“On Becoming Thankful”
I). I don’t suppose that the fact that this is Thanksgiving week and accordingly,
“Thanksgiving Sunday” has slipped from many of us? It will only
be in a few short days that each of us will sit down, our favorite family members
and friends close to our side, the table covered with the many blessings that
the oven has to offer. All of us will be there to give thanks to the Almighty.
The great majority of us will begin the festivities with a prayer and ask a
continued blessing. So why am I speaking of gratitude? If we are “Thankful,”
why is it necessary for us as a nation to set aside a special day, each year
for “Thanksgiving?” Is it possible that during the remainder of
the year that we have forgotten where our blessings have come from? Are we as
grateful as we ought to be? Have we overlooked the simplicity of expressing
our gratitude for the many kindnesses and favors granted in our families, homes,
churches and communities? Depending on how we each have answered these aforementioned
questions, perhaps it is a good thing we have this day to be “Thankful!”
A). I’ll begin this morning by suggesting that failure to acknowledge
gratitude was also a problem in Jesus day, as well. Our Scripture this morning
shares with us the story of Jesus last journey to Jerusalem. Our Lesson reminds
us that there were ten Lepers who approached Jesus and begged to be healed;
“for mercy sake.” Without hesitation, Jesus promptly instructs them
to “go to the Priests” and show them that they are cured. When one
of these poor fellows sees that he has been cured, he quickly returns to Jesus
to give thanks!
B). Jesus is amazed that only one of the ten is thankful. It is even more curious
that the one who does return on this mission of thanks giving, is not a Jew,
he is a Samaritan; an outsider! Those who knew the words of the Psalmist: “To
give thanks unto the Lord….” Didn’t!
II). Have we, in our faith become calloused in responding to God’s love
and blessings? Why??
1). I happened to turn on the TV earlier this week, just before the noon news
and there she was, Martha Stewart! She was actually talking about “Thanksgiving”
and how to make it “the perfect holiday!” I thought to my self,
“perhaps there are some pointers, here.” I soon discovered that
in Martha’s view the best way to “create the perfect Thanksgiving”
was to “create an atmosphere with candles and aromas.” I guess,
“gratitude" was not something Martha perfected during her yearlong
hiatus!
A). I believe that to be a grateful person, one must come to terms with our
many needs and blessings; our condition: we must know who we are, our strengths
and weaknesses. Not our “Atmosphere!”
In our Scripture lesson today, the men who approached Jesus knew that they had
leprosy; in those days, it was a dreadful, terminal disease, much as AIDS would
be to this generation. These ten were in desperate need of compassion and healing.
It is only as they viewed their condition that they dared to cry out: “Have
Mercy on us!” Everyone else would have ostracized them.
B). I believe many of us who worship each Sunday have come to terms with our
individual deficits, sharing the Prayer: ”deliver us from evil…!”
In essence, “Lord, have mercy on us…;” for those areas in
our daily lives where we have “slipped,” where we have found ourselves
in need of God’s compassion and healing, when we acknowledge we need a
Savior.
It is only when we acknowledge our shortcomings, when we acknowledge we have
received God’s blessings without expectation, it is then that our hearts
truly overflow with gratitude.
The outsider, the single respondent in our Lesson today, took inventory of his
life; his shortcomings, his blessings, and recognized that his healing was not
merely “happen stance,” that God had intervened and brought him
to the hands of the “great physician!”
III). We do not want to be like the mother that Winston Churchill spoke of.
He told the story of a certain sailor who jumped into the cold waters of Plymouth
Harbor, in England. The sailor saved a little boy from drowning. Several days
later the little boy and his mother met the sailor on the streets of Plymouth.
The lad nudged his mother to tell her “this was the man who saved me.”
She stopped and asked: “Are you the man who pulled my little boy from
the water?” Expecting a word of thanks, the sailor smiled and said, “Yes
ma’am.” “Then,” she snapped back, “where’s
his cap?” Unappreciative of the gift of her son’s life she looked
for more.
A). Having taken inventory of his life, the grateful Samaritan “saw that
he was healed” and came back to Jesus to express thanks, he “fell
on his face.” Apparently he felt unworthy to be in Jesus presence. He
believed that he did not “deserve” such mercy. After all, he was
a Samaritan. In the eyes of the Jews, he was a despised nobody. He might have
asked: “What did you find in me that you have dealt so lovingly?”
1). If we believe that we are worthy of our gifts and that we “deserve
what we get,” there is no place for gratitude. The great enemy of gratitude
is to take our blessings for granted. If that is the case, we live with a sense
of entitlement; blessings are our “right.” We may even believe that
God “owes” us for the many great things we do!
2). There was a TV commercial a number of years ago whose aim was to sell condo’s
in the St. Petersburg area. The camera panned to show the water, the golf course,
the pool and the sauna. There was a man clinging to the side of the pool who
was being interviewed. He was asked if he did not feel guilty having all these
luxuries? He replied: “not at all, I deserve it!” There are many
who believe they “deserve” everything!
B). If we believe that we “deserve” our blessings, then we have
no one to thank but ourselves. Parenthetically, if things go wrong, then where
does the blame lye?
IV). Many years ago there appeared a full-page ad in the National Geographic
Magazine that repeated a single phrase, eighteen times: “Think Thank.”
A). Developing a focus on being “Thankful” is the key to our sense
of gratitude. To come to terms with the blessings of God, graciously affords
us the opportunity to be thankful. But first, we must see our blessings as “gifts”
from a God who loves us and wishes us to prosper; spiritually, emotionally,
and physically. If we are unaware/ignore or simply refuse to acknowledge them,
we will never “return” to Jesus and “give thanks” for
every good and perfect gift.
B). Secondly, Our Faith is an integral part of our gratitude. Jesus told the
grateful leper: “Your faith has made you well.” The crowning blessing
in this story can be seen in the Samaritans faith in Jesus ability to move the
ten to approach Him in their need. It was faith that made each of them obey
Jesus instructions to “go, show (themselves) to the priests. Faith, then,
is the hand that reaches out and receives the gift. It is here that the Samaritan’s
faith exceeded that of the other nine; all ten were healed, but only one was
made “well.” The grateful man was healed, not only in body as the
rest were but also in Spirit. God’s intent is to heal body, mind and spirit.
C). Gratitude, then, is evidence of a healthy, happy soul. Faith sees every
good thing that comes from God but completion of this blessing comes from the
person who “returns” to thank and to praise God for His willingness
to grant us something we might not deserve or expect.
May God grant us the wisdom to know our needs, to recognize our blessings and
in gratitude, “return” to Him with our thanks giving!