The Jonesville Gang

I really enjoy preaching for the church in Jonesville. I’m not really a fan of the drive – it takes between 75 and 90 minutes each way – but I always have a good time with the people. It’s still a small group of people, but they’re always talking about how they can make a greater impact on their community, and that’s exciting.

While I enjoy preaching for them, it’s also a challenge. In their own words, they’re pretty “long in the tooth” as a congregation. And they’ve grown up in the church, so I feel like it’s my responsibility to approach the text I use from a different angle. The last thing I want to do (and the last thing they want to hear) is the same old sermon from the same old Scriptures that everyone uses.

In other words, I’m trying to use some creativity.

One of my favorite holidays is Thanksgiving Day. I love getting together with family and friends and celebrating what God has given us. Of course, as you can see, I enjoy the food part of the celebration, too. I love the mashed potatoes, the green bean casserole, the cranberry sauce, the pumpkin pie; and eating turkey for days on end…turkey tetrazini, turkey casserole, and never-ending turkey sandwiches. There are the Thanksgiving Day parades on TV. And of course there’s falling asleep on the couch watching the Dallas Cowboys or the Detroit Lions. It’s all part of Thanksgiving tradition in our family.

I think Thanksgiving is also one of my favorite holidays because it has become relatively untouched by the commercial machine that is our economy. Thanksgiving used to be the traditional start of the Christmas shopping season. That’s not even the case anymore. Many stores began putting up Christmas displays before Halloween – some even as early as September. They call it the “Christmas Creep,” where they slowly add more Christmas displays each week. It’s an attempt to get us to start buying Christmas presents earlier and earlier, spending more money than you initially planned. With such a commercial emphasis on the Christmas season, Thanksgiving Day is relatively untouched by the marketers. The meaning of the day isn’t drowned out by the bells and whistles of Christmas commercialism. And I like it like that.

The story of the Puritans’ struggles in the New World remain a focal point of the day and serve as an example to us of remaining faithful to God during times of terrible conditions. Having taken issue with the corruption that was the Church of England at the time, the Puritans chose to separate themselves from the state-run religion. This led to harsh persecutions by the authorities. After three failed attempts to flee to the New World, they finally set sail on the Mayflower on September 6, 1620. Over 130 people began the voyage on that tiny, 90 foot-long ship. Not all passengers were Puritan Pilgrims, but they did provide the bulk of the leadership for the group of travelers.

The two month-long journey was not a pleasant cruise. No, it was far from it. The quarters were cramped, the food was terrible, and the weather conditions were dangerous throughout most of the trip. Remarkably, none died during the journey across the Atlantic. They eventually established the small Plymouth Colony in the New World.

Shortly after arriving in New England, half of the travelers had died. Disease was running rampant throughout the new colony. The New England winter was much harsher than expected, and the food supply was running short. Unaccustomed to the land, they could not plant crops or distinguish between the edible and poisonous plants. They had no knowledge of fishing or hunting. Things looked bleak for these Pilgrims in the New World. Legend has it that food was so scarce that some meals were as small as five kernels of corn per person. The New World hardly seemed like the Promised Land they had hoped it would be.

But the Pilgrims remained faithful. They continued to praise God in all circumstances.

Momentum shifted the following Spring. Local Native Americans befriended the Pilgrims and showed them how to tame the New England soil and how to catch their food. After a bitter winter that most thought they would not survive, Spring brought new hope along with the new friendships. The Colonists planted and hunted, just as they were taught. Their strength was renewed and the colony grew stronger every day.

And the Pilgrims remained faithful. They continued to praise God in all circumstances.

When harvest time came in October, the Puritan Colonists were joined by their new Native American friends for a celebration of God’s provision and protection over the past year. The three-day celebration included wild turkeys, venison, and all kinds of vegetables. The first Thanksgiving Day in the New World was born. It was a sign of friendship, and a reminder of what God had done for them over the past year.

The Gospel of Luke has a similar story about a group of people who were facing life-threatening disease and how they reacted when they encountered Jesus. Turn to Luke 17.

As you’re flipping to the text, it’s appropriate that I give a little background to the story. Jesus has begun his long, final trip to Jerusalem where he knows he will ultimately have to give up his own life in order to save us. Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem makes up a significant amount of the Gospel of Luke, covering almost 10 whole chapters. Much of what Jesus reveals to the Disciples and to us shows us what it means to be a follower of Christ. According to Luke, it’s on his way to Jerusalem that Jesus teaches the Lord’s Prayer, tells the parables of the Good Samaritan, the Lost Sheep, Lost Coin, and Lost Son (or the Loving Father), along with many other parables about the Kingdom of God. It is on the way to Jerusalem that Jesus encounters a group of ten men suffering from leprosy.

(Read:)
11 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy*met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”

Now, we don’t know exactly what the disease was that the Bible refers to as leprosy. Most scholars think it is not the Hansen’s disease we know today as leprosy. It appears to be a term for a range of skin diseases which are assumed to be contagious. Leprosy was the dreaded disease of Jesus’ day. Iheard one preacher say it’s a lot like cancer is the dreaded disease of our day. No one wants to hear the “C” word from a doctor, friend, or family member. In those days, no one wanted to hear the “L” word. It meant that you were going to be shunned from the community.

The Levitic law had very specific instructions about how a person with leprosy was supposed to be cared for: “45 “The person with such an infectious disease must wear torn clothes, let his hair be unkempt,* cover the lower part of his face and cry out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ 46 As long as he has the infection he remains unclean. He must live alone; he must live outside the camp” (Lev. 13:45-46). The leper would only be allowed back within the city limits after a priest had examined the person and determined that person to be clean of the disease.

As you can see, leprosy was not only painful to the body, but the isolation caused by it was also painful to the soul, too. Most people would not ever be cured of their disease. One commentary says, “To the rabbis, the cure of a leper was as difficult as raising a person from the dead.” Being diagnosed with this disease was essentially a kiss of death. These men were hopeless before they encountered Jesus. And here’s what he did:

14 When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.
15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him–and he was a Samaritan.
17 Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

It’s easy to turn to Jesus when things are difficult. These men were at rock bottom. They had nowhere else to turn. When they saw Jesus coming down the road, they clung to what little hope they had and called out his name – practically begging for him to do something…to do anything.

How do you respond in times of trial or suffering? Do you sit around and wait for things to get worse, feeling sorry for yourself and throwing your own little pity-party? Or do you turn to the One who brings hope, strength, and healing?

We can learn from the examples of the persecuted Christians around the world. According to Voice of the Martyrs, there were more Christians killed for their faith in the 20th Century than in the previous 19 centuries combined. Nus Reimas has experienced this persecution first-hand. Nus ministers in the highly volatile Indonesian province of Maluku. Listen to this account of one particularly difficult day:

At dawn, the day before Good Friday in 1999, Muslim militants came to Rerean-Weduarfer with machetes, bamboo staves and clubs. Breakfast fires had just begun streaming smoke into the breeze off the Banda Sea. Some attackers came from the sea in outrigger canoes; some came down the beach, leaping over the boats and the nets drying in the breeze; some attacked from behind, through the coconut palm groves.

They burned every building in the village. They stabbed and hacked and clubbed the Christian villagers. Some they tied up and killed later. And they kept coming back. About 200 Christians died that week in the village, but Nus lost 38 family members including a brother, aunts, uncles and cousins.  (the whole story can be found here)

In a later interview, Reimas said he was trying to live as Paul instructed in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 – “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” He could be a bitter man, blaming God for these attacks. He could turn to alcohol or drugs or a whole host of other things that would minimize his pain and loss. Instead, he has chosen to practice what he preaches, and God is using his thankfulness to impact an area that is desperate for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Like the lepers in this story, Reimas is experiencing a healing that can only come from God and His grace.

The lepers, clinging to the last thread of hope, beg for healing. And that’s what Jesus did. He healed them. He not only restored their physical health, but their spiritual health too. They could be welcomed back into the community. What an amazing gift Jesus had just given these men! They were clean!

I can just imagine what happened as they started to walk towards the city…

Micah: Hey Jeremiah, do you really believe this guy?

Jeremiah: I don’t know. I’ve heard that this Jesus guy has done some pretty amazing things. Rumor has it that he healed another leper. It’s worth trying what he says, I guess.

Micah: I guess so. I wonder if the priest will even…Hey! Look at Bartholomew over there! He’s…He’s…

Jeremiah: I know. His arms have cleared up. And look at you, Micah. Your face…it’s so…smooth!

Micah: I’ve got to get to a priest! I can’t wait to see my mom! I haven’t seen her in so many years!

Jeremiah: I know. I can’t wait to see my wife and kids. Oh – and to have some real food! I’m so tired of eating scraps! Hey Micah! Slow down! Wait for me!

And their pace quickens as they realize what happened. The painful sores are gone and their strength renewed. They can’t wait to return home and see their loved ones. So they take off for the city.

Sometimes it can be easy to get caught up in the hype and excitement of the moment. I know I said earlier that Thanksgiving Day is so great because it’s not as commercialized, but there are times when it’s easy to get caught up in all the activity of the day. With making sure all the food is ready; rushing from place to place, family to family; and going to bed early so you can beat the post-Thanksgiving morning rush – we can lose focus on what we’re supposed to be celebrating. The meaning gets lost, and giving thanks almost becomes an afterthought. It’s nothing new. As we see here, it even happened to people who had just experienced Jesus face-to-face. I don’t blame the Nine for getting caught up in the moment. I do the same thing. I’d imagine most of us in this room do, too.

The Samaritan leper is an example to us. He’s a reminder that in the midst of our trials, we need to call out to God. He’s also a reminder that when things go well and we are overwhelmed with God’s blessing we need to call out to God and give Him thanks. Not just a token “Thank you, God,” but throwing ourselves at Jesus’ feet and thinking him for what he has done to us and for us.

And Jesus has done everything for us. While we were still sinners – enemies of God – He chose to come down and take on human flesh. While being both wholly God and wholly man, he walked among us for around 30 years. He showed us God’s kingdom through his teaching and his miracles. And then, at the appointed time, he willingly gave up his own life on the cross for you and for me and for the rest of humanity. It was his loving sacrifice that provides us an opportunity to have a right relationship with God.

And you know he didn’t stop there. Three days after suffering the humiliation of being executed like a common criminal, he burst out of his tomb, alive for all eternity! And in so doing, he gives us the opportunity to have eternal life with him. A life that will be free from sickness, suffering, oppression, and death. What an amazing gift!

Our lives need to be acts of thanksgiving to God for all He has done. If anyone is worthy of our thanks and our praise, it is God. God knows that there are times we get distracted by all that is going on, just like the Nine lepers. That’s why we gather together every week around the Lord’s Table and celebrate Communion together. The early church called this celebration the Eucharist. Now, in seminary, this is a word we throw around a lot because it makes us sound smart, but it meant something to the early church. It’s from the Greek word that means to give thanks. From very early on, Christians realized that celebrating the Lord’s death and resurrection through Communion goes hand in hand with giving Him thanks.

A form of that same word is used in this text. In verse 16, it says, “He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and euchariston – thanked – him.” Before our lives in Christ, you and I were sinners. Just like the lepers, we had the kiss of death. No on other than Jesus Christ could save us. And just like the lepers, we have a choice. We can choose to go on about our business, focusing on things that matter to ourselves, or we can choose to follow the example of the Samaritan – throwing ourselves at Jesus’ feet and thanking him for delivering us.

That first Thanksgiving Day celebrated at Plymouth colony was surely a sight to behold. Legend has it that in addition to the feast they shared, each Pilgrim was given five kernels of corn, (pull out five kernels of corn) reminding them of the hardships they had endured over the past year. Like the lone leper, they threw themselves at Jesus feet and thanked him for the new life they had been given. That is an example for all of us.

So, when Thanksgiving comes this Thursday, I challenge you to remember to take the opportunity to really give thanks to God for what He has done for you.  I have some little baggies of corn for each of you to take home.  Put them on your dinner plates, your dining room table, or anywhere else you’ll see them on Thanksgiving Day.  Use them to remind you of what it was like for you before you knew Christ.  Not to make yourself feel guilty or to dwell on your past mistakes, but to give God thanks for what He has done for you – for us.  If this has been a particularly difficult year for you, these kernels might remind you of how He has brought you through those difficulties.  Whatever your case, I hope these kernels remind you to thank God.  And hopefully this thanksgiving will pass beyond the one day that is set aside.

Close in prayer


It’s kind of short, but that’s because they didn’t want it any longer than 25 minutes.  I was done in 24.

I debated for quite a while about talking so much about the story of the Pilgrims.  I know most of what we are taught is not what really happened.  I know there’s controversy about the Puritans’ theological beliefs and social practices.  I know their relationship with their native “friends” was usually tense, at best.  I know that Thanksgiving Day was nothing like what we celebrate today (no potatoes, cranberry sauce, or pumpkin pie!).  I know the five kernels is pure fabrication – and I basically told them that at lunch afterwards.  They all agreed that the message it conveyed was much more important than whether it was based on fact or not.

I think the five kernels could be a corny (yes…pun intended.  I’m so funny, ain’t I?) story.  But when used properly, it can communicate a powerful message.

After church, they took me out to lunch again.  They started asking me about my future plans after graduation.  I started telling them a little about my dream to see new churches in the Evansville area (if you’re not familiar with what I’m talking about, go here).  They liked the idea.

One of the ladies asked if it would involve regular preaching.  I told her that whether I’m actually starting the church or mobilizing other churches to do the planting, I’m fairly confident that time behind the pulpit is in my future.  She responded, “Good.  I can see you as a preacher.”

That made me feel good.

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Howdy. I'm Matt. My wife, Christy, and I have four kids and two dogs, I'm passionate about orphan care. I'm a die-hard fan of the Evansville Aces, the Indiana Hoosiers, and Star Wars. I'm trying to live life by the Todd family motto: "It behooves us to live!"
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