A Lesson in Thanksgiving

It was one of those bright sunny days that occur with great frequency in The Galilee. Brightly colored flowers dotted the hillsides. The songs of many birds were heard as Jesus and His disciples wound their way down the pathways from Galilee. Destination: Jerusalem. Soon they came to the border that separated Galilee from Samaria. This border marked the line of demarcation for Orthodox Jews. They would not travel through Samaria; instead they would take the journey across the Jordan River and proceed down the eastern side of the Jordan to Jericho where they would recross and then proceed to Jerusalem. The text in Luke 17 does not indicate the actions of Jesus and His disciples, but in the past Jesus had not been adverse to traveling through Samaria (read John 4).

As He approached the border suddenly from a distance He first saw and then heard the cries from ten men who were lepers. It was not unusual to see a group of people assembled together who had this terribly infectious disease. Their usual form of greeting was to acknowledge that they were unclean, thus warning others to stay away. Perhaps they greeted Jesus and His disciples with these words of warning, but they soon "called out" to Him (I think they shouted with all their might), "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!" (Luke 17:13). Were they asking for a handout from Jesus? Were they seeking money so they could have someone purchase what they needed? No, I think their plaintiff cry was for healing from that dreaded disease. At least Jesus interpreted their request as such. His reply to them was, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." Now there was only one reason He instructed them to go to the priests - to have the priests affirm that they were healed.

And, as those ten men hastened to the priests, presumably in Jerusalem, they discovered that they had been healed. I am confident that joy flooded their hearts as they considered how life would now be changed for them. They would be united with their families whom they had probably not seen in quite some time. They could become part of a community once again. One can almost hear the change in their conversations.

Suddenly one man left the group. He carefully retraced his footsteps back to the place where he had encountered Jesus. Before doing anything, even appearing before the priests, and certainly before any reunion with family, he knew he had to say "thank you" to Jesus. He just had to. When he finally encountered Jesus and shared his gratitude, Jesus' response was one of almost embarrassment: where were the others? Were they not thankful for their cleansing?

This story of Jesus seems to be teaching the two attitudes which we have toward the blessings we have received from God. We can either accept them as if we were owed those blessings by God. I think that was the attitude of the nine. I think they had come to expect that Jesus would heal them, after all, that is what Jesus did - He healed people. Too many people have a similar attitude - God is indebted to bless them. That is what God is supposed to do!

How different was the attitude of the one man - and a Samaritan at that! He returned to Jesus with a song of praise from his heart and words of thanksgiving from his lips. Maybe, he thought to himself, those Jews were entitled to be healed, but he was a Samaritan. But he knew he could never live with himself without first giving thanks to the One who had healed him.

As we enter this time of Thanksgiving, I need to ask myself: How many times am I like the nine who just came to expect God to bless them? I am afraid it is too many times. How I need to be like that one Samaritan and to have a heart full of praise and thanksgiving to God. For His blessings are not to be taken for granted. Everyday is an opportunity to return thanks to God for His provisions for my life. Lord, give to me a grateful heart, not only during this Thanksgiving Season, but everyday.