The focus of our Gratitude Matters.

This past Wednesday, I attended a Bible study, and we focused on the origin of Thanksgiving. There was so much information to help us understand the truth of what happened in those first years of our founders arriving in what would eventually become part of The United States. We discussed the bastardized version prevalent in our Country and being propagated in our public schools. The former is presented to conjure up a focus that mitigates gratitude and promotes racism and hatred. Whichever version each family chooses as their focus will change the direction of their gratitude. The truth of the holiday causes a reflection on the Providence of God. Believing the lie will foment an attitude of self-promotion and the feeling of victimization. This can cultivate the mentality that there may be a group of people who are owed something and not that everyone owes everything to how God developed one of the greatest nations in our times.

Reflecting on that proposition caused me to read and think of the healing of the ten lepers in Luke 17:11-19. As you read through these verses, you will recognize these lepers understood the Power of God in Jesus and the law of Moses, "they stood afar off," yet they "lifted their voices and said, 'Jesus, Master, have mercy on us." They wanted to get relief, but sadly, we will discover they had no desire for the one they cried out to. They had faith because they followed Jesus' instructions: "Go, show yourselves to the priests." They went before seeing the healing. That speaks volumes of how they believed, "And so it was as they went, they were cleansed." Read that again; they had to follow the instructions of Jesus, and as they did, they received their healing. What happens next helps us understand how the focus of our gratitude plays a role in examining what real faith looks like: "And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks..." They all followed Jesus' instructions and received relief from their pain, isolation, and loneliness, so they got what they wanted, but nine of them did not stop to thank Jesus for what was granted to them. The passage ends by telling us the one who returned, "And he was a Samaritan." This is interesting because a Samaritan would not be under the law of Moses, nor would a priest have allowed himself to be in the presence of an "unclean leper" who was also a "Samaritan."

Again, that spurred me to wonder if the same mentality of thanklessness in the nine, who were obviously Jews, came from a mindset of arrogance and feeling as if they were owed something from God due to being His holy people. God's word says, "Those who are forgiven much, love much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little." Is it possible that as long as the nine were lepers, they recognized their poverty, but as soon as they were healed, they saw themselves as privileged, not servants who were owed nothing and given a gift? That brings me to Luke 18:9:14, where Jesus communicates the parable of the "Pharisee and the Tax Collector." The attitude I am purporting to assign to the nine is seen in the Pharisee, who stood in arrogance, directing his gratitude to himself; self-aggrandization is pictured in his prayer, "... God, I thank You that I am not like other men - or even as this tax collector." He goes on to communicate all his worthiness through all his works and integrity. The tax collector understands all he is owed is nothing, so his prayer reflects his understanding that all he has been given and all he requests of God are because of the mercy of God.

When life is seen that way, our gratitude comes from a heart reflected in the Samaritan leper and the tax collector. We understand our needs are met, our daily bread is provided, and our healings from minor or significant sicknesses come from a gracious God. Life is lived in a way that Luke 17:10b reminds us, "We have done what is our duty to do." Father, you owe us nothing, and we owe you everything. For all our gifts, all our talents, all our family and friends. For EVERYTHING, You will be the focus of our gratitude because the focus of our gratitude matters.