Were there not ten?

In Luke 17, Jesus approaches a village when he meets ten lepers who stood afar off (17:12). They cried out to our Lord to have mercy on them. Jesus instructed them to go show themselves to the priests and once they obeyed they were cleansed.

Imagine the tremendous joy they must have felt. All of a sudden their entire lives where changed. No longer did they have to isolate themselves from social contact. They would never again have to walk through the streets crying, "unclean, unclean" as others approached. The dispair of waiting day by day as their bodies slowly withered away was a thing of the past.

What is more incredible is that only one of the ten turned back and glorified God. He fell down at the feet of Jesus and thanked Him. Even more amazing is the fact that the one who returned was a Samaritan.

I have often heard lessons from this passage emphasizing the importance of gratitude, but this morning another thought came to mind. I started thinking about all the people that Jesus helped and how few actually thanked him. He raised the dead, restored the lame, healed the sick, fed the hungry and ministered to the heartbroken - still through it all many took his good works for granted.

In this particular case Jesus recognized the fact that nine of the ten failed to return and glorify God, but in most cases Jesus simply went about doing good. In Acts 10:38 that is exactly what Peter says about our Lord, "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him."

So, are you the kind of person who has to be thanked for everything you do? Do you think that the church should only help those who express gratitude, show penetence, or identify themselves with the local church? Our obligation is "to do good unto all men, especially those of the household of faith" (Galatians 6:10). There are times I feel as Jesus did - "Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?" (Luke 17:17).

Lord, thank you for the one who returned and glorified God. Thank for setting an example of sacrificial service, even when it seems unappreciated. Thank you for reminding me that my duty to mankind is to sieze the opportunities to daily serve.