Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they?” Luke 17:17
Ten people were plagued by leprosy. This meant that they must be quarantined away from society. This also meant that many people despised their very existence. As Jesus was passing by, all 10 of them cried out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
Before a leper could be admitted back into the community, he had to get a clean bill of health from the temple priest. So, in His tender mercy, Jesus told all 10 lepers, “Go and show yourself to the priest.” Their simple act of obedience in turning around and heading toward the temple caused them to be healed along the way. But then what happened? Of the 10, only one went back to Jesus with thanksgiving in his heart. Can you believe it? Only 1 out of 10! And that one who came was a social outcast for more than one reason. He was a half-breed Samaritan.
To a certain degree, we are all guilty of lacking in gratitude – both toward our fellow humans and even more so toward God. We can never thank God enough for all He has done for us. We can never ever thank Jesus enough for giving His life for us. Words are not enough. We must thank the Lord with actions.
“Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25:40, NRSV)
Sometimes our lack of gratitude can be attributed to the simple fact that we are human. Humans forget. But often, our lack of thankfulness is due to a deliberate decision – even if we are not conscious of that fact.
For example, a woman brings a baby into the world. She is the baby’s one and only mother. For months and months and months she cares for the baby. Perhaps for the first few months, she loses much sleep, as the baby cries every night for an indefinite time. She bathes the baby, sometimes several times a day, after wiping his stinky, poopy bottom with a wet cloth. She holds the baby’s arms as she toddles along, until she is able to walk on her own. Several days a week, she drives him to kindergarten for nine months, not to mention all the times she will take him to the doctor for checkups and childhood illnesses. You know the drill.
But fast-forward several years and what happens so often?
As the saying goes, “We are once an adult, twice a child.” That same mom who lost so much sleep for us, wiped our stinky, poopy bottoms for months, held us up to keep us from falling and getting hurt, and drove us to our appointments, now needs the same type of attention that she gave us.
There are some wonderful children in the world who do return the love that was given to them as a child. But there are also multitudes that do not. And if they do, they whine and complain with much resentment. “I didn’t sign up for this!” they say.
In my 40+ years of ministry, I have seen this attitude toward our Heavenly Father and Jesus, who made the ultimate painful sacrifice for us.
“I don’t have time to serve Him right now.”
“ My schedule is too tight to make it to church to sing songs of Thanksgiving to Him this Sunday.”
“I’m ‘burned out’ on this service I’ve been doing at church for so long.”
But speaking on behalf of the Lord Jesus, what we’ve seen is pretty amazing. Just as the nine who did not return to offer Thanksgiving to Jesus after leprosy, many have not returned to offer Thanksgiving and worship to Him after covid.
But others are still coming back to Jesus and the local church – their spiritual “mother” – to give thanks with such grateful hearts! They do this not just with words, but with action.
I think part of the real problem with “Thanksgiving,” as we call it, is its very name. Thanksgiving. That’s it! “Thank you, God!” But I love the Spanish way of saying it: “¡Feliz Día de Acción de Gracias!” I.e. “Happy Day of Action of Thanksgiving!”
Of the nine lepers who were cleansed by Jesus, praise God, one did come back with action! He walked back on the dusty road to Jesus. He praised God with a loud voice! And he literally fell on his face (prostrated himself) before Jesus in worship!
Sometime between now and Thanksgiving Day, please take action. Go to Jesus, humbly prostrate yourself on your knees before Him, and with a resounding voice, say “PRAISE YOU, LORD, FOR ALL YOU’VE DONE FOR ME!”
Hallelujah! ¡Feliz Día de Acción de Gracias! A Blessed & Happy Thanksgiving!!!
So if, if our humanness, we’ve forgotten to be as grateful as we ought to be, God always allows U-turns. Let’s turn around, go back to Jesus, and thank Him for all He’s done for us.
With love for your soul,
Pastor Mark