HOW TO SAY THANKS ON THANKSGIVING

    I don't know about you, but I find  Thanksgiving to be one of the most difficult times of the year. I mean, other than saying, "we ought to be thankful," what is there to say?

   That is where the problem is I think. Giving thanks or really, being able to say thanks with a real sense that you are really grateful. It’s not something that you can just conjure up because it is the thing to do, you know, like your mom reminding you to say thank you when someone gives or does something for you. It’s those times when you say thanks that it really does not mean a thing because you were prompted to do it or the occasion called for it so you just did it out of habit.

    So how do we approach Thanksgiving? I can't say I've got the whole thing figured out, but I've found a few clues in Luke's story Luke 17:11-19 of the 10 lepers that's often the story we think about for Thanksgiving.

    Most of us are probably familiar with the story: ten lepers are healed; one returns, and it's a Samaritan no less. Okay, so one way to go is to lift up the Samaritan as an example. Trouble is, most of us hate examples like this, because they just make us feel guilty.

    What's more interesting, I think, is the fact that all ten were healed. All ten, even the nine who didn't return to say "thanks."

    So what made the Samaritan different? He noticed. That's pretty much it. Oh, I know, he returned to say thanks once he noticed. But I think that was kind of inevitable, or even almost involuntary. I mean, once you notice something spectacular, it's hard not to say something like . "I've got good news; the cancer is in remission"  for example.

    I think it was like that for the Samaritan: once he realized he'd been healed, he couldn't help but turn back and share his joy and thanksgiving with Jesus.

    Thanksgiving is like that. When it's genuine, it's spontaneous, even involuntary -- you recognize you've been blessed and can't help but sharing your joy through thanksgiving.

So the Samaritan turns back to say "thanks." He knows he's been given a gift and can't help turning around to saying something. And in doing so he's given a second gift, as he leaves his encounter with Jesus not only healed but also blessed.

    Blessed in his own recognition of healing, blessed at being drawn into deeper relationship with the one he thanks, blessed at hearing himself commended for having great faith.

    Imagine the difference that must have made in his life. He, a Samaritan, being commended by a Jewish rabbi for having great faith, faith sufficient to effect healing.

    That's the way thanksgiving always works -- in giving thanks for a gift given we are blessed again.

    So how does all this help us this thanksgiving?

Two things.

    First, after learning and understanding the teaching about the nature of gratitude and thanksgiving -- which is certainly worth doing, if briefly -- then you need to move to this issue of noticing. For those with eyes to see, God's blessings are all around us. And as we give thanks for them, we notice even more and are blessed yet again. We live in an age governed by a sense of "scarcity" and an ethos of "looking out for number one." A simple word of gratitude opens us up to world of abundance, mercy, and grace. It may seem a small thing -- noticing and thanking -- but it's the first step to setting in motion a cycle of gratitude and grace.

    Second, after we learn this, try modeling. That is, try noticing what God did. . Share  some of the things you're thankful for, some of the places you've encountered God's blessing. Even more, notice what God has done all around you. Tell your loved ones and friends  what you are thankful for about them, about your life together, and the world you share. Having been noticed with gratitude, they will find it easier to gratefully notice in return.

    This Thanksgiving, try some of this and watch the blessings flow, to you, and those around you. Above all…make sure you truthfully  thank God for everything He does.

    Blessed Thanksgiving! 

    

    Pastor Coutts

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