Thanksgiving as Worship (Luke 17:11-19)

[Read Luke 17:11-19]

One of the biggest criticisms of the younger generation is their entitlement mentality. People get frustrated with them saying, “They think they deserve to be handed everything on a silver platter.” Yet, I think, if we’re truly honest with ourselves, deep down inside, we’re all pretty entitled. We simply don’t verbalize it. 

We all have a tendency to walk through life thinking we deserve what is given to us. We think we deserve to drive a car that doesn’t break down all the time. We think we deserve to live a life free of disease and heartbreak. We think we deserve to have a job that pays us a decent salary.

Think about it for a moment, what begins to run through your head the moment your car breaks down? “Come on! Not again! I don’t deserve this!” Or, what runs through your mind when trials come into your life? “Really God!? Why does this always happen to me? I don’t deserve this!” Now, sometimes we actually say that “I don’t deserve this” part, but most times we simply think it. We don’t let it slip from our mouths because we know that we shouldn’t say it. 

Yet, when we begin to look at the world through the lens of scripture—when we begin to look at our lives through scripture—we begin to see that we don’t deserve anything. Because of our sinful nature we don’t deserve anything but the wrath of God. I realize that’s blunt, but it’s true. In Romans it says, “For the wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23, NIV). Because we’re all sinners and are sinning all the time, we are constantly earning death. If you truly want to get what you deserve, you would get death. Take a moment to let that sink in. If you truly get what you deserve you would die.

That means that everything you have apart from death is a gift of God—and a gift, by nature, is something undeserved—it’s grace. Every breath you breath, every beat of your heart, every step you take is a gift of God and is completely and graciously undeserved. These are still gracious gifts when they are given in the midst of trials and suffering. When you are struggling and suffering, you haven’t earned anything, you still deserve death. Yet, God continues to give you life and breath and being. He is a graciously giving God who pours out undeserved gifts upon your head every second of every minute of every day. 

Yet, most of us live like 90% of the lepers in this story don’t we? These ten lepers see Jesus coming into town, so they approach him and cry out “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” (Luke 17:13, NIV). Jesus tells them to go to the priests and scripture says, “And as they went, they were cleansed.” (Luke 17:14, NIV). This is powerful stuff! As they were walking, their leprosy left them. 

So, they rejoiced and went in to see the priest rejoicing, and then ran back to Jesus to thank him for giving them undeserved healing, right? No. 90% of the group went off into their normal routines as if nothing special happened. Why? I’ll say that the root of the problem is that they were entitled. At some level they thought they deserved to be healed. And, if they deserved to be healed, why would they be thankful? Why be excited? They were only getting what was owed to them. 

Yet, one of them was not entitled. When he noticed that he was healed, he immediately turned around and went back to Jesus. I imagine that he was running. The text says as he sought out Jesus he was “praising God in a loud voice.” (Luke 17:15, NIV). That screams excitement. He wasn’t just quietly singing. He wasn’t even happily and joyfully humming as he went. No. He was praising God in a loud voice! He was shouting out praises to his God! 

Then, when he finally got to Jesus, “He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him.” (Luke 17:16, NIV). Another translation says, “he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks.” (Luke 17:16, ESV). He ran back to Jesus shouting out praises to God and when he reached Jesus he fell on his face at his feet and worshiped. Remember, that’s what it means to fall on your face at someone’s feet. It is an act of worship—an act of adoration, submission, trust, and joy. He ran back to Jesus and worshiped. 

He worshiped him by giving thanks. That’s powerful. He worshiped Jesus by thanking Him for the healing he brought into his life. He worshiped Jesus by thanking him for the undeserved gift of healing that Jesus gave him. 

I’m painting this picture because I think it should be a picture of the Christian life—a life lived praising and thanking our God for the blessings and gifts that He gives us—a life lived shouting praises to our God and falling at His feet in worship. This needs to be part of the core of our being. 

That’s why the Thanksgiving holiday is so important. Yes, thanksgiving needs to be part of our everyday life, be we need to be reminded. We need to be reminded to be thankful for the blessings and gifts that God is pouring out on us. 

It’s way too easy for us to simply focus on what we don’t have and what’s wrong. It’s way to easy for us to become inward focused, looking only at ourselves, and become entitled, demanding things of God. Yet, Thanksgiving comes around again and reminds us to “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18, NIV). It reminds us to worship our God by giving Him thanks for all the undeserved blessings He gives us. 

What we’ve done tonight has been worship to our God. We’ve given thanks for various areas of our lives and our world. In giving thanks, we are acknowledging that we don’t deserve any of these things, but we are very thankful that God has continued to give these things to us. Now, let’s leave here tonight ready to continue giving thanks to our God for His good gifts—worshiping God by giving Him thanks. As we gather around the table with family and friends tomorrow, take a moment to thank God for the blessing they are in your life. As you enjoy the amazing food and fellowship, take time to thank God for these good gifts. Make sure you take time to Worship.