Give Thanks!
Galatians 5.15-23/St. Luke 17.11-19
Trinity XIV/September 22, 2019
Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd/Good Shepherd Community Chapel, Sauk Rapids, MN
Rev. Keith R. Weise, pastor/chaplain
TEXTS
PRAYER OF THE DAY
O Lord, keep Your Church with Your perpetual mercy; and because of our frailty we cannot but fall, keep us ever by Your help from all things hurtful and lead us to all things profitable to our salvation; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
EPISTLE READING Galatians 5.15-23
15 . . . if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!
16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
HOLY GOSPEL St. Luke 17.11-19
11 Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. 12 Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. 13 And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
14 So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.
15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, 16 and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.
17 So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? 18 Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” 19 And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”
Invocation In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
I St. Paul tells us
that the fruit of the Spirit is
love
joy
peace
longsuffering
kindness
goodness
faithfulness
gentleness
and
self-control. (Galatians 5.22-23)
II The Holy Spirit
gives ALL these gifts
to ALL of us.
In Holy Baptism—
and through the powerful working of the Word of God—
every Christian receives all of these gifts
IN THEIR FULLNESS.
They are part of our identity as children of God.
So we love one another with a godly, sacrificial love.
We rejoice with our brothers and sisters in the salvation of God.
We strive for peace in this world while we live in the peace of Christ.
We suffer long—
we put up with lots of junk from lots of people—knowing Jesus puts up with us.
We’re kind.
We try to BE good, and DO good, and MAKE THINGS good.
We strive to be faithful to God.
We’re gentle with one another and never harsh.
And
We control ourselves in every situation.
III When we do those things—
it’s not because
we tried real hard à
or
we’ve finally achieved some spiritual maturity other people haven’t.
When we do those things
it’s because
the Spirit
has given us these gifts—
has beaten down the sinful flesh that afflicts us all.
When we express the gifts of the Spirit in our lives
it’s not because of us—
it’s because
the Holy Spirit
has led us into the holy ways of God.
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IV St. Paul’s list of Spiritual gifts from Galatians
is probably familiar to many of you.
But in one particular way—
it is incomplete.
(St. Paul isn’t wrong—I’m not saying that—
there’s just more to say.)
In the gospel today
we see another gift of the Spirit—
a gift which brings us to the feet of Jesus—
the gift of
THANKFULNESS.
APPRECIATION.
GRATITUDE.
Whatever you call it—
giving thanks to the Lord our God
is also a Spiritual gift—
just like the nine St. Paul mentions in Galatians.
And just like those gifts—
the gift of gratitude is part of our Christian identity.
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V In the Gospel
Jesus heals ten lepers.
He hears them crying out
Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. à (St. Luke 17.13)
So he says—
Go, show yourselves to the priests.
And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.
And ONE of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at [Jesus’] feet, GIVING HIM THANKS.
And [Jesus] said to him, Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well. (St. Luke 19.14-16, 19)
What brought that man back to Jesus?
The Holy Spirit did!
What lead that man to worship Christ with thanksgiving in his heart?
Gratitude did!
What made that man well?
His faith did—
because in faith he received the gift of healing Jesus gave.
When the Holy Spirit gives you gifts—
he means for you to use them
in FAITHFULNESS to Christ
and
in THANKSGIVING to God—
and that’s exactly what this man did.
The Holy Spirit
moved him to faith.
poured gratitude into his heart.
and
led him to the feet of Jesus
to give expression to both.
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VI So what gifts has God given you?
What gifts has the Holy Spirit poured down on you?
The gifts St. Paul talks about?
Yes.
Body and soul
Eyes, ears, and all your members
your reason and your senses? (Small Catechism. Creed. First Art. Exp.)
Yes.
Redemption and rescue from sin?
Deliverance from death and the power of the devil
by the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ?
Yes. (Small Catechism. Second Art. Exp.)
The promise of healing
from all YOUR diseases—
just like those ten men in the gospel? (Psalm 103.3)
Yes.
A thankful heart filled with gratitude for all these gifts? (Psalm 118)
YES!
VII God has blessed you richly with His gifts—
so give thanks!
You don’t have be as dramatic as the man in the gospel.
You don’t have to throw yourself down on the floor in front of the altar here in
church.
(You can, but you don’t have to.)
You don’t have to stop what you’re doing, and turn around and run back here to church.
All you have to do is
say what that Samaritan said.
Say
Thank you.
Thank you, Jesus!
Thank you
for pouring out your Holy Spirit on me
with all the gifts that he gives.
Thank you
for making me
and preserving me
and getting me ready for eternity.
Thank you
for washing me in your blood
poured down from the holy cross.
Thank you
for
forgiving my sins
for making me holy
and à
for defeating death for me.
Thank you
for the healing I know is coming to me one day.
Thank you, Jesus.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
VIII You can say, Thank You
right where you are—
wherever you are.
You can say Thank You
no matter what time of day it is.
You can be thankful
out loud
or in silence—
with your mouth
or with your heart—
in public
or in private
it doesn’t matter.
God has given you great and precious gifts.
You give him thanks.
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IX That all sounds good pastor—
but really—
what do I have to be thankful for?
I’m older than I ever wanted to be.
I’m sicker than anyone should ever have to be.
I can’t get around.
I don’t get to live in my own house.
Most of my friends are dead.
And
Pretty much everybody I know except my kids
are in just as bad a shape as I am?
Why should I give thanks?
X Ok. Fair enough. à
But even when all those things are true about you—
even then—
God still gives you his gifts.
And way too often—
we take those precious gifts for granted
and we fail to give thanks.
The nine men in the gospel were like that.
They received Christ’s gift of healing—
and maybe—just maybe—
they were still so worried about everything else
that was still wrong in their lives—
they didn’t fully realize
what they had just been given.
Oh, look! I’m healed!
And that was that.
Maybe they made it all the way to the priests.
Maybe they didn’t.
For whatever reason—
None of them recognized the gift they’d just been given.
None of them recognized the One who had just given them the gift.
None of them made it back to Jesus.
They took their gift of healing—
and didn’t give it a second thought.
XI I’ve done that.
You’ve done it, too, I bet.
We all do it.
It happens
when we let
our troubles
and
our trials
and
our struggles
blind us to all the good gifts God gives us in Christ Jesus.
So today—
the Holy Spirit holds that thankful leper from the gospel before us
to lead us
to repentance—
and
into heartfelt thanksgiving in the presence of Christ Jesus our Lord.
So follow his lead—
and repent.
Repent
of dwelling so much
on what’s
or
on what you don’t have
that you become blinded to the gifts God gives you.
Repent
of focusing on your struggles rather than the gifts of God.
Repent
of not valuing and cherishing all the gifts God gives you.
Repent
of ignoring the gifts of the Holy Spirit in your life.
Repent
of not using the gifts Christ gives you by virtue of your baptism.
Repent
of failing to Thank God for everything he gives you!
XII REPENT!—
And then—
GIVE THANKS.
Speak your thanks to Jesus out loud with your mouth.
Sing your thanks to Jesus with your voice and with your heart.
Think your thanks to Jesus in your mind and in your soul.
And
Live in thanksgiving to Jesus for all he has done
by living in the gifts the Holy Spirit gives you.
Nothing shows gratitude to Jesus
more than being a person
who lives their life
as a heartfelt expression of
love
joy
peace
longsuffering
kindness
goodness
gentleness
faithfulness à
self-control—
AND GRATITUDE to God.
So give thanks.
Give thanks to the Lord your God
because he has done great things for you!
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XIII Give thanks—
Because in the gospel today—
Jesus shows us what he will do for ALL of us on the Last Day.
You—
Me—
All the saints—
We will see Jesus coming to us
on the clouds
and
in all his glory
as he descends from heaven on the Day of the Lord. (I Thessalonians 4)
Perhaps at that moment we will cry out—
Jesus, Master, have mercy on US!
And without a doubt—
Our Lord Jesus Christ will say—
Arise!
and
Come with me!
Your faith has made you well.
And then—in the beauty of eternity—
filled with God’s glory
filled with the Holy Spirit—
we will give thanks to Christ for all eternity
with that healed leper from the gospel—
and with all the saints of God.
XIV So give thanks to God.
Give thanks NOW.
Give thanks ALWAYS.
Because with every gift God gives—
He gives you a preview of heaven—
and
he give us all
a glimpse of eternal life.
Oh give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good.
And His mercy endures forever. (Psalm 118.1)
Amen.
Invocation In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Hymn of Response: Create in Me.