Dear Friends,
Yesterday’s message by Pastor Jared reminded me of the importance
of expressing thanks. Saying thanks to God and to others is such an easy thing
to do, and yet how often we neglect opportunities to express it.
Too often we are like the little boy who went to a birthday party.
When he came home, his mother asked him if he remembered to thank Mrs. Johnson
for the party? He answered, “I was standing in line when the boy in front
of me thanked her, and she said, “Don't mention it,” so I didn't mention it.”
This little episode reminded me of another incident that took
place several years ago. It was told in the book A Window on the Mountain,
by Winston Pearce. Pearce tells of his high school class reunion when a
group of his old classmates were reminiscing about things and persons they were
grateful for. One man mentioned that he was particularly thankful for Mrs.
Wendt, for she had introduced him to Tennyson and the beauty of poetry. Acting
on a suggestion, the man wrote a letter of appreciation to Mrs. Wendt, and he
addressed it to the high school. The note was forwarded and eventually found
the old teacher. About a month later the man received a response. It was
written in a feeble longhand and read as follows: “My dear Willie, I can't tell
you how much your letter meant to me. I am now in my nineties, living alone in
a small room, cooking my own meals, lonely, and like the last leaf of
fall lingering behind. You will be interested to know that I taught school for
40 years, and your letter is the first letter of appreciation I have ever
received. It came on a blue, cold morning and it cheered me as nothing has done
for years. Willie, you have made my day.”
How sad to realize the extent of some people’s thanklessness. It
reminds me of the 10 lepers described in Luke 17. They all received their
cleansing, and yet only one of them returned to thank Jesus. “Were not all 10
cleansed,” Jesus asked. “Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return
and give praise to God except this foreigner” (Luke 17: 17- 18)?
As one commentator points out, “The story is not the story of the
miracle of the 10 lepers cleansed, but rather the contrast of gratitude and
ingratitude depicted on the same dramatic canvas.”
In a time when people are experiencing all kinds of anxiety over
recent events, socially, racially, politically, and economically, the antidote
is close at hand. The only way to rid ourselves of fear and anxiety is to
submit, with thanks and praise, to God's plan for our lives in all things. At
that moment we shall find the meaning of real freedom, real contentment, and
real peace.
As the late doctor, Frances Schaefer expressed it, “A quiet
disposition and a heart giving thanks at any given moment, is the real test of
the extent to which we love God at that moment.”
“Be thankful,” or “give thanks in all circumstances for this is
God's will for you in Christ Jesus, ”writes Paul in 1st
Thessalonians 5: 18. Is there someone you know who would love to hear you
say, thanks for something they have done for you. If no one immediately comes
to mind, let me remind you that there is 'Someone' who I know is waiting to
hear those words of thanksgiving.
Don't be like the nine lepers who were healed and went on their
way forgetting to thank the One who healed them, but instead be like that one
foreigner who had a thankful heart and returned to express his gratitude for
all that Jesus had done for him.
Today who will hear those words that Mrs. Wendt longed to hear?
Yours in Thankfulness,
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