DON MOEN, A HIGHLY RESPECTED CHRISTIAN MUSICIAN, PUBLISHED THESE WORDS FOR A SONG IN 1990: “GIVE THANKS WITH A GRATEFUL HEART, GIVE THANKS TO THE HOLY ONE, GIVE THANKS BECAUSE HE'S GIVEN JESUS CHRIST, HIS SON… AND NOW LET THE WEAK SAY, "I AM STRONG," LET THE POOR SAY, "I AM RICH," BECAUSE OF WHAT THE LORD HAS DONE FOR US…GIVE THANKS!”
A STORY IS TOLD THAT WHEN JOHN WESLEY CAME UPON AN IMPOVERISHED STORE KEEPER, IN 1724, AND QUESTIONED HIM WHY HE COULD KEEP SUCH A JOYFUL DISPOSITION DESPITE HIS OBVIOUS LEVEL OF POVERTY, HE TOLD WESLEY, “I THANK [GOD] THAT HE HAS GIVEN ME A LIFE AND BEING, A HEART TO LOVE HIM, AND ABOVE ALL A CONSTANT DESIRE TO SERVE HIM!”
MASTERING THIS LEVEL OF GRATITUDE AND LIVING OUR LIVES IN A CONTINUAL STATE OF GRATITUDE, WITH THANKSGIVING TO GOD, SHOULD BE THE DESIRED STATE OF ALL BELIEVERS.
DARRELL BOCK, AN AMERICAN SCHOLAR ON LUKE, WROTE OF GRATEFULNESS TO GOD, “A HEALTHY PROPORTION OF TIME SPENT WITH GOD, REFLECTING ON HIS CARE AND GOODNESS, MAY SAVE US FROM THE BITTER PILLS WE TEND TO SWALLOW BECAUSE WE MOVE SO HECTICALLY THROUGH LIFE.”
SOME OF THE WORLDS GREATEST TRAGEDIES HAVE BIRTHED FROM THE HEARTS OF HUMAN INGRATITUDE. WHEN SOMEONE CHOOSES TO BECOME UNTHANKFUL AND FEELS IT BENEATH THEM TO GIVE RECOGNITION, THEIR HEARTS GROW DIMLY COLD.
PAUL WARNED US IN ROMANS 1:21, “FOR ALTHOUGH THEY KNEW GOD, THEY DID NOT HONOR HIM AS GOD OR GIVE THANKS TO HIM, BUT THEY BECAME FUTILE IN THEIR THINKING, AND THEIR FOOLISH HEARTS WERE DARKENED.”
THE ENCOUNTER OF THE TEN LEPERS WITH JESUS TEACHES US “THE VALUE OF GRATEFULNESS.” THE LESSON TEACHES THE GREAT IMPORTANCE OF NOT ONLY GRATEFULNESS, BUT ALSO THE SIGNIFANCE BEHIND THE REASON WE NEED TO BE THANKFUL.
AS SAID EARLIER, WE GIVE THANKS BECAUSE GOD HAS GIVEN US, JESUS CHRIST, HIS SON! EVERY BELIEVER IS THE RECIPIENT OF DIVINE GRACE AND SHOULD LIVE IN PERPETUAL GRATEFULNESS.
WHAT BRINGS SUCH IRONY TO THE STORY OF THE LEPERS IS REALIZING THAT THE MAJORITY WHO KNEW BETTER AND SHOULD HAVE REACTED IN THE APPROPRIATE MANNER WENT ON THEIR WAY, TOOK IT FOR GRANTED, AND GAVE NO INDICATION OF BEING GRATEFUL ENOUGH TO RETURN WITH WORDS OF THANKFULNESS.
YET, THE ONE WHO WAS THE OUTCAST AND THOUGHT OF AS “LEAST LIKELY” DID RETURN TO JESUS WITH A CHANGE OF HEART AND SINCERE GRATEFULNESS BECAUSE HE RECOGNIZED WHO JESUS WAS AND WHAT JESUS HAD DONE FOR HIM.
THE STORY OF THE “TEN LEPERS” PAINTS A PORTRAIT OF THE IMMENSE PASSION OF JESUS. THE SON OF GOD HAS NO BOUNDARIES AND MINISTERS TO ANYONE WHO REACHES OUT TO HIM. NONE IS TURNED AWAY AND EVEN WHEN IT IS A CRY FOR PITY, HE HEARS IT. ALL HE IS ASKING OF US IS THAT WE APPROACH HIM HUMBLY AND ON HIS TERMS, RECOGNIZING THAT HE IS READY AND ABLE TO HELP.
THE STORY ALSO TELLS US THAT LIVING IN GRATEFULNESS WILL ALWAYS BE SHOWN IN WAYS THAT ARE “IN ADDITION TO” ATTENDING CHURCH, HAVING A “QUIET TIME” OF READING OUR BIBLE AND SAYING OUR PRAYERS.
THE POINT IS RECOGNIZING JESUS AS SAVIOR AND ENTERING INTO A PERSONAL AND INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM. IT ALSO WARNS US NOT TO TREAT GOD LIKE A “CELESTIAL SANTA CLAUSE” WHOES SOLE PURPOSE IS TO MEET THE DEMANDS OF OUR EXPECTATIONS, WANTS, AND DESIRES THE MOMENT WE PRAY.
THE LESSON OF THE LEPERS IS SHOWING US THE VALUE OF GRATITUDE. WE MUST ALWAYS BE STRIVING TO GET TO THE HEART- LEVEL OF MASTERING CONTINUAL THANKSGIVING.
WE MUST STRIVE TO BE ABLE TO STOP IN THE MIDST OF ANY OF LIFE’S ACTIVITIES, AS THE SAMARITAN DID, AND PRAISE GOD AND OPENLY EXPRESS OUR GRATITUDE AND THANKFULNESS TO HIM, NO MATTER WHAT WE MAY BE FACING OR DEALING WITH IN OUR LIFE.
THE “ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE” IS WHAT SET THE SAMARITAN APART FROM THE OTHER NINE. HE HAD AN ENCOUNTER WITH GOD BY RECOGNIZING THAT IT WAS JESUS WHO HEALED HIM. HE HAD ADDRESSED JESUS AS “MASTER” NOT OUT OF RESPECT, BUT FROM RECOGNIZING HIS AUTHORITY.
IT IS INTERESTING THAT JESUS DID NOT SPEAK ANY WORDS OF HEALING NOR DOES HE TOUCH THE LEPARS AS HE DID BEFORE. INSTEAD, HE CHALLENGES THEIR FAITH BY SENDING THEM OFF TO THE PRIESTS SO AS TO OBEY THE LAW AND FOLLOW THE RULES.
THE LEPERS MAY HAVE BEEN DISMAYED BY THIS JESTURE, BUT THAT IS ALWAYS THE KEY TO FAITH IS TO OBEY AND DO EXACTLY AS JESUS INSTRUCTS US NO MATTER HOW MUCH IT MAY NOT MAKE ANY SENSE TO US, HOW MUCH EFFORT IT TAKES, AND ESPECIALLY WHEN IT MAY NOT BE WHAT WE ASKED FOR OR EVEN SEEM TO BE THE ANSWER WE WERE EXPECTING TO RECEIVE.
ALL THE LEPERS TRUSTED JESUS. THEY DIDN’T COMPLAIN OR CONTINUE BEGGING. THEY ALL FULLY COMPLIED WITH WHAT JESUS SAID AND STARTED MAKING THEIR WAY TO THE PRIEST. HOWEVER, IT WAS THE SAMARITAN’S AWAKENED FAITH IN JESUS, WHO HAS NOT ONLY HEALED HIM PHYSICALLY, BUT SPIRITUALLY. HE COULD NOT CONTAIN HIS JOY OF BEING MADE WHOLE. HE RETURNS TO JESUS AND COLLAPSES AT JESUS’ FEET IN GRATEFULNESS.
JESUS SAID IN VERSE 19, “RISE AND GO; YOUR FAITH HAS MADE YOU WELL.” THE WORD USED HERE FOR “WELL” MEANS “SAVED” OR “MADE WHOLE.” OBEDIENCE BROUGHT HEALING TO THE OTHERS; FAITH BROUGHT ABOUT NOT ONLY A RESTORED BODY FOR THE SAMARITAN, BUT HIS SOUL HAD BEEN RESTORED AS WELL.
THE GRATITUDE THE SAMARITAN SHOWED REPRESENTS A FUNDAMENTAL RESPONSE OF FAITH TO GOD’S WORK. HE APPRECIATED HIS RESTORATION TO LIFE AND EXPRESSED THAT APPRECIATION TOWARD GOD AND TO THE NEW LIFE THROUGH WHAT JESUS DID. IT HAS BEEN SAID, “TO UNDERSTAND THE ISOLATION THAT SIN PRODUCES IS TO UNDERSTAND THE FREEDOM THAT SALVATION BRINGS.”
THROUGH THE GRATEFULNESS OF A SAMARITAN, WE’RE BEING SHOWN HOW FAITH HAS BEEN MADE THE WAY TO SALVATION, THE ROAD BY WHICH ALL NATIONS WILL JOIN THEMSELVES TO THE LORD, BECOMING HIS SERVANTS, GATHERED WITH THE ISRAELITES INTO ONE CHOSEN PEOPLE OF GOD, THE CHURCH!
GALATIANS 2:8-9 “FOR BY GRACE YOU HAVE BEEN SAVED THROUGH FAITH. AND THIS IS NOT YOUR OWN DOING; IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD, NOT A RESULT OF WORKS, SO THAT NO ONE MAY BOAST.”
THE VALUE IN GATITUDE IS THAT IT CAN LEAD US TO THE UNDERSTANDING THAT GOD’S GRACE IS FOR EVERYONE AND THAT WE CAN PLACE OUR FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST.
LIVING IN A STATE OF GRATITUDE, REGARDLESS OF OUR PAST OR TODAY’S CURRENT CIRCUMSTANCES, RELEASES GOD TO BRING GREATER LEVELS OF WHOLENESS TO OUR BROKENESS.
WE ARE NOT DENYING LIFE IS HARD, CHALLENGING AND, SOMETIMES, FROM OUR VANTAGE POINT, UNFAIR. DESPITE THE PAST, TODAY, AND WHAT LOOMS IN THE FUTURE, WE CAN ALWAYS MAKE TIME TO THINK OF ALL THAT THE LORD HAS DONE FOR US AND HOW GOOD HE HAS BEEN TO US IN A HUNDRED—A THOUSAND—DIFFERENT WAYS! NO MATTER WHAT OTHERS MAY DO, SUCH A GOOD GOD DESERVES OUR THANKS AND OUR PRAISE!
I CAME ACROSS THIS ON “FACEBOOK” THIS WEEK: “SOMETIMES THE BOLDEST THING A CHRISTIAN CAN DO IS CHOOSE TO ACT ON WHAT WE KNOW TO BE TRUE ABOUT GOD RAHTER THAN WHAT WE FEEL. CHOOSING TO STAY STRONG ISN’T FAKE, IT IS FAITH!” THIS IS THE “VALUE OF GRATITUDE”…IT WILL ALWAYS LEAD TO JESUS.
