Hello. For those of you that don’t know me, my name is Don, and I am one of the deacons here at RP, and my family and I have been coming here for about 8, almost 9 years now.
I was asked to speak tonight on the topic of thanksgiving, and the passage that first came to my mind, (which Bumble also suggested,) is the story of the ten lepers that Jesus cleanses on His way to Jerusalem with His disciples in Luke 17. This chapter in Luke contains various teachings of Jesus, and, interestingly, this particular passage in verses 11-19 is sandwiched between His analogy of the unworthy servant, pointing out the fallacy of service with expectation, and His proclaiming the coming of the kingdom, which He states to be “in your midst.” So let’s read the passage together.
Luke 17:11-19 ESV
[11] On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. [12] And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance [13] and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” [14] When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. [15] Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; [16] and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. [17] Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? [18] Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” [19] And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”
(Prayer)
In this passage, we see that as Jesus passes through Samaria and Galilee, and enters the village, all 10 lepers there cry out to Him: “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” The Scripture tells us that they called from a distance, since, as lepers, they would have been considered defiled and forced to keep their distance. They would have had to live outside the village, and would not have been allowed to mingle with society. Still, they desired God’s mercy- and they even refer to Jesus as “Master.”
Jesus, instead of healing them right there and then on the spot, gives them a command. He tells them to go show themselves to the priest, which was in compliance with the law as prescribed in Leviticus 14, where the law instructs healed lepers to show themselves to the priest..
Then, as they went, as they obeyed, they were healed.
For 9 of the lepers, this is where the story ends. They would have been declared clean, rejoined society, and certainly would have been grateful for their new lease on life- at least for a time. But only one of them, the Samaritan- a foreigner among them- returns to give thanks to the One who brought this healing.
The 9 were probably grateful, but they valued the gift more than the Giver..
Jesus tells the one leper who returned to give thanks: “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well,’ which literally translates: “has saved you!” The others were healed, but this man also received salvation..
Sometimes we, as believers, can be more grateful for what God can or has given us than we are for who He is and what He has provided us in Himself through Christ. The Greek word used in this passage for “thanksgiving” is “eucharisteo,” which describes active, grateful worship -here directed to Jesus.. Being grateful is an often temporary state of being. Giving thanks is active and ongoing, manifesting in devoted worship.
I learned this distinction the hard way. When I first came to faith in Christ, I was coming out of 20 plus years of active alcoholism and drug addiction, and had spent the last 10 years of that living on and off the streets, in and out of jail, losing my first born child to CPS, and enduring every form of pitiful and incomprehensibly demoralizing experience it seems one ever could. I was, much like the lepers in our passage, a complete social and even a moral outcast.
Then, upon receiving Christ and God’s gracious offer of salvation through Him, my life began to change. I stopped drinking and using drugs. I got off the streets, off probation, got our daughter back, and even started a new family. Looking back now though, I realize that while I was certainly grateful for the healing God had brought, and the gifts of my new life He had given, I was not in any way devoted to a life of worship and giving thanks to the Healer. I wanted what God had to offer much more than I wanted God Himself.
After about 2 years, a series of events led me and our family (consisting of myself, my wife, our 2 young daughters, and a third daughter on the way) back on the streets. And, in a short time, I was back on drugs as well. For the next year, life was a nightmare beyond anything I had ever experienced before- or even since! Now I was on the streets and back on drugs, and this time with 3 young kids! I remember feeling very confused at that point about the faith. I figured, “What’s the point?” If this was what God could do for me, and I wanted nothing to do with it. For a short time, I abandoned the idea of a God that loved me.
But, as it turns out, He never abandoned me! I didn’t understand then that God wasn’t abandoning me; He was drawing me to Himself.
Eventually, through another series of events that I unfortunately don’t have time here to go into detail about, God led me to the 12-step program of Alcoholics Anonymous, back to church, and, most significantly, back to Him. Through this, I was able to obtain and have maintained my sobriety for a little over 13 years now. But, most of all, He has given me a clearer understanding of who He is, so that, no matter what may come, I no longer yearn more for His good gifts than I do for the good Giver Himself.
Like C.S. Lewis said: “I know now, Lord, why You utter no answer. You are Yourself the answer. Before Your face, questions die away. What other answer would suffice?” This is exactly what the Samaritan discovered..
This was the one leper’s realization as well. He recognized that Jesus gives much more than just physical healing or something else we think we want. He gives us Himself!
So, as Paul told the Colossians: “as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving!“ (Col. 2:6-7).
True thanksgiving is rooted in the gospel- an expression of faith that God is good, and worthy of our fullest and deepest worship in both our darkest and our brightest moments. So let’s give thanks by treasuring Christ Himself, and let our lives become worship to the One who gives every good thing!
Simply beautiful Don, thank you for sharing