Ruth 1:1-19
"Your sister in law is going back to her people and her gods..."
"Your God will be my God."
2 Timothy 2:8-13
Luke 17:11-19
Sermon: Art Vogel: "Are there free lunches?"
Your faith has made you well. You can't find `free lunch' in Websters. A free lunch is something you get without pay or obligation. "There is no such thing as a free lunch," people say, but people act like it sometimes. Americans flock to free things. Free t-shirts, free lipstick, whatever there is that is free. But there's always a catch. If they buy lunch for you once, they expect you to buy it next time. You often get offered a dinner for a sale. You get 100 dollars free if you tour someone's condos. In an editorial, someone reported a free luncheon given at taxpayers' expense. Breyer's ice cream used to be five cents. Art, at four years old, with a friend, saw people in the store saying `charge it' to get a `free' ice cream. Art said `charge it' and they asked him `to whom will you charge it?' "Artie and billie," he said. But they discovered they couldn't charge anything without a last name to charge it to. Charging meant to pay it later, they discovered.
Jesus' love is free. This doesn't make sense to the secular world that says `there is no free lunch.' God has written a blank check for us. The story of the ten lepers..."Were there not ten?" The other nine lepers apparently had `a free lunch.' But Jesus gave them healing, no strings attached. God sends out rain to the just and the unjust. And Jesus tells us to turn the other cheek when we are wronged. And do things without the expectation of payment or reward. Show love to people, without expecting anything in return. What would you do for Jesus, the son of God? God uses us to show his love. "Where are the other nine?" There are many ungrateful people in the world. Do we fail to see God's blessings? Do we fail to see our own `free lunch'? Do we take it for granted? Do we only think of God when we're in trouble? Or do we sit around and say `why did God let this happen?' The Cathechism says we are God's creation. We are created. We take it for granted, not thinking about what God does. Do we reflect on God's influence in our life? Or is God for only Sunday morning? We are unthankful for many things. Friends, good sleep, music, our favorite things, commercial products and business, our modes of transportation and even our eternal salvation. Ephesians says we are saved by grace, not by works. No man can boast. It is our free lunch. "Did only one return to praise?" We are Gentiles. Art did devotions for the district board retreat about the great commission. The district board president said that the first objective should be the worship of Christ. The great commission is important, but it is second to our worship of Christ. Jesus has a special message. He is the example. He gave us a free lunch, undeservedly. He saved us from sin. In the story of Mary and Martha, Mary chose the better thing, to focus on Jesus. Martha was busy serving. The leper who thanked Jesus was the example. He was made physically AND spiritually well by Jesus. So be thankful.