Thanksgiving Eve / Thanksgiving Day, 11/22/2018

Sermon on Luke 17:11-19, by Andrew Smith

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.”

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Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

We’re all familiar with the Pilgrims’ and Indian’s first thanksgiving in 1621, even if it stirs some controversy today. And most of you are probably familiar with the stories of George Washington issuing a Thanksgiving Day Proclamation in 1789 to commemorate that first Pilgrim celebration. You might not be aware that our third president, Thomas Jefferson discontinued thanksgiving, calling it “a kingly practice.” And so, after this, a day of Thanksgiving was observed by some individual states, and on whatever date suited them. Until 1828. In that year, a woman named Mrs. Hale, editor of the magazine Godey’s Lady’s Book and author of the poem “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” began campaigning for the restoration of Thanksgiving as a national holiday. She wrote letters and sought appointments with national leaders from the President on down. Time after time she was politely rebuffed, sometimes being told it was “impossible” and “impractical,” and sometimes being dismissed with a this-is-none-of-your-business scolding.

Finally, in 1863, (after 35 years!) President Lincoln listened seriously to her plea that North and South “lay aside enmities and strife on (Thanksgiving) Day.” It was Lincoln who proclaimed the fourth Thursday of November to be the official “National Thanksgiving Day.” This day was finally ratified by the U. S. Congress in 1941.[1]

It’s part of the story of America that we are this very grateful nation and we sometimes life up thanksgiving as proof of such a thankfulness a country. Thanksgiving has certainly been eroded in recent years with stores opening earlier and earlier. It won’t surprise me at all when I hear the first commercial to skip the turkey altogether and get shopping. Stores open at 7 am! My goal is not to lead the bemoaning of what’s going on out there but to foster a bit more thankfulness among us.

We just finished with Halloween. The only good of the holiday seems to be teaching children to say thank you for the kindness of strangers giving them candy. And now the stores are all over have switched to full-on Christmas mode. I’m ready to waive the white flag in the culture war. I don’t expect retailers to want to do anything but sell us things so that they can report those sales to their shareholders. The lady in front of me at the Post Office had a clear choice when she bought stamps, Madonna and Child or Santa. She chose Santa just like 98 percent of people will on Christmas. And Thanksgiving? Thanksgiving is now merely the first feast of Christmas. After all, retailers can’t do anything with a holiday designed to celebrate being thankful for stuff we already have. It just is what it is.

There’s an old preacher’s joke about all this. A pastor was giving his annual parochial report and listed at the end, “Nine persons lost at sea.” The members of the congregation were in shock and asked him who these folks were. His reply was, “Well, eleven persons requested prayers for those going to sea and only two people asked me to give thanks for a safe return. I just assumed the other nine were lost at sea.”[2]

That feels a little humbling doesn’t it? It’s the same kind of thing Jesus says in the parable about the 10 lepers. Ten were cleansed. Only one returned to thank Jesus and he was a no-good Samaritan. “Where are the other nine?” asks Jesus.

There’s an excellent hymn (Lutheran Service Book, 788) that serves a gentle rebuke to the ingratitude that dwells in us. “Forgive us, Lord, for shallow thankfulness, for dull content with warmth and sheltered care, for songs of praise for good and harvest press, while of your richer gifts we’re unaware.” It’s one of those hymns which doesn’t have a tune as easy as How Great Thou Art, so people don’t really like to sing it. And to be honest, it’s a little uncomfortable to sing, “Forgive us for selfish thanks and praise, For words that speak at variance with deeds; Forgive our thanks for walking pleasant ways Unmindful of a broken brother’s needs.”

Though written in 1965, the fifth stanza is maybe too timely, “Forgive us, Lord, for feast that knows not fast, For Joy in things that meanwhile starve the soul, For walls and wars that hide your mercies vast And blur our vision of the Kingdom goal.”

Like a good hymn, it ends with a reflection on Christ. Another good reason to sing all the stanzas of hymns and to pay attention to the texts we sing rather than just if we know the tunes or not. “Open our eyes to see Your love’s intent, To know with minds and hearts it’s depth and height; May thankfulness be days in service spent, Reflection of Christ’s life and love and light.”

Thankfulness is an attitude of the spirit, akin to fruit of the spirit. It is cultivated. It needs time and the right conditions to grow in us. The gift of Christ is the same, full and free. It’s our attitude that needs to grow in thankfulness of the gift, whether that gift is salvation or any gift that we can grow by. Can we grow to be thankful like Matthew Henry?

Matthew Henry, was a great Bible scholar. He got mugged one day and robbed of his purse. After it happened, he wrote these words in his diary: “Let me be thankful first, because I was never robbed before; second, because, although they took my purse, they did not take my life; third, because, although they took my all, it was not much; and fourth, because it was I who was robbed, not I who robbed.”[3]

I confess, I’m a long way off from this level of thankfulness. But I am loved by one who gave His all for me. I like to think when I fail in some spectacularly ordinary way, Jesus’ prayer about the thieves on the cross, applies to me too. “Father, forgive him, for he knows not yet, what he does.”

Can we grow in thankfulness to such an extent that thankfulness itself is simply reveling in the days we spend in service to our great giver God, the source of all good things?

Only with eyes opened to see the intent of His great love for us. Love like Jesus showed the lepers. Love like Jesus showed the soldiers who executed him. Love like God so loved the world. Love like God loves each of us. Only when we know such love can we reflect it.

Only then will our thanksgiving be true praise to God. Lord Jesus, increase our faith. Amen.

[1] Paul Lee Tan, Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc., 1996), 1459.

[2] Paul Lee Tan, Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc., 1996), 1459.

[3] Paul Lee Tan, Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc., 1996), 1456.

The Rev. Andrew Smith
Cookeville, Tennessee, USA
E-Mail: smithad19+prediger@gmail.com

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