Psalm
118:1, Luke 17:11-19
Picture with me a Peanuts comic strip.
Lucy is feeling sorry for herself and she laments, "My life is a drag. I'm
completely fed up. I've never felt so low in my life."
Her little brother Linus tries to console
her and says, "Lucy, when you're in a mood like this, you should try to
think of things you have to be thankful for; in other words, count your
blessings."
“Ha!” Lucy scoffs. “That's a good one! I
could count my blessings on one finger! I've never had anything and I never
will have anything. I don't get half the breaks that other people do. Nothing
ever goes right for me! And you talk about counting blessings! You talk about
being thankful! What do I have to be thankful for?"
"Well,” Linus ventures, “for one thing,
you have a little brother who loves you."
With that, Lucy runs and hugs her little
brother Linus as she cries tears of joy, and while she's hugging him tightly,
Linus says, "Every now and then, I say the right thing."
And right now I'm going to say the right
thing to you: You have a God who loves you.
Now I realize that that news doesn’t
necessarily fix everything. It doesn’t magically change the reality of our
lives. This year has been hard not just for some of us, but for all of us.
Pandemic, politics, natural disasters, the continuing struggle for equity and
justice, economic hardships, separation, loss, grief, anxiety...the list is
long. Everyone has a story to tell. And add to that, as we enter into the
holiday season, all the hopes and dreams and expectations that will not come to
pass. It has been a hard year.
Yet even so, whatever the situation,
there is more. There is something foundational that holds us. Something that is
greater and stronger and surer than anything of this world. Something that
sustains us at all times, in all places. And that something is Love.
Psalm 118 puts it this way, Give thanks to the Lord for he is good;
God’s love endures forever.
When it’s another day at home and
feelings of anxiety and loneliness overwhelm...Give thanks to the Lord for he is good; God’s love endures forever.
When the sky is blue and the beauty of
nature fills the senses...Give thanks to
the Lord for he is good; God’s love endures forever.
When struggling with a difficult
relationship that seems impossible to resolve...Give thanks to the Lord for he is good; God’s love endures forever.
When someone reaches out in care and
concern with a call, a text, an email...Give
thanks to the Lord for he is good; God’s love endures forever.
When health is failing, when a diagnosis
is grim, when death overcomes...Give
thanks to the Lord for he is good; God’s love endures forever.
Whatever this moment in life holds for
you, whatever is going on, this also is true - God loves you and that love
endures forever. It will never falter or fail. It is always there for you.
Outward circumstances may not change, but if we are willing, God’s love can
change our inward spirit. And for that we can give thanks.
And what’s amazing about that is that as
we do so, in the act of giving thanks, we open ourselves up for the Holy Spirit
to transform us. We don’t give thanks and praise to God because God needs it.
We give thanks and praise to God because we need it. The natural flow of life
always begins with God pouring His love/Her love into our hearts. Our ongoing
task is to notice. But that’s hard because our nature is to get used to things.
We become so accustomed to the way things are that we stop seeing things. But when
we seek to give thanks, when we intentionally practice gratitude, it puts us in
a mind to notice and make visible once again.
So I ask you, where is God’s love being
poured into your life right now? What people, experiences, and things in your
life are helping or supporting you in some way? Maybe those blessings are easy
to count or maybe not. Perhaps at this moment God’s love is pouring into your
life with the simple, but most profound gift of breath. For life and existence
is a pure gift of love. And as we come to see all the ways that God’s love
flows into our lives what naturally wells up is a feeling of appreciation and
gratitude - a feeling which is best expressed and not kept inside.
We see this in the story of the ten
lepers. All of them were healed. Only one, however, saw, noticed, let what
happened sink in enough to turn back to give thanks. And in doing so that one
was not only healed in body but also in soul.
As we celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday
this year, it will likely be different than all others. For most of us it will
be smaller, quieter, less than what we would like. Some, I know, will celebrate
alone. Please remember that it is just a meal. There will be other meals, other
celebrations, other times of togetherness, that we will enjoy both in this
world and the next. We know this as people of faith. And we know that the
invitation to give thanks is not limited to one particular meal or one
particular day. As people of faith we know that it is a good and right and
joyful thing to give thanks always and everywhere. And as we do the outpouring
of our gratitude makes us well. You have a God that loves you. So let us Give thanks to the Lord for he is good;
God’s love endures forever.
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