Thanksgiving
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Luke 17:11-19
Luke 17:12 (NVI)
Cuando estaba por entrar en un pueblo, salieron a su encuentro diez hombres enfermos de lepra. Como se habían quedado a cierta distancia,
Jesus and his disciples were on their way to Jerusalem when they passed through a village where they encountered ten men with leprosy.
As Jesus approached they “stood afar off” and cried out to him, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.”
They stood far off because, according to Moses’ law, lepers were to be isolated from all social contacts.
They were forbidden to come within six feet of a whole person; and, if the wind was blowing from their direction they were to stay fifty yards away.
If a person unknowingly came too near them they were to shout a warning, “Unclean! Unclean!”
These men, mindful of the law of Moses, kept their distance and made their request known.
Luke 17:14 (NVI)
Al verlos, les dijo:
—Vayan a presentarse a los sacerdotes.
Resultó que, mientras iban de camino, quedaron limpios.
Jesus gave an unusual response. He told them to go and show themselves to the priest.
Once again, the law of Moses was specific. Before a person healed of leprosy could re-enter society they must submit to an examination by a priest and receive from him a health certificate saying they were cured. Then they were free to return to their homes and a normal social life.
Luke 17:14 (NVI)
Al verlos, les dijo:
—Vayan a presentarse a los sacerdotes.
Resultó que, mientras iban de camino, quedaron limpios.
In obedience to the Lord’s instructions these men turned to go to the priest. And, as they went, they were cleansed!
Luke 17:15 (NVI)
Uno de ellos, al verse ya sano, regresó alabando a Dios a grandes voces.
One of them, who happened to be a Samaritan, turned back, fell at Jesus’ feet, and with a loud voice glorified God and gave thanks to Jesus for his healing.
—¿Acaso no quedaron limpios los diez?—preguntó Jesús—. ¿Dónde están los otros nueve? ¿No hubo ninguno que regresara a dar gloria a Dios, excepto este extranjero?
Luke records the puzzlement of Jesus at this when he asks, 17 “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? 18 None of those healed have returned to give glory to God except this one.”
He had returned to thank the Lord for his physical healing and received something far greater in return — spiritual healing.
These ten lepers are representative of most of us.
And Jesus’ question, “Where are the nine?” is a question for all of us. We all have reasons to be thankful to the Lord for his blessings and benefits. But, so few of us, perhaps no more than one in ten, take time to say “thank you Lord".
To be thankful means that we admit that we have received more than we deserve.
Gratitude comes from a sense of unworthiness.
T — Things
H — Helpers
A — Adversity
N — Now
K — Kindness
S — Salvation
As we think about the attitude of gratitude that should characterize all believers, I want us to use the acrostic, T-H-A- N-K-S, as a guide in our thinking about things for which we should be grateful.
T — Things
H — Helpers
A — Adversity
N — Now
K — Kindness
S — Salvation
THINGS
Things are not all important in life, but they are important. And, all of us, especially we in America, have lots of things for which we should be grateful.
1,000 inhabitants:
46 Americans
954 rest of the world’s population.
It has been calculated that if you reduce the world’s population to a city of 1,000 inhabitants, 46 of those people would be Americans and the other 954 would represent the rest of the world’s population.
Those 46 Americans would receive one half of the income of the city, and the other one-half would be divided among the remaining 954 people.
The Americans would have 15 times as many possessions per person as all the rest of the people.
And the Americans would eat 70 percent above the daily food requirements, while 80 percent of the rest of the people would never have what we call a good balanced meal.
The dogs and cats of American people have a better balanced diet than most people around the world.
The average American throws away ten times his average weight in rubbish every year.
But most of the rest of the people in the world don’t throw away anything. They need everything they have. They do not have the
We have much to give thanks for.
HELPERS
Someone has pointed out that every great character has had either a great friend, a great mother, a great wife, or a great teacher.
We have all had people who have helped us. And they have helped us in a thousand ways — by speaking words of encouragement, by their prayers, by gifts, by sending cards, and by calling. So important has been the contribution of people to my life that I can honestly say, “I am what I am by the grace of God and the goodness of people who have helped me.”
POST TURTLE
**An old rancher pinched his hand in a squeeze gate to the point of needing stiches. While his doctor was stiching him up their conversation came around to politics, when the doctor asked the old man what he thought of the current President. The rancher responded by saying he thought the President was no more than a "Post Turtle."
He further explained, "When you're driving down an old country road and you come up upon a turtle balanced on a fence post, that's a post turtle."
Noting the curious look on the doctor's face, he realized that the doctor still did not understand, so he continued. "The turtle does not have the ability to get there. Someone had to help him to get on top of a Post."
ADVERSITY
As unpleasant as it may be, adversity is good for us.
J. C. Penney, the great retailer, was once asked what the two greatest motivators were in his life. Without hesitation he said, “I can tell you in four words: Jesus Christ and adversity.” He went on to explain that adversity taught him never to give up, to always start over again, and to keep his faith strong.
Adversity in life is like temper in metal, it gives it strength. To temper metal in roder to make it stronger it heated and then cooled down over an over again. Metal that is tempered can be sharpened to an edge and made into a useful tool.
Like Job, we don’t understand all of God’s ways, but even the Lord was not spared from suffering.
NOW
We should not live our lives anchored to the past or apprehensive about the future.
We should live in appreciation and enjoyment of the present.
As Clovis Chappel said, “Today is all I need, all I can handle, and it may be all I have.”
Time can’t be saved, only savored.
Psalm 118:24, “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”
It isn’t the burdens of today that drive men mad, it’s the regrets over yesterday and the fear of tomorrow. Regret and fear are twin thieves who rob us of today.
Life must be lived as we go along.
KINDNESS
People have been unusually kind to me in life. Only occasionally has someone been rude, cruel, or ugly. Even when I have made mistakes, when I have failed in my duty, they have still been kind to me; and for that I am grateful.
I am reminded that very few people go through life without having at least one knock down punch — a divorce, a rebellious child, an alcoholic spouse, an untimely death, a financial reversal, or a career failure.
When things like that happen to people we know we should be quick to throw ropes, not rocks.
Jeff Ray, a long-time teacher at Southwestern Seminary, used to say to his students, “Young men, be kind to everyone, because everyone is having a hard time.” I’ve tried to remember that.
SALVATION
Through Christ, God has provided what we all need most in life — a savior.
When I think of where I came from, of who I ran with and what I was exposed to, I am driven to my knees in gratitude to God for his salvation. Without it I would be no different from the drug pusher, the alcoholic, or the hardened criminal.
And, it was all of grace. None of merit.
The Bible says that our righteousness is “as filthy rags” (Isa. 64:6). The word for “rags” in scripture represents the clothing worn by a leper. As I said earlier, lepers were outcasts, untouchables. So, my righteousness is like the disease ridden rags worn by an outcast.
But, God, through Jesus Christ, claimed me and cleansed me and clothed me in his righteousness.
Jesus’ perplexity at these lepers is a challenge to us.
We must not become so enamored with the gift that we forget the giver.
We must not concentrate more on the result than on the one responsible.
As Israel approached the Promised Land Moses warned them, “When thou has eaten and are full, beware lest thou forget the Lord your God who brought you out of bondage and into this land” (Deut. 6:12).
cuídate de no olvidarte del Señor, que te sacó de Egipto, la tierra donde viviste en esclavitud.
The Lord has been good and we should be grateful. So don’t forget to remember. As the psalmist said, “It is good to give thanks to the Lord” (Ps. 92:1)
¡Cuán bueno, Señor, es darte gracias
y entonar, oh Altísimo, salmos a tu nombre;