Do Your Blessings Distract You From The Blesser? (2)

Luke 17:11-19

Let me repeat the four things the Samaritan did when he turned back:

a- He worshiped Jesus (Glorified God)

b- He worshiped with a LOUD VOICE (mega phone in Greek)

c- He threw himself at Jesus' feet

d- He thanked him.

Jesus was wondering what happened to the other nine.

He asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? ¹⁸Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?"(17-18)

Please realize that Samaritans were not very welcomed by the Jews. Remember my last Sunday’s sermon about Amos? He came from the Southern Kingdom and warned the Israelites in the Northern Kingdom that they would go to exile if they didn’t repent. The Northern Kingdom did go to exile, followed by the Southern Kingdom. But the land of the Northern Kingdom became Samaria. Who are the Samaritans? They were some Jews left behind who married Assyrians and other foreigners. So Jews always considered Samaritan as an unclean race. Do you see the shocking story that the nine, perhaps all Jews, did not return while only the “foreigner” came back to acknowledge God.

Where were the nine?

-Maybe they went to the priest quickly, so they could be reunited with their families as soon as possible.

-Maybe some had doubts whether this miracle would last, “Let us see…”

-“I deserve this, why should I return to that Rabbi who healed me?”

-“Jesus can wait; I have more important things to do after so many years of waiting.”

You can add your reason for not returning. But the irony is this. These are the ones who came to Jesus with the real faith that Jesus could do something in their life. They came with faith and they left with faith and the miracle happened on the road. They were healed. Only one realized that the miracle is not complete. Others were overwhelmed by the “blessing” they received. They got lost in the blessings.

This could happen to us, and it has. Remember how our lives were years ago. Remember our Genocide, how we survived the Genocide and we established homes, churches, schools all over the Diaspora. We were poor and starving. We learned to trust God and start all over again. Some of us came to the USA. We were poor and weak. Our parents did everything raise and educate us. God blessed us in many ways. The Armenian society became established. We have better jobs, we have better homes, our financial situation is relatively better. My question is this, are we closer to God?

Did blessings distract us or bring us closer to our Creator, our Blesser?

Are God’s blessings distractions or turning points?

One person turned back. One person realized that his satisfaction is not just receiving the “blessings”. He realized that his satisfaction is when he turned to Jesus to worship him. He came and thanked Jesus. He did not take whatever happened in his life for granted.

In this passage the word “healing” was used three times and each time as different word in Greek.

-In verse 14, “And as they went, they were cleansed.” The Greek is katharizo, which is mostly used for physical healing, or spiritual cleansing.

-In verse 15, “One of them, when he saw he was healed…” The Greek word is iaomai, which means to cure, to heal. It was also used for sins.

Both words most of the time were used for physical healing, although they could also mean spiritual healing.

-In verse 19 Jesus said to the Samaritan, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” The Greek word is sozo. Which means to be saved, to become complete, to become whole.

The NIV translates it, “your faith has made you well.” The KJV translates it, “your faith had made you whole.”

I gave all these explanations to say that the text is telling us something could be lost that in the translation. Jesus sends this man, the foreigner, with a different kind of blessing; it is more than physical healing.

In fact, the test is we do not worship God because of His blessings. We worship God, because of who He IS. He is our Creator and REDEEMER. The best thing one can do is to find meaning in Him: To abide in Jesus and in his words. Blessings are secondary, when we are united with him. Therefore thank God today. Let us thank God like this Samaritan, who turned back to His creator. Turned back to Jesus. He cried out in a loud voice mega phone, worshiped him, and came face down to repent.

-Today the economic conditions are not good. Today we have people losing their jobs, and in the coming days we could hear more. What are we going to do?

Here is the test. Whether we recognize the blessings or not, nothing should change where we stand with God. In fact, let us learn more to trust God.

-There is an old Jewish story. There is a man who goes and complains to the Rabbi about his family’s living conditions. He complains that he in a crowded home with a family of nine. The Rabbi says, “Take your goat into the room with you.”

The man goes and obeys the Rabbi. He comes back after a week and says, “It is unbearable. The goat smells bad and causes more trouble…”

The Rabbi says, “Go home and take the goat out.”

After a week he comes back smiling and saying how wonderful it is now.

I don’t know how your life is this morning. I don’t know if you are sensitive to God’s presence in your life, or if you do not see God’s hand in your life. Maybe you lost your job, or you lost your health. Or maybe you have too much but are not grateful, and you are not close to God.

I want to ask you to be like the Samaritan.

-Worship him with LOUD VOICE. This involves confession, repentance, singing, praise and service.

-Come on your knees near the feet of Jesus. Humbly repent of your sins and confess that he is the Son of God. He is the savior.

-Thank Him, “Hazaravor shnorkner kezme amen or gntoonim”… Thank Him for His Grace and presence. For the salvation and healing, the complete healing, the inner healing that only He can offer.

Let us humbly and thankfully approach the Lords’ table prepared for us for the redemption of our sins.

AMEN