Why Thanksgiving is Important to God

Luke 17

St. John’s United Church of Christ
Greeley, Colorado
November 17, 2024
Rev. Juvenal Cervantes

It is a glorious and wonderful thing to celebrate the birth of Jesus. We should do so every day. But Thanksgiving is the one observance which is commanded by our Lord, absolutely mandated by the Scriptures: “give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5.18). Thanksgiving is the will of God.

Why is thanksgiving so important to God? How can it be more important to us? Today’s message teaches this simple fact: thanksgiving is the key to the presence and power of God. The power you need for your life and problems today. Our story will show us how to use that key this morning.

Jesus and his disciples are on their way to Jerusalem and his death and resurrection when they encounter “ten men who had leprosy.”

Leprosy in the Bible could be Hansen’s disease, a bacterial disease which affects the nerves and upper respiratory tract, producing skin lesions and damaging skin, nerves, limbs and eyes. But the word also applied to a large variety of skin ailments such as psoriasis.

Fearing contagion, people isolated lepers from society (Leviticus 13:45-46; Numbers 5:2-4), so they lived together for protection and provision of needs.

They had apparently heard of Jesus’ healing ministry, including his compassion for lepers (Luke 5:12-15), so they stood at a distance and called to him, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” (v. 13).

When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” This was the action required of a leper who had been healed of his leprosy, so the priest could certify him to be clean and allow him to rejoin society. In other words, he asked them to believe that they were healed and act accordingly. When they received his healing power through such faith, “they were cleansed.” Faith does not earn the blessing of God, but it is needed to receive such grace and mercy.

Then “one of them,” the Samaritan, did three things:

He praised God with a loud voice.

He threw himself at Jesus’ feet. This was an admission that he was now his Lord.

He thanked him. By crediting him with his miraculous healing, he was acknowledging him as God.

Jesus responded: “Rise and go; your faith has made you well” (v. 19). It has “restored” him or “made him whole.” The nine were healed physically; the thankful Samaritan was healed spiritually and completely.

Thanksgiving makes us whole.

Why I join the nine

Self-sufficiency is the enemy of Thanksgiving.

In our story, the nine took the actions which led to their healing. Jesus did not touch them—this was their work. It’s easy to think that I have earned what I have, that my prosperity is the result of my hard work. But it’s not so.

If we were to shrink the world’s population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all existing human ratios remaining the same, that village would contain the following: 57 Asians, 21 Europeans, 14 from the Western hemisphere, and 8 Africans. 52 would be female, 48 male. 6 would possess 59% of the world’s wealth. 80 would live in substandard housing; 70 would be unable to read; 50 would suffer from malnutrition. Do you know how many would have a college education? One. How many would own a computer? One.

Did you deserve to have physical abilities and not challenges? To be born in America and not North Korea? To have parents who would love you and not abuse you? To have the privileges and opportunities you enjoy today? When was the last time you thanked God for the circumstances and provisions you enjoy each day?

Busyness is the enemy of thanksgiving.

The lepers had much to do. They needed to be examined by the priests and readmitted to society. Then they had to find their families, begin life with them again, find and begin jobs—in short, do all the things which would reinitiate life. They were too busy to return and give thanks to Jesus.

It’s easy for me to be the same way. We are busy people, aren’t we? Have you heard of Sink Eaters Anonymous? It’s a support group for people who are so busy, they eat most of their meals while standing over the kitchen sink to speed things up. I once heard about an executive who ate his lunch while making his way through the line in the company’s kitchen—when it came time to pay, he was finished with his meal. I confess to you that my first thought was admiration.

When was the last time you made time for thanksgiving to God?

Spiritual ignorance is the enemy of thanksgiving. In our text, only one was “made whole.” The others missed all that God had for them.

I don’t give thanks because I don’t realize how much I need to. What are the benefits of gratitude?

Why join the one

Thanksgiving is required by Scripture. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 tells us to give thanks not “for” all circumstances, but “in” them. Jesus in Garden sweat drops of blood; on the cross he cried, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” The Bible does not say that all things are good, but that God works through all things for good (Romans 8:28).

Why is thanksgiving required in all things?

Thanksgiving leads us into the presence of God. Psalm 100: we “enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise.”

The “gates” of the Temple were the first entry point; the “courts” were the area where worship was given. When we worship the Lord, giving thanks to him, we are able to enter past the gates and into the courts of the Almighty. This is how we enter his presence, and experience his power. This is how we meet with God. In this way and no other. Thanksgiving unlocks the gates of heaven. It is their only key.

The “songs of ascent” were sung for just this purpose. Psalms 120-134 were sung by the people as they ascended to Jerusalem (2500 feet above sea level) from the valleys below and then up the steps to the Temple. Some of these steps remain—the very steps on which Jesus climbed. They are fascinating—the builders constructed them with two normal steps, then a long step; two normal steps, then a long step. The result was that the people were forced to go slowly and reverently, thinking and praying and praising as they went.

They literally came into the courts of God with thanksgiving.

Praise leads to the power of God.

Is Thanksgiving a holiday or a holy day for you? Is it an annual event or a daily experience? When you see who God is, and what he does in the past, present, and future, can you hold back your thanks and praise? Does he not deserve our attitude of gratitude, thanksgiving as a daily experience and lifestyle? This is how you experience God, in all his holiness and power, grace and glory. This is the one holiday God requires.