THE GRATITUDE JOURNAL

A Sermon for Thanksgiving Eve
November 21, 2007
by Pastor Laura Gentry

Luke 17:11-19
On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.” (NRSV)

Ah yes, on Thanksgiving Eve, it is fitting to hear the story of the ten lepers and how they responded to God’s gift. In this story is a powerful, timeless message about gratitude that can enhance our Thanksgiving holiday and our whole lives if we are open to receive it.

Let’s begin at the beginning, shall we? Here we have ten people with leprosy, a terrible skin disease that causes limbs and digits to lose their circulation, deteriorate, decay and eventually fall off. Not a pretty picture, is it? What a terrible situation it would be to have this communicable disease! Not only would you experience the physical pain, but you’d also have the social stigma of being declared “unclean” and made to live outside the city along the Samaritan/Galilean border. Here, you would not only find Israelite lepers, but Samaritan ones as well, who were even more hated because they did not share the same religious values and they were of mixed heritage—and this was considered against God’s law. So in this story, Jesus is stumbling upon a group of people who are hurting, both physically and socially—abandoned by everyone they love.

And what does Jesus do with these ugly, limb-losing outcasts? Did he run away from them like everyone else did? That would be the logical thing to do. I mean, who wants to catch leprosy?

No, Jesus doesn’t follow the rules. He breaks them by coming into contact with the lepers. He breaks the rule of staying away from lepers AND he breaks the rule of staying away from Samaritans. In fact, by just speaking with them, Jesus goes against his entire tradition. His actions declare that ritual and ceremonial laws are not important issues before God. Jesus is demonstrating that God accepts each and every person, regardless of their situation, and invites us all into a relationship—a community of people in which compassion comes ahead of tradition. By healing them, Jesus pours God’s unmerited grace upon them. It must have been overwhelming for them.

But what happens to them when they see that their skin is restored and they are no longer plagued with leprosy? Doesn’t it make sense to go thank the guy who healed them, who gave them back their lives? At the very least, my mother would say, they should have send a thank you note!

What happened to nine of them, we’ll never know. They might have been so excited to be healed that they ran off to be reunited with their families and communities. All that this scripture tell us is that they didn’t bother to give thanks. They were given a miraculous gift of grace and they ran off with their gifts without so much as a thank you.

Ah, but one did. One man came back. He came back praising God with a loud voice. In my mind’s eye, he was also dancing—showing his thankfulness with great exuberance! Then, he prostrates himself before Jesus. This means he lays all the way down with his face in the dirt to show humility and gratitude. What an amazing display of thanksgiving!

Then, the gospel writer throws in this little zinger: “He was a Samaritan.” The guy an ancient audience would have voted least likely to succeed is the one who does succeed in thanking God. Who would ‘a thunk it? The one Samaritan in the bunch was the only one who came back to give thanks.

Jesus acknowledges this man and tells him “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.” Your faith has made you well. So that must mean that giving thanks has something to do with faith and that the two of them together bring about wellness. The moral of the story, it seems, then, is that thankfulness is good for you.

Tomorrow, our country celebrates the national holiday of Thanksgiving. We have developed a tradition of thankfulness and feasting based upon the early European Pilgrims and their gratefulness for their survival in the new land of America, and for the kind hospitality of the natives. What the Pilgrims have given us is an awareness of how gratitude forms the basis of community and life. 

Elie Wiesel, an award-winning author who survived the Holocaust, said, “when a person doesn’t have gratitude, something is missing in his or her humanity.  A person can almost be defined by his or her attitude toward gratitude.”  Sounds pretty important, doesn’t it? But how can we find gratitude? how can we develop thankfulness? How can we be like that one leper and like the early Pilgrims who found a way to be truly grateful for the grace of God?

Gratitude, scientists tell us, is hard to hold on to over time. We can start out feeling very thankful for something and then it dissipates like the morning dew. Members of a newlywed couple, for example, may start out really delighted with one another, infinitely grateful for one another. And then within a few years, they do nothing but grumble and complain about the other—as if they were not a blessing to one another but just another burden.

This is bad news. We need gratitude and we need it to last. You see, science proves Jesus right by demonstrating that gratitude is good for us. It is essential for a happy life. In research done by Robert Emmons and Michael McCullough, those who kept a daily gratitude journal experienced higher levels of emotional and physical well-being.

I’m sure you’ve noticed that I’ve been writing a lot of newsletter articles on gratitude recently. That’s because I keep discovering the amazing power of gratitude in my own life.

In a book by Tal Ben-Shahar called Happier, I read about a gratitude assignment and decided to test it out on myself. Ben-Shahar explained that you should get a notebook to be your gratitude journal and at the end of each day, reflect back upon the day’s events and write down five things for which you feel grateful. They can be anything big or small: a meaningful conversation, an important task accomplished, a good meal. It doesn’t matter what you write, just do it—every day. Five things and as you write them down, think about them and bring to mind the positive emotions associated with those things or events. It only takes 30 days to form a new habit so in a month, you can cultivate a stronger attitude of gratitude.

I am happy to report that it worked on me! I’ve always considered myself to be a thankful person and I give God thanks daily but this exercise really did make me more grateful. It makes my mind more alert to things for which to give thanks. In my down time, like as I’m driving home, I automatically begin thinking about what I’ll write in my gratitude journal and I don’t just think of five things, I usually think of at least 25. Still, I only write down 5 things a day and it takes less than 5 minutes to do at bedtime. I keep my little journal and pen right on the night stand so I won’t forget. It is extremely easy to do.

I got so excited about this exercise and the dramatic effects that it has, that I went out and got you each a gratitude journal! That’s right. We’re going to hand them out right now. I would like you to open to the first page and write the date at the top. Today is 11-21-07. Now quickly call to mind five things for which you are thankful and write them down so that they all fit on one page. When you’ve finished, turn to the next page and write down 11-22-07. Tomorrow night, I want you to write down five more things. Congratulations, you have just started a gratitude journal! And believe me, I AM going to be checking in with you to see that you continue this practice. I am eagerly anticipating your stories as you see what cultivating a deeper sense of gratitude will do for you.

This Thanksgiving, I’m here to tell you, we cannot afford to miss being thankful. Our hearts need gratitude—it is good for what ails us. Jesus knew this, the Samaritan leper knew this, the Pilgrims knew this and scientists know this. The question is do we want to miss out like the nine lepers or do we want to praise God with a loud voice and know that joy of being thankful for the grace bestowed upon us? It is my prayer that these little gratitude journals in your hands will be a spiritual tool to put you on the thankfulness track that you will cultivate a deeper attitude of gratitude that will transform you and those around you—not just this Thanksgiving, but always.

And now, may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.


© 2007 Laura E. Gentry