Faith is one of my words for the year, and as I’ve been reading through the gospels I’ve observed faith is seen. It’s visible. Faith requires action for God to work on our behalf. Faith requires us to trust God and move forward as He leads even when it doesn’t make sense or when it’s scary.
In Luke 17:11-19, there’s a story you’ve probably read or heard many times. It’s the story about the ten men who had a serious skin disease. If you haven’t read it for yourself in a while, you really should.
Just some observations on my part. You might see more.
There were 10 men with a serious skin disease who went to see Jesus, but they didn’t approach Jesus. They stood away and called out to Him. They were unclean, and they were infectious. They were probably pretty disgusting too. They had sores that probably oozed. They probably had an odor because of it. Isn’t that how we all come to Jesus? Filthy. Infected by sin. Unclean.
Their cry was, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” (To this day, I cry for mercy.)
Jesus doesn’t ignore them. He stops and speaks to them. “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” Does He say, “Your faith has made you well?” No. Does He say, “Your sins are forgiven,” and then they were made whole? No. There are many times Jesus and His apostles healed people on the spot, but this time, Jesus said, “Go and show yourselves.”
The men turned to go. The men were walking to show themselves to the priest when the healing happened. They didn’t get an immediate fix, an immediate healing. They had to actual go away from Jesus. They had to make steps in obedience before healing would come. They had to act because by acting and doing what He said, they had their faith.
What if instead of heading to the priest, they decided to go home because Jesus hadn’t healed them on the spot like He had done for others at other times? They would have missed out on being healed. They would have missed out on a blessing. They would have missed out on the miracle. What do we miss when we fail to act in faith? What miracles are we missing out on because we do not act in faith?
On the way to the priest was where and when the healing happened, and one gave glory to God. One out of ten gave glory to God for what God had done in their lives. I wonder if that statistic stands true today for those who claim to be Christians. How many “Christians” give God the glory for the miracles, the blessings in their lives? It’s really a sad statistic.
But this time, instead of keeping his distance the man healed from his skin condition made a personal connection with Jesus. He fell at Jesus’ feet facedown thanking Him. Isn’t that amazing? To be healed and cleansed by Jesus from afar only to be given the opportunity to thank Him in person where he could actually touch Him. One day, I’m going to do that. One day, I’m going to be able to thank my Jesus in person for what He endured and did for me on the cross. I’ll be one hot, snottin’-up, blubbering mess, but I’m going to do that one day. Mark my words.
Then Jesus pointed out the man was a Samaritan. How is this significant? The Jews saw Samaritans as half-breeds in every sense of the derogatory connotation you can think. The Jews were God’s chosen people, but some had married outside of the Jewish community resulting in Samaritans. Samaritans were considered less than or beneath them. Men may not find value in another human being, but Jesus finds value in every human being. He finds value because He was willing to die to have a relationship with them.
Jesus commented, “Where are the other 9?” He wanted a personal encounter with them, but they chose not to have that moment with Jesus. How sad. Look at what they missed out on? Have you missed out on a personal experience with Jesus because you lacked gratitude?
Then Jesus told the Samaritan, “Get up and go on your way. Your faith had made you well.” The words every sick person wants to hear.
If you have not acted on your belief, then you don’t have faith.
If your belief hasn’t been tested or tried, then you don’t have faith.
Faith can be seen and heard.
Faith is a living thing that grows in proportion to your obedience.
