LET ME BE THE ONE

Luke 17:12-18

In our account we have ten men, all lepers.

It was an horrible disease, 

• The person who had contracted it became grotesque to look at
• Not that you could see him, he would have to cover all of his skin, including his face, with old cloth to protect his open sores from even worse infection.
• Leprosy would eat away at the person’s skin, causing them to lose fingers and toes and noses and ears.

The disease was so contagious that the leper was isolated from everybody he loved.

So the lepers tended to live together so they had at least some companionship.

Ten of these lepers heard that Jesus was in their village

• No doubt they had heard that Jesus had already healed others with leprosy
• So they have nothing to lose by asking Him to heal them too.

When they asked Jesus to shew them mercy, Jesus sent them to the priests, the normal thing to do because, even if they were cleansed, the Old Testament law said that a priest had to declare them clean.

They went away, leprous – but as they went, they were healed.

Now we do not know for sure what nine of these men did once they discovered they were cured.

We do know that one of them turned around, came to Jesus, glorified God and gave Jesus thanks.

It sounds a lot like what I see happening among Christians today.

• Of those many that Jesus saves and forgives of their sin
• Only the few ever really live like they are glad Jesus did it.

I have, in my pick-up, a CD with a song entitled, “Let me be the one.”

It is the story we have just read put to music and with the focus on the one who returned to give the Lord thanks.

The song includes the words, 

“If just one soul returns

 to give thanks for what you’ve done,

 this is my prayer Lord,

 let me be the one.”

I want to preach a short message tonight on the subject,  

Let Me Be the One.

I am glad that the Lord does not say that he made the nine leprous again.

I am glad a person can call upon the Lord and, even if they do not express proper appreciation, still go to heaven.

But I want to be a different kind of Christian than that, don’t you?

I want to be the kind of Christian that

• Walks worthy of the salvation Jesus gave me
• Is obedient to the commands Jesus teaches me and
• Wants to live so others know what Jesus did for me

Let me show you three main points tonight:

Let me be the one

I. TO TURN BACK

Vs 15

We do not know for sure, but we can speculate that the nine lepers simply went back to life like it was before.

We can assume that they did as Jesus had said, went to the priest and were declared clean, and then just went on with life as before.

I don’t think they lost their cleanliness because they did that.

But it is obvious that Jesus noticed and was most pleased with the one who turned back.

Apparently he did not even go to the priest.

When someone has cleansed you of leprosy, who else do you really need to see?

I think I would want to go to the source of the healing.

This implies that 

The man had a change of life because he had a change of health.

When a person trusts Jesus Christ as Saviour and finds that Jesus has forgiven his sins

That person has an immediate decision to make:

• Does he turn to Jesus Christ and follow Him completely? Or
• Does he go about life relatively unchanged, except that he is forgiven?

I think the Bible makes it abundantly clear that the person who chooses not to follow Jesus closely is still saved.

But Jesus also makes it very clear that the one who “turns back” and changes the way he lives to practice the teaching of the Word of God pleases Him more.

Will you, with me tonight say to the Lord, “If only one Christian will turn to live for Jesus, let me be that one?”

Secondly, let me be the one

II. TO GIVE TESTIMONY

Vs 15

The Bible says that after this leper turned back he, “with a loud voice glorified God.”

So as he came back, he began telling others what had happened to him.

He glorified God in the sense that he told everyone that Jesus had healed him.

This isn’t where he gave Jesus thanks – he will do that in a minute.

At this point he is letting others know what he intended to do.

He spoke with a loud voice.

It just means that more people could hear him.

He wasn’t trying to keep the blessings of God secret

He wasn’t ashamed to let others know that 

• He had been a leper
• He had come to Jesus and
• He had been healed by the Lord

You see, some Christians try to be “secret service saints.”

• They are saved and 
• They are glad they are saved, but 
• They keep it pretty much to themselves

It is not that a Christian will lose his salvation if they are not loud about their faith.

It is not like you have to 

• Pass out gospel tracks
• Go knock on doors and
• Witness to the people you work around

But it is pretty obvious that those believers that Jesus is more blessed by are those who will turn back to Him after they cleansed and then give Him glory with a loud voice.

And I want to ask you tonight to join me.

Let’s not be like the majority of those who have been saved but never really live for the Lord and never really glorify God.

• If it is only one who returns to glorify God
• If it is only one who turns back to be a testimony about what Jesus can do
• If it is only one Christian who will be a witness for the Lord

Let’s you and me be the one

Let me be the one to turn back and live for the Lord

Let me be the one to give testimony and tell others about the Lord

Thirdly, let me be the one

III. TO GIVE THANKS

Vs 16

Not only did this leper

• Turn back to live for Jesus
• Give testimony what Jesus had done for him

He also gave thanks to Jesus.

It occurs to me that you can’t really be thankful without giving.

They go hand in hand.

So that 

• The reason we give our tithes at church is not because we have to, but as an expression of thanks to the Lord for the church He has provided us.
• The reason we give above our tithe to missions is that it is an expression of thanks for sending someone to tell us how to be saved.
• The reason why we give above all of that to something like the Faith in Action plan is to express thanks for those who gave so I already have a place to sit in the house of God and

You just can’t give thanks without giving something.