Thanksgiving Day
Every now and then (it doesn’t happen a lot), a student will take the time to write me a thank you note at the end of the semester or after they have finally submitted their Honors thesis. I always do the same thing with such cards. I save them. I put them in a drawer in my desk so that the next time I’m feeling discouraged, I can pull one or two of them out of the drawer. After reading just one of those notes, I feel a rush of gratitude that gives me new perspective on whatever was getting me down.
As I read today’s excerpt from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, I think of those thank you cards. He is praising the church in Corinth up and down. He is giving thanks to God on their account. He is saying that they were enriched in every way by Jesus. They were not lacking in any spiritual gift. And Jesus is going to make sure they remain above reproach. Wow! I can imagine the folks who heard this letter thinking: “That’s a keeper for sure!” That’s one to put in the old memory bank so that someday when you’re feeling like a pretty sad excuse for a follower of Jesus, you can remember Paul’s reassurance.
What huge gifts my students have given me with their thank you cards. And what an incredible gift Paul gave to the people at the church in Corinth. Such gifts remind us of the power of a word of gratitude, encouragement, affirmation.
Our Gospel reading is also about a huge gift. Living with leprosy was horrible in Jesus’ day. People were terrified of catching the disease and also thought it was some kind of judgment on the person afflicted with it. That being the case, lepers were forced to live on the margins of society, announce their arrival as a warning to others, and so forth. The goal, in other words, for someone who did not suffer with leprosy, was to stay as far away as possible from anyone who did.
To be sure, the lepers in our Gospel story today knew all this well. That is why they stayed at a distance from Jesus. What is incredible is that they called out to Jesus. They knew not to approach him, but they could call him in a loud voice and hope he would see them. And have pity on them.
And he did. He saw these individuals who society was determined to push beyond its field of vision. More than that, he sent them on to see the priests (who, they knew, were not going to be glad to see them). And then, as they were on their way, Jesus healed them. They must have been absolutely astonished. Talk about a miracle. Their lives were completely transformed. Healed, they could re-enter society with all the potential benefits that go with that.
As you know from the story, nine of the former lepers receive this enormous gift and just keep right on going. Were they in a rush to see the priests? Were they so blown away by the miracle they had just experienced that they forgot themselves? Were they just rude?
But one responded very differently. He stayed back with Jesus and at the top of his lungs told everyone within earshot what just happened. God healed him, and God did that through Jesus! Seeing who Jesus was, the man fell down at Jesus’ feet and thanked him.
Jesus took note. Not incidentally, Jesus pointed out that the one who stayed behind was a Samaritan. He was a foreigner and a “half breed”—that is, half Jewish and half pagan. In other words, a heretic and a threat to Jews. Jesus wants us to know that it was the foreigner, the heretic, the one known to be an enemy of Jews who glorified God and properly gave thanks.
The letter from Paul and the story of the lepers have something to teach us about what it means to give thanks.
When someone sends a thoughtful thank you card, they are not merely acknowledging the receipt of a gift. They are saying that they see the giver and appreciate what the giver has done for them. As we celebrate Thanksgiving today may we commit to letting at least one person know that we see who they are and what they have done for us?
From Paul’s letter, we also learn about the power of expressing gratitude for the goodness of another. Seeing another’s goodness and telling them about it is a huge gift to them. On this Thanksgiving, may we commit to telling at least one person about all the goodness we see in them?
Finally, from the Gospel. Jesus wants us to know that he does not care who you are, where you come from, or what society thinks of you. What he wants to know is can you see? Can you see what He has done for you? And, perhaps even more, can you love as he did—the leper, the foreigner, the outcast? On this Thanksgiving, may we think of just one person who lives at the margins of society or our community or our family and find a way to love them?
-Sue Trollinger