Thanksgiving Day

In the fall of 1621, when the Pilgrims under William Bradford celebrated the first Thanksgiving, four men went “fowling.” The ducks and geese they brought back were added to lobsters, clams, bass, corn, green vegetables, and dried fruit.

The Pilgrims invited the chief of the Wampanoag tribe, Massasoit, and ninety of his braves. The work of preparing the feast for 91 Native Americans and 56 settlers fell to only four Pilgrim women and two teenage girls. (Thirteen women had died the previous winter.) I’m guessing those six females may not have enjoyed that first Thanksgiving quite as much as the rest of the crowd.  So today, go easy on whomever is preparing your feast – and give them a hand while you’re at it.

And remember how rich we are. We may not feel like it, but we are.

Will Rogers once said, “In the days of our founders, they were willing to give thanks for mighty little, for mighty little was all they expected. But now, neither government nor nature can give enough but what we think it’s too little. Those old boys in the fall of the year, if they could gather in a few pumpkins, potatoes and some corn for the winter, they was in a thanking mood.

“But if we can’t gather in a new Buick, a new radio, a tuxedo and some government relief, why, we feel like the world is against us.” As usual, Will Rogers was right on target.

If you have your health, you are very rich. How much would you give for a healthy body?

St. Francis of Assisi once met a man who admitted he had no love for God. As they walked along they met a man who was blind and paralyzed. St. Francis asked the sightless man: “Tell me, if I were to restore your eyesight and the use of your limbs, would you love me?”

“Ah,” replied the beggar, “I would not only love you but I would be your slave for the rest of my life.”

“See,” said St. Francis to the man who maintained he could not love God. “This man would love me if I gave him his sight and his health. So why don’t you love God who created you with good eyes and strong limbs?” Yes, if you have a healthy body you are very, very rich.

If you live in this country, you are quite rich. We recently had a tumultuous, but free, election.  We have freedoms that millions in the world can only dream of.  If you live in a free land, you are very, very rich.

If you have someone who loves you, you are very, very rich. It might be a spouse, or it might be children, grandchildren, or some dear friends.

Most of us in this church are very, very rich. We have our health, we live in this free land, and we have someone who loves us. I am not saying life is easy. I am simply saying that even the loneliest and most downcast among us knows the comfort of the living Christ. If we did not, we would probably not be here this morning.

Today’s Gospel is all about gratitude.

Jesus was approached, at a distance, by ten lepers. Don’t ever think for a moment that death is the worst thing that can happen to a person. It’s not. And the scene this morning is a case in point. These ten men walked the earth. They breathed and ate. They had hopes and fears and aspirations and feelings just like you and me. Yet, there was a tragic sense in which they were already dead. They were walking dead. Leprosy was the most dreaded of all ancient diseases. It ate away at the body and left its victim maimed and disfigured. There was no known cure. In their hopes for a family life, a useful occupation, plans for the future—they were dead men.

Their situation was made worse because leprosy was believed to be highly contagious. The scripture made it quite clear that as these lepers approached Jesus they stood at a distance. Jewish law clearly prescribed that a leper could not get within fifty yards of a clean person. Everywhere these poor men journeyed they heard familiar words yelled out: “Unclean,” “Leper.” And then some would hurl stones at them to keep them away.

Leprosy was a serious public health concern but it was also tinged with the religious element of ritual uncleanness. So it was that lepers not only had to live with their physical handicap, but they were also isolated. They had to live in the hell of loneliness. That can do more to drain a person’s energy for living than the most horrible of diseases.

But even in the midst of this terrible situation these lepers had something to be thankful for. In their common misery they had banded together. They had found each other. It’s interesting to note that one of these ten lepers was a Samaritan. Now a good Jew in that day and time would have no dealings at all with a Samaritan. They looked upon Samaritans as dogs, half-breeds. Yet, in the common misery of their leprosy these men had forgotten that they were Jew and Samaritan and realized only that they were men in need. There’s power in fellowship, especially the fellowship of people who have a common need. Even lepers found it so.

Jesus tells the lepers to go show themselves to the priests.  Along the way, all ten are healed.  But only one, the Samaritan, returned to give thanks to Jesus.  The other nine took their healing for granted and never even bothered to thank Jesus for their new-found blessing.

The lesson here? Make use of your blessings. For life is not to be hoarded. It is to be lived. Blessings are not to be squirreled away. They are to be shared.

There is a story of a poor artist who was regally entertained in a castle. It was one of the high moments in his life. But he had nothing with which to repay his friends. Before leaving, he shut himself up in his guest room for some days, locking the door, and refusing to come out, or to let anyone in.

When he finally came out and bade his hosts, “Adieu!” a servant found the sheets of his bed missing, and thought that he must have stolen them. They searched further, however, and found the missing sheets in the room’s closet. Unrolling them they discovered a glorious picture painted upon them. The artist needed to say thank you. And so he did it by using the one gift that he had.

So remember: If you have a healthy body, if you live in a free land, if you have someone who loves you, if you know the comfort of Christ, you are blessed beyond measure.

Pity the person who has no one to say “thank you” to. Pity the person who is already wealthy beyond most folks’ fondest dreams, and yet is drowning in self-pity. Pity also the person who does not see that the best way to say thank you is to use that which God has already placed in our hands.

So on this Thanksgiving Day, give thanks to God – and share your blessings.