Begin with Thanksgiving
Luke 17:11-17
November 28, 2024 anno Domini
Jesus begins with thanksgiving. We end with thanksgiving.
When Jesus stood outside the tomb of Lazarus who had been dead four days, Jesus started His prayer, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.” When He was faced with 5000 hungry people and only had a little boy’s sack lunch, He took the loaves and the fish and having given thanks He broke them and distributed them. On the night He was betrayed, just hours before He would sweat blood in the Garden of Gethsemene, He took the bread and He took the cup and gave thanks.
If you had 50 people over for thanksgiving and had only one 8 lb. turkey – would your prayer begin with thanks? When you stand at the grave of a loved one, do you begin your conversation with God by giving thanks?
We pray like the ten lepers. We ask, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us” then if we receive what we want, we might (biblically there’s a one in ten chance) return to God with thanksgiving. We don’t start with thanksgiving. We start with our problems, like leprosy, and then continue to our petitions, have mercy on us, and then maybe, but not likely, we end with thanksgiving.
Jesus begins with thanksgiving. The Greek Word for giving thanks is εὐχαριστέω. The Lord’s Supper is referred to as the eucharist because Jesus took the bread and the cup and “gave thanks.” Eὐχαριστέω is a compound word — eu and charis. Eu means good, like the English “eulogy” (eu and logos) – a good word about someone who has died. Or euthanasia (eu and thanatos) which means “good death” but refers to killing someone to end our suffering that they are suffering. That’s a good example of how the Devil uses words to call evil good. Eu is good and charis is grace or favor. We get our word “charity” from charis. To give thanks is to acknowledge you are in someone’s good graces. You are in their favor.
That is why your prayers, as baptized children of God, ought to begin with thanksgiving. Think about it. When you pray, you are walking into the very presence of God. He’s got the football game on and is just about to take His afternoon nap, and yet when you enter the heavenly living room, His ears are attentive to your prayers. He loves to hear your voice. He delights for you to call Him Father. He sits up in His chair, grabs you onto His lap, and asks, “What’s up son?” You have God’s ear, so before you say anything, before you ask anything, remember that. Start with giving thanks for that.
More than having His ear, you have His favor. You call Him Father because He loves you. You know He loves you because of the way He loved you. He gave His only Son for you.
You’re one of those lepers on the road. You’ve got this affliction inside of you called sin. You were born with it. But it doesn’t stay contained in your heart or soul – it affects your eyes so that you covet, it affects your lips, so you curse and swear, lie, betray, and slander. It affects your feet and legs, so you trample on God’s good gifts and walk away from Him. Like leprosy your sin cuts you off from God and your neighbor and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. Lepers died alone. Sinners die alone.
But God favors you. God loves you, even though He can’t stand you. He sends His Son into the world to take your sin away. Sometimes, like with these lepers Jesus simply spoke His Word, and they were healed. Sometimes Jesus touched them and made them well. That is how God loved you. God touched you and spoke to You in His Son. The Son of God touched you by becoming man. Then Jesus touched you by taking your sin into Himself. Then He loved you by offering His flesh for your flesh, His soul for your soul. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. Colossians 2:13–14 (ESV)
What is thanksgiving but to realize, to believe, and to live in God’s good graces? To give thanks is to recognize God is your Father even when you are in the worst possible situation in your life. This is how Jesus prayed, faced with feeding 5000 people with a few loaves and fish, faced with a 4-day dead stinking corpse named Lazarus, facing betrayal by Judas, arrest by the Jews, torture from the Romans, crucifixion from Pilate, and hell for our sins. He knew this, He believed this. Even when Jesus was forsaken by God He trusted in the good graces of His Father in heaven.
Now let me say a final word about beginning your prayers with thanksgiving. Please don’t pray what I call the “just” prayer of thanksgiving. Father, we just thank you that you brought us all safely here today. We just thank you for mom’s turkey and grandma’s pie, and Uncle Bob’s homemade wine.” Total pun intended but those are just weak prayers.
Take a cue from Dr. Luther who learned from Jesus how to pray. Both His morning and evening prayers begin the same way, “I thank you my heavenly Father through Jesus Christ your dear Son” and then He gives a reason – “that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger” or “that you have graciously kept me this day.” Notice the reason for Luther’s thanksgiving – God has kept me as His dear child. That’s always reason for thankgiving, no matter what your petition or prayer or problem. It’s true for the lepers on that road to Jerusalem and for Lutherans on the way to Grandma’s house for thanksgiving. In the name of Jesus. Amen.