In
the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost +
I will
admit it, the Thanksgiving sermon is one of my least favorite ones to
write. It’s just a rough sermon to write. It’s on thanksgiving.
So… what do I as a preacher do? Do I stand up here and wag a
finger at y’all saying, “You better be more thankful”? I don’t
want to go around just dropping law bombs – I want to preach the
Gospel. Do I stand up here and spout off platitudes about how
wonderful life is? Well, I can, but we aren’t ostriches, we don’t
stick our heads in the sand and ignore things that are bad and rough
in the world – and there’s been plenty of that lately. Do I go
all sappy and gooey and emotional – maybe sigh and wax poetically
about how thankful I am for my family and how great it is to be in
Herscher? That would be so sticky sweet I’d want to throw up. It
seems as though if we try to just preach on giving thanks, it either
becomes some sort of moralistic diatribe, or some pie in the sky
denial of reality, or just tacky emotionalism – and I don’t like
any of those three. So instead, let’s be blunt, let’s be honest,
let’s consider this harsh world and how our Lord confronts it.
“On
the way to Jerusalem, He was passing along between Samaria and
Galilee. And as He entered a village, He was met by ten lepers, who
stood at a distance, and lifted up their voices saying, ‘Jesus,
Master, have mercy on us.’” Those
lepers are in a pathetic state. I don’t know if there was anyone
to be more pitied in the ancient world than lepers. You were cut off
from society – you had to live on the outskirts – and you never
could really see the people you love again, even though they were so
close, just inside the city walls. It would be horrifying. So –
what to do? Tell these lepers to count their blessings? Start
talking about how wonderful the past year has been for them? Nope.
First things first – we need to recognize what sad, horrible shape
these lepers are in. Because they know it, they see Christ and they
call out for mercy. They don’t pretend, they don’t whitewash
anything – they see their lack and they call out to God for
deliverance.
So,
what of you? Do you see your own struggles, the trials that you
face? I guess some of these are obvious. The world seems a mite
dangerous right now. Some of us aren’t quite as healthy at the
moment as we have been. I’m sure jobs or family matters are rough
for many of us. There are some things that everyone might know…
and some things, well, very few people, if anyone else knows them.
That private hurt that you don’t share. That stubborn temptation,
that vile sin that keeps jabbing at you like a thorn in your flesh.
That disappointment that you’d never breath a word of lest you hurt
people you love. Martin Luther’s last words were, “We are all
beggars before God.” Let’s modify that a bit today – we are
all lepers in this world. We all have things in this life in this
fallen world that are horrible and terrible… and seeing this, we
cry out to Christ for mercy.
“When
He saw them, He said to them, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’ And as they went they were cleansed.”
Again, astonishing what Christ does here. Lepers couldn’t enter
town, they couldn’t be among people – but if they somehow got
better, the priest could examine them and let them back into the
community. And Christ tells them to go – and as they start
walking, they are still diseased, they are still lepers… yet Christ
says go, and they go… and on the way they are healed. Likewise,
dear Christian friends – Christ knows your pains, your sufferings,
your hardships. He knows your sin and all the impacts of your sin –
and He says to you, “I have suffered and died in your place – now
go on your way, show yourselves to the Father as one who is pure and
righteous in My Name.” And that’s how we live our lives – we
are moving ever closer and closer to being fully restored to the
community, to the heavenly kingdom… and we go confidently, knowing
that Christ Jesus has sent us, knowing that by the power of His Word
our sin is forgiven, knowing that by the power of His Word the trials
we face will be endured.
“Then
one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising
God with a loud voice, and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet,
giving Him thanks.” The leper gives
thanks when? When he sees that he has been healed – when he
realizes what Christ Jesus has done for him – that’s when he has
joy and thankfulness and delight. Likewise, dear friends,
thankfulness will not come if I wag the finger at you. Thankfulness
will not come if I pretend that nothing ever stinks, or if I get all
sappy and maudlin. Rather this. Consider your sin – now, know
that you are forgiven by Christ Jesus. You are healed. You might
have some of the junk of this life still clinging to you, but Christ
has declared you clean, and on the last day you will rise new and
clean and spotless and pure. You are healed. And it is in seeing
this, in knowing the depths of Christ’s mercy that thankfulness
will simply and naturally arise. Thankfulness comes when we realize
what we have is all gift… and yes, this holds true for all the
things in our lives – we deserve none of it… but God gives, gives
blessings even to us unworthy sinners in this sinful world, and He
gives freely… and He gives not just for this brief time here, He
gives not just fallen stuff in this fallen world, but He gives
eternal life.
“Then
Jesus answered, ‘Were not 10 cleansed? Where are the 9? Was no
one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?’”
The danger for us is to stop seeing God and His Word at work in our
lives, to stop seeing the power of forgiveness and life. We can
delude ourselves into thinking we have earned our daily bread, after
all we worked hard for it. But seeing forgiveness, seeing that free
grace – it is an astonishing thing. “And
He said to him, ‘Rise and go your way; your faith has made you
well.’” The leper saw, rejoiced,
understood what was going on, and then there is joy and praise and
thankfulness. Likewise, I encourage you this day to see and know the
mercy God has given you – Christ has given you the gift of faith,
and you are healed. You may not see it fully now, the dross of this
life may distract you – but Christ has declared you forgiven, He
has rescued you from your sin and this sinful world and given you new
life, and You are His and shall be His for all eternity. You are
clean and forgiven by Him – and this is a joy that no one can take
away from you. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Ghost +
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