WATCHWORD:
11 As Jesus continued on toward Jerusalem, he reached the border between Galilee and Samaria. 12 As he entered a village there, ten men with leprosy stood at a distance,13 crying out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” 14 He looked at them and said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed of their leprosy. 15 One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, “Praise God!” 16 He fell to the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan. 17 Jesus asked, “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” 19 And Jesus said to the man, “Stand up and go. Your faith has healed you.” Luke 17:11-19
Meditation:
A Month of Thanks
Don’t miss the question that Jesus asked, “Has no one returned to give glory to God?”
The German philosopher Meister Eckhart once wrote: “If the only prayer you ever say in your whole life is ‘thank you,’ that will suffice.”
I think we underestimate the importance of the ‘thank you’. The acknowledgment of a gift given, assistance provided, support extended, or simply friendship that has no qualifications, it’s just always there, and ‘thank you’ speaks volumes.
Thanksgiving is an opportunity to think back on what we have been given…and to give something in return: thanks. Actually, “thanks” seems too small a word. Gratitude may be better. Gratitude is like a personality characteristic, it just shows up nearly all the time in all that we do. We are here, in this place to give gratitude. Maybe we should call this month “Gratitude-giving.” We are here to honor, with grateful hearts, what God has done for us.
The scripture tells us to ask and we shall receive, and to knock and it will be opened. So, we ask, and we knock. And…? But what happens then? In Luke’s telling of it, 10 people are cured by Jesus of leprosy. Only one comes back to say thank you. To complicate matters, the person who comes back is a Samaritan. He isn’t Jewish. To have any contact between Jews and Samaritan was taboo. Yet, there it was, and it was the Samaritan that returned to express gratitude.
Here is a point of fact about Luke. Of all the disciples, Luke was the only one that was not Jewish. His gospel was written for those, like himself, who were on the outside, perhaps looking in? A clear statement that Christ’s message was meant for everyone. But note, in the gospel story, not everyone comes back. Implicit in this passage is the idea that something is missing. Giving thanks is a vital and necessary part of our relationship with God.
Most of us know someone who is having a difficult time this Thanksgiving. Maybe it’s medical. Maybe loneliness. Where are the blessings for these and others who are feeling, in a particular way, burdened, afflicted, cursed?
That is why we are here: to pray those words of support and thankfulness, and to make them matter. We know there are many ways to communicate, and keeping in touch has great value because it expresses caring, and love. It is our way of ‘Loving our neighbor as Christ loves us.’
Let’s remind ourselves of God’s blessings, wherever we find them, however they come to us. And give thanks for them, every day, in every moment. So be it.
Thanksgiving Divorce:
A man in Phoenix calls his son in New York the day before Thanksgiving and says, “I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing; forty-five years of misery is enough. “Pop, what are you talking about?” the son screams. “We can’t stand the sight of each other any longer,” the father says. “We’re sick of each other, and I’m sick of talking about this, so you call your sister in Chicago and tell her.” Frantic, the son calls his sister, who explodes on the phone. “Like heck they’re getting divorced,” she shouts, “I’ll take care of this.” She calls Phoenix immediately, and screams at her father, “You are NOT getting divorced. Don’t do a single thing until I get there. I’m calling my brother back, and we’ll both be there tomorrow. Until then, don’t do a thing, DO YOU HEAR ME?” and hangs up. The old man hangs up his phone and turns to his wife with a smile. “Okay, honey,” he says, “they’re coming for Thanksgiving and paying their own way.”
Closing Prayer:
Thank you, Father, for having created us and given us to each other in the human family. Thank you for being with us in all our joys and sorrows, for your comfort in our sadness, your companionship in our loneliness. Thank you for yesterday, today, tomorrow, and for the whole of our lives. Thank you for friends, for health, and for grace. May we live this and every day conscious of all that has been given to us.
