Psalms 107:1-2 O GIVE thanks unto the LORD, for HE is good: for HIS mercy endureth forever.
[King James translation]
Luke 17:11-19 Now on HIS way to Jerusalem, JESUS traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As HE was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met HIM. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “JESUS, MASTER, have pity on us!” When HE saw them, HE said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising GOD in a loud voice. He threw himself at JESUS’ feet and thanked HIM—and he was a Samaritan. JESUS asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to GOD except this foreigner?” Then HE said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well. [New International Translation] [The King James translation of Luke 17:19 states “…thy faith hath made thee whole.]
1Thessalonians 5:18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of GOD in CHRIST JESUS concerning you. [King James translation]
GIVE THANKS
On November 23, 2017, people across the nation will be celebrating “Thanksgiving,” a day that President Abraham Lincoln declared a national holiday by proclamation in 1863. Prior to Lincoln’s proclamation, each colony or state scheduled and celebrated its own individual day of Thanksgiving. In an attempt to bring a nation together that was torn by the civil war, Lincoln declared the last Thursday in November a national day of Thanksgiving.
In Luke 17:11-19, we are given a lesson in “Giving Thanks.” According to Luke by giving thanks to GOD and praising HIM, we enter into right relationship with GOD and are blessed even more. The nine lepers were just physically healed. But, the Samaritan was made whole. Only the Samaritan “threw himself” totally in grateful submission and in total praise to GOD. And, in “giving thanks,” only the Samaritan was spiritually in right relationship with GOD, a relationship of sincere gratitude.
There were ten lepers the day that JESUS entered the lives of the village lepers. There are many who have been quick to label the other nine lepers the “ungrateful nine” for their failure to simply return and said “Thank you.” However, even if the other nine lepers had returned and given JESUS the courteous gesture of a “Thank you,” the Samaritan would have still stood out among the ten and would still have received the extra blessing of “wholeness” because “saying thanks” and “giving thanks” are not the same thing.
“Saying thanks” is what most parents teach their children to say when someone has been nice to them or after a child receives a gift, even if the gift is unwanted. Many a child has said a lukewarm holiday, obligatory “Thank you” to a distant aunt or uncle for a pair of socks or some other “uninteresting gift” at the prompting of a parent. Many people, like the small children, also say “Thank you,” quickly forgetting about the gift and the giver. They don’t “Give Thanks,” they just say “Thank You.” However, the Samaritan did more than say “Thank You.” The Samaritan praised GOD. The Samaritan acknowledged GOD’s superiority over his life and submitted himself to GOD. In his moment of healing he experienced the GOODNESS, THE GREATNESS and MERCY of GOD and he prostrated himself and gave thanks.
The Samaritan’s life was not perfect, but he still gave pure thanks to GOD. Although the Samaritan was no longer a leper, the Samaritan knew that people still considered him a “half Jew,” because people from Samaria were considered “mixed race” and of a “mixed religion,” and, hence, despised. But, even knowing his situation, the Samaritan still praised GOD. The Samaritan’s praise was real and the Samaritan’s praise was pure. And because the Samaritan decided to “Give Thanks,” for and even despite everything (being healed from leprosy, his situation in life, who he was and for his “personal encounter with GOD”), only the Samaritan was made whole.
THANK GOD FOR EVERYTHING
The world isn’t perfect. President Abraham Lincoln certainly knew this and so did the Samaritan. During the time of JESUS, in Lincoln’s 1863 and even in 2017, people and nations are still grappling with racism, sexism, social inequality, economic inequality, wars, festering wounds of bigotry, health care issues, illness, and nations and countries divided. Nevertheless, we give GOD thanks.
And, we don’t just “Say Thanks” we “Give Thanks” to GOD for everything. We renew our “encounter with GOD” praising GOD spiritually, seeking every day to be made whole. We give thanks submissively, in faith and recognition that although we cannot solve our own problems, GOD can and GOD will.
So praise GOD---for GOD’s GOODNESS---for GOD’s GREATNESS and for GOD’s MERCY.
Praise God on Raw Wednesday, Thanksgiving Thursday, day after Thanksgiving Friday, and every day, and every week.
GIVE THANKS, be whole and BE BLESSED.
