Ecumenical Thanksgiving Service
St. Michael’s Roman Catholic Church
North Andover, Massachusetts
The Rev. Stephanie Chase Wilson


“You are to be praised, O God, in Zion; You crown the year with your goodness, and your paths overflow with plenty.” [Ps. 65:1, 12].  Amen.

My grandparents were German immigrants, good and faithful Lutherans who were utterly devoted to their new country. One the many things Oma and Opa loved about the United States was its celebration of Thanksgiving. They were delighted with the idea of an entire day devoted to giving thanks to God. It became a big deal in the Undritz household. Along with Christmas and Easter, Thanksgiving rounded out the great Trinity of Christian holy days. They would rave about the holiday to the family back in the old country. Oma became adept at cooking turkey accompanied by all the traditional trimmings: sour red cabbage and spaezel. For that day, along with all other Americans regardless of heritage, we were colonial pilgrims giving thanks to God.

Scripture gives us many examples of God’s many gifts and reasons to be thankful. Just look at Psalm 65.  It begins with the statement “You are to be praised, O God.”  It then goes on to list all the blessings and joys we receive from God’s hands.  “You prepare the grain, for so you provide for the earth . . . May the meadows cover themselves with flocks, and the valleys cloak themselves with grain; let them shout for joy and sing” [Ps. 65:10, 14].  What an amazing vision of abundance! God gives us so much, how can we not be grateful?

Well, our lesson from Mark gives one example of this. Jesus is passing through the region between Samaria and Galilee when ten lepers call out to him for mercy. The immediate problem here is that we know at least one, and perhaps other lepers are Samaritans. Now Samaritans and Israelites are enemies, so it is a real lesson in hope that they call out to Jesus. But Jesus, without any fanfare simply tells them to go to the Temple. This was the expected procedure for someone who is cured from leprosy, that they show themselves to the priest in the Temple for confirmation of their healing and for reintroduction into the community. Trouble is, this is the procedure for Israelites, not Samaritans. But they all dutifully follow Christ’s instructions, Israelite and Samaritan, and they all are immediately healed. But only one of them, when he realizes this miracle, comes back to thank Jesus for what has been done. And this one is a Samaritan, the one who should be Jesus’ enemy. But he realizes that he has been given an amazing gift. His life has been completely turned around, his gratitude overflows, and he lays down on the ground before Christ in thanks and praise. Yet the other nine also experienced this miracle, and did what they were told, but they did not give thanks. I would suggest that by not doing so, they missed out on full healing.

What does it mean to give thanks? One point is that giving thanks is an inherently communal activity. It comes out of being in relationship, whether with another human being or with God. Expressing thanks declares one’s gratitude and joy for what someone else has done. It affects not only the giver of the thanks, but the giver of the gift, who finds their original act enhanced and completed. The act comes back full circle. When the Plimouth pilgrims celebrated the first Thanksgiving, they were giving thanks for their very lives. They recognized that they had survived those first three years only by the grace of God who worked through their neighbors, the Native Americans. They wanted this relationship with God to grow and continue. When we thank God either individually or as a community of faith, we are underscoring and strengthening our relationship with the Almighty.  

But there’s another aspect to giving thanks which I think runs through all our scripture readings. When we give thanks, we are recognizing not only the gift of the giver, we are also recognizing that we ourselves have been accepted, affirmed, and perhaps even loved. An act would not be done for us or a gift given, generally, unless the giver felt us worthwhile. By saying thank you, we are acknowledging the giver’s statement of our value.

Some people do not like it when others do things for them. They don’t believe themselves to be worth the effort. Being put in a position to have to say thank you is embarrassing, because it means acknowledging the other person finds them valuable.

The tenth leper came back to thank Jesus not only because he had been healed, but because through this action, Jesus showed that the Samaritan had worth. Jesus does not distinguish between humans. Even foreigners, even enemies, like the Samaritan. All people are valuable to God. YOU are valuable to God. By giving thanks, the tenth leper recognized, and verbally articulated, that he knew he was accepted and loved by God.

At the end of the lesson, we are told his faith had made him well. But wasn’t the leper already healed? Yes, but the text is making a distinction between healing and wellness. The nine lepers were healed of their leprosy, they had physical healing, but they did not have internal wellness, and belief in their inherent worth. In their minds they were still outcasts. The tenth leper, however, was healed of leprosy AND understood himself to be accepted and loved by God. The tenth leper was made well and whole. By saying thanks he also engaged in a relationship with Jesus, giving opportunity to continue the nurturing of that wholeness. When we give thanks to God, we are acknowledging not only the abundance with which God has blessed us, we are acknowledging our value in God’s eyes.

Yet in these days of economic uncertainty, many of us are worried. Stories of abundance seem unconnected to our situation. People are getting laid off, others feel threatened. This is a time of scarcity, not plenty. If God finds us so valuable, shouldn’t the Almighty bump up the stock market a bit? How about a gift of ending foreclosures and saving pensions? Do we really have something to be thankful for?

I am reminded of the story of Martin Rinkart who was a German Lutheran pastor in the early 17th century. He lived during the 30 years war and during that time his home and town were routinely raided by soldiers. Then the plague came and wiped out 8,000 people, including all the other clergy in town. Pastor Rinkart ministered to everyone and did more than 4,000 funerals one year by himself, as many as 50 a day. He lost his wife during this time. This was then followed by a massive famine, and again Rinkart rallied assistance for people, often to the detriment of his own family. Then came further battles and military occupations. When finally there was hope that the war would end, despite all his hardships, Rinkart wrote a hymn. It is the hymn, “Now Thank we All Our God,” which we will sing in a few minutes.

Pastor Rinkart is a man who suffered tremendous hardship, and yet was able through it all to know his worth and God’s great love for him. He no doubt suffered dark nights of the soul, but at the end was able to sing thanks to God for his many blessings.
Here is a man who may or may not have had physical health, but he was well. He found God’s abundance in the midst of what we would consider scarcity. He focused not on what he didn’t have, but on what he did. Rinkart’s ability to give thanks shows that he was whole. He knew God found him valuable. Just look at some of the words of the hymn: speaking of God Rinkart sings, “Who from our mothers’ arms has blessed us on our way, With countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.” He may have lived through tremendous scarcity, but he still could count God’s blessings and know God’s love for him.

This is actually great news for us! This means that wholeness is NOT dependant on external factors. We don’t have to wait for the stock market to rise for us to know abundance, and be assured of God’s love and blessings. The simple act of thanks for even a small gift in a time of scarcity brings enormous rewards. Gratitude shifts the focus from what we don’t have to what we do. It calls us into relationship with the Almighty. And, it reminds us that we are valuable and loved by God. And in that act we will find healing and wholeness. Giving thanks benefits not only the giver of the gift, but the giver of the thanks.

I think Oma and Opa were on to something when they adopted Thanksgiving as a holy day in their family calendar. Giving thanks to God is worth lifting up as a practice not only this week, but year round. So this Thursday, as we are gathered round our turkey, or ham, or tofu-bird let us count our blessings, thank God, and remember that we would not be here if God did not love us first.
Amen.