Thanksgiving
Vicar Michael Monterastelli
Texts: Luke 17:11-19, Dt. 8:1-10, 1 Timothy 2:1-4
On this national day of thanksgiving, Christians give ear to Jesus’ words: “Go and show yourselves to the priests.”
These were the healing words of Jesus for those ten former lepers.
The men had suffered what many people would call hell on earth. They were lepers. They were unclean according to the Law. That means they were more than diseased. They suffered more than physical pain and disfigurement from rotting flesh. They were cut-off from family and most of their friends. They were forsaken by their community. They were almost completely alone. Though alive, they were treated like dead men. As bad as it was, it was not hell on earth. There is no such thing as hell on earth. By the grace of God in Jesus Christ, hell only exists in hell. Thus we always give thanks for everyone and for all things, because, bad as it is, it is not as bad as it could be.
In hell, those men would not even have had each other for consolation and friendship. Most of all, they would not have had Jesus. If only at a distance, they could still call to Him as He briefly passed through their village on the path to Jerusalem.
So like the Canaanite woman (Mt. 15:22), they yelled at the top of their lungs, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” And He answered, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And so, according to the way of the Law, they went, but as they were going, before they even did what the Law required, they were cleansed. Just as the prophet Isaiah told us three weeks ago, God is the one who has performed for us all our works (Is. 26:12); so also, based on the work of Jesus’ words, all ten men were cleansed from their leprosy. They were no longer alienated from their community. The Word of God healed them. Not the priests. Not the Law. Regardless of whether they truly trusted in Jesus above all things, the Word of God made them clean.
But did you notice what the Samaritan did? (that good ol’ foreign outcast)? He was the only one to actually praise God. Whether he actually showed himself to the priests or not is made irrelevant by the text. He was clean and he praised God. But did you also notice how he praised God? By turning back. He turned back from the way of the Law and re-turned to Jesus instead. The foreigner praised God by praising Jesus! This Jesus is no ordinary man. He is God in the flesh. And Jesus declared, “your faith has saved you.” The foreigner’s faith did something the faith of the other nine did not do. While all of them were made clean, this foreigner, was also saved. His was an active faith, a saving faith. Faith without works is dead. The faith God gives works to save you. It’s working in you now. It ignites a life and death struggle for your soul – a struggle between your old sinful man and your new man in Christ. This kind of faith is a gift of God, or else anyone could boast in himself rather than in Jesus.
But what of the faith which brought these lepers to Jesus in the first place? Jesus was traveling, healing people, and forgiving sin. These men had heard of Him.
These men were desperate to find relief for their earthly suffering. They knew Jesus could heal them. If they went to Him, He would heal them. That is one way that the Law works. It imposes itself on desperate men and tells them where to go and what to do. The Law can tell them where to find healing, but it does not give it to them.
For a time, the Law is obeyed. At least until we get what we want, or worse, give up wanting the good things we’ve hoped for in Jesus. Either way, our obedience quickly turns away from God. Our earthly minds always prefer earthly results through earthly kings and earthly delight. Faith in Christ does not promise predictable earthly results. When earthly benefits come because of faith, they come to serve your neighbor as God completes His work through you. The thief who confessed Christ on the cross still died on the cross. But because of His saving faith, he joined Jesus in paradise that same Friday. And the Holy Spirit recorded His confession for our ears to hear today. “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!”
There is much to give thanks for on this Thanksgiving Day! One of the things we thank God for is that our government has been able to prevent major terrorist attacks on our soil since those of 9/11, 2001. Many people outwardly remembered Jesus after those attacks. They filled Christian churches for several weeks. But soon, their desire for their own earthly pursuits turned them away from Jesus once again. The winds of change blew them back into their old habits. This truth of sinful human behavior is a bitter one. Americans filled churches for a brief time. But almost all did not remain. They got their fix of comfort, did what they thought was their duty, and went back to their old ways. Just as the other nine former lepers. Others people may have continued to remain in Christ through His Word. Just as the one foreign former leper. Their lives and eternities were changed by the Word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. They were caused to realize that man does not live forever on bread alone, but by His every Word. Jesus is the Word of God who is the bread of life on which you feed and are saved.
What happens to a drunkard or an abusive spouse after they’ve hit rock bottom can be the same. Filled with remorse for what they’ve done, they cry out for help and treatment. And once they’ve got what they think they’ve come for, or at least made a good show of it, they may go back to their old ways. Old ways create well worn paths. Not only are they hard to get out of, but they’re hard to stay out of. Bad habits are hard to break. But that’s why we have Jesus. He is here to pull us out of the ditch we’ve dug for ourselves. He comes to us and we cry out with a LOUD voice, “O LORD, HAVE MERCY ON ME! I’M YOURS! SAVE ME!” And He does.
Because of His mercy, we give thanks for all things. For leprosy which combined with God’s Law and Gospel drove ten men to Jesus and one of them back again to give Him thanks and praise. Despite drunkenness, cancer, terrorists, physical and verbal abuse. Despite misguided church leaders, and natural disasters. We give thanks to God for all things. Despite women fooled into having abortions. Despite babies they’ll never hold.
We give thanks to God in Jesus Christ because whatever happens, God works to bring us to recognize the leprosy which is rotting our flesh and bones, so we will stop relying on ourselves and re-turn to Jesus, whose mercy endures forever. Our suffering is not insignificant. But neither is it the true and actual cost of our sins. For this reason, we delight in the Lord and give thanks.
There is much to give thanks for on this Thanksgiving Day! We give thanks for our country in which we have the freedom to publicly worship the one true God through Jesus Christ. We thank God for the clothes that have not worn out on us; for our daily bread and everything that supports the needs of our bodies; for devout spouses and devoted children; for butchers and bakers and utility providers; for construction workers, farmers, miners and manufacturers; for those who defend us against danger; for devout and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace, health, and self-control; for good reputation, good friends, faithful neighbors and the like.
The Word of God heals, His faith saves, His mercy endures forever. And that is reason enough to always give thanks in all things – whether we keep our jobs or not, whether governments feed and educate their poor or not, whether your children honor you or not, whether men lie and misbehave and drag us down or not, whether our synod, our country, or our families endure or not. We give thanks always in all things because even though Jesus Christ died, he did not stay dead. He rose for us. He lives for us. He gives to us His body and blood. He heals us both body and soul. The sadness and disappointment in this life is not all there is. For even as the worst and most horrendous day here is not as bad as an instant in hell, so also the very best day here with family and friends and good food, in peace and safety, cannot compare to what is to come.
For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of [clean] water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and [seed bearing] fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land in which you will eat [warm] bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land he has given you.
In Jesus’ + Name, Amen.
Texts: Luke 17:11-19, Dt. 8:1-10, 1 Timothy 2:1-4
On this national day of thanksgiving, Christians give ear to Jesus’ words: “Go and show yourselves to the priests.”
These were the healing words of Jesus for those ten former lepers.
The men had suffered what many people would call hell on earth. They were lepers. They were unclean according to the Law. That means they were more than diseased. They suffered more than physical pain and disfigurement from rotting flesh. They were cut-off from family and most of their friends. They were forsaken by their community. They were almost completely alone. Though alive, they were treated like dead men. As bad as it was, it was not hell on earth. There is no such thing as hell on earth. By the grace of God in Jesus Christ, hell only exists in hell. Thus we always give thanks for everyone and for all things, because, bad as it is, it is not as bad as it could be.
In hell, those men would not even have had each other for consolation and friendship. Most of all, they would not have had Jesus. If only at a distance, they could still call to Him as He briefly passed through their village on the path to Jerusalem.
So like the Canaanite woman (Mt. 15:22), they yelled at the top of their lungs, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” And He answered, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And so, according to the way of the Law, they went, but as they were going, before they even did what the Law required, they were cleansed. Just as the prophet Isaiah told us three weeks ago, God is the one who has performed for us all our works (Is. 26:12); so also, based on the work of Jesus’ words, all ten men were cleansed from their leprosy. They were no longer alienated from their community. The Word of God healed them. Not the priests. Not the Law. Regardless of whether they truly trusted in Jesus above all things, the Word of God made them clean.
But did you notice what the Samaritan did? (that good ol’ foreign outcast)? He was the only one to actually praise God. Whether he actually showed himself to the priests or not is made irrelevant by the text. He was clean and he praised God. But did you also notice how he praised God? By turning back. He turned back from the way of the Law and re-turned to Jesus instead. The foreigner praised God by praising Jesus! This Jesus is no ordinary man. He is God in the flesh. And Jesus declared, “your faith has saved you.” The foreigner’s faith did something the faith of the other nine did not do. While all of them were made clean, this foreigner, was also saved. His was an active faith, a saving faith. Faith without works is dead. The faith God gives works to save you. It’s working in you now. It ignites a life and death struggle for your soul – a struggle between your old sinful man and your new man in Christ. This kind of faith is a gift of God, or else anyone could boast in himself rather than in Jesus.
But what of the faith which brought these lepers to Jesus in the first place? Jesus was traveling, healing people, and forgiving sin. These men had heard of Him.
These men were desperate to find relief for their earthly suffering. They knew Jesus could heal them. If they went to Him, He would heal them. That is one way that the Law works. It imposes itself on desperate men and tells them where to go and what to do. The Law can tell them where to find healing, but it does not give it to them.
For a time, the Law is obeyed. At least until we get what we want, or worse, give up wanting the good things we’ve hoped for in Jesus. Either way, our obedience quickly turns away from God. Our earthly minds always prefer earthly results through earthly kings and earthly delight. Faith in Christ does not promise predictable earthly results. When earthly benefits come because of faith, they come to serve your neighbor as God completes His work through you. The thief who confessed Christ on the cross still died on the cross. But because of His saving faith, he joined Jesus in paradise that same Friday. And the Holy Spirit recorded His confession for our ears to hear today. “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!”
There is much to give thanks for on this Thanksgiving Day! One of the things we thank God for is that our government has been able to prevent major terrorist attacks on our soil since those of 9/11, 2001. Many people outwardly remembered Jesus after those attacks. They filled Christian churches for several weeks. But soon, their desire for their own earthly pursuits turned them away from Jesus once again. The winds of change blew them back into their old habits. This truth of sinful human behavior is a bitter one. Americans filled churches for a brief time. But almost all did not remain. They got their fix of comfort, did what they thought was their duty, and went back to their old ways. Just as the other nine former lepers. Others people may have continued to remain in Christ through His Word. Just as the one foreign former leper. Their lives and eternities were changed by the Word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. They were caused to realize that man does not live forever on bread alone, but by His every Word. Jesus is the Word of God who is the bread of life on which you feed and are saved.
What happens to a drunkard or an abusive spouse after they’ve hit rock bottom can be the same. Filled with remorse for what they’ve done, they cry out for help and treatment. And once they’ve got what they think they’ve come for, or at least made a good show of it, they may go back to their old ways. Old ways create well worn paths. Not only are they hard to get out of, but they’re hard to stay out of. Bad habits are hard to break. But that’s why we have Jesus. He is here to pull us out of the ditch we’ve dug for ourselves. He comes to us and we cry out with a LOUD voice, “O LORD, HAVE MERCY ON ME! I’M YOURS! SAVE ME!” And He does.
Because of His mercy, we give thanks for all things. For leprosy which combined with God’s Law and Gospel drove ten men to Jesus and one of them back again to give Him thanks and praise. Despite drunkenness, cancer, terrorists, physical and verbal abuse. Despite misguided church leaders, and natural disasters. We give thanks to God for all things. Despite women fooled into having abortions. Despite babies they’ll never hold.
We give thanks to God in Jesus Christ because whatever happens, God works to bring us to recognize the leprosy which is rotting our flesh and bones, so we will stop relying on ourselves and re-turn to Jesus, whose mercy endures forever. Our suffering is not insignificant. But neither is it the true and actual cost of our sins. For this reason, we delight in the Lord and give thanks.
There is much to give thanks for on this Thanksgiving Day! We give thanks for our country in which we have the freedom to publicly worship the one true God through Jesus Christ. We thank God for the clothes that have not worn out on us; for our daily bread and everything that supports the needs of our bodies; for devout spouses and devoted children; for butchers and bakers and utility providers; for construction workers, farmers, miners and manufacturers; for those who defend us against danger; for devout and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace, health, and self-control; for good reputation, good friends, faithful neighbors and the like.
The Word of God heals, His faith saves, His mercy endures forever. And that is reason enough to always give thanks in all things – whether we keep our jobs or not, whether governments feed and educate their poor or not, whether your children honor you or not, whether men lie and misbehave and drag us down or not, whether our synod, our country, or our families endure or not. We give thanks always in all things because even though Jesus Christ died, he did not stay dead. He rose for us. He lives for us. He gives to us His body and blood. He heals us both body and soul. The sadness and disappointment in this life is not all there is. For even as the worst and most horrendous day here is not as bad as an instant in hell, so also the very best day here with family and friends and good food, in peace and safety, cannot compare to what is to come.
For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of [clean] water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and [seed bearing] fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land in which you will eat [warm] bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land he has given you.
In Jesus’ + Name, Amen.
posted by Luther Memorial Chapel at
12/02/2005
