PLEASE AND THANK YOU
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Scripture Reading: Luke 17:11-19
Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?”
Luke 17:17
The story of Jesus' healing of the ten lepers confirms a point that many of us know from being around young children: saying “thank you” does not come naturally to most of us. Often our practice of this vertical habit requires prompting and encouragement from others. If the statistics in today's Scripture reading are any indication, all of us are well rehearsed in the habit of asking God for help, but only 10 percent of us thank him for it. Some people have wondered why God expects to be thanked and praised so much. When we see that some people have the need to be constantly complimented, isn't that the very thing that makes them unlikable? C. S. Lewis struggled with this very point as a young Christian. The idea that God demanded to be praised all the time seemed to make Lewis all the more resistant to doing it. Then Lewis began to think through this a bit more. As he reflected on the nature of praise, he noticed that it involves much more than paying someone a compliment. He discovered that praise is connected to whatever it is we enjoy. It's not something added on to a happy experience; it's a vital part of the happiness itself. This is why thankful people are also joyful. Saying “thank you” to God gives us as much pleasure as it gives him.
Prayer
Dear Lord, we are often quick to ask for your help but not always so eager to thank you for it. Help us to be aware of all your gifts and to be grateful for each one. Amen.
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We can never really be thankful if we think we deserve good things, if we think that we are the center of the universe and that the world revolves around us. Why should we be thankful for what is ours by right? It is only when we realize how self righteous, arrogant, helpless, corrupt and undeserving we really are that we can begin to fathom the magnitude of God?s mercy and grace towards us. That realization in turn evokes the true feelings and expressions of thankfulness and praise to God for his unconditional love for us.
There is a deep and abiding feeling in my heart of God?s unfailing love for me in spite of all my sinfulness and unworthiness which yields a peace in my soul that defies expression. From those same depths there also spontaneously wells up in me a thankfulness to him that often brings tears of joy and gratitude. When a person is rescued from a fire or other life threatening situation, does that person have to be told to be thankful to the person that saved him? What would we think of a person who after being saved from tragedy told others that he deserved to be saved? What would we think of a coal miner who, after having been trapped in a mine for days, greeted his rescuers with a complaint wondering why it took them so long to get him out? Wouldn?t it be appropriate for the rescuer to implore the rescued party to be thankful for what had been done for him or her? It seems obvious that the rescuer did what was in his nature to do, and that the order given to be thankful was not for his own glory, but due to his observation of a deficiency in the rescued party.
God?s command for us to give him praise is not meant for his glory. God needs neither our thanks nor our love. God made us and knows that only when we are truly thankful to him and can humbly express gratitude for all that he has done for us, only then will we find the true joy and happiness that he originally intended for us to experience. Praise God from whom all blessing flow.
I have found that many times I will ask GOD ?why me.? Why did this bad thing have to happen to me, or why am I paying such consequences? Today I realize that I find myself only asking for God?s help in my hour of need. It?s only through such catastrophic events such as these that I find I seek God. This message truly speaks to my heart in that I don?t seek God as openly and as often as I should. I don?t give God the thanks he deserves for all the good days and positive things he has given me. I pray that God will help each and every one of us to realize his greatness in every aspect of our lives so that we may seek and praise him in everything we do.