The Healing of Gratitude
So the holidays are supposed to be the happiest time of the year, right? Time off of work and school, time with family and great food and presents and all that stuff. Isn’t it ironic that the holidays have some of the highest rates of sadness and tension and family fights? And I don’t want to oversimplify why that is, but I truly believe a big part of the reason is lack of gratitude. Last week we talked about the complaining of the Israelites in the wilderness. And we said that when we go down that road, that ungrateful spirit damages us both socially and spiritually. So lack of gratitude is like a poison. So last week was kind of a dark message.
Today we’re going to get much more positive. Because instead of the poison of ingratitude, I want to talk about the healing of gratitude. When we live out gratitude, in a certain way, it has a healing quality to it. It heals our inner selves; it heals our relationships with other people; it heals our homes. Gratitude is surprisingly powerful medicine. And here’s the amazing thing—and we so need to hear this four days before Thanksgiving: you get to choose! That’s the whole premise of this series: you get to choose whether to live as an ungrateful person or a grateful person. So ultimately it’s not about what life does to you; it’s about how you respond to life. And today’s passage highlights a very unlikely person who chose to be thankful.
Let’s look at the passage together: Luke chapter 17, starting in verse 11:
11 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
14 When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.
15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.
17 Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” This is the Word of God.
There’s a little line at the end of this story that doesn’t get much attention. In the very last verse, Jesus says to the one guy who came back: “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” Which is interesting—because all ten were healed, right? They were all made physically well…but apparently, there was a kind of wellness—a kind of healing—that only one of the guys experienced. Because it only comes through gratitude.
So here’s what I want to talk about today: in order to truly be well, deep in our souls, we need to understand three things: The Feeling of Gratitude, The Expressing of Gratitude, and The Recipient of Gratitude. So you might be in perfect physical health…but to have soul health you need to understand and experience the feeling of gratitude, the expressing of gratitude, and the recipient of gratitude.
So first let’s talk about The Feeling of Gratitude. Jesus is walking down the road, and here comes this group of ten scraggly-looking guys. The reason those guys are on that road is that they’re not allowed
to be in a village, because they have leprosy. Leprosy is extremely rare now, but it was common in the first century. Some of the symptoms are painful sores on the skin, swelling of joints, gradual blindness. But maybe the most damaging symptom is numbness. Lepers actually lose feeling in their hands and feet. And so they injure themselves and they don’t even feel it. So very often, lepers lose their toes and fingers. It’s a terrifying disease. And it’s a contagious disease. So there were very strict laws that quarantined lepers from the rest of society. Lepers understood social distancing way before we ever heard of the term. In fact, some people think the hardest thing about being a leper wasn’t the physical suffering; it was the social isolation.
So these ten lepers cry out to Jesus, “Master, have pity on us!” And Jesus says, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” Which sounds kind of dismissive, right? Like, “Get out of here.” But it’s not. The only reason a diseased person would go and show himself to a priest was because that diseased person believed he was healed. It was the priest’s job to do a little physical inspection and declare that person clean—which was the best news they could ever receive—because that meant they could re-join society. So these guys start walking toward the nearest synagogue, and on the way, something starts to happen. And Luke doesn’t give us many details, but try to picture this: open sores start to scab over; eyesight starts to sharpen; I don’t know if fingers and toes grew back, but they probably felt the sensation return in their extremities. For these ten guys, there was no doubt this disease was being reversed. Can you imagine?
And when they realized what was happening, nine of the guys pick up the pace—I mean, they can’t get to the priest fast enough. But one guy stops. It’s not that he doesn’t want to get to the priest, and be declared clean, and rejoin society. But this conviction grips his heart, that there’s actually something more important to take care of first. Did you ever have that—like, everybody else is going one way, and you just know you’re supposed to go a different way. And nothing can stop you. And I don’t know what the other nine guys said—“Man—where you going?” “I’ll catch up with you guys later!” And he goes running back to Jesus—and as he’s running, he can feel the ground under his feet, like he hasn’t felt it in years—and he finally gets to Jesus, and he throws himself at Jesus’ feet, and he says, “Lord, thank you.”
If we want to be truly healed, the first step is to feel gratitude.
The problem is, there is an arch-enemy of gratitude. You know what it is? Entitlement. Entitlement is a mindset that says: you owe me. My job owes me. The government owes me. The universe owes me. And if I don’t get what I’m owed, an injustice has been done. I’ve been wronged. If I do get what I’m owed, well, it’s only right. Nothing sucks the gratitude out of our hearts like a sense of entitlement.
This past summer we had a power outage. Remember that? I guess it was early or mid-August—there was a storm; some limbs came down; and most of North Jersey lost electricity. And the first night, it was kind of fun—some of our kids came by; we had dinner by candlelight; it was like an unplanned camping trip. But I have to be honest: the fun wore off pretty quick. The next day I waited in line for about 45 minutes to get gas for my little generator. That generator is only strong enough to power the fridge and few lights, so we were still without WiFi and TV and, worst of all, air conditioning. And it was August, so it was hot. Sleeping was rough—because if you opened the windows for some cool air, you were greeted by the roar of a neighborhood full of generators. And that lasted for a few days.
But here’s the point I want to make: if this was a test to see how we could handle a little bit of hardship, we middle-class, suburban Americans didn’t do too well. A friend of mine works for the power company, and he said while he was working crazy overtime to restore power, with the help of crews from all over the country, he got approached by random people on the street, angrily telling
him how he should do his job better. Suddenly we were all experts on power lines. Social media was seething with complaints. We simply could not believe that in 2020, civilized people could be forced to endure 3 days without central air and high-speed WiFi.
Have we really become that entitled? I think we have. So many things that didn’t even exist 25 years ago—like Wi-Fi, cell phones, next-day shipping, same-day shipping…we could probably make a list of 20 things that didn’t exist 25 years ago. And now, not only do they exist; we feel ripped off if we don’t get them. Right? What do you mean there’s no Wi-Fi in this restaurant? Are you guys in stone-age? That’s entitlement. And it’s always been part of human nature, but the more comforts and conveniences our culture gets, it’s easy to develop a strong sense of entitlement.
When I think about the one leper who came back, I’m pretty sure he didn’t have any sense of entitlement. If you think about it, he really had two strikes against him. Because not only was he a leper; he was a Samaritan. And there was a long history of bad blood between Jews and Samaritans. Years earlier, the Northern kingdom of Israel had broken off from Jerusalem, and over the years they intermarried with Gentiles. They had their own version of the Bible, their own temple…and the Jews despised them. So here was this Jewish rabbi named Jesus. And it seems likely that the other nine lepers were Jewish men—so maybe they thought they had a little leverage with Jesus. But not the Samaritan guy. He had no reason to think he would get anything good from this Jewish healer. Maybe that’s why, when the healing happened, he was so overwhelmed. He so didn’t think he had it coming. No sense of entitlement. So when it happened, he was just undone with gratefulness.
In theological terms, the opposite of an entitlement mindset is a grace mindset.
Entitlement says, “You owe me!” Grace says, “I’m not owed anything.”
Entitlement says, “I deserve this!” Grace says, “I don’t deserve a thing.”
Entitlement says, “This is my right!” Grace says, “This is a gift.”
Do you see the difference? So how do you stop feeling entitled and start truly feeling grateful? You recognize that everything in life is actually grace. The fact is, for three days in August, I lived in the security of a nice home—a little warmer than usual…but the fridge worked; a few lights worked; the water was running; the stove worked… I might not have had WiFi, but I had LTE on my cell phone. And a few times I got delicious food delivered right to my front door. Are you kidding me? It’s all grace.
So you say, “Okay, I’m starting to feel a little more grateful.” And that’s good! But it’s not enough just to feel gratitude. To be well in your soul, you have to do something about it. So let’s talk about The Expressing of Gratitude. For all we know, the other nine guys felt grateful too. I mean, they had just received an amazing miracle, and they were probably thankful. But only one guy acted on it.
In the 1990s there was a Harvard psychology professor named Shawn Achor, who conducted a massive study on happiness. People were asked to take five minutes at the end of every day, and write down three things they were thankful for. They didn’t have to be big things, but they had to be specific, like, “I’m thankful that I got to play with my dog in the park today.” “I’m thankful there was no traffic on the way home from work.” “I’m thankful for the sandwich I got at Jersey Mike’s today?” So that was it—every day, express thanks for three specific things, and do that for one week.
And here’s what they found—it’s pretty amazing. At the end of the week, the people who had practiced gratitude were significantly happier and less depressed. They tested them again after a month—and they had only done the writing-down exercise for a week—but a month later, they were even more joyful and content. And after three months, they were even more happy. It seemed to
snowball. And the only thing the researchers could figure is that that simple practice of writing down three thankful things actually trained their minds to search for the good in their lives. Isn’t that amazing? And similar results have been found in multiple other experiments.
There’s something about expressing your gratitude.
This is actually a recurrent theme in the New Testament. For example, Romans 1:21…For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. In other words, part of the essence of ungodliness is never expressing gratitude. And of course the other side of that coin is, when you’re healthy and whole, thankfulness has a lot to do with it. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 5:20 says always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. So there’s something about that act of expressing gratitude that bring health to our souls.
So here’s the challenge I want to give you: between now and a week from now, find a way to express your gratitude. I started this personal tradition maybe ten years ago. Right around this time of year, I try to carve out about an hour—it’s usually super early one morning when I can’t get back to sleep. And I intentionally think back through the year. And I make a list of things that God has done in my life and my family’s life over the past year. Things we got to experience; maybe a trip somewhere, or a new ministry venture he allowed me to be part of; a new friend he brought into my life; just signs of God’s grace. Some of you are thinking, “Um…my list would be kind of short for 2020.” You’re just not thinking hard enough. God’s grace is everywhere. So I try to make that list, and it usually takes up a page or two. And I do two things with that list. First, it’s an opportunity to express gratitude to God in specific ways. And then, I look for a moment to read through it with my family. So it’s a way to publicly give thanks. Last week we saw that ingratitude is contagious to the people around us; the good news is that gratitude is contagious, too.
So, maybe doing something like that would add a depth to your Thanksgiving this year. Or find another way to express your gratitude. Express it in writing; express it with your voice; express it on social media. Take that feeling you have and choose to put it out there.
So…ten guys were healed; one guy was so overcome with gratitude that he went out of his way to come back and express his gratitude. And here’s the last thing: it’s absolutely crucial whom he expressed it to.
So let’s talk about The Recipient of Gratitude. If you lived in the first century and you had leprosy, you got used to keeping your distance from people. Because you knew the rules, and you could just sense, when people saw you, they were afraid. They didn’t want to be contaminated. So at the beginning of the story, it’s interesting how these ten lepers approach Jesus. They still keep some distance, but they get as close as is socially acceptable, and they cry out to him. Maybe they had heard that Jesus was a different kind of rabbi—one who had mercy on social outcasts like them. One who included ethnically despised people, like Samaritans. There must have been something about Jesus’ reputation that told them it was safe to approach him.
And they were right! Because not only did Jesus not rebuke them or throw the rules at them or run from them, he healed them. So when the one guy felt such gratitude and wanted to express it, it wasn’t enough just to drop to his knees wherever he was and thank the universe, or thank some unnamed higher power. He knew the one who deserved his gratitude was Jesus.
The great British writer, G.K. Chesterton, said, “The worst moment for an atheist is when he is really thankful and has no one to thank.” And I do find this interesting about secular culture. Because pretty much everybody agrees that gratitude is a virtue, right? Nobody would argue against gratitude. But who are we supposed to thank? Other people? Yes. But when you remove God from the picture, there’s a massive piece missing.
To this thankful leper on his knees, Jesus says, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” See, the thing that made him truly well was that his faith was in Jesus. And his expression of gratitude came from that deep faith in Christ.
Do you know the story of Father Damien—sometimes known as Saint Damien? He was a priest from Belgium back in the 1800s. When he was 24 years old he moved to a leper colony in Hawaii. He bandaged their wounds. He embraced the bodies no one else would touch. He preached to people who would otherwise have been left alone. And under his leadership, the community was transformed. Laws started being enforced; shacks became painted homes; working farms were organized; schools were established. He also built 2,000 coffins by hand so that, when people died, they could be buried with dignity. He loved the people, and the people loved him for it.
Then one day he stood up to preach like he normally did. And he started his sermon with two words: "We lepers…." And everybody realized that this man who had been helping them was now one of them. And at age 49, he died of leprosy. Man, what an Christ-like example—don’t you think? It’s such a great model of what Jesus has done for all of us.
Because think about this: at our core, we are all spiritual lepers. Right? We have this disease, and that’s what makes us envy and covet—and kinds of other destructive things. We have spiritual leprosy. It’s called “sin.” And it makes us spiritually blind, and spiritually numb; it disintegrates us as people. And it actually quarantines us from God—because He’s holy and perfect, and we’re not.
And that’s why Jesus moved into the leper colony. As perfect God, he took on human flesh, and he entered our world. And he included outcasts, and he ate with sinners, and he embraced people that nobody else would embrace. But most importantly, he took on our real disease—our sin—and he allowed himself to be infected by it. He never committed a single sin himself; but he willingly took on all of ours. And on the cross, the disease killed him. And guys, that’s where the real healing comes from. Isaiah 53:5 says he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. Jesus allowed himself to be killed by our disease.
See, the healing of those ten lepers was awesome, but it was really just a preview of the ultimate healing that would happen when Jesus went to the cross.
So here’s the bottom line: if you want to be well in your soul, you have to feel thankful, because you realize everything is grace; you have to express that thankfulness instead of keeping it inside; but ultimately, you have to realize that the giver of all grace and all healing is Jesus. He’s the one who deserves all our thanks. And it’s by faith in him that we are made well.
A few years ago, the writer Anne Lamott was asked to write an article for Parade magazine for Thanksgiving. It was a beautiful article. She started it like this:
We didn’t say grace at our house when I was growing up because my parents were atheists. I knew even as a little girl that everyone at every table needed blessing and encouragement, but my family didn’t ask for it. Instead, my parents raised glasses of wine to the chef: Cheers. Dig in. But I had a terrible secret, which was that I believed in
God, a divine presence who heard me when I prayed, who stayed close to me in the dark.
So Anne Lamott grew up and wound up becoming a Christian. And so did her two brothers. And as the article continues, she describes what it’s like, now, when they gather for a meal. I love this description…
We say thank you for the miracle that we have stuck together all these years, in spite of it all; that we have each other’s backs, and hilarious companionship. We say thank you for the plentiful and outrageous food. We pray to be mindful of the needs of others. We savor these moments out of time, when we are conscious of love’s presence, of Someone’s great abiding generosity to our dear and motley family, these holy moments of gratitude. And that is grace.
Gratitude truly can heal our hearts. And it can heal our families. And our homes. But remember, it’s ultimately not our gratitude that does the healing! As we turn upward and give thanks to God, he’s the one who pours out the healing. So as we close today, let’s gather around the communion table, and thank God for his greatest gift.
