Remember To Give Thanks (Luke 17: 11-19) PODCAST 11-20-16 Pastor Josh VanLeeuwen

Ask any parent for the signs of maturity in children and one of the top five indicators is bound to be this: they say thank you without any prompting. The struggle is real. We all want our children to grow up understanding and acknowledging that other people make sacrifices to provide them with everything they need and much of what they want, yet how many times must we cajole, prod, and threaten them before they finally say the magic words of appreciation? Who wants a grown-up son or daughter that acts entitled to everything and seems to be clueless about what others’ largesse might have cost? Shakespeare’s King Lear said it best: “How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a thankless child!”

Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, traveling along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was entering a village, ten men with leprosy called out to him, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” When he saw them, he told them to go and show themselves to the priest, normal procedure after one was cured so the priest could pronounce the healed person no longer unclean and readmit him or her into society. They did as they were told, and on their way they were cleansed. Imagine the conversation among them as they walked. As each step took them closer to wholeness, to being reunited with family and friends, to acceptance, to new life, did they feel their skin tingling with renewed health? Did they marvel at the rejuvenation of their flesh? At what point in their journey did they see they were completely cured?

We don’t know any of that. What we do know is that one of the men, a Samaritan, once he saw that he was healed came back to Jesus, throwing himself at the feet of his Master and praising God. Jesus asked the obvious question: “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Why didn’t the other nine come back to thank Jesus? Were they simply too excited? Were they afraid that retracing their steps might somehow undo what had been done for them? Did they just, as so many children do, forget? Jesus said, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” This one grateful man received not only physical healing from Jesus but, unlike the other nine, also salvation, an even greater miracle of restoration.

Gratitude has become trendy in our culture. As with many trendy things, a whole industry has grown up around it. We’ve all read articles enumerating the health benefits of expressing our gratitude. Seen (bought?) journals for the sole purpose of naming things we are thankful for each day. Books outlining the steps to becoming more grateful. Internet memes about gratitude. And sure, being aware of the reasons we should be grateful can help us to feel more grateful. But true gratitude doesn’t come from external forces: it comes from the heart. It comes from knowing that we are the recipients of so much unearned and undeserved favor from the One who made us. It comes from humility, from understanding that, just as those ten men could not save themselves from leprosy, we cannot save ourselves from sin, the terminal illness that consumes us all from the inside out. Thomas Merton said, “[I]t is He alone Who holds our world together, and keeps us all from being poured headlong and immediately into the pit of our eternal destruction.” Shouldn’t our hearts be overflowing with gratitude?

Perhaps we think, “If I had been one of those ten, I know I would have gone back to thank Jesus.” Really? Jesus has saved us from a much worse disease than leprosy. How often do we fall at his feet and thank him? How often do we walk in faith, obeying him when he prompts us to go and do, instead of questioning and doubting? How many times can we say, “I think Jesus wants me to do this, so I [...]