The Encounter

 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 ten 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."

Luke 17:11-19 (ESV)
 
When we have a problem, we focus on the situation. When we see a viable solution, we focus on the solution. When the problem is solved, we focus on our new life.
 
When healing occurs, we want to forget the pain, yet remembering the pain and healing process yields the most incredible joy as it gives us the greatest contrast.
 
The lepers' lives were dramatically different after their encounter with Christ. Only one acknowledged the source of the change. May I never neglect the source of my transformation.
 

Doing our Duty

 "Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, 'Come at once and recline at table'? Will he not rather say to him, 'Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink'? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? 10 So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.'"

Luke 17:7-10 (ESV)
 
"A.L.O.E., in "Triumph over Midian," writes: ‘You have not your due,’ were the words which a wife addressed to a husband, who had been deprived of some advantage which she considered to have been his right. ‘May God be praised that I have not my due!’ he replied. ‘What is my due as a sinner before God? What is my due from a world which I have renounced for His sake? Had I chosen my portion in this life, then only might I complain of not receiving my due.’” (Biblical Illustrator)
 
"The faithful performance of duty in our station, ennobles that station whatever it may be. There is a beautiful story told of the great Spartan Brasidas. When he complained that Sparta was a small state, his mother said to him: ‘Son, Sparta has fallen to your lot, and it is your duty to adorn it.’ I (the Earl of Shaftesbury) would only say to all workers, everywhere, in all positions of life, whatever be the lot in which you are cast, it is your duty to adorn it." (Biblical Illustrator)
 

Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded?

"Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, 'Come at once and recline at table'? Will he not rather say to him, 'Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink'? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? 10 So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.'"
Luke 17:7-10 (ESV)
 
"We used to be roused and stirred by the clarion call of duty, as well as soothed and comforted by the tender breathings of love. And here the call comes to us loud and clear, waxing even louder as we listen and reflect. ‘Do your duty; and when you have done it, however laborious and painful it may be, remember that you have only done your duty. Do not give yourselves airs of complacency, as though you had achieved some great thing. Do not give yourselves air of martyrdom as though some strange thing had happened to you. Neither pity yourselves, nor plume yourselves on what you have done or borne. Do not think of yourselves at all, but of God, and of the duties you owe to Him. That you have done your duty—let this be your comfort, if at least you can honestly take it. And if you are tempted to a dainty and effeminate self-pity for the hardships you have borne, or to a dangerous and degrading self-admiration for the achievements you have wrought, let this be your safeguard, that you have done no more than your duty.’ It is in this strain that our Lord speaks to us here." (S. Cox, D. D.)

No Thought Of Self

 "Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, 'Come at once and recline at table'? Will he not rather say to him, 'Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink'? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? 10 So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.'"

Luke 17:7-10 (ESV)
 
"We are not to think about ourselves at all, but of God, of what He has been to us and what He has done for us, and of what we owe to Him; and then, when we get to a right and proper estimate of that, our most arduous efforts and our most costly sacrifices will seem so small in comparison, that we shall be ready to exclaim, ‘We are unprofitable servants! All that we have done does not begin to measure the greatness of our indebtedness to Him for whom we have done it!’” (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)

The One Thing…

 "Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, 'Come at once and recline at table'? Will he not rather say to him, 'Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink'? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? 10 So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.'"

Luke 17:7-10 (ESV)
 
"The one thing on which our Lord wishes to concentrate our attention is not the spirit in which God deals with His servants, but rather the spirit in which we should serve God—not what God thinks of our work, but rather how we should regard it ourselves." (W. M. Taylor, D. D.) 
 

I often wonder….

 "Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, 'Come at once and recline at table'? Will he not rather say to him, 'Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink'? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? 10 So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.'"

Luke 17:7-10 (ESV)
 
I often wonder if we have become obsessed with being praised for the things in life that we should be doing. When I was in high school, I asked my dad if I could skip the graduation ceremony and go to camp. I honestly felt like there was nothing to celebrate. I was forced to go to school, was responsible for getting good grades, as I was supposed to, and finished my course work, as was expected. I did not do anything out of the ordinary, certainly nothing to be celebrated.
 
I often wonder why a culture celebrates doing things they are expected to do? Is it that doing what we are supposed to do is unusual?

If we have faith.

 The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!"

Luke 17:5 (ESV)
 
"Men are just like the disciples. They hear religion preached; they believe the things that are said; and at times the truth glances through the exterior coating and strikes their moral sense. The ideal of truth presented to them seems beautiful and sweet. In a white light it is to them. Thousands and thousands of men there are who hear the gospel preached every Sunday, and think there is nothing more beautiful than meekness, nothing more beautiful than humility, as they are presented to them. These are excellent qualities in their estimation. They believe in love. They believe in everything that is required in a true Christian character. It meets their approval. Their reason approves it. Their judgment approves it. Their taste approves it. Their moral sentiments approve it. And yet, when they ask themselves, ‘How shall I practice it?’ they fall off instantly, and say, ‘It is not possible for me. I never can do it in the world.’”
 
"No man can change his faculties, any more than he can change his bodily organization; and yet, his disposition may be changed! The Lord says, ‘If you have faith as a grain of mustard-seed, you can say to this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the roots, and cast into the sea.’ Hard as it is to transplant the tree of your soul, difficult as it is to sever the roots that hold it down, the Master says, ‘There is power to do it.’”
 
"However many faults you may have, that branch their roots out in every direction, and difficult as it is to transplant them by the ordinary instrumentalities; nevertheless, faith in the soul will give you power to pluck them up by the roots, and east them from you, or transplant them to better soil, where they will grow to a better purpose." (H. W. Beecher.)