucky to have me. And when

we repeat those types of things to ourselves,

entitlement grows and gratitude fades. The truth

is we need to see God's goodness. Because in

reality, we don't deserve anything good. We don't

deserve anything. James tells us that every good

and perfect gift comes down from the Father.

Not some gifts. Every good and perfect gift comes

down from the Father. And what I have learned

over the last couple of years is that by reminding

myself of the good things and not focusing on

the bad things, not focusing on my circumstances,

but really focus on the good things that God

has done, it's completely changed the outlook

that I've had with my relationship with the Lord.

Now next week will be two weeks or two years.

Since my son got life flighted to Iowa City.

We didn't have a clue what was wrong with him.

But it wasn't looking good. And in that moment,

I remember thinking to myself, I'm not ready

to lose him. Who is? Who's ever ready to lose

a child? But I remember thinking that way. But

that verse, 1 Thessalonians 5, good thanks in

all circumstances, it came to mind as I was driving

to Iowa City to meet him. And I made myself be

grateful for the 10 years that I had with him

up to that point because I didn't deserve any

of them. I didn't deserve the gift that was his

life. Now two years later, I'm even more grateful

to the Lord for the time that I have had with

my son because what I deserve is a life of misery.

I am a sinner who constantly offends the holiness

of God. I shouldn't have anything good ever happen

to me. But that's what makes me thankful for

the gospel, right? That is why we constantly

have to remind ourselves of it. What we deserve

and what we get because of what Jesus has done

for us are two completely different things. We

deserve hell, but we get redemption. We deserve

misery, but we receive abundant life. We deserve

a life of fear, but he gives us his peace, right?

Every good and perfect gift comes down from the

father of lights. Be grateful. Having a spirit

of gratitude also makes us respond with worship.

The Samaritan didn't just feel thankful. He acted

upon it. It says he praised God loudly. He fell

at Jesus' feet. He expressed his gratitude. True

thankfulness moves us to action. It moves us

to do something. To give God the glory that he

deserves. It's not just enough to think, oh man,

I'm so blessed. I'm so fortunate. It's not enough

to do that. Gratitude spills out in words, it

spills out in actions, it spills out in a life

that honors the Lord. That's what gratitude should

do in us. Now, I grew up in a church where we

would sing the old hymns. Now, I love many of

those songs still to this day. I'm sure many

of you do as well. However... I remember that

as we sang those songs, the type of church I

grew up in, maybe you did too, when we sang those

songs, we had to stand still while we sang them.

Can't be moving around. You just stand up, you

hold your hymnal, and you sing these songs, right?

There was this lady in our church that would

sit in the second row. Now, Baptist church, right,

so everybody's in the back row. Yeller, you would

understand that, right? But this lady, she was

in the second row. And every single Sunday when

we would sing songs like How Great Thou Art or

we'd sing songs like Victory in Jesus, she would

be there in the second row just raising her hands

and worship to the Lord. She was referred to

as a distraction. She was accused of being a

hindrance because they said she was trying to

put all the attention on her. But the truth of

the matter is if you knew her and you had a relationship

with her, You would understand that she just

loved Jesus. If you had a conversation with her,

you would understand. She always talked about

Him. She always thanked Him. Now in that particular

church, worship seemed like a duty, not an overflow

of an inward reality, not an overflow of gratitude.

The Samaritan in this text just had his life

changed. Completely changed. The only thing he

could do in that moment was to show gratitude

to the one who healed him. He fell on his face.

He ignored the cultural expectations that were

put on him as a Samaritan. And he approached

Jesus, he fell at his feet, and he thanked him.

Worship was his response because he understood

what gratitude meant in that moment. It was just

an overflow of what was going on inside of him.

He didn't hold on to bitterness that he'd been

sick. He didn't come to Jesus and say, why didn't

you heal me sooner? Why did you stricken me with

this disease? He didn't complain that it should

have been done a long time ago. He didn't hold

a grudge against God. He just went and thanked

Jesus for the gift that he had received. That

was his response. Gratitude also deepens our

faith. Jesus tells the Samaritan, your faith

has made you well. His gratitude to Jesus wasn't

just a thank you card in the mail. It wasn't

just a, hey, thanks for doing that. It was an

act of faith, trusting that Jesus was more than

just a healer. He was the source of true life.

This is what that Samaritan understood. Gratitude

aligns our hearts with God. It opens us up to

understanding the deeper work that he is doing

in us and around the world. When we give thanks,

even in hard times, we declare that God is still

good. We declare that God is still faithful.

We declare that he is still worthy of our trust.

Now the translation says that your faith has

made you well. Your faith has made you well.

And if we aren't careful, we begin to think that

that word well means healed. Your faith healed

you. The original language of the phrase is actually,

your faith has saved you. Your faith has saved

you. So if we approach it that way, 10 lepers

got healed, but one got saved. One got saved

because he understood where the source of his

healing came from. Now maybe the others felt

entitled to the healing they'd been good people

they they accidentally touched somebody that

was you know, whatever or maybe they would get

to it eventually They wanted to go show others

first. Maybe they were gonna come back next week

or maybe they were gonna you know, whatever but

not the Samaritan Not the Samaritan. It was the

most important thing to him in that moment To

show gratitude to Jesus and Jesus tells him that

his faith saved him why? because he came to understand.

He came to the understanding that without Jesus,

his healing didn't matter in the long run. Without

Jesus, he would never have ultimate healing.

When you and I truly understand that, when we

can wrap our hearts and minds around that, gratitude

will deepen our faith in him. When you understand

that we don't deserve anything except for wrath.

We don't deserve anything except for wrath, but

instead he gives us an abundance of blessing.

Gratitude should grow in your heart. And I can

speak of this through experience as I am sure

many of you can as well. My question would be,

as I was studying this text, would this Samaritan,

Have been as grateful to Jesus And what Jesus

was offering him if he was never stricken with

leprosy to begin with Would he still be grateful

no one knows the answer to that But I know for

myself that the trials I've had in my life Have

made me more grateful for the sovereignty of

the Lord understanding that nothing I have ever

experienced, good or bad, hasn't first passed

through the hands of God. Not to say He caused

all the bad, but He allowed it to happen knowing,

knowing that it would help sanctify me to be

more like Him. Knowing that it would create a

greater dependency of me on Him. So I want to

give you some information. on why training for

gratitude can be unbelievably beneficial to your

spiritual walk. Training for gratitude can be

beneficial to your mental health. Training and

practicing gratitude can change the influence

that you have in the world. It can completely

change your friend dynamic. It can completely

change your family. Now, I've said it many times,

but I love when science catches up with how God

designed and commands us to live. I love when

science catches up with the Bible. Paul tells

us to give thanks in all circumstances. First

Thessalonians chapter five. He tells the Philippian

church to not worry about anything, but in everything.

through prayer and petition. With Thanksgiving,

make your request to God. Not bitterness. Thanksgiving,

make your prayer. Jesus tells us not to be anxious

about anything. Not to worry about anything.

Don't worry about how you're gonna get close.

Don't worry about how you're gonna eat. Don't

worry about those things. Don't be anxious about

anything. Those are powerful verses when it comes

to our mental health. when it comes to understanding

who he is. But we live in the most anxious period

of humanity right now. Did you know that? This

is the most anxious generation that's ever walked

the face of the earth, and that includes people

in the church. Even though there are so many

verses about not being anxious, there's so many

verses about not worrying. People still do it,

and many are crippled by it. Many are crippled

by anxiety. And if you are struggling with anxiety

right now, the last thing that you might want

to hear from me right now is just stop worrying.

Don't worry about it. That's the last thing you

want to hear when you're in the midst of an anxiety

attack, right? Stop worrying about it. Suck it

up. But articles... written by secular doctors

and psychologists are coming out all the time,

that basically say that gratitude acts as a natural

antidepressant. One article I read says it like

this, quote, when we express gratitude and receive

the same, our brain releases dopamine and serotonin,

the two crucial neurotransmitters responsible

for our emotions, and they make us feel good.

They enhance our mood immediately, making us

feel happy from the inside. The Anxiety and Depression

Association of America. That's how bad this is.

We have an association for anxiety and depression.

They say this, gratitude can be a game changer.

It helps train your brain to notice and appreciate

the little things in life, and in doing so, shifts

your life experience tremendously. Gratitude

can increase your happiness and well -being,

life satisfaction, even overall health, while

decreasing the stuff we all want less of, like

anger, anxiety and depression. It can be a powerful

practice to cultivate, especially if you struggle

with anxiety or depression. That is what secular

science and research is telling us. Maybe that's

why Jesus tells us not to worry. Maybe that's

why Paul is saying, give thanks in all circumstances.

We have to train our brains and our hearts to

be grateful. Maybe life isn't all that great

right now. I don't know how you walked in here.

Maybe life isn't all that great right now, but

you still need to find things in your life that

you can be grateful for. It takes some practice.

It's not going to happen naturally. It takes

some work, but I'm telling you, I've walked it.

It's worth it. Maybe you're worried about a medical

bill. Maybe you have just looming medical debt.

Maybe your prayer should be, thanks be to God

that you live in a country with access to medical

care because so much of the world doesn't have

it. Maybe you're in a fight with your spouse

right now. Praise God you have someone to spend

your life with. Maybe you have failed in business

or failed a class in school. Thank you God that

my worth is found in you and not what I can accomplish.

When was the last time that you looked around

and thanked the Lord for the blessings that he

gives you each and every day? When was the last

time you told a family member or a friend that

you were grateful that they were in your life?

I mean, we all want to hear how much we're appreciated,

right? We want to hear how awesome we are. We

want to hear how other people's lives are better

because of us. We want to hear those things.

But when was the last time you took the initiative

to share that with others? Now I want to close

with a word of warning from Paul in Romans chapter

Romans 1 · chapter mention

1. He writes in verse 21 of Romans 1, he writes,

for although they knew God, they did not honor

Him as God or give thanks to Him. But they became

futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts

were darkened. So when we fail to give God thanks

and show Him gratitude, Paul says our thoughts

become useless, our thoughts become pointless,

and our hearts are darkened. To honor God in

the context of this passage is to acknowledge

that His ways, His plans might go against your

preferences, they might go against your desires,

but it's still honoring Him and trusting Him

in those things, that His truth is ultimate.

That his ways are ultimate sometimes that that's

a really that's really hard reality to swallow

That's a really hard reality to work walk through

because we want our ways to be right We want

to handle things the way we want to handle things

right we want to be able to respond the way we

want to respond Because we think we know what's

best for us Here's the thing Studies are showing

That the part of your brain where you get anxiety

from Is the same part of your brain that has

gratitude So it is extremely difficult if not

impossible To be grateful and anxious at the

same time So if there is something that is causing

you anxiety or frustration Begin to think of

things to be grateful for. To battle those other

thoughts. You can't be anxious and grateful in

the same moment. So choose gratitude. I think

this is why so many times in the scripture, God

is calling us to remember. He told the Israelites.

to make monuments and stack stones as a sign

of remembrance so that they could go back to

that place and remember God guided me through

here, God protected us through here, God delivered

us, he rescued us from the Egyptians. So if God

is telling this people group to make these monuments,

to stack these stones so that you will remember,

there's other places throughout the wilderness

where he said, come back and remember these things.

Why would we be any different? If he's telling

the Israelites that why would we be any different

because I've never seen a sea opened up I've

never crossed on dry land after God miraculously

splits the sea But the Israelites did they did

get to see it and God still told them to make

something that they could go back to and remember

That always seems funny to me because because

I would think I would remember something like

that If all of a sudden the sea opens up and

I'm walking across on dry land, that's something

that I think would be like a core memory of mine.

I would remember that, but God knows our hearts

and he knows the temptation to focus on circumstances

instead of his goodness. That's the temptation

of all of our hearts. If you can't think of anything

in the moment, your frustration if you can't

think of anything in the moment of your anxiety

Start with thanking God for the breath that he

fills your lungs with Because you don't deserve

those Put your hand on your chest and feel your

heart beat And thank God that he's pumping that

stuff through if you don't know where to start

start there start there until you can begin to

look at other things. I don't want our hearts

to be foolish, our thoughts to be foolish. I

don't want our hearts to be hardened or darkened.

So we must be grateful. And I can tell you from

experience, it takes practice. Maybe for some

of you, it comes real easy. You're just naturally

grateful people. But for me, it has taken some

work. This past summer, it was difficult. It

was difficult for me to see anything good in

my position. I didn't know if I was going to

have to pack up my family and move. I didn't

know what tomorrow looked like much less a year

from now. Every time I would get a text or a

call, I would wonder if this was the one that

was going to change my life and I was going to

receive bad news. I was living in anxiety. anxious.

So every day, every day I had to practice gratitude.

Thank you God for my calling. Thank you for my

faithful wife. Thank you for my children. Thank

you that you refine me in the fire. Thank you

that these trials are producing endurance in

me. Thank you that these present sufferings are

not worthy to be compared to your eternal glory.

Every single day, multiple times a day, I had

to force myself to be grateful by looking at

the truth of God's Word. Because I did not want

my thinking to become pointless. I did not want

my heart to grow in bitterness. I did not want

my heart to be darkened. And the truth of the

matter is, if I had to go through it all again,

to be where I am today, I wouldn't hesitate to

do it again. Because of the faithfulness of God

that brought me through that season. The amount

of gratitude he instilled in me throughout the

last few months. This summer, was a stone for

me to remember his faithfulness. It will be something

that I will come back to, that my family will

come back to time and time again so that we do

not forget to be grateful. Anxiety and gratitude

can't exist at the same time. Now the summer,

I was tempted. Talked about it with Sina, talked

about it with some of you. I was tempted. Because

I couldn't deal with it. I was tempted to get

on some sort of anti -anxiety medication. We

talked about it. Just for a season, maybe I needed

to do that just to survive. But instead I found

healing by declaring God's truth into my life

every single day. Gratitude will change your

life. So think about your life. I don't care

what season you're in right now, you have something

to be grateful for. Even if it's just the air

in your lungs, even if it's just the heart pumping

the blood through your body, you have something

to be grateful for. Let's be like the Samaritan

leper. Let's be like him and give him praise

for what he does because we don't deserve any

of it. Let's preach the gospel to ourselves time

after time after time. It will change your life.

And so I'm gonna pray for us. Our worship team

is gonna come lead us in one more song. We'll

have time to respond. And I don't know what the

response looks like today for you. Maybe you

will be like the Samaritan and just come fall

on your face before him and add a gratitude and

you will worship. Him today, maybe that's how

you respond. Maybe it's getting up and going

across the room and thanking somebody in this

room for how grateful you are that they're in

your life. Maybe it's starting to write some

things down. Maybe it's creating those little

stones that you have where you can look back

and see God's faithfulness. But I'm telling you,

I would... I would do it all again if it meant

I got to grow in gratitude even more. It changed

my life. It changed my life. And my hope is that

it'll change yours as well. So let me pray for

us and then we'll respond. Father, I thank you

for this day. I thank you for Jesus. I thank

you that I am not worthy. of anything good that

comes into my life. My father, I pray that our

church will feel the same way, that we will be

a church that is grateful every single day for

the salvation you offer us, for the blessings

you give us. Help us understand that every good

and perfect gift comes from you. And help us

walk in great gratitude. So Father, as we sing,

I pray that you'll speak to our hearts. I pray

that your spirit will fill this room. Help us

be a grateful people. And so as we begin to set

up our stack of stones, as stones of remembrance

for your faithfulness, I pray that you will just

remind us of how good and faithful and worthy

you are. For anybody in this room that needs

that needs the ultimate healing, I pray, Father,

that you speak to my heart. We pray for salvation

to come to this place today. We ask all these

things in Jesus' name, amen. Please visit us

at 563church .com. You can also find us on Facebook

and Instagram. Have a great week!