Would You Have Returned?
Luke 17:11-19
September 21, 2025 anno Domini
Would you have returned?
If you were in that league of lepers would you have returned to Jesus, praising God, falling down at His feet, giving Him thanks?
Statistically it doesn’t look good. He gave 100% of the men healing from leprosy. All 10 of the men received life back, their families back, work back, bowling league back. Only 1 returned to give Jesus thanks. He lost 90% of His investment. You probably shouldn’t consult Jesus when it comes to growing your church. As Father Abraham told the rich man in hell – people won’t be convinced even if someone should rise from the dead.
This morning I’m going to aks you three more questions to help you answer that big question, “Would you have returned?”
First question– Do you realize all that God has given you?
Remember the grocery list you learned from Luther’s Small Catechism under the First Article of the Creed. I believe that God has made me and all creatures, that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them. He also give me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all I have. Did you thank God for the delightful aroma of coffee this morning? That you had indoor plumbing? That your mind remembered it was Sunday? That your body worked well enough to get you here? That you had a closet full of clothes to choose from and a floor full of shoes, that you didn’t sleep outdoors?
When’s the last time you woke up and said, “Thanks be to God that the sun is still in its place and the earth is spinning perfectly in its orbit to sustain not only my life, but all the life on planet earth?” Sadly, if your thanksgiving for the gifts you see and touch and enjoy everyday is rare, what of your thanksgiving for the unseen, eternal, spiritual gifts God has bestowed upon you?
In Christ God has forgiven all your sins. Like those lepers on the road, you had a deadly disease from which there is no earthly cure. You inherited sin from your parents and you were a sinner who sins, destined to die. You would have been right at home with those lepers. Your life, if you could call it that, was suffering, pain, despair, and death. I wouldn’t be surprised if many lepers tried to kill themselves.
But then those lepers, that fellowship of death, heard of Jesus. This guy worked miracles. He calmed the sea. Fed 5000 people with a few loaves of bread. He even raised the dead. Word had it that this Jesus was in the area, heading their way. Can you imagine the hope this news gave these men? You wonder if any of them made bargains with God – “Oh God, if you take away my leprosy I’ll go to the seminary and become a pastor. My boys won’t be in any sports that take them away from church on Sunday. I’ll start reading my Bible every day.”
Then their hope is realized. They see Jesus coming down the road. They cry out “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” Their faith prays the best prayer ever and Jesus does what He is. He shows mercy because He is merciful. “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” Old Testament Law said only the priest could declare you clean. Jesus was not above the Law, but came to fulfill it so He sent these men with His Word.
Faith believes the Word of Jesus so they went. There was no reason to go to the priest unless they believed their leprosy was losing its grip on their lives. And as they went they were cleansed.
Imagine the joy as their stumbling turned to running, as feeling returned to their fingers and toes, as their dimming eyes became bright, as death gave way to life. You shouldn’t have to imagine, because you have more than they did. Your sins have been taken away by the blood of Christ. His Word has given you life instead of death. The eyes of your faith see the world for what it is – a lost and dying battlefield where no man wins – but where Christ has already won and brought you by faith over to the winning side. You have no need to despair over evil. Evil has been judged on the cross. Evil lost when Christ rose. Evil’s end is coming as sure as Jesus healed those lepers, died on the cross, and rose again from the dead. There’s enough there to thank God day and night for the rest of your earthly life. Do you?
Second Question– Is your appreciation driven by loss or by gift? Or put another way – do you complain about what you’ve lost or are you thankful for what you have? The cliché is too often true – you don’t appreciate what you have until you lose it. A drought makes you long for the rain and rejoice when it comes. Sickness makes you thankful for health. Cataracts for sight. Arthritis for pain-free mobility. We are quick to pray when facing trouble and loss, but slow to offer daily thanksgiving for every good and gracious gift that comes down from above.
Our sinfulness makes our behavior worse than the animals. Through the prophet Isaiah the Lord says, “Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not undersand.” My yellow lab does a better job looking to me for food than I do to God. I can open the fridge when she is in her basement kennel and before I can slice a piece of cheese she’s wagging her tail and looking to receive gifts from her master.
Third Question – Do you use His gifts for His purpose or your own? This is difference between the 9 lepers and the one leper who returned. Somewhere along the way to the temple, that one leper stopped. He turned around. He ran back toward Jesus, praising God. We don’t know how far away he was. We don’t know if there were other people he passed, but Saint Luke tells us, “He was praising God in a loud voice.” That’s not hard to picture. A man just raised from the dead, hearing the best news ever. What would he be saying? “God is good. Man, that Jesus is awesome. It doesn’t get any better than this. Look what he did for me. He healed me. I’m clean. He gave me my life back. Praise the Lord.” And then falling at the feet of Jesus, “Thank you Jesus. You are the Son of God. You are my Savior.”
That is what faith does – faith gives thanks. Faith without thanksgiving is no faith at all. That Samaritan used his newly healed feet to return to Jesus. He used his voice to praise God for His goodness. He bowed his cleansed body in worship of His Savior. First things first – before he kissed his wife, hugged his children, and cracked open a cold beverage – he gave thanks to God in Christ His Son.
Would you have returned? You have. You’re here this morning, and hopefully you’ve learned how weak your thanksgiving is and how strong your unbelief. Complaining is easier than thanksgiving. The loss of gifts increases your prayers but the abundance of gifts decreases them. If the only time you think of God is here – well that’s one hour out of the 168 hours in a week. That’s only ½ of 1 percent. That makes 10% look fabulous.
That is why you must pray and work to be like the Samaritan. Pray that God’s Spirit would grant you repentance – that you would turn back from worldliness and complaining and thanklessness, that you would return to Jesus, here in His Word and Sacrament, so that you can receive His abundant gifts – forgiveness, life, and salvation, so that you can praise His name – “Jesus is awesome. You wouldn’t believe what He has done for me – He’s forgiven my sins, died my death, promised me a resurrection to eternal life.” Pray that you return here often, to receive His gifts and give thanks. In the name of Jesus. Amen.