Loving God, you invite us to lay our deepest needs before you in prayer with thanksgiving and lead us into your peace.  Teach us to trust you for all that we need and to recognize your blessings, for we come to you in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

    In the Jewish version of Thanksgiving (Deut. 26:1-11), the people were to bring the first fruits from their harvest to the Temple in Jerusalem.  Whether they had vegetables, or fruit, or wheat, or other crops, they were to put the first and the best of their crop into a basket and lay it before the altar in the Temple.  As they did so, they would go to the priest and declare that the land is a gift from God.  Then, they would remind themselves of all that their ancestors endured, first as slaves in Egypt, and then as wanderers in the wilderness.  They would declare that just as God has given them the land, God has given them this harvest, and so they had brought the first fruits as an offering and had come to bow down and worship.  Then, together with “the Levites and the aliens”, they were to celebrate the bounty of all that God had given to them.

    That last bit is kind of interesting, isn’t it?  The Levites and the aliens?  The word “aliens” actually refers to foreigners, that is, to people who are not Jewish, and the Levites did not have land of their own, but served God full time in the Temple.  These people were to be included in the Thanksgiving celebration.  And then, speaking of foreigners and giving thanks, we come to today’s gospel.

    Seriously, if anybody has a reason to be thankful, it would be these ten lepers.  After all, they had just spent who knows how many years as outcasts, forced to live alone (or with other lepers) outside of towns or villages.  They were to keep themselves separate from other people, wear torn clothing, cover their upper lip and cry out, “Unclean!  Unclean!” (Lev. 13:45-46).  They all would have had some sort of ulcerous skin disease, and would be forced to remain an outcast until they were pronounced clean by a priest.

    And so, when Jesus comes along, they keep their distance like they’re supposed to and call out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” (Lk. 17:13) -- Kyrie eleison in another language -- Lord, have mercy.  Jesus responds by giving them what seems like a relatively simple command: “Go and show yourselves to the priests” (Lk. 17:14).  And as they are on their way, they are made clean.

    The thing is, though, that all of this happens a long way from the Temple in Jerusalem.  They have a long journey ahead of them, over hilly and rocky terrain.  The Samaritan, on the other hand, probably wouldn’t go to Jerusalem and wouldn’t be welcome in the Temple anyway.  You see, the Samaritans had too much Gentile blood in them to be considered “true Israelites,” and so were shunned by their Jewish neighbours.

    Jesus, however, makes no distinctions, and heals all of them.  And the only one who comes back to Jesus to worship and to give thanks is the Samaritan – the foreigner.  It almost seems as though Luke has told the story in such a way as to put the emphasis on a foreigner giving thanks to God.  And – at least from a Jewish perspective – we are now the foreigners giving thanks to God!  The whole story is like a foreshadowing of all the people from many nations who would come before God and worship and give thanks because of Jesus.

    In some ways, perhaps, the Samaritan had more to be thankful for than the other lepers.  He had, in effect, been a double outcast – shunned by Jewish people because he was a Samaritan, and then shunned by his own people because he was a leper.  And along comes Jesus – a Jewish teacher with amazing power to heal – who, rather than shunning this man, heals him!  Wouldn’t you be amazed and excited and profoundly grateful if you had been in the same position?

    For us, too, it is at those times when we are at our very lowest and know our need for God that Jesus comes to us, and lifts us up, and heals us.  Jesus touches us in our weakness and fills us with God’s power and strength.  Jesus comes to us in the midst of our sinful, self-serving attitudes and touches us, and forgives us, and sets us free to serve God and the people around us instead of ourselves.  And when we have experienced the healing and saving touch of Jesus and are aware of his love and care for us, we, too, are led to give thanks and to worship.

    It strikes me today that celebrating Thanksgiving and cultivating an attitude of gratitude is perhaps more important than ever.  When we are able to be thankful, we are also able to find contentment and peace.  However, in our consumer society we are pretty much taught to be discontented.  We are told that we need to look better and to look younger.  We are told that we need the right car or the right house or the right clothes or the right gizmo in order to be happy.  We are told that there are things that we need that we don’t yet have – things that we need to buy.  According to the messages that we constantly hear and see, happiness is always just around the corner, and that next purchase is going to bring it to us.

    When we buy in to this way of thinking, it is very difficult to be thankful, for we are always focussed on what we don’t have.  Being thankful is absolutely a matter of perspective.  You might recall that the apostle Paul writes about this in several of his letters.  He writes about how he has learned to be content in all circumstances, whether he is hungry or full, warm or cold, sick or well, free or in prison.  Paul is able to be content in all of these circumstances because of one thing: the surpassing value of knowing Jesus Christ as Lord (Phil. 3:8).

    As Paul approaches any and all circumstances, he knows that any suffering in this earthly life pales by comparison with the “eternal weight of glory” that awaits him (2 Cor. 4:17).  Even when Paul is feeling weak or sick, he focusses on the power of God that is made perfect in weakness (2 Cor. 12:9).  And when Paul is writing about being content in all circumstances, he proclaims, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13).

    And so, on this Thanksgiving weekend, where is our focus going to be?  Will we, like nine of the lepers, be so focussed on what’s coming next that we can’t stop and give thanks and worship?  Will we be focussed on everything that we don’t have or on the people who are not with us?  Will we focus only on our families and forget about those who are like the Levites and the aliens?

    Or, will we focus on the bounty that God has given and the blessings that we have received?  Will we focus on the ways in which Jesus has touched us and the salvation and the healing that come to us through him?  Will we focus on sharing God’s bounty in whatever ways we can, and on being a blessing to those who need it the most?  Will we remember the gift of the land, and our release from bondage, and the joy of being able to offer the first and the best to God?

    Being thankful is, indeed, a matter of perspective, and leads us into contentment and peace.  May our minds be renewed this day by the power of the Spirit, filling our hearts with gratitude and praise through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Lectionary 28(C) / Thanksgiving                        Luke 17:11-19
October 10, 2010
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor Lynne Hutchison

© 2010 Lynne Hutchison  All Rights Reserved