Lord’s Grace and Mercy

Sermon October 12, 2025 Luke 17: 11-19

Lord’s Grace and Mercy

Reverend Fred Okello

Today, I begin with a question: What is one thing you are thankful for this morning? Take a moment and think about it. What is that one thing that stirs gratitude in your heart? It could be life itself, the breath in your lungs, your family, your health, or simply the gift of being here in God’s house today. Please call out one word of thanksgiving.

For me, I am thankful for the opportunity to serve among you and with you. I am also deeply grateful for your love and support that enabled me to attend a cross-racial, cross-cultural training in Los Angeles this past week.

Our three days together were nothing short of revival. Now, when I first heard that word revival on the schedule, I thought, “That’s something from the old days — the tent meetings and sawdust floors.” But I tell you, revival kept coming! For three days, clergies from different races and cultures gathered in worship and fellowship, and God moved among us in powerful ways.

You see, throughout the year, clergy rarely get to sit and listen to sermons — we’re the ones preparing and preaching them! But when we sit and listen, when we let the Word wash over us, God reveals fresh truths and rekindles the fire within.

That experience reminded me that revival doesn’t always begin with noise or emotion — it begins with gratitude, when hearts are open to recognize God’s presence in unexpected places.

And that’s what brings us to today’s passage — ten lepers healed by Jesus, but only one returned to give thanks.

As Jesus journeyed toward Jerusalem, He passed along the border between Samaria and Galilee. It wasn’t a place of prestige or beauty — it was the kind of village people forgot. Yet it was there that He met ten men with leprosy — men isolated from their families, stripped of dignity, and forced to live outside the city gates.

They stood at a distance, unable to approach, yet they lifted their voices and cried out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

And that’s where mercy meets us — not in perfection, but in our desperate condition.

Jesus met them where they were — in their pain, in their distance, in their hopelessness. He didn’t wait for them to come closer or clean themselves up. He went to them.

My friends, desperate conditions still exist all around us today. We may not see them unless we step out, but they are there:

·        In the loneliness of the elderly who no longer receive visitors.

·        In the struggles of young families quietly battling bills, sickness, or brokenness.

·        In the children growing up without guidance or support.

·        In the hearts of the grieving, sitting beside empty chairs.

·        In the isolated souls who feel unwelcome in church or forgotten by God.

During our cross-racial, cross-cultural training, one preacher said something that struck me deeply: “Christ did not bring people to the temple — He went out, crossing racial and cultural lines, to meet people where they were.”

That is the model of our Savior. Jesus went out — to the margins, to the forgotten, to the unclean — because love cannot stay behind temple walls. And as His church, we are called to do the same. We cannot identify the desperate conditions in our communities unless we go. When we go, mercy flows. When we go, Christ is revealed.

When those ten lepers cried out, Jesus didn’t heal them immediately. He said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” That must have sounded strange. They were still sick, still disfigured, still broken. But they obeyed — they went.

And Scripture says, “As they went, they were cleansed.” The miracle didn’t happen before they started walking — it happened on the way. Faith is not just believing that God can — it’s acting as though He already has.

God often works through faith in motion:

·        Abraham left his home not knowing where he was going.

·        Peter stepped out of the boat before the sea became calm.

·        The widow in Zarephath gave her last meal before her flour jar was filled.

Faith is obedience before the outcome. And that’s what Jesus was teaching these lepers — that obedience opens the door for transformation.

We, too, often want to see before we go, to receive before we obey. But I hear God say, “Trust Me, take the step, move forward — and as you go, you will see My power.”

Sometimes, the greatest miracles happen while we’re walking in faith:

·        When we forgive before we’re asked to.

·        When we serve even when it’s inconvenient.

·        When we give before we see the return.

·        When we love across racial, cultural, or denominational boundaries.

Faith moves feet — not just hearts. It’s in the going that God begins to work.

And for the church today, that means stepping out into our communities, into our schools, into the homes of those who need encouragement. Revival starts with going.

As they went, all ten were healed — but only one returned. He saw that he was healed, turned around, and came back to Jesus shouting praises. He fell at Jesus’ feet, giving thanks. And Jesus asked, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?”

Then He said to the one man, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” In the Greek text, that word “well” is sozo — meaning saved, made whole, restored completely. Nine were healed on the outside, but only one was healed on the inside. Gratitude brought him closer. Thanksgiving turned his healing into relationship. Gratitude is more than good manners — it’s an act of worship. It’s the bridge between blessing and transformation.

When we live with gratitude, we open the door for revival in our hearts and in our churches. The thankful heart is the listening heart — the one that keeps coming back to sit at the feet of Jesus.

At our clergy training, I saw this power of gratitude — pastors from different backgrounds, worshipping together, united in one voice of thanksgiving. Revival wasn’t in the style of worship; it was in the spirit of gratitude.

When the church becomes thankful again — thankful for God’s mercy, for His patience, for His love — revival will keep coming!

In conclusion, Jesus is still asking today: “Where are the nine?” Not as a rebuke, but as an invitation. An invitation to return. An invitation to bow again at His feet and say, “Thank You, Lord.”

This morning, I ask you again: What are you thankful for? Don’t just think it — say it. Live it. Return to the Lord in gratitude. Let us be the ones who come back —The ones who turn thanksgiving into worship, And worship into wholeness. Because when we return to give thanks, Jesus says to us, “Rise and go; your faith has made you whole.”

Let us pray.

Gracious and loving God, We return to You today like the one who came back — to fall at Your feet and say, “Thank You.” Thank You for life, for the fellowship of Your church, and for the mercy that meets us in our brokenness. You have lifted us when we could not lift ourselves and turned our sorrow into songs of praise.

Lord, make us people of gratitude — quick to thank, eager to serve, and ready to share Your love beyond these walls. Let our thanksgiving be more than words — let it be our way of life.         

And as we go, may our hearts overflow with praise and our lives reflect the mercy of Jesus Christ, who healed us, saved us, and made us whole. In Christ name we pray, Amen.