Death to Life podcast
A podcast that tells the stories of people that used to be one way, and now are completely different, and the thing that happened in between was Jesus.
Death to Life podcast
#193 Happy Thanksgiving!
Thanksgiving is more than just turkey and stuffing; it's a profound journey into gratitude that transcends time and culture. Join me, Richard Young, as I unravel the deeper meaning of giving thanks through the lens of an ancient biblical story. Ever wondered how a simple "thank you" can signify complete healing and faith? Let's explore the story of the ten lepers from Luke 17:12-19, where the Samaritan leper's unique expression of gratitude reveals the power of recognizing divine authority. Understand why acknowledging Jesus' authority and the completeness of His salvation can lead to true thanksgiving.
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Yo, welcome to the Death to Life podcast. My name is Richard Young, and today's episode of Death to Life is a little different. This is probably the first episode that I will just do by myself, and that is because it is Thanksgiving week and Thanksgiving. If you're listening to this, the day it comes out is tomorrow. If you're listening to it later, it happened, but Thanksgiving is one of my, not one of.
Speaker 1:It is my favorite holiday. It's number one. I love it because it goes. It's the beginning of something. You eat all your good food and then the Christmas lights go on, the Christmas music starts. It's the start of something and we're all there. It's a family thing. I love it. I love it. There's football going on. It's the best. It's the best day of the year. It's the best. It's the best day of the year and you know, at this time, pastors usually like to make a sermon about being thankful, and I want to do the same.
Speaker 1:I'm not going to preach a sermon, this is just going to be a quick thought. If you want to send it to some pals or you want to send it to some loved ones, I think they will get a blessing from it. But it's something that I have learned about what it truly means to give thanks. So I want to go into that, if you guys will let me. Okay, a lot of the time when a pastor is cooking up something for Thanksgiving, he'll tell the story of the 10 lepers. That is found in Luke, chapter 17, verses 12 through 19. And a lot of the points are. They're good, they're valid. We should be thankful for what Jesus has done for us and, of course, yes, be grateful, be thankful for what Jesus has done for you. But I believe that, in context of the time that they were living in, that story meant something else, or what actually happened in the story means something else else, or what actually happened in the story means something else.
Speaker 1:Because when someone in the ancient Near East or someone who lived in Judea would say thank you, what thank you meant is different than what we think it to mean. What thank you meant in the culture of someone from Judea, it means no more thank you or enough thank you. I will no longer be needing or requiring your services. So let's say I'm in a restaurant and they're bringing an endless amount of Sprite, an endless amount of Sprite, and the waiter comes and pours my cup filled with Sprite and I say thank you. In the ancient Near East or from the Judean culture, that server would not come back and pour more Sprite because my thank you in that culture means enough Thank you. I will no longer be requiring your services. That's when they would use the term thank you and because of that, in that culture they wouldn't use the term thank you very often. It wasn't that they were ungrateful, it just means something different. On the other hand, if someone from Judea thanks a superior in their culture so, for example, if somebody thanks a god or a Roman prefect, that is to be expected, because you're showing gratitude for somebody above your station, to somebody who has authority over you that kind of thank you is expected in that culture.
Speaker 1:With that in mind, let's check out the story from Luke. The passage reads differently when you have that information, so let me read it. It says and as he entered a village, he was met by 10 lepers who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices and said Jesus, master, have mercy on us. When he saw them, he said to them go and show yourselves to the priests. And as they went, they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back praising God with a loud voice and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet giving him thanks.
Speaker 1:Now he was a Samaritan Then, said Jesus, and he said to him so if we understand the Mediterranean attitude towards saying thank you, you could see why they would not say thank you. Perhaps they would need his services in the future, because leprosy wasn't the same as what is known as like Hansen's disease today. Leprosy was like this disease that it could come out and then it could go away. It could come back and then it could go away. That's why a leper would have to go to the priest, so that the priest could say, yes, he was cleansed and he was able to come back into the camp with the rest of the people. And another way of thinking about this is some of the people, or the nine, that did not come back. Perhaps they did not see that Jesus was a high-ranking superior to them, that Jesus was on their level, and so they didn't come back and say thank you, but the Samaritan did.
Speaker 1:The Samaritan realized that he did not need anything else from Jesus, because Jesus had faith, already healed him. He believed Jesus, he believed in Jesus's authority. He believed in Jesus's healing. This goes to show that his belief was that Jesus made him whole and healed him once for all. So this Thanksgiving, when you're saying thank you about salvation, when that means that you are preserved, protected, made whole, delivered and kept safe and sound, when you're thanking him for all of those things, I hope you're thanking him because he has authority to fulfill those things that he has actually done, this thing, and that's the thing about faith. Faith is believing in God's authority. Faith is believing that if God says it, that it is true, it's not just believing that God exists, it's believing that if God does it, it is, and that he has all authority in heaven and on earth. That is what saying thank you means. So, by all means, say thank you, believe what he has done and let's celebrate this Thanksgiving together.
Speaker 1:One thing I did want to mention it is the time of the year where people are doing some giving. We would just ask that you not forget love reality when you are doing your giving. It is because of you guys that we are able to continue as a ministry, that we are able to continue preaching the gospel through these podcasts, through internet church, through the Bible studies. We cannot do it with you guys. We have been blessed to be able to continue to minister and we want to continue to minister into 2025. We have so much planned and so we thank you for partnering with us. You can go to loverealityorg slash, give and donate and we will, for sure we will send you a receipt. It is tax deductible, and so partner with us. For 2025. There's more gospel to share, there's more Bible studies, there's more episodes of the Death to Life podcast. We'd love for you to partner with us in this endeavor. Love you guys, appreciate you guys. Happy holidays, merry Christmas, happy Thanksgiving, bye.