Luke 17 11-19 2004
Thanksgiving Day
Luke 17:11-19
November 25, 2004
“We Remember”
The Lord took bread and gave thanks. He gave it to His disciples saying take eat, this is My body, which is given for you; This do in remembrance of me. Whenever we take bread and give thanks, that is, when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we celebrate the most excellent Thanksgiving which celebrates the Lord. We become a part of the endless lifting up of hands in thanksgiving to the Creator who has endowed us, with every good gift. Nothing so shames our fallen race as our failure to offer thanks to God. Nine times out of ten we are also indifferent to the response of offering the thanks due to God for all that He has given us.
The Lord's way of offering thanks, as was the way of God's people for long years before His coming, was to "remember," to recite with believing hearts the marvels God had done for His people in past times of need. To thank God is to acknowledge that who we are and what we have is His doing, not our own. So Moses cautions the people of Israel: When you enter and possess the land the Lord promised your forefathers, remember how the Lord God led you in the desert these forty years, remember the testing, remember the manna, ...remember, remember (Deut. 8:1-3). Those who do not remember cannot offer thanks.
We are a remembering people. Israel remembered God's awesome deeds of righteousness. We, too, remember God's care for the land and how He waters it so the earth can bring forth grain and corn that our barns may be filled with milk producing cows. Thanksgiving wards off anxiety. Thanksgiving permits God's peace to fill our hearts and minds. Thanksgiving turns our thoughts from our own needs to those of God's saints (Phil. 4:6, 7, 10). Thanksgiving makes for contentment. Thanksgiving permits us to see the hand of God at work in the world about us. Our thanksgiving, which declares God the source of all gifts, leads others to acknowledge God is the source of all good things (1Tim. 2:2-4). Our breaking of the bread here today proclaims the death of Christ for the life of the world that the world is truly blessed. Our thanksgiving over His cup proclaims the bitter cup the Savior drank and the cup of salvation that is ours now and forever. This is what we remember to day. And for these gifts we give thanks
We are a people who remember and give thanks. But it is not always easy to do. Thankfulness does not come naturally. And as many of you will attest, remembering and memories often becomes as illusive as a mist.
If you have children, you know that gratitude, remembering with thanks, is something that doesn’t come naturally. How many times have we had to look at our children after they have been given something and have to declare, “And what do you say now”? To which they respond, “Thank You.” Remembering to say thanks need to be taught as a habit, like brushing ones teeth. It needs to be hammered into children as a discipline or else it will not happen. Gratitude is one of the casualties of the fall into sin. Grace is supposed to evoke gratitude, like an echo, but as sinful men, women, and children we are not as grateful as we should be.
Remembering is another issue. It is sometimes just plain hard to remember and it gets worse the older we get. Where did I put those car keys? Where is my recipe for green bean casserole? How long should I cook this turkey for? Sometimes we forget the simplest things. One time my mom was trying to get my attention. She looked at me and as she tried to speak my name she called out “Bill, Aaron, Tanya, Jumper (that was our dog).” Finally she laughed out loud and said, “What’s your name.” Remembering, just like saying thanks takes intentional effort. We must focus and concentrate on what we have been given and who the giver is.
Jesus encountered a group of ten men suffering from the horrible disease of leprosy. As He approached them they cried out, “Unclean.” Because they were diseased they were supposed to stay away from healthy people and warn them if the got to close. Then they cried out, “Jesus have mercy on us!” Jesus does, as the Son of God who came to take away our sin, our uncleanness He sends them away to be examined by the priests to be declared clean and well. This was what the Law of Moses commanded. As they were going they were cured of their disease. One of the ten realized what He has been given. He returns to give the giver thanks. He falls at Jesus feet worshiping Him and giving Him thanks. Jesus said, “Get up and go your way; your faith has made you well.
The point of this story is not merely that Jesus has the power to cure leprosy. The point is that the man may have been clean, but he isn’t well until he expresses gratitude. Wholeness and healing are not merely absence of disease – they are the presence of gratitude. God simply wants us to pay attention to His grace all around us. God wants us to experience and express our gratitude to Him for all that He is and all that He does.
Sometimes in our lives this gratitude bursts for from us like fresh water from a spring. We can become overwhelmed with emotion and we can’t help but say, Thank You Lord.” It is different for all of us. It may be occasioned by the birth of a child, a good diagnosis from the doctor, an accident that was avoided for all these we say, “Thank You Lord.” It may be occasioned by a burst of the sun through rain soaked clouds, the thrill of seeing a rainbow, or on a dark starry night as the northern lights dazzle our eyes. For these we say, Thank You Lord.” Some times it comes to us as we look at the people that we know, our families and friends, our husbands and wives, and all the people that we have known, that God has brought into our lives, we think God you really do love me and you have blessed me, “Thank You Lord.” Sometimes it comes to us here, as we hear God’s word of forgiveness, as we receive Christ’s own body and blood given for us to give us eternal life, we are overwhelmed by the glory of God who gives His grace to undeserving people, we silently shout, “Thank You Lord.”
As Christians we are able to give thanks even in the worst of times and the worst of circumstances. In the midst of tragedy and death we see the light of God and the hope of the resurrection through Jesus Christ who gave us His precious life on the cross to end our suffering and pain, our separation and loneliness. Through the Spirit of God we are able to give thanks to our God when other people would turn and walk away. We are able to see through the gray clouds that surround us knowing that the Light of God’s Son is still shining, even though we can’t see it for a while. Yet we remember and we quietly give thanks.
Today we remember and give thanks in our own ways. God gladly hears and receives our thanks, our worship and praise.
Today many of us will gather with family and friends around a table filled with good things to eat, hot turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes, buttery noodles and green bean casseroles. We will share in pumpkin pies, cakes and desserts. As we share these blessings and sit back in our chairs well satisfied remember this year and share with each other something you are thankful for. Take a moment, and take the time to look at the person beside you and say, I thank the Lord for you. Let me be the first. I thank the Lord for bringing me here; bring you into my life and my family’s life. I Thank the Lord for you. Happy remembering…Happy Thanksgiving to the Lord. Amen