Five Truths About Gratitude

Many of the stories in the Bible capture Jesus walking from one place to another. One story shows him interrupted by a group of people suffering from leprosy, begging Jesus for healing. Jesus heals them, but that’s almost a side point in the story. Our attention gets drawn to the fact that, after they’re healed, they all go about the business of their lives. All except for one who comes back and thanks Jesus for the healing. Only one.

Here’s how it goes:

While [Jesus] was on the way to Jerusalem, He was passing between Samaria and Galilee. And as He entered a village, ten leprous men who stood at a distance met Him; and they raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” When He saw them, He said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they were going, they were cleansed. Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan. But Jesus responded and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine—where are they? Was no one found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?” And He said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has made you well.”
Luke 17:11-19 (NASB)

As we approach Thanksgiving, one of my favorite holidays of the year, there are some powerful lessons for us here about the concept of thanksgiving—not as a holiday but as an individual character quality. Let me mention five. 

1.  Gratitude is uncommon. Every one of them was healed. Every one of them got the thing they asked for. Every one of them received something that was beyond them. But only one came back and said thanks. When someone loops back around and takes the energy and intention to say thanks, it surprises us. The cry for help is common; the whisper of thanks is rare.
2.  Gratitude is tied to humility. The writer Henri Nouwen said, “The discipline of gratitude is the explicit effort to acknowledge that all I am and have is given to me as a gift of love, a gift to be celebrated with joy.” When it is sincere, gratitude comes from a recognition that there are things in life and work that are received rather than achieved (earned). We live in a culture that celebrates the self-made, pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps kind of leader. For the most part, we celebrate our individual accomplishments and achievements, but we’re all receivers at heart. We didn’t create ourselves; we didn’t create our gifts or all our opportunities. Gratitude knows this.
3.  Gratitude requires an interruption. Like so many of us, the man was overcome in the moment. Perhaps excited about what he was going to do with his newfound health, perhaps carried along by the crowd, he ran away from Jesus. Happy, no doubt, but moving on. Then, he remembered, “Oh, wait.” He had a choice at that moment. He could move on with his life. He could say thank you in the quiet of his heart. Or he could stop and verbally say thank you. And as Gertrude Stein said, “Silent gratitude isn’t much use to anyone.” Gratitude requires a pause. A pause before a meal, a pause at the end of the day. A day in November to give thanks. We have to stop—which is easier for some than for others—and say thank you.
4.  Gratitude carries some afterglow. “Afterglow?” You say, “What are you talking about?” Here’s the deal: The single leper who looped back around connected with Jesus differently than the other nine. All were healed, but only one glorified God. As our lives offer thanks and gratitude to others, we will meet Jesus. When we are healthy and wealthy, we can push the Master off the stage of our lives. Gratitude invites Him back in.
5.  Gratitude is often modeled by those we least expect. In the Book of Luke, the story is largely about the fact that it’s a Samaritan, an ethnic minority, who models gratitude. Want to learn gratitude? Look around and outside your circle. Watch young children or older folks. 

Develop a radar that spots people saying thanks and make it a muscle you use every day. Happy Thanksgiving.