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12th in Luke, Ocala, January 16, 20005 "Were not all the 10 cleansed?-- Where are the other nine?-Shouldn't they also have returned, to give glory to God as did this foreigner? " How powerful, and reflective of society are all the Lord's teachings. They are as vivid and applicable today, as they were 2000 years ago. We often read of situations and tragedies happening daily, but really, can we conceive them in depth? We cannot, because personally we have not experienced them. Just think if you can, of the fate of the 10 Lepers, which the Lord had healed. Cast out into the wilderness, emaciated, their bodies rotting away, -- absolutely having no contact with their families or friends, except when they saw them at a distance tossing them their food, and hastily walking away, so that there wouldn't be any contact. It happened one day, that the Lord with his followers were walking in the area between Samaria and Galilee. We must remember, that the Samaritans were considered by the Hebrews as non-believers and foreigners. As a matter of fact, it was even sinful for a Jew to speak to a Samaritan. When the 10 Lepers saw the Lord, of Whom they had heard, they began to shout loudly in agony: "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" Without hesitation, the Lord showed His compassion. Complying with the Jewish custom, Jesus told them to go, and present themselves to the Priests in the Temple, who would give them their clean bill of health. As they commenced their walk to the Temple, they felt a physical transformation, and seeing one another completely healed, they jumped and shouted from joy. Of the 10 lepers, only one was a Samaritan. The other 9 were Jews. The Samaritan alone, soon after returns and finds Jesus. He falls on his knees and thanks the Lord profusely for His unexpected and miraculous cure. It is then, that the Lord asked: "Were not all the 10 cured? Should not the other nine have returned to glorify God, as did this foreigner?" The Lord then blessed the Samaritan and said to him: "Rise, and go your way; your faith has made you whole!" The answer of course, was not heard to the Lord's question: "where were the other nine?" It can be readily understood though, because these nine represent a sizeable segment of society in all ages, which is equated with the sin of ingratitude! Most any sin can be forgiven, but when it comes to ingratitude, I surely have my doubts. History is replete with incidents of ingratitude. You may remember from Roman history, when the senator friends of Julius Caesar conspired to stab him to death. Julius Caesar saw among the people holding a dagger, his trusted friend Brutus. His exclamation of complete surprise has remained as a saying down through the ages: "And you too Brutus?"The dagger must not have hurt as much, as did the ingratitude of his closest and most trusted friend, whom he had helped in many ways. -----/ / How about Judas? Three years closely following the Lord, and witnessing the miraculous acts of a person, Who had to be God, Judas betrays Him for 30 pieces of silver, simply because he visualized the Lord as a ruling King with the overthrow of the Roman regime and he attaining a high position in the King's court. ---/ / How strange indeed is the phenomenon of society! People will invariably thank for little favors done; but when it comes to major benefactions, somehow gratitude seems to fade away, as in the case of the 9 Lepers. We are all recipients of the Lord's many blessings, which are usually taken for granted. We convince ourselves that whatever we have is ours, -- and that it belongs to us, because we earned everything through our hard work. God gives to all. The Scriptures state, that the Lord dawns his Sun on the good and also on the evil; He showers his rain on the just, as well as on the unjust. The great Prophet Isaiah tells us, that the animals recognize their masters, but comparably, man does not do the same for His Master, our Lord and God Powerful lessons have been given to us by animals. We occasionally read of these, or see them over T.V. The animals do not forget their benefactors. An outstanding example is the ancient Androcles and the Lion. Androcles was a slave who ran away and hid in a cave. Soon after a lion enters, limping and moving toward Androcles. The slave thought that his end was near. Seeing the swollen foot of the lion, Androcles noticed a large splinter, which he extricated from the lion. He saw the relief in the lion's face. Now, the scene changes. The Romans caught the lion a little later and put it in a group, which would purposely be starved, and then released in the arena to devour the first Christians. Androcles soon after was also apprehended, and became a candidate for the arena, only because he had escaped from his master. Androcles was cast into the arena alone, awaiting to be devoured by the hungry lions, with the bloodthirsty spectators cheering. A lion is released and speedily charges toward Androcles. When it approached him, as starved as he was, he comes near Androcles and strokes him with his paw, much to the consternation of the thousands, who came to see blood. The lion never forgot his benefactor. Why do we witness rampant ingratitude in this world? We may begin our investigation in the home. Oftentimes, we shower our children with so many material things, without teaching them, that there is someone, to whom they owe gratitude! Gratitude is firstly taught in the home, from the very moment that the baby is able to respond. And the process continues, until the son or daughter leaves home for college or work. In far too many cases, we see that children conceive the idea that everything is owed to them. Subconsciously, this leads to ingratitude, --- a sin of omission, which is anti-Christian to say the least. Alfred Tennyson once said: "How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is, to have a thankless child!" How often, I personally have seen adults giving something, --even a piece of candy to a youngster, who gladly accepts it and proceeds to unwrap to consume it, without even a gesture of thanks! Even these small examples of ingratitude, can lead to greater sins or omissions. We seem to be living in a thankless society. In a society, where the young especially, have the feeling that the world owes them a living. This could not have sourced from their own being. It had to come from somewhere, and that somewhere is the home, which unfortunately today, is on shaky foundations, simply because we have loosed ourselves from the eternal and lasting values. The best teaching, which we can transmit to our youngsters is, our living example. We cannot teach one thing to our youngsters, and by our actions manifest the exact opposite. When our children witness our gratitude to God, and to our fellow humans, they also, will follow this example. I think we need to give greater emphasis and substance to the virtues that we know are true, and desire to believe in. Let us never permit ourselves to be guilty of the terrible sin of ingratitude, no matter how small the favor. Let us never run the risk of being a fellow member of the nine, who neglected to return to give thanks; but rather we must travel with the single Samaritan, whose gratitude opened for him the gates of Paradise.
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