November 25:
Potsdam
Call: Deuteronomy 8: 6-18
Read: W&S #175
Text: Luke 17: 11-19
Closing: Hosea 13: 4-6
The Majority
I am baffled.
I am perplexed.
I am without any clue.
For I do not understand
how Thanksgiving has become so under appreciated.
And I especially do not understand
Why people in churches of every faith
Of every denomination, and in every geographical location
Seem unable to recognize that this is a religious holiday.
Is it because "Thanksgiving" has become a name rather than an act?
If so, I would be more than glad to support a move to rename the holiday to "Giving Thanks Day."
That change in what we call the holiday
Would make it clear that the title incorporates a verb
More specifically, what we called while I was in elementary school: an "action verb."
This might help some
to recognize that this is - or rather should be -
an action holiday.
The action is one of giving thanks.
But giving thanks to whom? (and this is where religion comes in)
To God! To our creator, king, shepherd and Lord
But what do most people think of when they hear the word "Thanksgiving?"
I can tell you that it's usually not God.
Instead it is
Turkeys, cranberries, and pies
Recreational activities like football and hunting,
Parades and floats
and days off from school or work.
Too we think of gathering with family or friends.
Now, there is nothing wrong with
Turkeys, cranberries, and pies
I enjoy all of them - perhaps too much for my own good
There is nothing wrong with
Recreational activities like football and hunting
Although not a hunter, I truly enjoy football
There is nothing wrong with parades and floats
I enjoy them I've marched in many
In addition,
I've ridden a float in one and been a judge at still another
I do fear, however, that Thanksgiving parades
Have lost the idea of giving thanks
And instead
Are used to announce the commercial Christmas season
As for a few days off from school or work,
Who other than Ebenezer Scrooge - and the owners of an increasing number of present day retail establishments -
Doesn't find value in that.
And the best way to understand how important gathering with family or friends
Is to think of what Thanksgiving would be like w/o them
I have heard the argument that
We should give thanks every day, not just one day a year.
Why of course, we should. Duh!
But despite the accuracy of that statement
I find no merit in it as a reason - or excuse - for
ignoring the importance of Thanksgiving
The two are not mutually exclusive!
This is not an "either-or" situation.
In fact the purpose of Thanksgiving is two fold
The giving of thanks on the holiday, of course
But also
To remind us of the importance of giving thanks the rest of the year.
And if it were an either-or proposition,
We would have a tremendous giving of thanks on the holiday
For there is no way that most of the people in this world
Or for that matter:
this nation, this state, this county, this village
Give God thanks on a daily basis.
But every time I feel like
getting on my soap box or getting behind this pulpit
to chastise the modern world
I find myself having to admit
that, as much as the modern world deserves chastisement
The problem has existed for centuries - even millennia
We find it throughout the OT
People forgetting to give thanks to God
Choosing instead to indulge themselves
And being convinced that they have earned all their blessings
That is why God sent the prophets
To get the people to put the focus where it belonged
[Hold Bible] This particular version
has 261 pages of prophet after prophet
trying to refocus the hearts and minds of the people
and, in particular, the leaders as they made decisions.
And they follow page after page of histories which tell
Of the disobedience of the people
And of their ignoring God as if God were irrelevant.
That type of thinking and behavior is why God sent God's son
And we know how many people treated him
If anyone who doesn't remember,
there is a cross behind me.
But not all of the ignoring and indulging took place in the OT
One of the saddest stories in scripture is in Luke's gospel
Where he tells of Jesus being called to help by ten lepers.
That story is our text tonight
[Luke 17: 11-19]
Lepers were not allowed to come into contact with other people
And people understood leprosy to be a punishment from God
So when these ten saw the much talked about rabbi walking by
They called out for relief of their punishment
So they could be healthy again
And So they could be reintegrated into society
The lepers spotted Jesus and hailed him as he walked on his way to Jerusalem
"Jesus, Master, show us mercy!"
They acted like they thought he was someone special
Just like we did on Sunday when we called him our king.
And he responded
Telling them to go show themselves to the priest
The one who could certify that they were clean
The one who could allow them to resume normal lives
And as they left to do what he said, they were cleansed.
One of them, upon realizing he had been healed
Hurried back to Jesus
Threw himself at Christ's feet
And thanked him.
The leper who returned was, amazingly enough,
A Samaritan
Amazing because Jews and Samaritans did not hit it off.
The joy we have when we think of
this Samaritan leper returning to Jesus
to express his deep gratitude
dissipates quickly when we hear Jesus inquire:
"Weren't ten cleansed?"
"Where are the other nine?"
The vast majority (90% !) chose to not turn back
to thank the one who healed them.
And the question for us during a week in which
We are reminded to give thanks to God is;
How often do we find ourselves in the majority
Which didn't think giving thanks
was important enough to bother?
How often when Jesus asks, "Where are the other nine""
Do we have to answer with so many others,
"We are over here."
Or is there a chance that we are we in the minority
The tenth leper who knew that it was that important?
Our taking time to be here tonight is some evidence that
there is a good chance that we are more like that Samaritan leper;
But even, if we are, I remain grateful for "Giving Thanks Day."
For I do not want to ever forget
why this holiday is observed and celebrated in the church
and I don't want anyone in the churches I serve to forget either.
For I don't want the words God spoke through Hosea
To ever be spoken about me - or about you. [Hosea 13:6]