"learning To Be Thankful

“Learning to be Thankful”

Luke 17: 11-19

Robert Fulghum wrote an interesting book titled, “All I ever really needed to know about life, I learned in kindergarten.” The book kind of intrigued me because when I was five years old, kindergarten wasn’t required – so I didn’t go. And if the title is true then you think “what if I missed something?” Here are some things that he says that he learned in kindergarten. Share everything. Play fair. Don’t hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess. Don’t take things that aren’t yours. Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody. Wash your hands before you eat. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you. Live a balanced life-learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some. Take a nap every afternoon. When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.

Now just think what a better world it would be if all-the whole world had cookies and milk at about three o’clock every afternoon? And then lay down with our blankies for a nap. Or if our government had a basic policy to always put things back where they found them and clean up their own mess. Listen no matter how old you are when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together. Now there is a lot in there for sure. A lot to learn and a lot to practice. All of those are things we need to learn for sure …… But for me, there is at least one thing missing and it is this. Be thankful. Practice gratitude.

• Just think, what if all of us learned to be more thankful.

• What if we expressed more gratitude for what we have instead of always looking for the next thing that somebody can give us?

• Or what if instead, we would think of the next thing we could give instead of the next thing we could receive?

In my mind, gratitude has become a lost art. In fact, it is almost nonexistent and the older I grow the more I realize it is almost gone. Basically, there are 3 stages to gratitude. (1) Acknowledge what you are grateful for. (2) Tell someone. Say it out loud. (3) Make it a habit. In other words, count your blessings. Learn to be thankful. It is a fact that we do not simply grow up being thankful. It doesn’t come naturally. Think about it babies are not naturally thankful. Babies just really want their needs met. And unfortunately, adults can be the same way. The word thanks, comes from an old German word meaning “to think.” I can understand that.

Thinking comes before thanking.

It’s not something we grow up; it is learned behavior. And this is how that works. In the gospel of Luke, we find an interesting story. And here’s the deal.

• We learn to be thankful when we think about how desperate life would be without Jesus. Vv. 11-12.

Leprosy was one of the most dreaded diseases of the day. It was also one of the most misunderstood. In this passage Jesus is traveling to Jerusalem. As he comes into the village, he’s greeted by these 10 men who all had leprosy. Now Luke points out to us that to get to Jerusalem, Jesus had to pass between Samaria and Galilee, and he does that it seems for a very specific reason. Jews did not deal with the Samaritans and the Samaritans did not deal with the Jews. There was a huge racial divide between them. A cultural wall. Yet Jesus, a Jew walks right through the area because to him there is no difference. As Paul said, “there is neither Jew nor Greek for you are all one in Christ.” And in this group of lepers we quickly find out that at least one of them was a Samaritan. And even though Samaritans and Jews didn’t mix in that day, there was Jesus. In all their differences they realized they now share something in common—a terrible disease--- and they somehow forgot they were Jews, and they were Samaritans--- they were just all people in need. The same need.

The lepers stood at a distance. They were required to do so. Upper would enter a city it was required to wear a bell around his neck, like a necklace and must ring the bell and shout out unclean, unclean so that others would know to stay away from them. One law stated they could not get within 150 feet of a healthy person. The only ones they could get close to were those with the same disease. Not even their family. I can’t help but notice here that they had to raise their voices to be heard. But remember they couldn’t get close to anyone. And they’re all shouting “Jesus, Master have mercy on us.” They shared a common need for and there was a common solution ---- Jesus.