Sermon - 2019-10-13
Have you ever prayed for something for so long and you wondered if God would hear your prayers? Day in and day out, you lifted up the same pray and hoped that today would be the day that God would answer that prayer? I think for many of us, there is something that we can relate to when we hear those questions.
For many of us, when we pray to God, it is because we are in need. Something is outside of our control or strength and we pray that God would be with us. Others of us, we pray every day for others,
This story in the gospel today can speak volumes to us. For when we hear this message today, many of us may think that these men were praying for days, weeks, and years for the healing that they were longing for and to be among family and friends once again. Yet when we hear that only one of the ten men return back to Jesus and give thanks to God for healing them of their disease, we may look at that and hear the failure. One in ten were healed and returned to Jesus, we do not know what happened to the other nine. Were they healed? Did they return to their family and friends? We do not know.
Hearing that only one out of ten would be healed or would come to join a church into the leadership role that we are longing for them to become a part of. For me, this truly gets me thinking of what it is we are valuing as a success within the church? Are we so focused on how many people are attending our worship services? Are we focused on the dollar that is gathered here? Or are there other aspects of this church that we should also pay attention to?
We have so many ministries that help people in their lives. As they enter the hospital, visited at home, learn and grow in understanding who God is, spending time with friends and family. These are but just a taste of the ministries and the differences that we share together, however, how do you measure success with those? How could we measure Baptism? I mean Jesus calls us in the Great Commission to “go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” Perhaps we need to clarify what it is the goal is that we are truly striving that people would take. We need to offer steps and direction like Jesus did of going to the Chief Priests.
We would regard this as a failure, that nine would only get a little, perhaps they were healed and went on to live wonderful lives with family and friends, perhaps they went to synagogue every single day following to give thanks to God for healing them but we as disciples of Jesus never hear about that success, we are left to wonder and hope. We are left with FAITH that God would take care of them.
However is Jesus upset or angry that only one returns to him? No, and yet he does question, where are the others. However, this truly leads me to wonder, are we ok with the success rates that Jesus is good with? Are we alright serving those who are in need and not knowing if we truly made a difference in their life? Are we alright knowing that they simply know that God loves them and is caring for them?
This is not to say that we shouldn’t still strive to grow in our own faith and service to Jesus and the Kingdom of God but that we should not be focused on the results and success standards of this world but rather grateful that we are able to help those in need and share the gospel of God's love, grace and mercy to a world that is in need of it.
This is one of those stories that can us reflect on our own life and understanding of God. How much in our lives the faith that we have will actually move us into action? That we may do something even though we would not see the results or know if everything worked out for the better? Maybe one of the ways we continue to show faithfulness is having the courage or strength to continue to pray when our prayers feel like they are falling on empty ears or why do we continue to be disciples who continue to move in action.
For many of us, when we pray to God, it is because we are in need. Something is outside of our control or strength and we pray that God would be with us. Others of us, we pray every day for others,
This story in the gospel today can speak volumes to us. For when we hear this message today, many of us may think that these men were praying for days, weeks, and years for the healing that they were longing for and to be among family and friends once again. Yet when we hear that only one of the ten men return back to Jesus and give thanks to God for healing them of their disease, we may look at that and hear the failure. One in ten were healed and returned to Jesus, we do not know what happened to the other nine. Were they healed? Did they return to their family and friends? We do not know.
Hearing that only one out of ten would be healed or would come to join a church into the leadership role that we are longing for them to become a part of. For me, this truly gets me thinking of what it is we are valuing as a success within the church? Are we so focused on how many people are attending our worship services? Are we focused on the dollar that is gathered here? Or are there other aspects of this church that we should also pay attention to?
We have so many ministries that help people in their lives. As they enter the hospital, visited at home, learn and grow in understanding who God is, spending time with friends and family. These are but just a taste of the ministries and the differences that we share together, however, how do you measure success with those? How could we measure Baptism? I mean Jesus calls us in the Great Commission to “go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” Perhaps we need to clarify what it is the goal is that we are truly striving that people would take. We need to offer steps and direction like Jesus did of going to the Chief Priests.
We would regard this as a failure, that nine would only get a little, perhaps they were healed and went on to live wonderful lives with family and friends, perhaps they went to synagogue every single day following to give thanks to God for healing them but we as disciples of Jesus never hear about that success, we are left to wonder and hope. We are left with FAITH that God would take care of them.
However is Jesus upset or angry that only one returns to him? No, and yet he does question, where are the others. However, this truly leads me to wonder, are we ok with the success rates that Jesus is good with? Are we alright serving those who are in need and not knowing if we truly made a difference in their life? Are we alright knowing that they simply know that God loves them and is caring for them?
This is not to say that we shouldn’t still strive to grow in our own faith and service to Jesus and the Kingdom of God but that we should not be focused on the results and success standards of this world but rather grateful that we are able to help those in need and share the gospel of God's love, grace and mercy to a world that is in need of it.
This is one of those stories that can us reflect on our own life and understanding of God. How much in our lives the faith that we have will actually move us into action? That we may do something even though we would not see the results or know if everything worked out for the better? Maybe one of the ways we continue to show faithfulness is having the courage or strength to continue to pray when our prayers feel like they are falling on empty ears or why do we continue to be disciples who continue to move in action.
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