March 12, 2025 • 26 mins
Pastor Stephen Feith takes us on a profound journey through three powerful narratives from Luke's gospel that reveal what authentic faith looks like in daily life. Beginning with the story of ten lepers healed by Jesus, we discover that while all ten received physical transformation, only one—a Samaritan—returned to express gratitude. This singular act transformed his experience from mere physical healing to complete salvation. The stark contrast challenges us to examine how we respond to God's work in our lives: do we walk away with the blessing, or do we return to worship the giver?
The sermon explores the tension between the "already" and "not yet" nature of God's kingdom. When questioned by religious leaders expecting political dominance, Jesus makes the radical claim that "the kingdom of God is already among you." This statement reframes our understanding of how God's reign manifests—not primarily through visible power structures but through transformed hearts. While we await Christ's unmistakable return, we're called to represent that kingdom now through how we prioritize our lives and engage with the world around us.
Through the parable of the persistent widow, Feith addresses one of faith's greatest challenges: continuing to trust when prayers seem unanswered. Unlike the unjust judge who relented from annoyance, God's timing serves perfect purposes. The delay isn't negligence but divine wisdom. Jesus concludes with a haunting question that resonates through centuries: "When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" This isn't questioning whether God will act but whether we will remain faithful while we wait.
The message culminates in a vision of what Madison Church could become—a community marked by recognition of God as the source of all blessing, readiness for Christ's return even amid life's distractions, and persistence in prayer regardless of apparent outcomes. Imagine a church that radiates gratitude in an ungrateful world, walks with expectation amid cynicism, and prays with relentless trust when others have given up. Such a community wouldn't just experience personal transformation but would transform its city and beyond for Christ's kingdom.
If you enjoyed this episode, consider subscribing to Madison Church on your favorite podcast platform. Your feedback means the world to us, so please take a moment to leave a review and share the podcast with your friends and family.
For inquiries, suggestions, or collaboration opportunities, please reach out to us at help@madisonchurch.com.
For the latest updates and behind-the-scenes content, follow us on social media:
New episodes are released every Monday, so mark your calendars and join us weekly!
If you'd like to support the show, you can make a donation here. Your generosity helps us continue to bring you meaningful content.
This podcast is intended for general informational purposes only. The views expressed by the hosts or guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Madison Church. Any reliance you place on such information is strictly at your own risk. For detailed information regarding our terms of use and privacy policy, please visit our website.
Thank you for being part of the Madison Church community! We appreciate your support.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, good morning and welcome to Madison Church.
I'm Stephen Feith lead pastor,and we've been journeying
through Luke's gospel in aseries called A Life that
Matters, and what we've beentalking about and hopefully
discovering together is that alife that matters is found
really in following Jesus, andit's found in this idea of
becoming Christ-like.
(00:21):
We're becoming like Jesus as wefollow him.
It's so much more thanbelieving Jesus is who he says
he is.
That's a key component, butthat's not where it begins and
ends.
It's not.
I believe this.
This is how I affiliate Check Alife that matters, following
Jesus and discipleship.
It's about how we live everyday.
(00:43):
It's about where our trust isat and what we place our trust
in, and it's our response toGod's call over all of our lives
.
Now, in Luke 17, where we'regoing today and specifically
looking at verses 11 and beyond,jesus is going to shift focus.
Last few weeks we've beentalking about faithfulness, and
(01:03):
faithfulness during uncertaintimes.
But as he moves towardsJerusalem and toward the cross,
as we all as a community gatherand we get closer to Easter this
year, what Jesus is teaching us, what it means to follow him.
He's been emphasizing the costof discipleship, humility and
service, but now Jesus istransitioning.
(01:24):
He's going to talk about thefuture.
He's going to say, hey, I'mgoing to die.
That's inevitable.
They don't quite get that yet,and now he's trying to just cast
a little bit of a vision forwhat happens afterwards God's
kingdom, his return and,specifically, our readiness for
those things.
Maybe you've prayed a prayerthat sounded a little bit like
this.
(01:44):
God, if you would just get meout of this, I promise I will
dot dot dot.
Now this conjures up images oftraffic cops and close parking
spots.
But what about the seriousstuff that we're negotiating
with God, the heartfelt prayerswe dare not write down or go to
the back of the room to prayabout, things that we cry out
(02:06):
and sometimes literally cry indesperation?
God, would you give us a baby?
Help us to adopt, walk throughthis process with us.
God, if you just show me whatI'm supposed to do with the rest
of my life, I'll do it.
God, if you help me break freefrom this addiction, then I will
(02:26):
.
Today's passage Jesus meetspeople in that exact place.
God, if you would, just I would.
But in this passage and in thestories we're going to read
about today, we catch somethingdeeper about what real faith
looks like Through the healingof 10 lepers, the teaching on
(02:47):
the kingdom and a parable of apersistent widow.
Jesus challenges us.
Will we recognize God as thesource of life?
Will we live with readiness forJesus's return?
Will we persist in the faitheven when nothing seems to
(03:07):
happen?
Jesus isn't just teachingtheology.
He wants to shape how you and Ilive and the decisions that we
make every day.
He calls us to a faith thatrecognizes, a faith that stays
ready and a faith that nevergives up.
And so let's begin reading Luke17, verses 11 through 14.
(03:27):
Jesus continued toward Jerusalem.
He reached a border betweenGalilee and Samaria.
As he entered a village there,10 men with leprosy stood at a
distance, crying out Jesus,master, have mercy on us.
He looked at them and said go,show yourselves to the priests,
and as they went, they werecleansed of their leprosy.
(03:50):
Now some key details here.
They're near the border ofGalilee and Samaria, which is a
very racially and ethnicallydivided part of that region, and
so already we've got kind ofthis I want to call it a
conflict going on before Jesuseven gets there.
And what we see is not justthat it's racially divided, but
(04:11):
there's this illness and there'sleprosy, and I was trying to
find a good picture for leprosyand I couldn't find anything on
the internet.
So I went to chat GPT and askedchat to bring up an image of
what leprosy probably lookedlike.
Nice job, chatgpt.
Right Now, as you can imagine,it wasn't just the disease.
(04:32):
This looks awful and veryuncomfortable, as you can
imagine.
I don't know how realistic thisis, but we're going to go with
it.
You can also see that this wasa sentence to a social exile.
Nobody's inviting this guy overfor dinner or coffee.
As a matter of fact, if you seehim, you're walking across the
street or you're turning aroundand walking the other way.
(04:52):
You want nothing to do withthis.
And so, healing.
When they cry out to Jesus,master, heal me, it's not just
about health, it's about life.
I'm tired of being exiled.
Jesus commands them go, showyourselves to the priest, which
would indicate that he is beinghealed, that these men are being
(05:14):
healed, because by Leviticallaw, you could only go back to
the priest if you have beenhealed.
They weren't allowed to go backif they weren't healed.
But we also read that they'renot healed on the spot.
Jesus says go and you will behealed.
So it requires a step of trust.
As they obeyed, they were healed.
(05:35):
The healing didn't come beforethe obedience.
The obedience came first andthen they were healed.
And yet only one returns.
One starts walking away.
I'm going to go talk to thepriest, notices hey, I'm getting
better, says you know, I shouldgo back and thank this guy
because that's pretty remarkable.
Out of all of them we read thatthis is the only one that's a
(05:56):
Samaritan.
So he's the ethnic minority ofthe group who comes back and
falls at Jesus' feet and tellshim thank you.
And Jesus says your faith hassaved you.
And the Greek word here, sozo,it means healing and salvation.
It's not just a physicalhealing but it's a spiritual
(06:17):
healing.
And this man so, while theother nine walked away and who
knows what happens with, like,the rest of their lives and the
rest of their destiny.
But this one man in this momentwasn't just healed of leprosy,
but his soul was saved.
Some gifts are so big and solife-changing.
I know you've gotten these inthe past, but just saying thanks
(06:38):
feels like insulting to thegift giver.
Have you gotten something likethat where you're just like man
saying thanks?
It just doesn't quite capturehow grateful.
I feel we want to do something.
How can I show just howgrateful I am?
And when Jesus heals us, whenhe saves us and he forgives us?
(06:59):
This isn't just something thatwe want to say gee, thanks for
this is something that deepinside, we want to feel the
gratitude and we want to liveour lives accordingly.
We want to be like theSamaritan leper who says wow,
I'm being healed, look at how mylife is improving.
It's not perfect yet, but I'mgoing to come back and say thank
(07:22):
you.
Paul echoes this sentiment toall followers of Jesus In Romans
12,.
He says dear brothers andsisters, I plead with you to
give your bodies to God becauseof all he has done for you Past
tense, all he has done for youNow.
We have future tense promisesas well.
(07:42):
But because of what God hasalready done, and if God has
never done anything else for you, ever again, I plead with you
give your bodies to God.
Let them be a living and holysacrifice, the kind he will find
acceptable.
This is truly the way toworship him.
(08:03):
As followers of Jesus, we arecalled to respond to God's gift
of salvation, of healing, ofpromise, of vision, of hope,
with worship and like the lepers.
We all experience brokennessand deep need, maybe not to that
horrible picture's worth, butperhaps on the inside that's how
we feel Caught up, woundseverywhere, an outcast.
(08:27):
We feel that and we have torecognize that even if that's
the case, we walk in obedienceand faith isn't just about
receiving from God, but it'srecognizing him as the source of
my healing.
So even while I'm being healedand I'm in a state of not being
healed, I still recognize thatthe healing comes from a source
that is God, and so I worshiphim.
(08:50):
It's about recognizing him asthe source.
Many of us have called on Godin desperation, but how many of
us come back to say thank you,to show our gratitude and to
live a life of worship?
Jesus continues teaching and oneof the Pharisees asks a
question.
He says when will the kingdomof God come?
(09:11):
This is verse 20.
Jesus replied the kingdom ofGod can't be detected by visible
signs.
You won't be able to say hereit is or it's over there, for
the kingdom of God is alreadyamong you.
Then he said to his disciplesremember how the crowd is made
up.
There's the outsiders, there'sthe Pharisees and then there's
the disciples.
So he turns to his disciples,pharisees, still listening.
(09:32):
The time is coming when youwill long to see the day when
the Son of man returns, but youwon't see it.
People will tell you, look,there is the Son of man, or here
he is, but don't go out andfollow them, for as lightning
flashes and lights up the skyfrom one end to the other, so it
will be on the day when the Sonof man comes, but first the Son
(09:54):
of man must suffer terribly andbe rejected by this generation.
And so, for the background here,those Pharisees, the religious
elite of Jesus' day, theyexpected, based on their
understanding of the OldTestament scriptures, that when
God came back, when the Messiahwas there, there would be a
powerful, visible kingdommovement, one that would
(10:15):
overthrow the entire Romanempire.
And Jesus just stops him rightthere, as he continuously does
throughout this whole gospel.
He'll continue to do that.
The kingdom of God cannot bedetected by visible signs, is
what he's saying.
Why?
Because the kingdom of God isalready among you.
This is radical.
Because the Pharisees, theywanted political dominance.
(10:37):
But Jesus announces, despitenot having any sort of dominance
politically, god's reign hasalready begun.
It's begun in the hearts of mypeople.
And yet, while the kingdom ishere.
We live in that not yet space,not yet Overlapping,
(11:07):
interlocking right now, but notyet.
Here and there, now and later,we know that it's not yet.
And so, turning to his disciples, jesus warns.
So if you're a follower ofJesus, he looks at you now and
he warns.
He says the time is comingwhere you will long to see the
day when the Son of man returns.
We say come, lord, jesus, come.
We pray, he says, but you won'tsee it.
Many will claim to have specialknowledge of Jesus's return.
But Jesus says these are justdistractions, these are taking
(11:32):
your eyes off the prize.
His coming will be asunmistakable as lightning
flashing against the sky.
He says when I come back,you'll know, there'll be no
question about it.
I'll be like boom, it's here.
He says, but first don't get sodown the road here.
He's got to warn his disciplesagain Remember I got to die
first.
To illustrate the urgency, hepoints to history.
(11:54):
Jesus talks about Noah and Lotand how people were caught up in
their everyday lives eating,drinking, working, and then
suddenly judgment came.
Jesus says something likeremember Lot's wife?
She looked back because she wastoo attached to the world.
She knew to move forward in theworld that God was leading her
to.
And he says you're just likethat, you're expecting a
(12:15):
political revolution.
You keep looking back at Romeand saying this must be what
it's like.
He says, but no, the kingdom ofGod starts here and when we
move there.
So stop looking back.
And today we still getdistracted.
I mean, not very many of you, Iknow, but some people obsess
over end time predictions.
(12:35):
I can't tell you how manyletters we'll get this year in
the mail directed to me and ourchurch asking me to warn you
that the end time is near.
And I always throw those thingsin the recycling bin and I've
not warned you because I justthink they've been wrong so far
and then, if they ever are right, it'll be a flash anyway right,
and so I just throw thosethings away.
God's kingdom though you're here.
(12:56):
So God's kingdom is alreadyhere.
It won't be fully realizeduntil Jesus comes back, that
boom moment.
But right now you represent thekingdom of God.
His coming will be sudden andmany will be unprepared, but
Jesus says please not, you Don'tbe unprepared.
(13:18):
So if the kingdom of God isalready here and not yet fully
realized, how do we live in thattension.
I think we can feel the tension, right, we know that there's
something better, but yet weexperience something worse.
We know there's healing andperhaps we've even experienced
some healing, but there's stillpain.
What do we do in these moments?
Jesus does?
He warns his disciples, saysstay ready, don't be caught off
(13:46):
guard.
But waiting is hard and a lotof us are in a waiting season
and our culture has done zerohelp in this regards.
Right, okay, how mad do you getwhen the drive-thru takes an
extra couple minutes?
Like I'm sitting behind, we'reat McDonald's and I'm like you
don't know what you want.
It's not like the menu goesthrough radical changes every
year.
Okay, do you want a quarterpounder or chicken nuggets?
Like this is basically it andit's like it only cost me an
(14:07):
extra 30 seconds.
You know.
It's like what's the big deal?
Why do I get so worked up aboutthis?
Not long ago, you would havebeen excited.
10 years ago, you would havebeen excited if you could order
something from your pajamas andyour slippers and get it in less
than a week.
You would have been pumped.
And I ordered somethingyesterday and I was irritated
that they didn't have same dayshipping for one of the items.
I was like why Everyone buysthis.
(14:29):
Why can't I get it the rest oftoday or later today?
And I can't begin to tell youhow personally frustrated I am.
I have three TV shows I'mwatching streaming.
I love them all and I hate thatI got to wait Sundays, tuesdays
and Fridays for new episodes.
I thought Netflix solved thisfor us.
You just released the wholething and let me waste a
(14:50):
Saturday, and now I got to waitmonths.
I'm so irritated by it.
Now, these are very littlethings, right?
Cheeseburgers, tv shows.
How do we remain faithful withthe big, serious things, the big
serious your career, yourrelationships, your money, your
health, the big things.
If I get irritated about thedrive-through wait, how am I
(15:16):
ever going to wait on God?
How do we trust God when he'sat work, even if we don't see it
?
We don't know how he's at work,god, what are you doing, god?
Why isn't immediate?
Do you not know what you wantto do here?
How do we trust in God?
Well, jesus answers with aparable about persistence in
faith.
One day.
(15:36):
This is another time.
Now.
Jesus told his disciples a storyto show them that they should
always pray and never give up.
There was a judge in a certaincity.
He said, who neither feared Godnor cared about people.
This is a big deal if you'reJewish, because by the law of
the Old Testament, if you were ajudge, you were supposed to
fear God and care about people.
So Jesus just wants you to knowwhat kind of sinful person this
(16:03):
guy is.
Finally said to himself I don'tfear God or care about people.
But this woman is driving mecrazy.
So I'm going to see that shegets justice, because she is
wearing me out with her constantrequest.
(16:27):
So in this story, a widow, awoman with no social power, no
legal standing, pleads to acorrupt judge for justice and he
ignores her.
That's someone who doesn't careabout God or people would do,
who cares.
But she refuses to give up.
She goes every day.
I ask, hey, can you do this?
Hey, can you do this?
And he finally relents, not outof compassion, not like, oh, I
finally you know what.
You've raised enough goodpoints.
Now I've changed my mind, likeI feel really bad for you.
(16:50):
No, it's like she won't shut upand I'm tired of seeing her.
She's like that customer if youwork in like retail or in a
restaurant and you see themwalking through the door and
you're like, let's get this overwith Now.
Jesus's point is clear.
He's trying to paint a pictureof if this godless person who
(17:11):
doesn't care about people caneventually be broken down and do
something, not out of thegoodness of his heart, but just
because he gets tired, how muchbetter will I be?
I am a just God, I care aboutpeople and my will is perfect.
My justice is perfect.
I will hear the persistentcries of my people and, unlike
(17:31):
the judge, god's delay isn'tnegligent.
You see, the woman goes andasks for a favor and the judge
says no because he doesn't care.
However, the difference betweenthat judge and God is that when
you wait, there's purpose.
When you find yourself in thewaiting season, it's not because
he doesn't like you.
It's not because he doesn'tlove you.
(17:51):
It's because you haven't naggedhim enough.
It's because his timing isperfect.
He has a perfect plan for yourlife that is good and for his
glory.
And Jesus ends the strikingchallenge.
He says when the Son of mancomes, will he find faith on
earth?
That's Luke 18.8.
Will he find faith on earth?
The question isn't whether ornot God will act.
(18:12):
It's whether or not we willremain faithful while we wait,
just as I am coming back.
This is going to happen.
I am working things out foryour good.
That's going to happen.
But when I do all of the thingsthat I promised, will you still
be there?
Will you still be in the roomLike the widow?
We all experience seasons whereprayers go unanswered or they
(18:33):
feel like they go unanswered.
Temptation we want to give up.
We don't believe God islistening.
But God calls us.
Jesus, in his own words, saysstay persistent.
Keep praying, even when theanswer is slow.
Trust that God hears, even whenyou don't see the outcomes as
(18:54):
you expect them to be.
Believe in his justice, evenwhen your life seems unfair.
Jesus' teaching in today'spassage.
It challenges us to examinewhat real faith looks like.
It doesn't always smell good.
It doesn't always look good.
It doesn't always feel good.
That doesn't mean you're doingsomething wrong.
(19:15):
Faith isn't just believing.
It's how we respond to God andto the world around us, how we
live with the expectation of hisreturn.
Will I still be in the roomwhen he returns and do we endure
in prayer?
Does our faith recognize whoJesus is and remain ready for
his return?
(19:35):
Where are we at?
So a few things we can do todayand we've been talking about
discipleship for the last 10weeks in this series.
One of the things we can do isacknowledge Jesus as Lord.
Remember only one out of the 10lepers returned to thank Jesus.
The others got their blessingand went on with their lives,
but they missed a deeper truth.
They might have gotten healingthat day, but perhaps they
(19:57):
missed an eternal healing fortheir souls.
Jesus wasn't just a miracleworker, he was the source of
their healing and salvation.
How often do we take let's lookat ourselves here for a minute
not the person next to you, notthe person in front of you
yourself.
How often do we take God'sblessings for granted without
(20:17):
acknowledging him?
Or we say thank you for thishealing without recognizing he
is the healer.
We say thank you for providingwithout saying you are the
provider, thank you forprotecting me, you are the
protector.
True faith responds withgratitude and perhaps if you're
somebody and you're like I, havea hard time expressing
(20:39):
gratitude.
I just I'm a half empty type ofperson.
I get it, but a good practiceis just, once a day, set a
little timer in your phone.
You're going to say that soundsridiculous and it is
ridiculously easy and simple,that you should just do it once
a day.
Write down something thatyou're grateful for.
No repeats, no repeats.
It'll start easy and as you doit it'll get harder, but as you
(21:03):
do it it's like working out agratitude muscle that the more
you do it you're going to findthings and throughout the rest
of your day you're going to saywow, thank you, wow, I'm
grateful for that.
Wow, I might not have noticedthat.
Two are we living with theexpectation of Christ's return?
Jesus warns that many will becaught off guard.
Many people who know him,believe in him, follow him.
It'll be caught off guard, justas in Noah's day and Lot's days
(21:27):
, because people are toodistracted by daily, everyday
type of things.
Are you so consumed with dailylife that you forget to live in
anticipation of Jesus?
Again, I'm asking myself that.
I want you to ask yourself thatOne way to stay ready is to
evaluate how we use our time.
Are we investing in what reallymatters?
(21:50):
In the book, simply Jesus, ntWright says Jesus is not saying
here's the kingdom and if youwork hard you might enter it.
He's saying the kingdom is hereNow.
Live like it's true.
Kingdom's here, it's in theroom.
It's you, it's me.
That can either be reallyexciting or really disappointing
, but let's live like it.
(22:11):
Making space in our daily livesfor scripture reading, serving
others and sharing our faithkeeps us anchored in what truly
lasts.
And three do we continue inprayer and trust?
The widow didn't just stopseeking justice when she was
told no, over and over and overagain.
And Jesus encourages the samepersistence out of you.
What have you been coming toJesus for?
(22:34):
And praying, and praying, andpraying, and the answer just
keeps.
It seems like a closed door, itseems like a no.
Don't give up Because, unlikethe unjust judge, god is good
and he hears you and he wantsyou to come to him.
How often do we give up whenGod doesn't answer on our
timeline or the first time weask, or the way that we really
(22:56):
wanted him to respond this way?
We had this vision of our livesthat God, this is good, and
perhaps that's different thanGod's vision for our lives.
Is there an area in your liferight now you're tempted to stop
praying, something?
You're just worn down.
I ask, I ask, I ask andfreaking nothing, and you're
(23:20):
irritated and you're mad, you'resad.
All of the strong emotions.
What would it be like to committo bringing it to God this week
with more passion?
Point that anger toward God,point that sadness toward God,
that frustration Come to himlike a widow.
(23:40):
Where is my justice Now?
That doesn't necessarily mean wecan manipulate or twist God's
arm.
I'm not trying to give you aformula that, hey, next Sunday,
whatever you ask for this weekis actually going to happen, I
don't know.
What I'm saying is don't tuneGod out, don't shut him down,
don't close the door.
Will you be the one who returnsto Jesus in gratitude, stays
(24:04):
ready for his return andpersists in prayer?
You can't answer that foranyone else.
I can't answer it for you andyou can't answer it for me, but
I want the answer to be yes, andI realize that requires
something out of me.
But can you imagine then, if youdid it and I did it and we did
it all together, this MadisonChurch community that we have
here, what if we were marked byrecognition, readiness and
(24:26):
persistence, like those arethings that people use to
describe our church we weren'tjust people who received God's
blessings oh my gosh, it'samazing.
But we're people who returnedin gratitude.
We didn't just pray for healingand get the healing and then
kind of fade into the background.
But we are people who then, onSunday morning, lifts our hands,
raise our voices and praise GodThank you for being the healer.
(24:50):
What if we lived in truereadiness, not caught up by the
distractions of our news feeds,but investing in what really
matters eternally?
What if we asked ourselves whenevaluated our priorities, our
relationships and even the waythat we love the city we live in
?
And what if this was acommunity who never gave up on
prayer?
This was a community who, nomatter what we see in the news,
(25:13):
no matter what kind of injusticeis, no matter what kind of
depravity we see out there, wecontinue to cry out for justice.
We didn't get tired of prayingfor healing and asking God for
revival.
What if we believe that God isdoing something, even if it's
not immediate?
If we live like this, I thinkMadison would see something
different, a faith that isn'tjust talked about.
(25:35):
People talk about faith all thetime, talk about God all the
time, but they would see a faiththat was attractive and lived
out, a church that radiatesgratitude and an ungrateful
world, a group that walks withexpectation when all around us
the cynicism is at an all-timehigh and a group that prays with
relentless trust and a worldthat says what's the point?
(25:59):
So the challenge is will we bethat church?
Will we be that church?
And it's about you answeringthe question for yourself.
But I would ask you, please bea person who recognizes Jesus
and stays ready for His returnand persists in seeking Him.
I want us to be that kind ofchurch Because when we do, we
(26:23):
won't just be changed not justyou and not just me, but our
city, the state and the worldfor Christ and His kingdom.
Well, good morning and welcome to Madison Church.
I'm Stephen Feith lead pastor,and we've been journeying
through Luke's gospel in aseries called A Life that
Matters, and what we've beentalking about and hopefully
discovering together is that alife that matters is found
really in following Jesus, andit's found in this idea of
becoming Christ-like.
(00:21):
We're becoming like Jesus as wefollow him.
It's so much more thanbelieving Jesus is who he says
he is.
That's a key component, butthat's not where it begins and
ends.
It's not.
I believe this.
This is how I affiliate Check Alife that matters, following
Jesus and discipleship.
It's about how we live everyday.
(00:43):
It's about where our trust isat and what we place our trust
in, and it's our response toGod's call over all of our lives
.
Now, in Luke 17, where we'regoing today and specifically
looking at verses 11 and beyond,jesus is going to shift focus.
Last few weeks we've beentalking about faithfulness, and
(01:03):
faithfulness during uncertaintimes.
But as he moves towardsJerusalem and toward the cross,
as we all as a community gatherand we get closer to Easter this
year, what Jesus is teaching us, what it means to follow him.
He's been emphasizing the costof discipleship, humility and
service, but now Jesus istransitioning.
(01:24):
He's going to talk about thefuture.
He's going to say, hey, I'mgoing to die.
That's inevitable.
They don't quite get that yet,and now he's trying to just cast
a little bit of a vision forwhat happens afterwards God's
kingdom, his return and,specifically, our readiness for
those things.
Maybe you've prayed a prayerthat sounded a little bit like
this.
(01:44):
God, if you would just get meout of this, I promise I will
dot dot dot.
Now this conjures up images oftraffic cops and close parking
spots.
But what about the seriousstuff that we're negotiating
with God, the heartfelt prayerswe dare not write down or go to
the back of the room to prayabout, things that we cry out
(02:06):
and sometimes literally cry indesperation?
God, would you give us a baby?
Help us to adopt, walk throughthis process with us.
God, if you just show me whatI'm supposed to do with the rest
of my life, I'll do it.
God, if you help me break freefrom this addiction, then I will
(02:26):
.
Today's passage Jesus meetspeople in that exact place.
God, if you would, just I would.
But in this passage and in thestories we're going to read
about today, we catch somethingdeeper about what real faith
looks like Through the healingof 10 lepers, the teaching on
(02:47):
the kingdom and a parable of apersistent widow.
Jesus challenges us.
Will we recognize God as thesource of life?
Will we live with readiness forJesus's return?
Will we persist in the faitheven when nothing seems to
(03:07):
happen?
Jesus isn't just teachingtheology.
He wants to shape how you and Ilive and the decisions that we
make every day.
He calls us to a faith thatrecognizes, a faith that stays
ready and a faith that nevergives up.
And so let's begin reading Luke17, verses 11 through 14.
(03:27):
Jesus continued toward Jerusalem.
He reached a border betweenGalilee and Samaria.
As he entered a village there,10 men with leprosy stood at a
distance, crying out Jesus,master, have mercy on us.
He looked at them and said go,show yourselves to the priests,
and as they went, they werecleansed of their leprosy.
(03:50):
Now some key details here.
They're near the border ofGalilee and Samaria, which is a
very racially and ethnicallydivided part of that region, and
so already we've got kind ofthis I want to call it a
conflict going on before Jesuseven gets there.
And what we see is not justthat it's racially divided, but
(04:11):
there's this illness and there'sleprosy, and I was trying to
find a good picture for leprosyand I couldn't find anything on
the internet.
So I went to chat GPT and askedchat to bring up an image of
what leprosy probably lookedlike.
Nice job, chatgpt.
Right Now, as you can imagine,it wasn't just the disease.
(04:32):
This looks awful and veryuncomfortable, as you can
imagine.
I don't know how realistic thisis, but we're going to go with
it.
You can also see that this wasa sentence to a social exile.
Nobody's inviting this guy overfor dinner or coffee.
As a matter of fact, if you seehim, you're walking across the
street or you're turning aroundand walking the other way.
(04:52):
You want nothing to do withthis.
And so, healing.
When they cry out to Jesus,master, heal me, it's not just
about health, it's about life.
I'm tired of being exiled.
Jesus commands them go, showyourselves to the priest, which
would indicate that he is beinghealed, that these men are being
(05:14):
healed, because by Leviticallaw, you could only go back to
the priest if you have beenhealed.
They weren't allowed to go backif they weren't healed.
But we also read that they'renot healed on the spot.
Jesus says go and you will behealed.
So it requires a step of trust.
As they obeyed, they were healed.
(05:35):
The healing didn't come beforethe obedience.
The obedience came first andthen they were healed.
And yet only one returns.
One starts walking away.
I'm going to go talk to thepriest, notices hey, I'm getting
better, says you know, I shouldgo back and thank this guy
because that's pretty remarkable.
Out of all of them we read thatthis is the only one that's a
(05:56):
Samaritan.
So he's the ethnic minority ofthe group who comes back and
falls at Jesus' feet and tellshim thank you.
And Jesus says your faith hassaved you.
And the Greek word here, sozo,it means healing and salvation.
It's not just a physicalhealing but it's a spiritual
(06:17):
healing.
And this man so, while theother nine walked away and who
knows what happens with, like,the rest of their lives and the
rest of their destiny.
But this one man in this momentwasn't just healed of leprosy,
but his soul was saved.
Some gifts are so big and solife-changing.
I know you've gotten these inthe past, but just saying thanks
(06:38):
feels like insulting to thegift giver.
Have you gotten something likethat where you're just like man
saying thanks?
It just doesn't quite capturehow grateful.
I feel we want to do something.
How can I show just howgrateful I am?
And when Jesus heals us, whenhe saves us and he forgives us?
(06:59):
This isn't just something thatwe want to say gee, thanks for
this is something that deepinside, we want to feel the
gratitude and we want to liveour lives accordingly.
We want to be like theSamaritan leper who says wow,
I'm being healed, look at how mylife is improving.
It's not perfect yet, but I'mgoing to come back and say thank
(07:22):
you.
Paul echoes this sentiment toall followers of Jesus In Romans
12,.
He says dear brothers andsisters, I plead with you to
give your bodies to God becauseof all he has done for you Past
tense, all he has done for youNow.
We have future tense promisesas well.
(07:42):
But because of what God hasalready done, and if God has
never done anything else for you, ever again, I plead with you
give your bodies to God.
Let them be a living and holysacrifice, the kind he will find
acceptable.
This is truly the way toworship him.
(08:03):
As followers of Jesus, we arecalled to respond to God's gift
of salvation, of healing, ofpromise, of vision, of hope,
with worship and like the lepers.
We all experience brokennessand deep need, maybe not to that
horrible picture's worth, butperhaps on the inside that's how
we feel Caught up, woundseverywhere, an outcast.
(08:27):
We feel that and we have torecognize that even if that's
the case, we walk in obedienceand faith isn't just about
receiving from God, but it'srecognizing him as the source of
my healing.
So even while I'm being healedand I'm in a state of not being
healed, I still recognize thatthe healing comes from a source
that is God, and so I worshiphim.
(08:50):
It's about recognizing him asthe source.
Many of us have called on Godin desperation, but how many of
us come back to say thank you,to show our gratitude and to
live a life of worship?
Jesus continues teaching and oneof the Pharisees asks a
question.
He says when will the kingdomof God come?
(09:11):
This is verse 20.
Jesus replied the kingdom ofGod can't be detected by visible
signs.
You won't be able to say hereit is or it's over there, for
the kingdom of God is alreadyamong you.
Then he said to his disciplesremember how the crowd is made
up.
There's the outsiders, there'sthe Pharisees and then there's
the disciples.
So he turns to his disciples,pharisees, still listening.
(09:32):
The time is coming when youwill long to see the day when
the Son of man returns, but youwon't see it.
People will tell you, look,there is the Son of man, or here
he is, but don't go out andfollow them, for as lightning
flashes and lights up the skyfrom one end to the other, so it
will be on the day when the Sonof man comes, but first the Son
(09:54):
of man must suffer terribly andbe rejected by this generation.
And so, for the background here,those Pharisees, the religious
elite of Jesus' day, theyexpected, based on their
understanding of the OldTestament scriptures, that when
God came back, when the Messiahwas there, there would be a
powerful, visible kingdommovement, one that would
(10:15):
overthrow the entire Romanempire.
And Jesus just stops him rightthere, as he continuously does
throughout this whole gospel.
He'll continue to do that.
The kingdom of God cannot bedetected by visible signs, is
what he's saying.
Why?
Because the kingdom of God isalready among you.
This is radical.
Because the Pharisees, theywanted political dominance.
(10:37):
But Jesus announces, despitenot having any sort of dominance
politically, god's reign hasalready begun.
It's begun in the hearts of mypeople.
And yet, while the kingdom ishere.
We live in that not yet space,not yet Overlapping,
(11:07):
interlocking right now, but notyet.
Here and there, now and later,we know that it's not yet.
And so, turning to his disciples, jesus warns.
So if you're a follower ofJesus, he looks at you now and
he warns.
He says the time is comingwhere you will long to see the
day when the Son of man returns.
We say come, lord, jesus, come.
We pray, he says, but you won'tsee it.
Many will claim to have specialknowledge of Jesus's return.
But Jesus says these are justdistractions, these are taking
(11:32):
your eyes off the prize.
His coming will be asunmistakable as lightning
flashing against the sky.
He says when I come back,you'll know, there'll be no
question about it.
I'll be like boom, it's here.
He says, but first don't get sodown the road here.
He's got to warn his disciplesagain Remember I got to die
first.
To illustrate the urgency, hepoints to history.
(11:54):
Jesus talks about Noah and Lotand how people were caught up in
their everyday lives eating,drinking, working, and then
suddenly judgment came.
Jesus says something likeremember Lot's wife?
She looked back because she wastoo attached to the world.
She knew to move forward in theworld that God was leading her
to.
And he says you're just likethat, you're expecting a
(12:15):
political revolution.
You keep looking back at Romeand saying this must be what
it's like.
He says, but no, the kingdom ofGod starts here and when we
move there.
So stop looking back.
And today we still getdistracted.
I mean, not very many of you, Iknow, but some people obsess
over end time predictions.
(12:35):
I can't tell you how manyletters we'll get this year in
the mail directed to me and ourchurch asking me to warn you
that the end time is near.
And I always throw those thingsin the recycling bin and I've
not warned you because I justthink they've been wrong so far
and then, if they ever are right, it'll be a flash anyway right,
and so I just throw thosethings away.
God's kingdom though you're here.
(12:56):
So God's kingdom is alreadyhere.
It won't be fully realizeduntil Jesus comes back, that
boom moment.
But right now you represent thekingdom of God.
His coming will be sudden andmany will be unprepared, but
Jesus says please not, you Don'tbe unprepared.
(13:18):
So if the kingdom of God isalready here and not yet fully
realized, how do we live in thattension.
I think we can feel the tension, right, we know that there's
something better, but yet weexperience something worse.
We know there's healing andperhaps we've even experienced
some healing, but there's stillpain.
What do we do in these moments?
Jesus does?
He warns his disciples, saysstay ready, don't be caught off
(13:46):
guard.
But waiting is hard and a lotof us are in a waiting season
and our culture has done zerohelp in this regards.
Right, okay, how mad do you getwhen the drive-thru takes an
extra couple minutes?
Like I'm sitting behind, we'reat McDonald's and I'm like you
don't know what you want.
It's not like the menu goesthrough radical changes every
year.
Okay, do you want a quarterpounder or chicken nuggets?
Like this is basically it andit's like it only cost me an
(14:07):
extra 30 seconds.
You know.
It's like what's the big deal?
Why do I get so worked up aboutthis?
Not long ago, you would havebeen excited.
10 years ago, you would havebeen excited if you could order
something from your pajamas andyour slippers and get it in less
than a week.
You would have been pumped.
And I ordered somethingyesterday and I was irritated
that they didn't have same dayshipping for one of the items.
I was like why Everyone buysthis.
(14:29):
Why can't I get it the rest oftoday or later today?
And I can't begin to tell youhow personally frustrated I am.
I have three TV shows I'mwatching streaming.
I love them all and I hate thatI got to wait Sundays, tuesdays
and Fridays for new episodes.
I thought Netflix solved thisfor us.
You just released the wholething and let me waste a
(14:50):
Saturday, and now I got to waitmonths.
I'm so irritated by it.
Now, these are very littlethings, right?
Cheeseburgers, tv shows.
How do we remain faithful withthe big, serious things, the big
serious your career, yourrelationships, your money, your
health, the big things.
If I get irritated about thedrive-through wait, how am I
(15:16):
ever going to wait on God?
How do we trust God when he'sat work, even if we don't see it
?
We don't know how he's at work,god, what are you doing, god?
Why isn't immediate?
Do you not know what you wantto do here?
How do we trust in God?
Well, jesus answers with aparable about persistence in
faith.
One day.
(15:36):
This is another time.
Now.
Jesus told his disciples a storyto show them that they should
always pray and never give up.
There was a judge in a certaincity.
He said, who neither feared Godnor cared about people.
This is a big deal if you'reJewish, because by the law of
the Old Testament, if you were ajudge, you were supposed to
fear God and care about people.
So Jesus just wants you to knowwhat kind of sinful person this
(16:03):
guy is.
Finally said to himself I don'tfear God or care about people.
But this woman is driving mecrazy.
So I'm going to see that shegets justice, because she is
wearing me out with her constantrequest.
(16:27):
So in this story, a widow, awoman with no social power, no
legal standing, pleads to acorrupt judge for justice and he
ignores her.
That's someone who doesn't careabout God or people would do,
who cares.
But she refuses to give up.
She goes every day.
I ask, hey, can you do this?
Hey, can you do this?
And he finally relents, not outof compassion, not like, oh, I
finally you know what.
You've raised enough goodpoints.
Now I've changed my mind, likeI feel really bad for you.
(16:50):
No, it's like she won't shut upand I'm tired of seeing her.
She's like that customer if youwork in like retail or in a
restaurant and you see themwalking through the door and
you're like, let's get this overwith Now.
Jesus's point is clear.
He's trying to paint a pictureof if this godless person who
(17:11):
doesn't care about people caneventually be broken down and do
something, not out of thegoodness of his heart, but just
because he gets tired, how muchbetter will I be?
I am a just God, I care aboutpeople and my will is perfect.
My justice is perfect.
I will hear the persistentcries of my people and, unlike
(17:31):
the judge, god's delay isn'tnegligent.
You see, the woman goes andasks for a favor and the judge
says no because he doesn't care.
However, the difference betweenthat judge and God is that when
you wait, there's purpose.
When you find yourself in thewaiting season, it's not because
he doesn't like you.
It's not because he doesn'tlove you.
(17:51):
It's because you haven't naggedhim enough.
It's because his timing isperfect.
He has a perfect plan for yourlife that is good and for his
glory.
And Jesus ends the strikingchallenge.
He says when the Son of mancomes, will he find faith on
earth?
That's Luke 18.8.
Will he find faith on earth?
The question isn't whether ornot God will act.
(18:12):
It's whether or not we willremain faithful while we wait,
just as I am coming back.
This is going to happen.
I am working things out foryour good.
That's going to happen.
But when I do all of the thingsthat I promised, will you still
be there?
Will you still be in the roomLike the widow?
We all experience seasons whereprayers go unanswered or they
(18:33):
feel like they go unanswered.
Temptation we want to give up.
We don't believe God islistening.
But God calls us.
Jesus, in his own words, saysstay persistent.
Keep praying, even when theanswer is slow.
Trust that God hears, even whenyou don't see the outcomes as
(18:54):
you expect them to be.
Believe in his justice, evenwhen your life seems unfair.
Jesus' teaching in today'spassage.
It challenges us to examinewhat real faith looks like.
It doesn't always smell good.
It doesn't always look good.
It doesn't always feel good.
That doesn't mean you're doingsomething wrong.
(19:15):
Faith isn't just believing.
It's how we respond to God andto the world around us, how we
live with the expectation of hisreturn.
Will I still be in the roomwhen he returns and do we endure
in prayer?
Does our faith recognize whoJesus is and remain ready for
his return?
(19:35):
Where are we at?
So a few things we can do todayand we've been talking about
discipleship for the last 10weeks in this series.
One of the things we can do isacknowledge Jesus as Lord.
Remember only one out of the 10lepers returned to thank Jesus.
The others got their blessingand went on with their lives,
but they missed a deeper truth.
They might have gotten healingthat day, but perhaps they
(19:57):
missed an eternal healing fortheir souls.
Jesus wasn't just a miracleworker, he was the source of
their healing and salvation.
How often do we take let's lookat ourselves here for a minute
not the person next to you, notthe person in front of you
yourself.
How often do we take God'sblessings for granted without
(20:17):
acknowledging him?
Or we say thank you for thishealing without recognizing he
is the healer.
We say thank you for providingwithout saying you are the
provider, thank you forprotecting me, you are the
protector.
True faith responds withgratitude and perhaps if you're
somebody and you're like I, havea hard time expressing
(20:39):
gratitude.
I just I'm a half empty type ofperson.
I get it, but a good practiceis just, once a day, set a
little timer in your phone.
You're going to say that soundsridiculous and it is
ridiculously easy and simple,that you should just do it once
a day.
Write down something thatyou're grateful for.
No repeats, no repeats.
It'll start easy and as you doit it'll get harder, but as you
(21:03):
do it it's like working out agratitude muscle that the more
you do it you're going to findthings and throughout the rest
of your day you're going to saywow, thank you, wow, I'm
grateful for that.
Wow, I might not have noticedthat.
Two are we living with theexpectation of Christ's return?
Jesus warns that many will becaught off guard.
Many people who know him,believe in him, follow him.
It'll be caught off guard, justas in Noah's day and Lot's days
(21:27):
, because people are toodistracted by daily, everyday
type of things.
Are you so consumed with dailylife that you forget to live in
anticipation of Jesus?
Again, I'm asking myself that.
I want you to ask yourself thatOne way to stay ready is to
evaluate how we use our time.
Are we investing in what reallymatters?
(21:50):
In the book, simply Jesus, ntWright says Jesus is not saying
here's the kingdom and if youwork hard you might enter it.
He's saying the kingdom is hereNow.
Live like it's true.
Kingdom's here, it's in theroom.
It's you, it's me.
That can either be reallyexciting or really disappointing
, but let's live like it.
(22:11):
Making space in our daily livesfor scripture reading, serving
others and sharing our faithkeeps us anchored in what truly
lasts.
And three do we continue inprayer and trust?
The widow didn't just stopseeking justice when she was
told no, over and over and overagain.
And Jesus encourages the samepersistence out of you.
What have you been coming toJesus for?
(22:34):
And praying, and praying, andpraying, and the answer just
keeps.
It seems like a closed door, itseems like a no.
Don't give up Because, unlikethe unjust judge, god is good
and he hears you and he wantsyou to come to him.
How often do we give up whenGod doesn't answer on our
timeline or the first time weask, or the way that we really
(22:56):
wanted him to respond this way?
We had this vision of our livesthat God, this is good, and
perhaps that's different thanGod's vision for our lives.
Is there an area in your liferight now you're tempted to stop
praying, something?
You're just worn down.
I ask, I ask, I ask andfreaking nothing, and you're
(23:20):
irritated and you're mad, you'resad.
All of the strong emotions.
What would it be like to committo bringing it to God this week
with more passion?
Point that anger toward God,point that sadness toward God,
that frustration Come to himlike a widow.
(23:40):
Where is my justice Now?
That doesn't necessarily mean wecan manipulate or twist God's
arm.
I'm not trying to give you aformula that, hey, next Sunday,
whatever you ask for this weekis actually going to happen, I
don't know.
What I'm saying is don't tuneGod out, don't shut him down,
don't close the door.
Will you be the one who returnsto Jesus in gratitude, stays
(24:04):
ready for his return andpersists in prayer?
You can't answer that foranyone else.
I can't answer it for you andyou can't answer it for me, but
I want the answer to be yes, andI realize that requires
something out of me.
But can you imagine then, if youdid it and I did it and we did
it all together, this MadisonChurch community that we have
here, what if we were marked byrecognition, readiness and
(24:26):
persistence, like those arethings that people use to
describe our church we weren'tjust people who received God's
blessings oh my gosh, it'samazing.
But we're people who returnedin gratitude.
We didn't just pray for healingand get the healing and then
kind of fade into the background.
But we are people who then, onSunday morning, lifts our hands,
raise our voices and praise GodThank you for being the healer.
(24:50):
What if we lived in truereadiness, not caught up by the
distractions of our news feeds,but investing in what really
matters eternally?
What if we asked ourselves whenevaluated our priorities, our
relationships and even the waythat we love the city we live in
?
And what if this was acommunity who never gave up on
prayer?
This was a community who, nomatter what we see in the news,
(25:13):
no matter what kind of injusticeis, no matter what kind of
depravity we see out there, wecontinue to cry out for justice.
We didn't get tired of prayingfor healing and asking God for
revival.
What if we believe that God isdoing something, even if it's
not immediate?
If we live like this, I thinkMadison would see something
different, a faith that isn'tjust talked about.
(25:35):
People talk about faith all thetime, talk about God all the
time, but they would see a faiththat was attractive and lived
out, a church that radiatesgratitude and an ungrateful
world, a group that walks withexpectation when all around us
the cynicism is at an all-timehigh and a group that prays with
relentless trust and a worldthat says what's the point?
(25:59):
So the challenge is will we bethat church?
Will we be that church?
And it's about you answeringthe question for yourself.
But I would ask you, please bea person who recognizes Jesus
and stays ready for His returnand persists in seeking Him.
I want us to be that kind ofchurch Because when we do, we
(26:23):
won't just be changed not justyou and not just me, but our
city, the state and the worldfor Christ and His kingdom.
Popular Podcasts
Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club
Welcome to Bookmarked by Reese’s Book Club — the podcast where great stories, bold women, and irresistible conversations collide! Hosted by award-winning journalist Danielle Robay, each week new episodes balance thoughtful literary insight with the fervor of buzzy book trends, pop culture and more. Bookmarked brings together celebrities, tastemakers, influencers and authors from Reese's Book Club and beyond to share stories that transcend the page. Pull up a chair. You’re not just listening — you’re part of the conversation.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com