The Thanksgiving holiday is over. There is certainly no need for a turkey banquet every day—thankfully so! And yet, marking out a day especially for giving thanks is good and important. At the close of that day, however, the importance of giving thanks is not over, nor should it ever be over. The failure to be grateful diminishes us, and happiness then eludes us.
Please give this familiar story in Luke serious attention.
Luke 17: 11 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
14 When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.
15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.
17 Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”
What makes one faithful? It’s not one’s racial or religious identity. All were victims of leprosy, and all were healed and glad for that fact. But it was the one outsider, and one particularly despised by the insiders, who felt compelled by gratitude to return to Jesus to profusely give thanks. Gratefulness, not bloodline, has always been the evidence of faith. If we are ungrateful Christians, we are walking contradictions.
A heart of gratitude allows us to see ourselves as blessed, not victims. Of course, there are many who are truly victims. All 10 were victims of leprosy. Victims may be what we are, but we choose whether victims are who we are. Gratitude reminds us that we, as children and image bearers of God, are ultimately richly blessed, and are defined by blessing not curse.
Gratitude keeps us from envy. We are prone to compare ourselves to others, especially others we feel have more. Someone with greater wealth makes us not a penny poorer. Our IQ score is not lowered by those smarter than we are. Someone more beautiful doesn’t diminish our beauty one iota. One who is taller doesn’t make us shorter. The desire to want more than others will make us more like the wicked queen in “Snow White,” than the Lord who “emptied Himself” to become a servant.
Gratitude focuses our hearts, not simply on the gifts we receive, but on the Giver of all good gifts. The ungrateful nine centered their thoughts on themselves as they rushed to see the priest who could declare them clean. In contrast, the cleansed Samaritan rushed to the Healer.
Ingratitude is its own punishment, producing misery and anger. On the other hand, gratitude grants us joy, even in our anguish and grief.
No, let’s never let Thanksgiving end.
Tim Kelley