Cultivating a Heart of Thankfulness

Thank you for the beautiful special music. Certainly words that we all want to hear some day said about ourselves. Well done, good and faithful servant. I managed to forget two announcements. Sorry, this is why you write things down. One quick announcement. Can I see a quick show of hands of those who would not be going up to the Northwest weekend and would be staying here locally, just to get an idea of whether we want to try to have services here, if we want to do it in a home, as we've been doing the last couple of years? Okay. All right, I think we got it. Thank you so much. The other one is if you are missing serving spoons, tops for your crock pot, etc., etc., there's a bunch of stuff over in the lost and found from last week that just kind of got grabbed on the way out. Or is the Diana Bartsch? I'm sure she probably has it. So just go ahead and check there in order to find your things. Because, you know, crock pot's no good without a lid on it. Well, you can do stuff with it, I suppose. Oh, one more. Hang on. This just in. Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes. Two weeks from today, so December 2nd, services, we're not going to be able to be in this hall. So we have Cesar Chavez Elementary, which is where we have typically gone in the past if we haven't had this particular hall. So we will be December 2nd at Cesar Chavez Elementary School over off of Cordon Road, and I can't remember the name of the other road, but it's over off of Cordon. You can see it from Cordon. You can't get there from Cordon. You've got to drive around the sides and go into kind of the back way, but you can definitely see it. You can navigate your way from the school itself. Well, I'd like to begin today by asking a question that I'd like to give you, honestly, a brief moment to ponder and to think about. Perhaps if you have paper in front of you, I'd like you to even consider writing down an answer to the question. On the surface, it may seem simple enough, but I think as you start to ponder it, as you start to really consider it, as you kind of peel back the layers of that onion, so to speak, it becomes a much more profound question to try to answer. That question is, what are you thankful for? What are you thankful for? And I'm going to literally give you 30 seconds to think about that in silence and answer that question. So I'm going to start my watch, and you've got 30 seconds to think about it. What am I thankful for?

Now that you've had a little bit of time to kind of think about and to consider your response, a little less than a week from today, this coming Thursday, the people of the United States will sit down around a dinner table with their in-laws, with their out-laws, with their friends, and with their families in celebration of Thanksgiving, and we'll ask this very question. What are you thankful for this year? What are you thankful for this year? And you know, the answers are going to vary significantly. Depending on the individuals who are answering the questions, it's going to vary significantly. Many will focus on material blessings, like the commercial I heard in my car yesterday afternoon that disgusted me enough to turn the radio off. The mom asked her, children, well, what are you thankful for this year, to which they pipe up, and I'm thankful for my CenturyLink Internet, which allows me to stream... Bluh, gag. Turn it off. Or the responses might be more focused on interpersonal relationships, thankful for the friendships that they have, for the joy of their family, and honestly for others, it may be difficult to find something to be thankful for. Somewhat ironically, the following day, in some cases later that evening, Walmart, by the way, opens at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day this year, in case you were wondering. After spending the afternoon focusing on the things that they are thankful for, a large number of them will line up and trample one another at local stores to get the hottest toy and the newest gadget.

In most cases, the turkey hasn't even cooled off yet. November in the United States and Canada has been officially designated National Gratitude Month, and it's a time where people and organizations are encouraged to take a little bit of extra time and focus on being grateful for what they have, thankful for their blessings, and to consider, as they do that, to consider how they can contribute and help others. Statistically, beginning with the ramp-up to Thanksgiving and on into the Christmas season in the United States, what is known by many charities and nonprofits as the season of giving begins. Most nonprofits and charities in the United States receive the bulk of their donations starting in the middle of October through the end of December. Over 50% of their operating budgets come from the donations that come in during those three months. That's the season of giving. You know, when we have time to stop and depress the pause button on our lives, like we did today, sitting in silence for a brief moment and thinking about what we're thankful for in our lives, our mind starts to go to what can we do for others. We recognize our blessings that humbles us, that puts us in a service mindset, that makes us less self-absorbed and more outwardly focused. Now, that's not the only benefit. There's actually been a number of studies done in recent years on gratitude and thankfulness and their benefits. Dr. Robert Emmons from UC Davis has become one of the foremost individuals in his field on researching these benefits. Honestly, by accident, Robert Emmons went to a scientific conference at one point in time and his colleagues said, hey, we want you to go and study all of the literature and all the scientific research on gratitude in people and like the effects of gratitude. And so he went home, he shouldered into the work, and he realized there was none. No one had done any research on thankfulness and in gratitude. All the science of studying human emotion, it seemed, gratitude and thankfulness had been left behind. And so, he started working to quantify what some in religious circles have anecdotally observed and taught for millennia. Practicing regular gratitude, these are some of his findings. Practicing regular gratitude and thankfulness reduces the production of the stress hormone cortisol and it reduces aggression. It increases empathy and results in people that are more willing to help other people with emotional support. Individuals who regularly practice gratitude had the mental strength and fortitude to deal with situations like PTSD or trauma, notably in Iraq war veterans, but also in victims of abuse. Those that kept a weekly journal of gratitude reported increases in energy, positivity, and a greater feeling of connectedness to others. Increased building of relationships. They actually reported that they exercised more regularly, having fewer physiological symptoms compared to those that recorded negative or neutral events. Individuals that kept a regular gratitude journal were more likely to attain short-term goals than those that did not practice gratitude. They also had lower instances of depression and increased alertness and energy. All of these benefits were scientifically measured and observed in individuals who regularly practiced gratitude and thankfulness. Remembering our blessings, being thankful, expressing gratitude, reaching out and helping other people have scientifically measurable benefits. In a recent article for the Washington Post in which he discussed his findings, Robert Emmons was asked by an interviewer, why should people extend the practice of giving thanks beyond the Thanksgiving table? Why should they do this more than just for a period of time on the fourth Thursday of the month of November?

He responded, gratitude is too good to be left at the Thanksgiving table. I believe that gratitude is the best approach for life. When life is going well, it allows us to celebrate and magnify the goodness. When life is going badly, it provides a perspective by which we can view life in its entirety and not be overwhelmed by temporary circumstances. People who live under an aura of pervasive thankfulness reap the rewards of grateful living. Conversely, those who fail to feel gratitude cheat themselves out of their experiences of life. And why would we want to cheat ourselves? This is an approach that needs to be cultivated. It's not going to come easily, and it's not going to come automatically. This is when gratitude displays its power and its potential. This is when we need to press into our sources of gratitude more deeply, into family, into faith, and into freedom. All those circumstances, people, opportunities that we give thanks for each and every day, not just on the fourth Thursday of November. You know, intuitively, I think we realize it is so much easier to be grateful when life is going well. It is so much easier to be grateful and thankful when life is going well, isn't it? You know, when life is coming up roses, you look around and everything's just working out the way that it's supposed to work out in your mind. You just close the deal on that account at work and nab that bonus. Your hair's on point. Everyone in your life is getting along. Everything's going well. Your health is good.

Those kind of things make gratefulness and thankfulness easy. But what about the times when our skies are dark, the rain clouds are starting to encroach on our blue skies? When nothing seems to go your way, when you're hurting, when you're in pain, or when we're struggling with incredible trials? Are there no blessings during these times? Or do we perhaps have to look a little bit closer in our lives to find them? Research shows that practicing gratitude and thankfulness can improve our outlook on life, but even more importantly, it can help us to recognize where our blessings come from, and we can honor and thank God for them all, however small, even in difficult times. The title for the sermon today is Cultivating a Heart of Thankfulness.

I chose this title very specifically because gratitude and thankfulness are not things that happen randomly. They don't just happen. It's not something where we just wake up one day and suddenly look at the world around us and just see all of our little blessings everywhere all around us. That's not the way that it works. It's not natural to mankind.

It is a change in our mindset and it's a change in our approach to life. And as such, establishing that attitude isn't automatic. It's not easy. It has to be intentional and it has to start small and be maintained as time goes on, becoming a lens, so to speak, through which we view the world around us. Cultivating a Heart of Thankfulness—I have three points today.

Cultivating a Heart of Thankfulness requires us to first examine our heart. It starts with examining our heart, taking a look at our life. Secondly, it asks us to be thankful for the mundane, to be thankful for the mundane. And thirdly, it requires us to begin to cultivate this attitude of gratitude, as they often say, but at this Heart of Thankfulness, to then turn around and express our thanks. To turn around and express our thanks. So the first thing that we'll look at today is examining our heart. And within Scripture, the heart is a place where our emotions and our desires dwell. Psalm 4421—we won't turn there—but Psalm 4421 records that God knows the secrets of our heart. He knows our innermost desires. He knows our thoughts and wants. Jeremiah 17, the prophet Jeremiah, records by inspiration that the heart of man is deceitful above all things, desperately wicked. Who can know it? But he also says in verse 10 that God searches or examines our heart, that he searches out our desires and our wants. David cried out to God in Psalm 51 to create in him a new heart after his sin with Bathsheba. After he was made aware of it, after he understood what he had done, he cried out and begged for his heart to be changed, to change his innermost desires and thoughts and focus them on God. Let's turn over to Mark 7 to begin with today. Turn over to Mark 7. Mark 7. Jesus Christ observed certain characteristics of man in his time on this earth. He observed the kinds of desires and thoughts that proceeded from the heart of man, those innermost thoughts. Mark 7, and we'll go ahead and pick it up in verse 21. And we're going to break into the context of this particular passage here. Mark 7 and verse 21. Mark 7, 21 says, For from within, out of the heart of men, proceeds evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, and evil eye, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness. Verse 23. All these evil things come from within and defile a man. Thankfulness is not the natural byproduct of man's heart. The natural byproduct of man's heart are the things we see listed in Mark 7, 21 to 23. That's the natural byproduct.

Thankfulness has to be cultivated. You'll notice in that list in Mark 7, we see covetousness, we see wickedness, we see deceit, we see pride, we see an evil eye. All of these things fly in the face of thankfulness. They don't lead to a thankful heart. In fact, scripturally, in Ephesians 5, and go ahead and turn over there, Ephesians 5, we can actually see that thankfulness is contrary to the things that come from the heart of man, very specifically stated in Ephesians 5. Let's go over there. Ephesians 5. And we'll go ahead and pick up the account with the apostles' words to the church of Ephesus in Ephesians 5. We'll pick it up in verse 1.

Therefore, be imitators of God as dear children. And there's that word again. I've kind of harped on this word a little bit, but there's that word again, therefore. Therefore is grammatically a conjunctive adverb. Those of you that took grammar classes know exactly what that means. I googled it.

It basically means that its job is to connect two phrases or clauses through an expression of connection of time or place. It's like an if-then statement. If these things, then this is kind of what it is in that regard. It connects two separated ideas. Any time we see that word in Scripture, we have to go to the section before it. We have to look at what is being stated before that that is connecting to what we're looking at. So, in this case, Ephesians 4, 17-32, is the ideas that are being expressed connected to Ephesians 5.1. So, let's go back to Ephesians 4 and verse 17.

Ephesians 4 and verse 17 says, This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, again, there's that therefore we keep going back, it's all connected, and testify in the Lord that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart, who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness, but you have not so learned, Christ, if indeed you have heard him and have been taught by him as the truth, is in Jesus. Verse 22, that you put off concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore, putting away lying, let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. Be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down in your wrath, nor give place to the devil.

Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.

Verse 30 and 31, and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. So, with that context, therefore, as a result of these things, Ephesians 5, verse 1, be imitators of God as dear children, and walk in love as Christ also has loved us and given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. Verse 3, another laundry list here, but fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you as is fitting for saints, neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting. But notice how it finishes in verse 4, but rather, giving of thanks. So instead of these things, because you put off the old man and are walking in newness of life, put away all these things and do this thing. And in this case, this thing is giving thanks. You know, when you see outlines like this in writing, often you would expect to see like you had six things right here that were bad, and you would expect to see six things balance out those bad things, like the antithesis of all of those things. But instead, the Apostle Paul put one thing to balance out those six things, and that one thing that he put was giving thanks. To balance out all of those negative attitudes and those negative actions, they're not fitting for the new man. That one single thing that we see thrown out as a contrast to balance it out is the giving of thanks. The Greek word for thanks here is G2169, which is Euchristia, which according to the Thayer's Greek-English lexicon means thankfulness. Just straight up thankfulness is the definition. Strong adds to that a little bit, strong concordance. It says, the act of giving thanks or giving grateful language to God specifically in the act of worship.

In other words, praising God. Praising God, praising Him. Praising God and thankfulness go hand in hand. When we recognize the blessings that He's provided us, when we give thanks for it all, and we honor Him for His providence in our life, praising Him for His intervention in our lives and glorying Him before men, that's an attitude of thankfulness, recognizing all of the things that He has done for us. And Mr. Griswold talked about some of those things, that calling that He's given us today in the sermonette. Let's go over to Romans 1. We'll go over to Romans 1 here and pick up Paul's words this time to a different church, a different group of people dealing with their own unique issues. But in some ways the message is similar.

Romans 1. We'll pick it up in verse 20.

Romans 1 and verse 20. As he talks about those who have recognized and have seen God by these indivisible attributes that God has, these invisible attributes of Him in the creation, Romans 1 and verse 20 reads, for since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes are clearly seen.

When you observe creation and you see the kind of attributes and organization and complexities that are in the world around us, the natural conclusion is it was created by someone, something. In this case, we know that to be God, the Creator. Since being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power in Godhead can be understood by what we see in creation around us, by those invisible attributes. And he says specifically for those that see that invisible attributes that are clearly seen and being understood, they are without excuse.

Verse 21, because although they knew God, although they knew Him through these invisible attributes, they did not glorify Him and praise Him. They didn't give Him the glory, nor were they thankful, nor were they thankful for the creation that they were benefiting from and living within. But instead, they became futile in their thoughts and their foolish hearts were darkened.

They knew that He was God. They saw it in the creation around them. They understood that there was a Creator. Yet even though they knew Him by those invisible attributes, they would not glorify Him. They would not give Him the glory, nor were they thankful for what they had received. Instead, they became futile in their thoughts and their hearts were darkened. Their lack of thankfulness led to futility in their thoughts, a darkened heart. They didn't glorify God as Creator for His divine providence that He had given to them. And ultimately, their hearts were darkened to the point that the remainder of Romans 1 continues with a societal decline and descent into, frankly, what we see in society around us today. If you read down the rest of Romans 1, it's going to start sounding really familiar to what we have going on in the world around us today. Brethren, we see more than just invisible attributes. We know God. We've received His Spirit. We've committed to this way of life. We're working to allow His Spirit to work within us and to lead us. And when His Spirit leads our lives, thankfulness should overflow. When we are allowing ourselves to be led by His Spirit, thankfulness should overflow. If it isn't, if we constantly want more, if we're upset that we're somehow not receiving what we think we deserve or not immensely thankful for the blessings that we have received, however small they may be that have been poured out upon us, then I would argue that the flesh is leading and the Spirit is not. And, brethren, that is a problem of the heart. That is a problem of the heart. When we give thanks, as it talks about in Romans 1, we honor God as our Creator. When we give thanks, we honor Him for everything that is around us. Everything that's around us. In fact, day after Thanksgiving, instead of Black Friday, as REI's opt outside, you can go opt outside and go out and experience that creation a little bit. When we give thanks, as it talks about in Ephesians 5, we acknowledge God as a provider and the one who works in our lives as we work to live that new man. We must take the time in prayer and in fasting to examine our heart, to really look at where we are with regards to thankfulness in our life, the recognition of our blessings and our willingness to trust God's lead. Our level of thankfulness in many ways is a measure or some sort of a some sort of a measure of our spiritual condition, a thermometer, if you will. Second point today, we need to be thankful for the mundane. We need to be thankful for the mundane. As is often typical with problems of the heart, there are symptoms that are seen outside of the body, which indicate what's going on within. Often we see those symptoms and that helps us to diagnose the problem of the heart. There are a number of things that can be observed from the outside to give a picture of what's going on on the inside. Lack of contentment.

Excessive complaints. A lack of love and service to others. And a number of these things can have their core in a lack of thankfulness. And a person can treat those symptoms. They can treat those symptoms. They can try to prevent those things from being issues, but without the core issue being addressed, without the problem of the heart being addressed, nothing will get better.

The good news is it can be repaired through the practice of gratitude and thankfulness. Not once a year, not just on Thanksgiving Day. Not the 30 days of November, the month of gratitude, not just that. There's nothing wrong with that, but not just that. But instead, examining our lives, recognizing the blessings that we have been given, no matter how mundane they may be. I had a conversation with someone this week from another area and we were talking about just all of the difficulties and the challenges and the trials that people are experiencing right now in the church. We talk often about pre-feast trials. This year has been pre and post-feast trials for so many people. We were talking about this and they were mentioning a really good friend of theirs who have very young children. Both parents were recently diagnosed with excessive stage cancers. They're trying to figure out how is this all going to work.

They're dealing with all these different things and they were saying that in talking with another friend, she said that friend had given her a piece of advice and that was, be thankful for the mundane. Be thankful for the mundane. I thought, you know, that really spoke to me because we live in a society where everyone is trying to keep up with the Kardashians instead of the Joneses now.

Everybody wants this life where social media highlights are the best aspects of people's life.

You see people taking pictures of all the really cool places that they've been and posting them. You see the best aspects of life. You get the nice meals, the fancy vacations, the nightlife, etc., etc., etc. When was the last time you saw somebody Instagram a picture of themselves brushing their teeth in their Scooby-Doo pajamas with toothpaste all over their face? I haven't seen it.

I haven't seen it. Am I the only one that gets toothpaste all over my face? I can't be, right?

When was the last time you saw someone do a live stream of them cleaning their toilet? I'm not going to see that either, are you? Or took a picture of the whirlwind and the devastation that comes behind the children that pour through the living room and trash the living room.

You know, take pictures and put those things up on Instagram with the hashtag reallife, right? So we all experience those things, but we don't share those things. We share the best. We share all these other parts of our life. We don't share the mundane things, the real-life moments, that in those real-life moments are incredible, incredible blessings. You know, some people that are experiencing various trials, medical crises, they long for that mundane life. They want that boring, regular, get up, go to work, come home, go to sleep, get up, go to work life.

Because they haven't had it in so long due to the crises that they're dealing with. Instead, they've spent time in the hospital. They've spent time here. They've spent time there.

They long for that normal, boring life that so many of us take for granted as we kind of hope for our next opportunity to do something amazing. Let's go over to 1 Thessalonians 4. 1 Thessalonians 4.

We'll pick up Paul's words to the church here in Thessalonika. 1 Thessalonians 4. And we'll pick it up in verse 11. I found myself in this book a lot lately in 1 Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians 4. We'll go ahead and pick it up partway through verse 10. We're going to kind of break into the middle of it. 1 Thessalonians 4 and verse 10, kind of midway through the passage.

Let me find it here. Sorry. 2 But we urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more, and that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your own hands as we commanded you, that you may walk properly toward those who are outside. And notice what it says at the very end, that you may lack nothing. In doing these things, you may lack nothing. A mundane life, a quiet life, minding our business, going day in, day out, working with our hands, that we might walk properly toward those that are outside, and that we may lack nothing, that we might be content, that we might be content. You know, contentedness and thankfulness go hand in hand. If you are thankful for your spouse, if you go to God every day and you thank Him for your mate, despite the issues that you might have, despite the argument that you may have had the day before yesterday, despite the struggles that you may face, if you thank Him every day, Lord, thank You for my wonderful wife, for my wonderful husband. Sure, we have our problems, but thank You so much for providing me with this person and for building our life together. Thank You, thank You, thank You.

You know, when that's the attitude that you approach your marriage with, when you spend every morning on your knees thanking God for that person to whom you are married, you're not going to find yourself in someone else's bed later that evening. You're just not. You're not concerned about what you don't have. You're not going to find yourself looking at things you shouldn't be looking at on your computer screen or on your phone, because you're not concerned with what the world can offer you. You already have it. It's already been provided to you. You're happy and you're thankful for what you have. You know, when you're thankful for what you've been given, no matter how mundane, you show God your appreciation for what He is doing in your life, for what you do have, not what you don't have. Paul writes to the church in Philippi in Philippians 4, verse 11. Philippians 4, verse 11, Paul says, Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am to be content.

I know how to be abased, I know how to abound. Everywhere, and in all things, I have learned both to be full and also to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things, verse 13, through Christ who strengthens me. Why was He able to do those things? What enabled Him to be content in need or to be content in abundance, to be full and hungry? He could do it all through Jesus Christ and the promise, the hope, and the peace that that provides to those who follow Him.

That kind of hope is an anchor to our soul, as it mentions in Hebrews, and it's a shelter in the storm. You know, when it gets tough out on the ocean, boats head inland. They head in and they get into a bay and they drop anchor. They lay out a lot of rope so they don't have to drag in the anchor all over the place, but that allows them to ride out the storm. That hope that we have in Jesus Christ and God's plan helps us to do that. You know, perhaps as we look at and we examine our lives and we maybe are struggling in our marriage or it's not quite what we hoped it would be, there's problems, there's difficulties, maybe our finances are a challenge. We're struggling just to make ends meet. You know, we stand up and we move and we ache and we pop and we groan and we snap, crackle and pop as we move. We're dealing with incredible medical trials. Maybe our children are a challenge and we really just don't know what to do. Well, 1 Thessalonians 5 gives us our directive. 1 Thessalonians 5 gives us our directive. 1 Thessalonians 5 verses 16 through 18, regardless of what we might be facing, regardless of the difficulties. 1 Thessalonians 5 verses 16 through 18. Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Not just when it's easy, not just when we feel good or when we feel happy, but in everything give thanks, for that is the will of God in Jesus Christ for us. God's will, that we are thankful at all times, the good times and the bad times. So, and just a random example, does that mean that we give thanks specifically for the cancer that's raging in our bodies? No.

But we give thanks that God is working through it, that He is there, that He is on the throne, and no matter what happens, His plan remains the same and the Kingdom of God is coming.

Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. And in everything give thanks.

The final point today is to take the specific time to express our thanks. Take the time to express our thanks. Simply feeling thankful isn't good enough. It isn't good enough. We have to take the time to express our thanks to God, to one another, to our families. You know, there's possibly someone that you wrote about in that first question that I asked you today, what you're thankful for. Do they know? Does that person know? And if they don't, what are you going to do this week to make sure that they do? Do they know?

There's a story that's recorded in the book of Luke that illustrates this point. It's in Luke 17. Let's go ahead and go over there. Luke 17. So we kind of wrap things up here today.

Well, start to wrap things up here. This is the part where the flight attendant tells us to buckle our seat belts. We haven't dropped the landing gear yet, so you've got time.

Luke 17. And we'll go ahead and pick up a story of Jesus Christ as he traveled. And as it often happened when he traveled through various places, masses of people showed up speaking healing.

They just, they just, they shook up out of nowhere in some cases, like wanted to be healed. They desired him to heal them of their afflictions, of their diseases. And in this case, this story is no different. This story is no different. The participants and the names have been changed to protect the innocent, but it is no different. So Luke 17, we'll pick up the account in verse 11.

Luke 17 verse 11. It says, Now it happened as he went to Jerusalem that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. Then as he entered a certain village, there met him ten men who were lepers and who stood far off. They lifted up their voices and they said, Jesus, master, have mercy on us. Have mercy on us. You know, these lepers had every reason to beg for mercy, every reason, according to BibleHistory.com and their entry on leprosy. And I quote, During ancient biblical times, there was a loathsome disease called leprosy. The Hebrew is syrah, meaning smitten, and Greek is lepra, meaning scaly, of which there was no known cure. It was an uncontrollable, slowly growing disease that would cause swollen lumps on the skin and ulcerous scabs all over the body. There was a numbness sensation that came with this that caused the leper to scratch themselves and damage their own bodies unknowingly. They couldn't feel that they were digging at their skin. There was a numbness there.

A leper's person would look scaly and very deformed. Their hair and their body was noticeably white, and therefore they were very easy to identify. Their bodies would rot. Body parts would deform. Fingers and toes, and sometimes feet and hands, would fall off. The leper would drag themselves along, and his voice would often sound like a dog growling or howling in pain.

The only hope and rest for a leper was death. That is according to BibleHistory.com.

Real positive and uplifting, huh? The treatment of a leper in Jewish custom was essentially that of a dead man. It was essentially that of a dead man. They were ceremonially unclean.

So when a person was pronounced leper, by and large, it was essentially a death sentence. They were sent out from the camp. They were cast out from their homes and their families. They were tossed out of the village to be quarantined. They were cut off from their people and from their God. And that was by design. That was commanded by God. We see that there's instructions regarding that back in Leviticus. So that is not something where we go, oh, these people did, did, did, no. It was specifically stated this is what you need to do.

They would be cut off from their people. They'd be cut off from their God, from their ability to ultimately worship Him in the Israelite system. They were prohibited from bringing sacrifices or assembling with the congregation on the Sabbath or during the Holy Days. They were essentially cut off as a result of their uncleanness. As a result of this, many would take up residence in caves or tents. Outside of the assembly, they would form these leper colonies, which in some places around the world still exist today.

There are leper colonies in India. There are leper colonies in other places where they're outside of the system, so to speak. And they join up together and have some form of society in these colonies. Leppers in Christ's time were regulated by these regulations as well. They were actually to wear bells. They were to announce their uncleanness to anyone who might come near so that they would not inadvertently cause someone else to become unclean.

In fact, they would have to state they were unclean to people who came close to them by covering their upper lip and saying, unclean, unclean. And that would be done either with the index finger or with something else. But they were ultimately cut off, and there were regulations as to how close they could be to people, how they could interact with people. And so a leper with advanced stages of leprosy had little chance of reintegrating. Little chance of reintegrating. But individuals with lesser cases that weren't as severe could show themselves to the priest, and they could be declared clean such that they could reintegrate into society, into religious worship, etc.

But for those with advanced stages of leprosy, without direct divine intervention, it was a death sentence. I mean, you were going to be a leper until the day of your death. So these ten men, lepers, in this case likely in advanced stages of leprosy, were standing afar off as Christ enters this village in the midst of Samaria and Galilee on his way to Jerusalem. These ten men coordinated their efforts. It says they lifted up their voices. They coordinated their efforts. And it doesn't specifically state how, other than they lifted up their voices, maybe they rang their bells loudly so that they would get his attention and shouted to get his attention.

But he said, Jesus, master, have mercy on us. Okay? So Luke 17 and verse 14, we see the rest of the story. 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. They were healed on the way. As they went, and as they went in, to go and to see the priests, they were cleansed. So that when they showed up at the priest, they could say, Priest, am I cleansed? He could say, Yes. And they could reintegrate back into society just fine.

I've never had leprosy. I venture a guess that none of us have either. I mean, it's not really a thing that we typically get these days, not all that frequently. It does happen in third world countries. In certain places around the world, it does happen still. But even though we've never had it, even though we can't directly understand it, you can certainly imagine the relief, the thankfulness, and the absolute raw emotion at being healed of this affliction. As they walk from Christ to the priest, and they notice that these sores all over them are starting to become clean skin again, non-leprous flesh.

Maybe there's parts of their faces returning, their fingers, their feet, their hands being restored. You know, I got to think that all 10 of these men were incredibly thankful for what Jesus Christ did for them, the healing that they received, and the life that was ultimately given back to them. It wasn't just that they were healed, they had their life back.

They could go back to their families, they could go back to their worship. They had their life returned to them. It was an incredible blessing that they received. So you can imagine they all came running back to thank Him profusely for what He did, right? Luke 17, verse 15, and one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God. He fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks.

And then notice verse 16, and he was a Samaritan. Samaritan! Nine of the ten men that Jesus healed that day, scattered to the four winds, never to be mentioned in the story again. Gone. Hey, I'm healed! I'm out of here! I'm done! I'm out of here! Did not bother going back, returning to Him and expressing their thanks. Only one, a Samaritan, no less, returned to give God the praise and the glory and the thanks for what Jesus Christ had done for them.

So, Jesus answered, verse 17, Jesus answered and said, were there not ten cleansed?

Where are the other nine? Where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner? And he said to him, to the Samaritan, arise, go your way, your faith has made you well. This is one of those times in Scripture where I personally, this is my own personal book of Ben here, I personally think Christ's voice probably had a little more of a hint of righteous indignation in it in this section, recognizing the incredible miracle that was worked in these men's life by His Father through Him and that it was being taken for granted. It wasn't appreciated to the degree that they were willing to return and to praise and to glorify God, expressing their thanks and giving glory to the Father for their healing. They just left and they went back to their lives. Only the Samaritan returned. Brethren, I would submit to you that simply feeling thankful isn't good enough. Feeling thankful isn't good enough. You have to take the time to actually express your thanks. Interestingly, science supports this assertion, the benefits that we mentioned at the beginning of the message, the decrease of stress, increase of empathy, mental strength and fortitude to deal with traumatic situations, increased energy, positivity, increased achievement of short-term goals.

Those things were only observed in groups who took the time to write down what they were thankful for or to very intentionally, verbally express their thanks on a regular basis. There were two control groups in these studies. Some didn't write anything down. Others only wrote negative or neutral things. These same benefits were not experienced in these two control groups.

They were, however, experienced in those that practiced regular thankfulness and gratitude by writing it down. There are all kinds of options. If you're not the writing type, you can just make a list of things as the day goes on and on your knees before God at night, before you go to bed, thank Him for what happened during that day. You can write down one to three to five things in a little journal and keep track of it. One guy talked about it. He sent 365 thank you notes, one a day. He mailed them out to different people. He said it changed his life, changed his life, just the way that he appreciated and looked at things and just completely changed the way that he looked at the world around him. You know, we asked the question earlier, what are you thankful for? Being thankful is a scriptural imperative.

What you're thankful for, we asked earlier too, does that person know?

And if they don't, what do you plan to do between now and then, whenever then is, to make sure that they do? You know, asking the question of what are we thankful for shouldn't happen only once a year during the Thanksgiving season or even for 30 days during the National Gratitude Month of November. We should be practicing gratitude and thankfulness as a natural extension of the Spirit of God working in our lives. In this new life that we lead, we should be thankful for all that our great God has done for us. To do that, it requires us to examine our hearts, requires us to recognize the blessings that we've been given, no matter how small or mundane, requires us to be content, recognizing that even if things aren't going as well as we had hoped or had expected, that there are blessings to be found. They're there. You might just have to look a little harder, but they're there. And lastly, being thankful and expressing our thanks for those blessings to God may result in a change of attitude that enables us to forge ahead on our Christian walk with an improved outlook, with greater positivity, and increased blessing. When God sees that we are thankful for what has already been given to us, who knows whether he will pour out a blessing such that we can't store it. It isn't something, this attitude isn't something that happens automatically. It's not something that's easy, but brethren, we can and we must cultivate a heart of thankfulness.