Maximum Thanksgiving: Thanksgiving Message

Photo courtesy of Serge Bertasius Photography / freedigitalphotos.net

Years ago, I was traveling with a fellow seminary student for a class trip.  When we arrived at our destination, she caught my attention when she immediately stopped her conversation, crossed herself and prayed, “thank you Jesus for a safe trip…and for my parking space.”

What caught me by surprise was that this was only a five-minute trip—and hers was the only car in the gigantic parking lot.  I couldn’t help but share my joy at her gratitude, to which she replied, “why not?  Jesus has been with me every step of the way.  And if I can’t find a parking space, I’ll thank Jesus that other people found one.”

As wonderful as her gratitude was, I can’t say that I’ve ever once thanked Jesus for a parking space—and rarely for safe travels, in spite of the 15,000 miles I drive every year.  Usually, my mind is preoccupied with other things. I guess you could say I’m too busy to give thanks.

How about you?  How much of your prayer life is devoted to praising God and giving thanks?  To naming counting and naming your blessings, and thanking God?  Do you thank God at least as much as you ask God?

Whether we realize it or not, a lack of thanksgiving is very harmful to our faith in Jesus Christ.  We see this spiritual malady in our Gospel from Luke…

Jesus encounters ten lepers during his travels…  In those days, leprosy was just about the worst thing that could happen to a person.  Not only was it excruciatingly painful, it was tremendously contagious.  You were legally required to remove yourself from the community and live out in the wilderness.  They had to cry out, “unclean unclean” to warn passersby to keep their distance.  They also suffered the unfortunate condition of being Samaritan—which only added to their uncleanness.  If anyone needed Jesus’ mercy, it was these ten lepers.

They cry out to Jesus for mercy—and they most definitely receive it.  Jesus sends them on their way to the priests, who would pronounce them clean and permit them to go home.  But only one turns back and thanks Jesus.  Only one is not so caught up in the excitement of the moment to realize how blessed he is. 

Notice how Jesus responds to his gratitude—he says “your faith has made you well.”

The other nine of the lepers had to have had some measure of faith to cry out to Jesus as they saw him approach.  But the difference between this one and the other nine is thanksgiving. 

The truth is that the lack of thanksgiving is tremendously toxic to faith. Faith is more than just a set of beliefs; faith is a relationship with Jesus Christ.  This is the gift that the nine lepers run off and leave behind. 

Without thanksgiving, three dangerous things happen to us.  The first is that we grow proud.  When blessings abound, we become intoxicated by them.  We build our lives upon the accumulation and enjoyment of blessings.  We’ll go to extreme lengths to get more.  We get high on our own greatness.  Who is Jesus then but a divine power to be exploited on the way to the top?

On the other hand, when difficult times come along, and blessings crumble, we can become sullen and miserable.  We already know how difficult it is to keep faith when times are tough.  But a lack of thanksgiving can make those times even tougher.

Bottom line—without thanksgiving, we get turned in on ourselves. Love for Jesus grows cold; love of neighbors grows cold.  Our country is heading in a very dangerous direction if we’re too proud, too busy,  or too bitter to be thankful.

Make no mistake: thanksgiving as an obligation.  But more than that, it is God’s gift to us, by which our eyes are opened to the ways that Jesus is loving and caring for us.  When hurts and fears surround us, thanksgiving gives us hope and confidence that God will deliver us.  It is in our thanksgiving that God’s Holy Spirit invites us to enjoy God’s blessings by sharing them with those in need.  This is how we can find lasting joy and peace, no matter what may be going on in our lives.

Truth is that God is so good that we could give thanks 24/7—and still there would be blessings unseen and unnamed.

So challenge yourself this Thanksgiving—to count and name your blessings.  But don’t let tomorrow be the only day.  Name your blessings when you arise and when you go to sleep; thank God for your daily bread when you eat; when you get dressed; when you enter your home.  When you wash your face, remember that you’re baptized; that you’re claimed as God’s own and that your sins are forgiven.  Give thanks for little blessings—so you can see God’s hand in the big blessings.  As God’s abundance comes into focus, go and give generously.  This is the simplest pathway towards a closer walk with Jesus and the joy of the Lord.