Thanksgiving Has Everything to Do with Jesus :: Luke 17:11-19
Some of my colleagues in the ministry don’t think that we should acknowledge Thanksgiving in our church calendar. Thanksgiving Day is a secular holiday declared by various presidents ... Therefore, they say, it doesn’t belong in the church. In 1789, George Washington was the first president to proclaim a national thanksgiving day. But the deist Thomas Jefferson chose not to observe the holiday. It wasn’t until 1863 that Abraham Lincoln designated the last Thursday of November as Thanksgiving Day. And it was still another seven years before Ulysses Grant signed into law the Holidays Act that made Thanksgiving a federal holiday.
It is for these reasons that I agreed with anyone who didn’t think Thanksgiving Day should be added to the church calendar.
And then, I began preaching the Gospel.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, Thanksgiving Day has everything to do with Jesus. Everytime we meet, we give thanks to God for the life, death, resurrection and ascension of our Lord Jesus. We give thanks that he did this for us. We give thanks that he continually remembers us, even when we fail to remember him. We give thanks that for Christ’s sake, he hears our prayers. We give thanks through baptism.
Just as importantly, when our Lord gave himself to us on the night he was betrayed, Jesus left us his covenant of Thanksgiving ... so we give thanks that he comes to us with his own body and blood given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. The Greek verb for giving thanks is εὐχαριστέω. ... It is the root of the Greek noun you probably know as eucharist ... the give thanks.
I. The entire life of the Christian is forever one of thanksgiving.
The fact that our secular calendar includes the holiday of Thanksgiving reflects God’s design that his gifts to us are harvested in the Fall. And so this time of year is a time of thanksgiving, as we gratefully receive the Lord’s providence.
And how do we do that?
Well, our Gospel reading today is centered on giving proper thanks. Our Lord Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem to die for the sins of the world. And as he was walking through the midst of Samaria and Galilee, he was greeted by people just like us ... ten lepers ... at least one of whom was a Gentile ... standing at a distance ... crying out ...
Lord, have mercy ... Christ, have mercy. ... Lord, have mercy.
Jesus didn’t hesitate. Matthew writes ... And seeing [those who cry out for mercy, Jesus] said to them, After you have gone, show yourselves to the priests. And it came to pass while them went, they were cleansed (v 14). Nine of the ten continued on to the temple in joy. But one of them, when he saw that he was healed, began overflowing with thanksgiving that the Lord heard his prayer. And as a result, he turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving Him thanks.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is a remarkable thing!
A Samaritan ... a leper, no less ... recognized Jesus as God ... turned back to God ... (yes, he repented) ... and he fell at the feet of Jesus and worshiped him.
II. And this Thanksgiving is the pattern of Christian worship.
This thanksgiving is why we have gathered here tonight. We have entered the assembly of Christians gathered together in the Divine Service, thankful that God comes to serve us. Like lepers, like Samaritans ... we have turned back to God burdened by the sins that separate us from our heavenly Father. We are returning to God ... returning to our baptism ... so that our Lord Jesus will absolve us. We have come begging for the Lord’s mercy ... mindful that we are unworthy of ourselves to be in His presence ... and the Lord hears our prayer.
Then in the realization that his forgiveness is true, that we truly are healed like the leper ... we respond with a hymn of praise. And after we have heard the Word of God read and preached. We sing Psalms and hymns of thankfulness and praise at the feet of Jesus. And finally, and fittingly, in the pinnacle of the Divine Service, we return to the altar for the Thanksgiving meal established by our Lord, who broke bread and gave thanks. So it is truly good, right and salutary that we should at all times and in all places give thanks to you, Lord.
When that Tenth Leper, who was a foreigner, gave thanks, Jesus was amazed and said, Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner? Jesus then blesses him, saying: After you’ve risen, go ... your faith has saved you.
III. Yes, indeed, thanksgiving is the Christian life, for it is how the Christian receives the gifts of God, knowing that they are by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
We know that we do not deserve the Lord’s mercy, but we give joyful thanks that it is given to us anyway. And so the Christian life is one of falling on our faces before Jesus, where we hear Him tell us to rise and go your way ... forgiven and free.
Don’t forget this because as Saint Paul reminds us in Philippians, anxiety stands in opposition to Thanksgiving. This should get our attention, as anxiety is rampant in our country, like an epidemic. People suffer anxiety attacks. They worry and fret about their lot in life. Doctors write prescriptions for it. Counselors never lack people suffering anxiety and depression. That’s because the world just keeps going its own way, never returning to Jesus.
But you know better: So in the name of Jesus, repent every one of you.
Then as Paul reminded us, in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ... And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, in our secularized, busy lives, we need this peace. And we know this peace is found precisely here in the Divine Service ... that is, the services of Word and sacrament ... together these proclaim the gospel.
Here, our Lord leads us back to the living waters of baptism that refresh us. He leads us back to his mountain where he teaches us. And he leads us to green pastures to feed us. The ongoing life-sustaining Word from the mouth of God is how we live. Bread alone is just bread, but bread that is blessed by the Word of God is the body of Christ. For this bread and this wine are more than a mere feast for the body ... It is God’s Thanksgiving meal that he has prepared for you ... a feast for the body and the mind and the soul that frees us not just from anxiety and depression, but from death itself.
And so ... it is fitting that ... as our country pauses its busy life to gather with family for a meal of thanksgiving ... we Christians also gather with our brothers and sisters, returning to give thanks to Him who died and rose again to give us forgiveness, life, and salvation; to redeem us from sin and death; to give us the promise of the resurrection from the dead, when we will finally and forever receive the eternal inheritance that awaits us in Christ’s heavenly kingdom.
Until then, let us alway gather at his table to eat bread and drink wine in thanksgiving for what the Lord gives us according to His Word: His true body and blood. And when He blesses us, we can then rise refreshed and restored, assured and forgiven, blessed with faith that saves, praying, praising and giving thanks ... and ...