Loving God, your goodness comes to us new every day. Teach us to recognize what you have done and continue to do in our lives, and lead us into thanksgiving by the power of your Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

This happens to be Thanksgiving weekend, and so I’m wondering if any of you have things that you might be thankful for today. Is there anything for which you give thanks? .... There really are so many blessings that we can name once we start to look for them. Yet, not everybody is particularly thankful.

I’m thinking of some of the people whom I know. Some of them are thankful for absolutely everything. Even in the worst of circumstances they find something to be thankful for. Yet, I can think of other people who are always complaining and almost never thankful, regardless of how much they have. So what’s the difference? What is it that actually produces thanksgiving?

For some people, perhaps it is seeing other people who are in far worse circumstances than they are. (Amazing Race - driving through Brazil) Sometimes that produces thanksgiving. Another possibility is having gone without something. If you’ve gone without food, you’re thankful when you have some. If you’ve been sick, you’re thankful for good health. Sometimes having gone without produces thanksgiving.

Scripturally speaking, though, there is one over-arching experience that leads to thanksgiving, and that is recognizing and remembering what God has done. The man who returned to Jesus to give thanks in today’s gospel recognized, not only that he had been healed, but that it was a gift of God (Lk. 17:15-16). He responds by praising and thanking God and by returning to Jesus to give thanks. This is recognizing in the moment what God has just done.

Others in the Scriptures are invited to remember what God has done and continues to do. Our first reading today from Deuteronomy (8:7-18) is a passage that lays out all of the things that God has done for the people. They are reminded that the good land with all of its natural resources has been given to them by God. They are reminded of how God led them those many years in the wilderness, providing water out of the rock and bread from heaven called manna. They are reminded of how God rescued them from slavery in Egypt and brought them into the good and fertile land. They are reminded that it is God who has given them the power and the abilities to accumulate wealth.

As long as the people recognize and remember that all of these things have come from God, they will live as thankful people, eager to give thanks to God and share with others in need. However, as soon as they start to think that they have done it all by their own power and start to cling greedily to all that they have, it will be taken away from them (Deut. 8:18-20). Needless to say, they will not likely be particularly thankful in this event.

Remember, now, that we started out with the question as to what it is that produces thanksgiving. As I searched the Scriptures, I discovered two main answers to this question. The first is what we were just thinking about: recognizing and remembering what God has done. That often seems to produce thanksgiving (cf. Ps. 26:6-7; Jon. 2:9). The second answer is simply this: believing in Jesus Christ. It is the apostle Paul who implies that all who believe in Jesus will abound in thanksgiving (Col. 2:6-7).

Now, why would that be? Why would thanksgiving just naturally go along with faith in Jesus Christ? (Awareness of what God has done for us / God’s love for us – thankful for salvation) In a way, it’s actually the same as the first answer, isn’t it? We are still recognizing and remembering what God has done – specifically, what God has done for us through Jesus Christ. This leads Paul to write to the Colossians:

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving (Col. 2:6-7).

Now - one final thought from Paul about what produces thanksgiving. In the reading that we heard today from 2 Corinthians, Paul is urging the Christians in Corinth to be generous. It seems that the Christians in Jerusalem were among the poorest in the early church, while the Christians in Corinth had a little more wealth. And so Paul has been gathering a collection for the Jerusalem church. He urges the Corinthian Christians to contribute generously, because their generosity will lead to great thanksgiving. Although it is not entirely clear who will be giving thanks, the meaning is probably twofold.

First of all, the Jerusalem Christians will give thanks that their needs have been provided for. At the same time, I believe that Paul would be giving thanks. He would be giving thanks because the Corinthians would be demonstrating a mature faith in Jesus Christ. To contribute cheerfully and generously to the needs of the church in Jerusalem would show that these people “get it.” It would show that they value Jesus Christ above all else and have started producing the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23). Paul would give thanks that their faith was bearing fruit.

And for us – are we able to give thanks for such things as we gather together today? Are we able to see blessings, even in the midst of trials and suffering? Are we able truly to allow it to sink in how greatly we are valued and loved by God? Do we realize what Jesus has done on our behalf and what a great gift is ours through him? Do we recognize and remember how all that we have has come to us from God’s hand?

Once more, from Colossians:

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving (Col. 2:6-7).

Amen.

Thanksgiving Sunday (A)     Deuteronomy 8:7-18
October 12, 2008     2 Corinthians 9:6-15
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church     Luke 17:11-19
Pastor Lynne Hutchison

© 2008 Lynne Hutchison  All Rights Reserved