HOW DOES THE CREATURE SAY THANKS?

We have a host of positive emotions- joy, wonder, serenity, love, hope, and happiness among them- but our passage today urges us to focus on Gratitude. According to Luke (17:11-19), as Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, he entered a village where ten lepers were gathered to meet him. They stood a safe distance away and cried out for "mercy." Well, Jesus did not ignore them. He saw them and he told them to go and show themselves to their priests as men who no longer had leprosy, which would free them to engage in community life once again. The lepers did what they were told to do and as they were walking, they were healed. I suspect that nine of them began to run to their priests when they saw that their skin was free of imperfections.

 

Nine of the lepers returned to the lives they had lived in the past. They went back home. They cuddled their children. They got back to work... but one of the lepers returned to Jesus when he saw that he was being healed on the road. He recognized that he had been healed by God and he saw that he need to express his gratitude to Jesus. So he turned around with praise on his lips, and when he met Jesus he fell upon his face and thanked him! He knew who had healed him. He knew whom he needed to thank and according to Luke, he was a Samaritan, an alien, a man who Jews at that time would have ordinarily shunned.

 

The Samaritan saw that God had manifested his grace and his power in Christ Jesus, and he was overwhelmed with gratitude. Gratitude comes from knowing that God is with us (Immanuel) and that God never forsakes us. How many of you have seen God at work in your own lives? How many of you believe that God sent friends and mentors your way? How many of you believe that God is behind your current relationships, or your new jobs, or your spiritual growth, or your long walk out of the valleys of grief and death? Perhaps it's because I strayed so badly, but I can see God's finger prints all over my life. It was God who held me together before I left home and it was God who arranged my first meeting with Sherry, when I needed a friend more than I have ever needed a friend. It was God who sent mentors to me and opened doors that I didn't even know about.

 

How about you? Where has God healed you, provided for you, walked with you, forgiven you, listened to you, or sent angels your way? Surely we need to follow the Samaritan's lead and give thanks. You know, one of my favorite hymns is entitled, "God of the Sparrow," and in part, it goes like this:

 

God of the sparrow, God of the whale, God of the swirling stars,

How does the creature say awe? How does the creature say

praise?

God of the rainbow, God of the cross, God of the empty grave,

How does the creature say grace? How does the creature say

"thanks"?

 

In many ways, no doubt, but these ways are among them. We thank God with our tongues, when we pray, when we forgive others, when we treat others as we would treat Christ, when we try our very best to know him better and to grow as His servant, when we pass the love and grace that we have received forward, and when we fall to our knees and cry out, "Thank you, God. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you for loving me.Thank you for walking with me. Thank you for saving me. Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Amen!