Give Thanks to God
Give Thanks Part 1
Luke 17:11-19
Today, we are starting a new message series, Give Thanks.
As we approach Thanksgiving, we want to prepare our hearts for gratitude toward God.
If you know anything about the history of Thanksgiving, you know that it began as a really small community’s response to God’s provision and protection.
Then eventually it became our nation’s response.
It is because gratitude is a universal experience.
When good things happen, we automatically have feelings of gratitude.
For some, it is “Thank goodness.”
For others, it is “Thank God.”
But we become thankful even though we may express it in different ways.
This is why when we withhold the expression of our gratitude, we create a gap in the relationship.
And if it goes on for too long, it actually damages relationships.
Here is why.
Ingratitude communicates… I do not recognize your effort.
I do not recognize what you have done.
I do not recognize your sacrifice.
Sometimes ingratitude is expressed verbally.
We do something for someone.
Instead of saying, “Thank you,” that person says what we did not do right.
For example, we bought a shirt for someone, and that person says that we chose the wrong color.
But in most cases, ingratitude is expressed non-verbally.
We do something for someone.
That person forgets or refuses to say, “Thank you.”
When we get accused of being ungrateful, we tend to get defensive.
The reason why we get defensive is because we are grateful.
Someone asks, “Don’t you feel grateful?”
Then we immediately get defensive and say, “Of course. I am grateful.”
That means, “I am grateful on the inside, but I did not express it.”
This may be true, but it is meaningless to the others because others cannot know what is inside of us.
Unexpressed gratitude is experienced by others as the opposite of what we really feel.
This is why it is the expression of gratitude, not just feeling of gratitude, that counts.
And the expression of gratitude affects the relationship.
This is why we must be radically grateful.
We must express gratitude so liberally.
This is true for any relationship, including our relationship with God.
If we are grateful to God, we must express it.
This is what we can learn from the story in Luke 17.
In this story, we can learn these three lessons on expressing our gratitude to God.
I. We must express our gratitude in advance (vv. 11-14).
Verses 11-14 say this.
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.
Jesus was going toward Jerusalem.
Luke did not mention the exact place where the healing took place.
But the “village” lied somewhere in the border territory between Galilee and Samaria.
This was a very remote area.
It was in the middle of nowhere.
Therefore, Jewish and Samaritan lepers shared their common misery at this place.
As Jesus was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met Him.
In ancient times, people thought that leprosy was highly contagious.
So, people with leprosy were removed from others.
The law required people who had leprosy to live on the outskirts of town in a designated area.
And any time they came near others, they had to warn others that they were approaching.
These lepers maintained their proper distance.
They called Jesus “Master,” and ask for pity.
They must have known Jesus by His reputation.
They called Jesus “Master,” which was really unusual because this was a term only used by His disciples.
They knew that Jesus was their only hope to be healed.
When Jesus saw them, He shouted back to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priest.”
To which, they must have thought, “Go and show what?”
There was nothing to show because they were not healed yet.
According to the law, anyone with any kind of skin disease had to go to a local priest.
After being healed, the local priest had to declare them clean before they come back into society.
Therefore, Jesus was saying, “By the time you get there, you will be healed.”
What will do you do in a situation like that?
Jesus said, “Go,” and they went.
Not because it made any sense, but because Jesus told them to go.
His command required obedience based on faith in Him.
And as they obeyed and went, they were cleansed.
They responded to the promise of Jesus before they knew the outcome.
That is what it means to walk by faith.
This is what we can learn.
In order to truly show our gratitude to God, we must thank God even before He actually answers our prayers.
It is easy to give thanks to God when He does something for us.
But giving thanks to God in advance takes faith on our part.
Think about it.
Do we give thanks to God only after He does something for us?
Or do we give thanks to God even before He does something for us?
Those who have faith in God believe that God will lead them to the best destination and give thanks in advance.
It is impossible to give thanks in advance without believing God.
We must have faith to be able to give thanks even before the work of God.
We must express our gratitude in advance.
II. We must express our gratitude outwardly (vv. 15-18).
Verses 15-18 say this.
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?”
One of them, when he saw he was healed, turned around and came back to Jesus.
He threw himself at Jesus’ feet, and thanked Him.
No more social distancing was required.
He walked right up to Jesus and fell at His feet.
He was not content to only feel grateful inwardly.
So, he demonstrated it.
He expressed it.
I am pretty sure that he wanted to go back to his family and friends.
But he knew that he had to come back to Jesus and thank Him first.
After all, it was Jesus who had given him his life back.
Therefore, he did what we all need to do.
He came back to thank the One who had enabled him to move forward with his life.
And Luke mentioned that he was a Samaritan.
The implication is the other nine were not.
They were Galileans just like Jesus rather than Samaritans.
But only a Samaritan came back to thank Jesus.
This man must have experienced discrimination on multiple levels.
Perhaps, this is why he was extra grateful.
Luke highlighted Jesus’ encounters with outsiders.
Over and over, it was the outsiders who expressed the most gratitude to Jesus.
They were not confused about how undeserving they were.
Their pride and their busy-ness did not get in the way of their effort to express their gratitude.
So, Jesus asked a question,
“Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?”
Jesus was not really expecting an answer.
He was just making an obvious observation.
Something was missing.
Someone was missing,
Some ones were missing,
The other nine had missed the moment.
The other nine had missed their opportunity.
We understand what Jesus is getting at here.
When we were a child and someone gave us a gift.
And one of our parents would say, “Say, ‘Thank you.’”
There was sense of urgency.
“Say, ‘Thank you!’ right now. Time is running out.”
This is Jesus’ point.
The other nine missed the moment, and the moment had passed.
Their lives had been changed.
They had been restored to their families and friends.
They could work again, worship again, and where were they?
If someone had confronted the other nine about their lack of gratitude, they would have responded, “What? Of course, we are so grateful.”
But the problem is… they did not take the time to express it.
And Jesus was baffled.
Unexpressed gratitude communicates ingratitude.
I gave someone a present, but the person does not say anything.
He may be grateful inwardly, but he did not express it outwardly.
But unexpressed gratitude is of no use.
When we are grateful to someone, we must express it.
When we are grateful to God, we must express it.
We must express our gratitude outwardly.
III. We must express our gratitude to experience deeper blessings (v. 19).
Verse 19 says this.
19 Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”
Jesus turned back to the one who returned and said once again, “Rise and go.”
This is the second time He told him to go.
But at this time, there was no reason for him to return.
And then Jesus said, “your faith has made you well.”
On their way to the priests, they were “cleansed.”
But this time, Jesus used the more comprehensive word “made you well.” on speaking to the Samaritan who returned to Him.
This implies that, not only he was healed physically, but he was made well spiritually as well.
He received the deeper blessing that the other nine did not receive.
Even though Luke did not say whether the others had faith or not, this person clearly had faith in Jesus.
The openly expressed gratitude of the Samaritan showed that he had faith in God.
As the result, he was made well by God.
Therefore, this is what we can learn.
We must be thankful to God to experience deeper blessings.
When we express gratitude to God for His goodness, we can experience deeper blessings of God.
We have experienced so many blessings of God.
Getting a job.
Getting married.
Having a family.
Good health.
These are the general blessings of God.
But when we do not express our gratitude to God, we cannot experience deeper blessings of God.
Do you want to experience deeper blessings of God?
True meaning in life.
Clear purpose for existence.
His provision.
His protection.
His guidance.
His presence.
His empowerment.
Then, we must do what this person did.
We must express our gratitude to God liberally.
Every time He blesses us, we must thank Him.
We must express our gratitude to experience deeper blessings.
Conclusion
Let us decide to be the one rather than the nine.
Let us make up our mind to be like the one who came back.
Let us be like the one who expressed his gratitude to Jesus.
Perhaps you are more like the nine than the one right now.
You have received so many blessings of God.
But you got distracted by the new opportunity, the new freedom, and the new recognition.
And you forgot to express your gratitude to God.
Here is good news.
You can decide to express your gratitude to God from now on, one expression of gratitude at a time.
Gratitude that we feel but do not express is simply ingratitude.
So, let us get in the habit of expressing our gratitude to God.
Let us decide today to be the one.
Therefore, try this during this week.
Give thanks in advance with faith even in the midst of difficulties.
And if anything good happens, express it outwardly.
This is how we can experience deeper blessings of God.
After all, we all have so much to be thankful for.
