“Thanks-giving”

Luke 17:11-19 (NASB95)
11 While He was on the way to Jerusalem, He was passing between Samaria and Galilee.
12 As He entered a village, ten leprous men who stood at a distance met Him;
13 and they raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
14 When He saw them, He said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they were going, they were cleansed.

Let me pause here for moment and speak to this idea of leprosy.  Prior to the development of a vaccine for the polio virus in the 1950’s, thousands of children were affected by this debilitating disease.  We have members of our church that were some of those children.  They know all too well exactly what is meant by the term “iron lung.”  However, this would be a foreign topic of discussion to my children since the use of the vaccine has made the disease very rare in most parts of the world.

The same is true concerning LEPROSY.  Leprosy has affected humanity for over 4,000 years, and was well-recognized in the civilizations of ancient China, Egypt, India and 1st Century Israel.  Leper colonies still remain around the world in countries such as India (where there are still more than 1,000 leper colonies), China, Romania, Egypt, Nepal, Somalia, Liberia, Vietnam and Japan.  However, in the past 20 years, 15 million people worldwide have been cured of leprosy.  The forced quarantine or segregation of patients is unnecessary in places where adequate treatments are available, like the United States.  Where treatment is available, sufferers are no longer infectious after as little as two weeks. 

So for the sake of truly understanding this passage of scripture, please allow me some leniency and let’s change LEPROSY to Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer.  It is a disease so devastating that only 1% of people with Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer live over five years after diagnosis.

Now back to the scripture.  Here we have ten Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer patients that have used up all their options at MD Anderson Hospital and their physicians have said they have nothing more they can do for them.  They are returning home from the hospital and they run into Jesus and He gives them an alternate plan. . .go to church.  What do they have to lose at this point?  They turn and head to 500 East Oak Hill Drive like Jesus instructed.

14 . . . And as they were going, they were cleansed.
15 Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice,
16 and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan.
17 Then Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine—where are they?”
18 “Was no one found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?”
19 And He said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has made you well.”

Out of ten lepers cleansed of STAGE 4 Pancreatic Cancer with a less than 1% chance of living more than five more years, one comes and thanks Jesus for what He has done.

17 Then Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine—where are they?
18 “Was no one found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?”

Unfortunately, the lack of thanks-giving is a universal problem.  I believe, to the astonishment and hurt of God, many Christians travel through life without a thanks-giving spirit toward God much less others.

During this Thanksgiving Holiday, here are some ideas on thanks-giving.

I have defined thanks-giving as an expression of gratitude to the source of blessing and benefit.

The basis for thanks-giving is founded in scripture. 

Ephesians 5:20 (NASB95) always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father;

The Holy Spirit has given us dozens of examples of times in Scripture on how to live out the definition I gave.  Daniel prayed and gave thanks to God three times a day (Daniel 6:10), David rose at midnight and thanked God for His Word (Psalm 119:62) and Paul, after fourteen days of floating around in a treacherous storm, “took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of all, and he broke it and began to eat.” (Acts 27:35).

The benefits of living in a spirit of thanks-giving begins when we embrace the understanding that it honors God.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NASB95)
in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Psalm 100 (NASB95)
1 A Psalm for Thanksgiving. Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing.
3 Know that the Lord Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
4 Enter His gates with thanksgiving And His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name.
5 For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting And His faithfulness to all generations.

If that as not enough, it trains our children how to view life. 

Proverbs 22:6 (NASB95) Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.

And it honors and acknowledges the source of blessings in our lives. 

In spite of all these scriptures and illustrations, Christians still struggle with thanks-giving. Why?

Let me offer two answers to this question:

1.     Psalm 1:1-3 is not applied in their lives.

Psalm 1:1-3 (NASB95)
1 How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.
3 He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.

When we couple that passage with Paul’s teaching to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:1-2 (NASB95)…
1 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.
2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy…
we realize the impact of others on our thanks-giving.

The friends that many Christians are walking, standing and sitting with are not living lives full of thanks-giving but rather full of “me-getting.” 

2.    We take God and His church and our Christian heritage for granted.

Karl Graustein in his book Growing Up Christian makes this observation:

We can become so familiar with our Christian environment that we fail to be grateful for the many blessings we have.  We have grown up hearing about God and being taught about His character and ways, but we rarely express our gratitude to God for who He is and all that He has done for us.  The more common something is, the more we tend to take it for granted.  When we forget the significant difference that the Word of God makes in our lives, we will take it for granted.  When we fail to see the generosity of God, we will take His kindness for granted.

Let me encourage you to be a Christian full of thanks-giving by applying Colossians 4:2 (NASB95).
Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; because 1 Peter 5:8 (NASB95) Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.