God’s grace, peace and
mercy be with you. My sermon is entitled History, Healing and a Happier
Thanksgiving, and my focus is our Gospel (Luke 17:11-19). Let us pray. Heavenly
Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let
us go to the house of the Lord.’” Now that our feet are within
your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit
enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we
pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.
Having worked four
years as Director of Development at Berkeley Food and Housing Project in
California, one of the state’s largest homeless service providers, I can tell
you that not everybody spends the fourth Thursday in
November with family. Thousands of Americans eat Thanksgiving dinner at soup
kitchens, homeless shelters, church basements and other fine establishments.
Pilgrims from every side of the political pendulum serve these down-and-out
diners. That said, today, we put aside politics to look at Thanksgiving’s
history, a leper’s healing and how we can enjoy a happier Thanksgiving.
First, Thanksgiving’s
history. For some, Thanksgiving commemorates a heritage of false memory.
Internet myths of Thanksgiving range from fundamentalists’ invention of a fake
1623 Thanksgiving Proclamation – to prove that God was being thanked and not
the Indians – to Libertarians, who used the same fake proclamation to claim
that “the real reason for Thanksgiving is that Socialism does not work.”[1]
Puritan Pilgrims
celebrated the first Thanksgiving after their first harvest in the New World in
1621. The feast lasted 3 days. 90 Native Americans and 53 Pilgrims attended.
The Pilgrims were accustomed to regularly celebrating thanksgivings – days of
prayer thanking God for blessings such as military victory or the end of a
drought.
Thanksgiving became an
official Federal holiday in 1863, when, during the Civil War, President Abraham
Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November a national day of
“Thanksgiving and Praise to our Father … in the Heavens.”
As a faith community,
we celebrate thanksgiving when we gather for the Lord’s Supper. Eucharist means
we give thanks because the gift is nothing less than forgiveness of sins for
which we can never atone. We give thanks because we have nothing else to give
but gratitude.[2]
Where faith has
genuinely received such gracious gifts, it cannot help but be eucharistic or
thankful to God. Such thanksgiving will show up in worship, but also in daily
life – an attitude of gratitude revealed in how we live with those around us.
Now, let’s take that
attitude of gratitude and turn to the Gospel where health and salvation go
together like turkey and stuffing.
To the 10 lepers
requesting that he have mercy on them, Jesus replied, “Go and show
yourselves to the priests.” Jesus was following the Law,
specifically Leviticus, chapter 14. Was the Samaritan, who lived outside the
requirement of Judaism, included in the command to go to a priest? Moreover,
why did Jesus reproach the other nine for following the Law and his command?
Furthermore, why did Jesus say, “Your faith has made you well,” when
all were cleansed?[3]
Questions demand
further exploration because the Gospel of Luke is richer than pumpkin pie and
Whipped Cream. Note that Luke opens this story by telling us that on his way to
Jerusalem, Jesus was passing between Samaria and Galilee. Mentioning Samaria is
significant, since only the Samaritan responded with
grateful faith and praise. At first, the Samaritans rejected Jesus’ disciples
because he was going to Jerusalem. When the disciples wanted to call fire down
from heaven to destroy them, Jesus would not allow it. In fact, a Samaritan
showed the Jews how to be a good neighbor according to the law.[4] And now, by contrast with nine
others, a Samaritan embodies the conditions of salvation.
For salvation actually
to be realized, the healed person must respond in faith, a gift that is open to
all. The grateful Samaritan reminds us that salvation is not limited to the
Jews, but is universally offered to all people.
Like the nine lepers
who did not return to praise God and Jesus, the Pharisees failed to recognize
that the kingdom of God was already in their midst. It was manifested in Jesus’
healing, but they looked elsewhere for it. Without faith, miracles are opaque.
If the other nine and the Pharisees were not blind, they certainly suffered
from glaucoma.
Finally, how to enjoy
a happier Thanksgiving. … How do I recognize the kingdom of God is in our
midst? Through a recent healing? When I see down-and-out diners served by
well-heeled waiters? By confessing my sins and a pastor’s absolution? Perhaps
when I showed mercy to another sinner, as Jesus showed mercy to the lepers?
Folks, when we recognize God is truly in our midst, and praise Him for that,
our thanksgiving feast around the table of our homes and around the table of
the Lord will be truly happy.
Notice, Jesus
instructs the grateful leper, “Rise and go on your way.” After
our final hymn, as you rise and go on your way, journey not only to your
homes and dinner destinations, but also with Jesus. Let
the Holy Spirit take you where God wants you – California, Oklahoma, Illinois
or overseas. For when you go with God, the peace of God that surpasses all
understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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