My memories of Thanksgiving celebrations when I was growing up were always divided into two parts - before the meal and after the meal. Before the meal - the 3 "F's" : fun, family, food. After the meal - the 3 "S's": solemn, somber, sleepy. There was something about eating that turkey and ham - that made us all want to fall asleep on the sofa after our big feast. And I have to admit - sometimes I did. And it was a deep sleep, a sweet sleep, an angels surrounding, plucking at their heavenly harps type of sleep.
In the Gospel of today (Luke 17.11-19) we are introduced to the story of the ten lepers. This story has always surprised me a little. Here are ten fellows who are pretty much isolated from society, one might even say - on the very edge of even normal human relations. People saw Lepers, in those days, as individuals who were being punished by God - so they put them aside. Now Jesus comes upon them and these lepers were all shouting, "Master, Jesus! Please have mercy and do your best to heal us!" Now Jesus was the sort to be merciful and kind, He heals them and sends them off to the authorities so that they might be declared “welcomed” back into the community. So - here is the part that always gets me:
Jesus has done an amazing thing for them - life transforming thing in fact
• He not only healed them of a dreaded disease
• He not only gave them the ability to be come back into human interaction
• He not only permitted them to once again be accepted by others
• He gave them dignity - human dignity - once again!
And what do they do - they go off and only one of them - says “thanks”. It is almost like they had there life before the meal....had a great meal...and then well...went and fell asleep on the sofa - without even saying thank you !
Now here is the human thing to the story - it can happen to all of us - but just in case you are not clear on what I am trying to say - because well - we have not met a lot lepers in our life and we can’t even imagine what their realize from this disease would be like - let's come at it in another way. Let’s reset the story in the modern day.
Let's say that ten kids are playing out in the yard and thinking how nice it'd be to have an ice cream bar. When along comes a mother, and they start to scream and shout for that wonderful ice cream that they've been dreaming about. The mother loves them so she gives them each a dollar and tells them, "Go to the store and buy that for which you hollar." If those kids did exactly as she said and just went to the store and not one of them thanked her, well, that'd be pretty poor.
The best thanks come naturally, don't you think that's true? I mean, thanks should be an echo when we're given something great Thanks should be the shadow which from the gift you cannot separate. Yet how many parents remind their child, "What do you say?" and keep on reminding kids a hundred times a day? But I won't pick on you kids, for we grownups forget too, and perhaps in even more important matters fail to say Thank you.
So we observe Thanksgiving - not as a forced moment to give thanks but as a reminder that we should. Luke tells the story of Jesus healing the ten lepers is told for the same reason; to remind us, to recall for us, to invite us to say THANK YOU! So, here is my question for all of us - when was the last time you said THANK YOU
• to the person who opens the door for
• to the individual who prepares a meal for you
• to the group that prays for you
• to the family member who sacrifices for you
• to the sibling that plays with you
• to the parent who loves you
• to the constable that protects you
• to the teacher who instructs you
• to the driver who gets you there
• to the God who heals you
Its not just a Church thing - a what happens in Church; stays in Church thing.
It’s a life thing - because without thanks in our life - well we are lepers - self created - who walk off in the sunset unaware of all the healing that happens in our life. So don’t fall asleep on the sofa - or if you do this Thanksgiving - before you enter the sleep of angels - say thank you.
In the Gospel of today (Luke 17.11-19) we are introduced to the story of the ten lepers. This story has always surprised me a little. Here are ten fellows who are pretty much isolated from society, one might even say - on the very edge of even normal human relations. People saw Lepers, in those days, as individuals who were being punished by God - so they put them aside. Now Jesus comes upon them and these lepers were all shouting, "Master, Jesus! Please have mercy and do your best to heal us!" Now Jesus was the sort to be merciful and kind, He heals them and sends them off to the authorities so that they might be declared “welcomed” back into the community. So - here is the part that always gets me:
Jesus has done an amazing thing for them - life transforming thing in fact
• He not only healed them of a dreaded disease
• He not only gave them the ability to be come back into human interaction
• He not only permitted them to once again be accepted by others
• He gave them dignity - human dignity - once again!
And what do they do - they go off and only one of them - says “thanks”. It is almost like they had there life before the meal....had a great meal...and then well...went and fell asleep on the sofa - without even saying thank you !
Now here is the human thing to the story - it can happen to all of us - but just in case you are not clear on what I am trying to say - because well - we have not met a lot lepers in our life and we can’t even imagine what their realize from this disease would be like - let's come at it in another way. Let’s reset the story in the modern day.
Let's say that ten kids are playing out in the yard and thinking how nice it'd be to have an ice cream bar. When along comes a mother, and they start to scream and shout for that wonderful ice cream that they've been dreaming about. The mother loves them so she gives them each a dollar and tells them, "Go to the store and buy that for which you hollar." If those kids did exactly as she said and just went to the store and not one of them thanked her, well, that'd be pretty poor.
The best thanks come naturally, don't you think that's true? I mean, thanks should be an echo when we're given something great Thanks should be the shadow which from the gift you cannot separate. Yet how many parents remind their child, "What do you say?" and keep on reminding kids a hundred times a day? But I won't pick on you kids, for we grownups forget too, and perhaps in even more important matters fail to say Thank you.
So we observe Thanksgiving - not as a forced moment to give thanks but as a reminder that we should. Luke tells the story of Jesus healing the ten lepers is told for the same reason; to remind us, to recall for us, to invite us to say THANK YOU! So, here is my question for all of us - when was the last time you said THANK YOU
• to the person who opens the door for
• to the individual who prepares a meal for you
• to the group that prays for you
• to the family member who sacrifices for you
• to the sibling that plays with you
• to the parent who loves you
• to the constable that protects you
• to the teacher who instructs you
• to the driver who gets you there
• to the God who heals you
Its not just a Church thing - a what happens in Church; stays in Church thing.
It’s a life thing - because without thanks in our life - well we are lepers - self created - who walk off in the sunset unaware of all the healing that happens in our life. So don’t fall asleep on the sofa - or if you do this Thanksgiving - before you enter the sleep of angels - say thank you.