Thanksgiving… just hearing the word conjures images of turkeys, pumpkin pies, big dinners and gathering with family and friends. It invokes memories of thanksgiving past, and of traditions shared over generations. It’s usually a happy time, looked forward to with excitement. But I have to admit that this year, I am finding it hard. Preaching the Thanksgiving service is becoming a challenging sermon to write and offer. It really shouldn’t be. What could be more straightforward than creating a sermon that talks about gratitude and reminds everyone listening that we should be grateful for what we have.
But that feels trite and slightly cliché. And to be honest, might just be a bit insulting to you in the pews and online… for you, as people of faith, know that we are called to be thankful for life and the blessings of it. But what happens when you aren’t 100% thankful? There is where I am struggling. We hear: be thankful for family and friends. Check, got that down pat…
Then there’s the world… where do we start with that? We are thankful for the folk who put their lives and faith at risk in order to be the helping hands in the world. And they are needed. I think of wild fire responders, rescue workers in cities and towns ravaged by earthquake, flood and storm, peacekeepers in violent situations, advocates for inclusion and love, equity and justice. We think of our indigenous siblings, the LGBTQIA+ and 2 Spirit communities, our multicultural and interfaith relationships, the folk who live with homelessness and inadequate social supports… My thankfulness gets weighed down by the fear and despair I carry as I look out into the world. So Thanksgiving is challenging this year. And I have a feeling that I might not be alone in that feeling.
Now, I know that you have come here for a thanksgiving message that will light the fire of gratitude in your hearts and minds before you head off to your turkey supper. And I promise I will get there, you won’t leave here feeling like I’ve plopped 1000 pounds of bad news on your shoulders. But it would be negligent on my part not to mention that it’s hard to live with gratitude when it feels like the world is spinning out of control. I can stand here and say we should be thankful to Creator and Creation. I can stand here and tell you that we all should be thankful for what we have by giving back. But at the end of the day, thanksgiving can’t be commanded. True and sincere thanks is the genuine expression of gratitude. It’s more than quickly saying “thank you” after your mom gives you the look because you forgot. Sure, you say “thank you” but do you mean it?
So what then? Well, let’s look at the scripture – the well known story of the One Leper who Did…It’s a familiar passage and often the take away is that we should be like the one leper who shouted thanks at Jesus before running away.
It isn’t a complicated story – Jesus, while traveling, ends up in the region between Samaria and Galilee where he stumbles upon a group of 10 begging lepers. Side note: lepers (at Jesus’ time and throughout history) are outcasts, often living on the edges of society, begging in order to live, basically the lowest of the low. As Jesus passes by, they call out “have mercy on us” – not entirely sure why they say THIS to Jesus – maybe the stories of his miracles made it to their ears, or else they say this to every person who walks past. Jesus stops, looks at them, and tells them to boogie on up to the temple where they are to show themselves to the priests, and they would be healed. Wait, what? That’s about the least Jesus-y thing we’ve heard Jesus say – there’s no theology, no twisty parable.
So 9 run off to the temple, while one turns around throwing himself at Jesus feet, saying thank you. I know what you’re thinking: why only one? What were the other 9 doing? Well, I’ve got 9 possible reasons why the others didn’t turn back:
One waited to see if the cure was real.
One waited to see if it would last
One said he’d connect with Jesus later
One decided leprosy wasn’t real
One said he’d have gotten better anyway
One gave thanks to the priests
One said: Well, Jesus really didn’t do anything
One said: any rabbi could have done it
One said: I was already improving
The other nine were likely grateful for the healing and this renewed lease on life, but you have to wonder. Barbara Brown Taylor preached a sermon on this one where she said: “The nine were fulfilling expectations and meeting their obligations. Nine behaved like good lepers, good Jews; only one, a double loser, behaved like a man in love.” And that love was at the root of his thanksgiving, his authentic gratitude.
Great, great… we lift up the one guy who turns around with thanks. We get the point…we’re supposed to be like him. Be thankful not out of obligation but out of love. Happy Thanksgiving, sermon done.
Except not really. Examples like this have a nasty habit of not making us thankful but rather leaving us feeling guilty. What if we find ourselves as one of the 9? Ten people were healed, and if you read really carefully you’ll notice that there’s no condition of return. All ten, with or without thanks, were made while. So what made that one who turned back different?
He noticed… simple as that. He noticed—sure he didn’t say thanks to Jesus until he noticed that he was healed before he even made it to the temple. His response was somewhat involuntary. I mean how often do we notice something amazing and our immediate response is to say “thanks”.
“I can’t believe you came! Thanks!”
“The dishes are done! Thank you!”
“The wedding was amazing! Thank you for sharing it with us!”
Maybe it was like this for the one. He noticed the healing and was just so joyful and grateful that he couldn’t help it but turn back, and share that with Jesus. His gratitude was so overwhelming he ignored Jesus’ instructions.
So the leper turns back when he notices that not only was he healed but he was given a huge gift – a life changing gift. In his act of gratitude the leper is given a second gift – he is healed and he is blessed.
Imagine for a moment that you are the leper. Imagine the huge difference that this encounter has had his life. Now expand that a little, because not only is he a leper (unclean and outcast) this one is also a Samaritan (which is why Barbara Brown Taylor refers to him as a double loser) so he is pushed so far to the edge of society that he has no hopes of touching it. And then this Jewish Rabbi, who shouldn’t be anywhere near him, not only heals him but commends his great faith. This should have never happened, and yet Jesus comes in to tip the world on its head and in doing so brings new life.
TLDR, this is what happens when we give thanks – in giving thanks for a gift we are blessed again.
So, what does this mean for us today and in our everyday living? Really, the scripture is a call to open our eyes and begin to notice the things around us. You see, once we start noticing the world around us and giving thanks for it, we find that we notice more and more, and are blessed again and again. Our world seems to function on a scarcity mindset – there is never enough, and what we do have is dwindling. With that kind of thinking we find ourselves slipping into a “me first” or “looking out for number one” way of functioning. If we step away from this scarcity outlook, if we start noticing the world around us, if we start offering up authentic words of gratitude a world of abundance, grace and blessing opens up before our eyes. This practice of noticing and thanksgiving may seem small, but these are first steps to setting a cycle of gratitude into motion.
There’s a saying: It’s not happy people who are thankful; it is thankful people who are happy.
So all of this leads to putting words into action. It’s time for the whole walking the talk part of faith.
Most mornings I sit at our kitchen table looking through the large picture window we have there… the view spans the backyard and our little lake behind us. From there I watch the little birds that frequent our bird feeder – sparrows, chickadees, nuthatches. I watch the birds bathe in the tub of water I leave out for them, unabashedly splashing around making a mess. Or lined up on the edge little bird bums in the air as they drink. And I am thankful – thankful for the little bird activities, for the suns warmth, the time to sit and watch. There are other things I am thankful for: my house, my little family, my friendships, my commitments, my free time, the luxury to choose to enjoy quiet or to be busy, to travel or sit still, the fact that I have a vocation I love… I have the privilege to choose what I want to do, when I want to do it. I am thankful for new things and the welcome that comes with it. I am thankful for a community of faith that takes their mission in the world seriously.
All these things I notice, and give thanks for. In them, God is so present.
So now, friends, a moment of practicing noticing. Just briefly. Hopefully you received a leaf on your way in, and just like I did with the kids, I want you to take a moment and notice where your gratitude falls. What are you thankful for? Take a moment or two to write it on your leaf and as you leave today, take a moment to add your thanksgiving to the others already on the wall.
I give thanks to you and for you. May it be so Amen.
