A DESPERATE NEED
     There were, undoubtedly, many lepers cleansed through the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ. One of the evidences Jesus gave John the Baptist’s disciples that He was Israel’s promised Messiah was "…the lepers are cleansed…" Luke 7:22. It seems this news had also spread far and wide among the unclean lepers. Luke now brings before us a veritable colony of lepers who otherwise had no hope of cleansing. They came as close to Jesus as the law allowed and called with loud and pleading voices, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us." They had a great affliction and the renowned Healer had shown healing mercies to others with their disease and so they made their request.

FAITH BROUGHT CLEANSING
     Jesus replied, "Go show yourselves to the priests." (Luke 17:14).  Why so? Because the priests had been commissioned with the authority to determine if someone with an infectious disease was free from it. The remarkable thing was that when Jesus spoke these words the lepers were still fully leprous. There is clear evidence of faith in His word in their act of immediately starting their journey to the priest. "So it was that, as they went, they were cleansed." The sensation of feeling began to flow into their numb body parts. Energy replaced sluggishness and healthy flesh replaced areas that were infected. Somewhere down that road to the priest’s house there came an indescribably thrilling moment when these ten lepers became intensely aware their leprosy was gone.

UNEXPRESSED GRATITUDE
     And what now? Surely there arose feelings of gratitude to the Great Physician Who was the source of their cleansing. Surely, everyone had thoughts of returning to Jesus and giving thanks. But other thoughts also arose competing for their decision as to what they would do. They desperately wanted that certificate of cleansing from the priest. They longed to once again embrace family; to worship in the temple with friends which they had been forbidden to do for years. They also wanted to make themselves available to the job market and get on with life. And so, for nine of them, the urgency to express gratitude to the Great Physician was not as great as the urgency to pray for healing in the first place. Since Jesus would shortly begin His journey to Jerusalem for His fateful encounter with the cross and the grave, it is probable that those feelings of gratitude were never expressed and proper glory was never given to God.
     Have we known people who received great blessings from God but did not properly express their gratitude? Most likely we have. Even more to the point, have we received great blessings from God and not properly expressed our gratitude? If we are honest and candid with ourselves we probably have to admit, "too many times!"
     In order to spare others a guilt trip I use myself as an example. I wake up each morning in the midst of creature comforts…a heated waterbed and centrally heated /air conditioned home. A bathroom instead of an outhouse, a kitchen with a full pantry, a refrigerator, stove, running water, radio, TV. to check up on the general condition of the world. A closet full of clothes, an office/study in which to work, or an automobile to go wherever I need. I add to all of this the unspeakable blessings of family; a community of believers God has privileged me to have a part in pastoring and all that is included in being a child of God. I am truly blessed beyond words. What an ingrate I would be not to pause many times each day and express my thanks to my heavenly Father Who is the source of it all. I count it joy to assemble with our community of believers and join with them in lifting my praise with all my heart and soul. And yet, I know I fail terribly to be as grateful as I should. My heart joins with another of God’s children who prayed, "You have given so much to me…give me one thing more, a grateful heart."
     May God help each one of us to not be like the nine who failed to return and give glory to God.

ONE DID RETURN
     Only one of those cleansed lepers returned to Jesus. We can believe that he had all the desires and ambitions the other nine had that compelled them to press on in their journey to the priest. A sense of gratitude had welled up so great in his heart that nothing else in the world was as important as expressing that gratitude for the unspeakable kindness Jesus had bestowed on him. He retraced his steps filled with excitement and joy and with a loud voice glorified God. When he came to Jesus he fell down at his feet and gave thanks. Such behavior would shock most of us today. We would consider it improper to be so emotionally demonstrative. And well it might be, if it is done for show. But when the gratitude and worship are real we are the losers when we restrain its outward expression. I believe this is exactly what Paul was expressing when he wrote, "Do not quench not the Spirit." 1st Thessalonians 5:19.
     The Psalms were God’s inspired songbook of worship for Israel. They express virtually every emotion a human can feel. The following quotes are representative of many through the Psalms. They indicate that there are times when it is most proper to express our praise to God with all our heart:

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