Go Forth with
Thanksgiving
Psalm
100, Luke
17:11-19
November
23, 2014
Grace
Presbyterian Church
Rev.
Dr. Richard
E. Miller
Giving Thanks Last Sunday, I introduced our newlyweds,
Cyndi and Jeff Lane. I had the honor of performing their wedding a few weeks
ago on November 7th. Their honeymoon is over and they are now embarking upon
their life together. But like all newlyweds, there is one obligation that had
to be fulfilled - writing thank you notes for gifts and services received
before, during and after the wedding.
And just last Sunday,
twenty-three people gathered in my living room for a baby shower for my
granddaughter, Holly, who is expecting my great-grandchild in about three
weeks. As Holly opened each gift, my daughter was busily writing down the gift
and the name of the giver. Why? So that Holly could write thank you notes to
each of them.
But what if Cyndi and
Jeff never wrote notes of thanks or even said thanks to anyone before, during
or after the wedding? And what if my granddaughter, as she was opening her
gifts, just looked over at her mother and said, “One baby blanket from Mary” or
“One set of pajamas from Christine” but never said thanks to either Mary or
Christine or anyone else who gave her gifts, yet who were sitting a few feet
from her? If it were me, I’d be puzzled, hurt and perhaps even resentful. After
all, I expected some expression of thanks and appreciation for the gift I gave
her. But that didn’t happen. Cyndi and Jeff thanked everyone and so did my
granddaughter.
As we approach Thanksgiving
Day, I’d like to explore how each of us can be living thak you notes to God. As
I do this, it is interesting to note that the words “thanksgiving” and “praise”
come from the same Hebrew word, “yadah”.
Psalm 100 Let’s first look at Psalm 100. The hymn we
just sang is based upon that psalm. The words of both the hymn and psalm
express the following thoughts:
Make a joyful noise to
the Lord, worship the Lord with gladness and joy, remember that it is God who
has made us. We are the flock that God feeds, and we will enter his gates and
courts with thanksgiving and praise. God’s steadfast love and faithfulness
endures for ever to all generations. What wonderful expressions of thanks!
Originally, as we know,
all psalms were sung. This particular psalm was sung by worshipers as they
approached the temple for worship. Singing these words of praise and
thanksgiving helped prepare their hearts and minds to enter the sanctuary with
thanksgiving and praise to God.
Why don’t we do the
same thing here at Grace? Next Sunday, let’s all gather around the fountain at
10:30. Then as we start walking toward the sanctuary door, we’ll sing “Come ye thankful people come. Raise the
song of harvest home. All is safely gathered in ere the winter storms begin.
God, our Maker, doth provide for our wants to be supplied. Come to God’s own
temple, come. Raise the song of harvest home.”
We’ll continue singing as we find our seats.
Not only would our hearts be filled with praise and thanks to God, think of
what people driving by might think as they hear our many voices blended in
glorious praise.
Well, maybe we won’t do
that, but individually we can begin silently praising and thanking God for
God’s steadfast love and mercy as we walk from the parking lot into the
sanctuary.
The point is that
because of God’s love and mercy, and because he gave his only begotten son to
die for our sins, and because we look forward to the resurrection once our life
on earth is finished, we respond both individually and corporately in resounding
thanks and praise.
The Ten Lepers In our second
scripture, we hear an incident of giving thanks to an individual - in this
case, Jesus. The story is a familiar one. Jesus is approached by ten men who
cry out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” In this case, mercy means heal us!
The reason why they wanted to be healed is because they had leprosy and were
the outcasts of society. In a way, they were the ebola victims of the day. As a
result, they were isolated from the rest of people in the village. They were
not allowed to comb their hair, and their clothes had to be torn to identify
themselves to others as lepers. Whenever someone came near them, they were to
cry, “Unclean! Unclean!” [see Leviticus 13] Thus it is no wonder that the ten
lepers came to seek healing from Jesus. Jesus could give their lives back to
them. Jesus could bring them back to their families and jobs. Jesus could give
them back their dignity! And he did. He said, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” He said this because only
the priests had the official authority to certify that a leper was clean again.
As the ten lepers
started on their way to see the priests, they suddenly realized that they were
clean. They looked at their hands, arms and legs and noticed that all the scabs
were gone, all the sores were healed, and all the redness had disappeared. They
were normal! They were healthy! How did they react to this miracle? Nine of
them were so excited and thrilled about being clean once again that they began
to run as fast as they could to find a priest to confirm and certify their
cure. And no doubt, they then ran home to their families yelling, “Look! Look
at me! I’m clean again!” And they never gave another thought to Jesus.
However, one of the ten
lepers, seeing that he was clean, immediately began praising God, and returned
to Jesus to thank him for what he had done. Jesus said, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none
of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”
Our Reason for Giving
Thanks
I dare say that none of us have had leprosy. But each of us is afflicted
with another disease called sin. And Jesus died upon the Cross that we might be
cleansed. Thus, we have just as good reasons as did the lepers for shouting out
our thanks to God. But far too often we forget to turn back to God to offer our
thanks. How can we become better at thanking God?
Worship When we first walk in to the sanctuary on
Sunday mornings, we can offer individual prayers of praise and thanksgiving.
When we sing the Doxology or Gloria Patri, see them as expressions of thanks to
God. When we give our tithes and offerings, see them as thank offerings
to God. When we sing hymns and greet each other with handshakes and hugs, we
are saying thanks to God. At baptism and Holy Communion, we thank God for the
New Covenant of salvation established through Jesus. At weddings, we give
thanks for the love of a man and a woman. At funerals we thank God for the
resurrection. When babies are born, we give thanks for the miracle of birth.
Teaching church school, or serving as an officer, or singing in the choir no
longer are sacrifices of time. Instead, they are ways of saying thanks to God.
Popcord Prayers But what about during the Monday through
Saturdays of our lives? Do we take God’s love, mercy, grace and forgiveness for
granted and forget to give thanks for Jesus who saved us from the blight of
sin? A few years ago, a lifeguard reported that of the 223 people he had
rescued, only three had taken the time
to thank him for saving their lives.
Although each of us,
I’m sure, would have been one of the three who thanked the life guard for
saving our life, it is a fact that we live out our week days in the midst of
blessings galore and never taking time to offer a prayer of thanksgiving to God
for food, shelter, clean water, and fresh air. You say you don’t have time?
Then allow me to introduce you to popcorn prayers. Years ago, our church youth
group went on a mission trip to Wheeling, West Virginia. I was walking with two
young boys from the inner city through Oglebay Park outside Wheeling when we
saw a gigantic rock standing alone in a clearing. One boy looked up at me and
said, “Who made that rock?” I
replied, “Why, God made that rock.”
And the boy said, “Hurray for God!”
Three simple words, offered sincerely and spontaneously, was this boy’s thank
you note to God.
Each of us can become
experts in popcorn prayers. How? Throughout the week we encounter or experience
many things for which to be grateful. For instance, if we see a beautiful
sunset, say “Hurray for God!” When we awaken from a good night’s sleep, “Hurray
for God!” When we walk into our warm home, “Thank you, God!”
Go Forth When we leave our
morning worship, I suggest that we go forth to make our lives living thank you
notes to God by thanking God from whom all blessings flow and who loved us so
much that he gave his only begotten son that we might live - both now and in
the life to come.
And by reaching out to
thank others. Think of those people who made a special impression on your life;
parents who nurtured you, teachers who taught you, friends who encouraged you.
Call or write a note telling them how much you appreciate them. Do it today
when you get home. By so doing, you will transform your life into one of
thanks-living and your life will become living and breathing thank you notes to
God. LET US PRAY
Luke 17:11-19 NRSV
On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going
through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten
lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying,
"Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" When he saw them, he said to
them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they
were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back,
praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus' feet and
thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, "Were not ten
made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to
return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" Then he said
to him, "Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well."
Psalm
100 NRSV
Make
a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship
the Lord with gladness;
come
into his presence with singing.
Know
that the Lord is God.
It
is he that made us, and we are his;
we
are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter
his gates with thanksgiving,
and
his courts with praise.
Give
thanks to him, bless his name.
For
the Lord is good;
his
steadfast love endures for ever,
and
his faithfulness to all generations.
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