Tim’s Daily Bread Devotional 11.26.21

By November 26, 2021Daily Bread

Good morning!

I hope this day finds you and your family well. I invite you to take a few moments with me to read and reflect upon today’s scripture selection — and to carry these thoughts with you into your day.

Today’s Scripture: Luke 17:11-19

Jesus Cleanses Ten Lepers

11 On the way to Jerusalem Jesus[a] was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he entered a village, ten lepers[b] approached him. Keeping their distance, 13 they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” 14 When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. 15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. 16 He prostrated himself at Jesus’[c] feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? 18 Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”

 

Tim’s Devotional Reflection for Today

Our scripture for today is from the gospel of Luke, illustrating how easy it is to neglect giving thanks.  It is the story of Jesus encountering ten lepers on the way to Jerusalem in the region between Samaria and Galilee.

In the Bible, leprosy refers not only to Hanson’s disease, but to a broad range of skin diseases.  The law, as recorded in Leviticus 13_:45-46, meant that a leper had a very difficult life:  “The person who has the leprous disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head be disheveled, and he shall . . . cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ . . . He shall live alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.”

Imagine living that life — separated from your family, subsisting on alms given by strangers, having to cry out, “Unclean! Unclean!” to warn away the unsuspecting, and on top of all that, suffering from the disease itself.  What a terrible existence!

These ten lepers — though separated from everyone else — have banded together to try to comfort and support one another. When Jesus approached and they saw him, they changed their cry from “Unclean!” to “Jesus, Master, show us mercy!” They had apparently heard of this healer from Galilee.

When Jesus saw them, he simply said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.”  The law in the Hebrew Scriptures was clear:  it was the Temple priest, not a physician, who alone had the authority to pronounce a leper cured.

As they left to do that, they were cleansed of their disease. When one of them, who was a Samaritan, saw that he had been healed, he returned and praised God “with a loud voice.”  The scripture reading goes on to say that “he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet and thanked him.”

What happened to those other nine? Did they forget? Only one of those former lepers that day returned to Jesus to give thanks.

Jesus, seemingly surprised, said, “Weren’t ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?  No one returned to praise God except this foreigner?”

That’s a good question! One in ten isn’t a very good ratio, is it? Surely we do better than that, don’t we?

But, thanksgiving even in difficult times?  Yes.  Even in very difficult times, there are some things for which to be thankful.

This story is a reminder to give thanks for the blessings we do have, even in the midst of despair and loss.

It’s easy to get busy and forget the thanks — to be like the nine and forget to say “Thank you.”   But, what’s the big deal, really?  Isn’t gratitude just a polite custom?

I think it is much more than that.

Gratitude acknowledges God as the source, it enables us to see life in a new way, and it leads us to live life in a new way.

Today I invite you to do two things. First, make a gratitude list — a list of what and who you are thankful for. Then, I invite you to make this your prayer today:

O God, you have given me so much, I ask that you would give me one thing more — a grateful heart. Open my eyes to see the blessings in my life. Open my mind to acknowledge you as the source of all goodness, grace and love. Open my heart and my hands to live a thankful and generous life.  Amen.

Thank you for sharing this early moment of your day with me, with God, and with the words and reflections I hope you will carry with you throughout the coming day and night.

Grace and Peace,


Dr. Tim Bruster
Senior Pastor