Thanksgiving Day 2005

Greg Schaefer—November 23, 2005

Readings:
Deuteronomy 8:7-18
Psalm 65
2 Corinthians 9:6-15
Luke 17:11-19

To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant,
to enact gratitude is generous and noble,
but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven.

—Johannes A. Gärtner

Gwen and I have received a lot of wedding gifts, but we’ve been pretty slow with the notes. We’ve been so excited about the gifts, we haven’t taken the time to write notes! For example, we got an ice cream maker… we’ve made ice cream four times already!

And it’s not like we don’t know better. Both of us grew up with Moms saying, “Before you even think of using the gift you received, you should write a thank you note to the person who gave it to you!”

In Luke, chapters 17–19, Jesus is making his way to Jerusalem with one question constantly on his mind: Will the Son of Man find Faith in Israel?

As you know, he finds it, though often in unexpected places.

So, Luke offers this healing story. We’ve come to expect certain things in these stories. But, in this case, there is no astonished crowd, no torqued off Sadducees. Rather, a foreigner alone, returns to give thanks.

The Son of Man is finding faith, but not in the expected places. Of course, that’s not surprising from the Gospel that begins: He has cast mighty from their thrones and raised up the lowly and concludes in Chapter 23 with the Roman Centurion alone confessing faith in Jesus.

In this unexpectedness, Jesus asks some rhetorical questions. They are so pointed that they are painful and so obvious that they are embarrassing, not only for the hearers, but for us!

(Like Columbo) Weren’t there 10? Where are the other 9? Has just this foreigner returned to give thanks?

There was division in Israel in those days. Conquered people were pitted against each other as insider is pitted against outsider. We know, though, that it often takes outsiders to point out what’s going on on the inside. Think of Rosa Parks who said in her actions, “Here I stand/sit. I can do no other” for the sake of what’s right.

In Luke, the division is not usually between good and bad. Think of the Good Samaritan story where the “bad” are not really bad. The antagonists in that story (the priest and the Levite) had legitimate reasons for passing by on the other side. Division in Luke’s stories is usually between those who are normal and those who are great!

It’s good storytelling sense that if you want people to identify with someone in the story, you can’t make them villains.

Here, Jesus isn’t saying, “Where are those other 9? Those jerks!” But, rather, he’s saying, “How wonderful that this one recognized the miracle of healing, felt grateful, and came back to give thanks.”

It is interesting that this one comes back not to please Jesus, or because his Mom said to. He’s not compelled by someone else.

He comes back to return thanks because he is compelled from within. And that, it seems, means something more. “Your Faith has saved you,” Jesus says. Note that they were all healed. This one saved. Jesus might say, “This action shows Faith, and that faith has brought you within Kingdom of God.”

I used to keep a Gratitude Journal in which I would write down every night 3 things I was thankful for. Eventually I stopped doing it because it was hard to think of three things. Three things!

Br. David Steindl-Rast speaks of an Attitude of Gratitude:

Gratitude is more than a feeling, a virtue, or an experience;
gratitude emerges as an attitude we can freely choose
in order to create a better life for ourselves and for others.

It’s true that the opposite of gratefulness is just taking everything for granted. We say grace before meals. But what about giving thanks before concert, when we open a book, when our car starts, our computer turns on, or when both feet touch the floor every morning? What about being thankful for the people around us. Think of it as a grammar: a way of speaking.

Look closely & you’ll find that people are often happy because they’re grateful. How often have you asked someone how they are doing and they say, “I’m Blessed!”? We’re not always used to thinking that say. We might rather say, “Well, this could be better and that could be better.

My college professor Brother Camillus would always, when asked how he is doing, say, “Better and better each day by the grace of God.” The day Br. Camo found out he had cancer, that was still his reply.

There is a calmness to a life lived in gratitude. Ronald Rolheiser has written a book called The Holy Longing in which he writes, “To be a saint is to be fueled by gratitude, nothing more, nothing less.”

To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant,
to enact gratitude is generous and noble,
but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven.

In today’s story, the insiders wanted healing. They wanted to be fixed. And they got that. They had been “at a distance” like outsiders, and were eager to get back to normal life.

Like Gwen and me with our wedding gifts, they were excited to receive the gift and get on with using it. Insiders wanted healing.

The outsider, though, found gratitude and returns in Faith to give thanks for the miracle.

This past All Saints Sunday, I decided to send emails to people who I have come to recognize as Saints in my life: those who have formed me in who I am. I didn’t get far as the fever of life picked up and things got away from me. But, let me commend that practice to you. It is a good practice to commit to being gracious. Of course, then we are back to compelled to do it. Well, maybe Mom knew what she was talking about. It is in the doing of something that we come to believe.

To be grateful is to recognize the Love of God in everything He has given us — & He has given us everything. Every breath we draw is a gift of His love, every moment of existence is a grace, for it brings with it immense graces from Him. Gratitude therefore takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder & to praise of the goodness of God. For the grateful person knows that God is good, not by hearsay but by experience. & that is what makes all the difference.

—T. Merton

I’m grateful to You, Giver & Sustainer of life, for having granted me another day of life. Your love & faith in me is truly overwhelming. Amen!