As I walked through the department store it occurred to me: I am no longer shocked at how quickly Christmas displays pop up. This year, they even began to appear before Halloween. The same is true with the Christmas movies ~ which began as early as October 21st. And as always, I ask: What happened to Thanksgiving? It seems to be forgotten in the shuffle. Or it has simply become the precursor of Christmas.

I’m reminded of a story found in the gospel of Luke:

As Jesus traveled along the border of Samaria and Galilee, ten lepers stood at a distance and asked Jesus to heal them (Luke 17:11-13). To help us understand this story, we need to refer to the Old Testament law. To protect other people, the law required those with skin diseases, such as leprosy, to live separately and to keep their distance from others (​Leviticus 13:45-46). If healed, lepers presented themselves to the priests who had the authority to verify the healing and allow them to rejoin the community (Leviticus 14:1-8). 

In keeping with the law, Jesus told the lepers to go and show themselves to the priests. On their way, the lepers realized they had been healed (Luke 17:14). What happens next gives me pause:

One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.

Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” (Luke 17:15-19 NIV)

All ten of the men experienced healing; but only one came back to express thanks. Expressing gratitude was not a condition for healing. But Jesus took note of the one who freely gave it. Giving thanks is both noticed, and appreciated, by God. 

It’s interesting to me that God never required His people to offer sacrifices for thanksgiving, although He described them in the Old Testament Law. Called peace or fellowship offerings, these fell into the category of free-will sacrifices. The sacrifice consisted of  both leavened and unleavened bread, as well as an unblemished lamb or goat. Although worshipers did not usually eat the sacrifices offered to the Lord, the thanksgiving offering was an exception. After the priest kept a small portion, he returned the rest to the one making the offering. The law then required for the sacrifice to be eaten that same day (Leviticus 7:11-15). 

A full-grown lamb could weigh more than 100 pounds ~ too much for one person to consume in one day. So the worshiper shared the meal with friends, family, and even strangers. Inevitably, someone would ask the thankful Israelite the reason for the sacrifice. This opened avenues for praising God for His many blessings. 

As I think about these passages, I keep going back to the leper who made the free-will offering of praise and thanksgiving. Jesus noticed, and maybe you did too, that this leper was a Samaritan. 

In Jesus’ time, Jews shunned Samaritans because they saw them as a mixed breed (half-Jewish and half-Gentile). I assume, because Jesus told the ten lepers to obey the law and show themselves to the priests, that the other nine lepers were Jewish. Yet it was the Samaritan, and not the Jewish lepers, who took the time to thank Jesus. And I wonder why that is…

I believe the Samaritan, as one excluded from God’s holy people, saw his healing as unexpected. In that culture, Jesus would be expected to heal the Jewish lepers, but not the Samaritan. And because the gift came so unexpectedly, the Samaritan’s thankfulness overflowed with praise.

I wonder if this is what has happened to our Thanksgiving holiday. I wonder if, in our society, we have come to expect the many blessings we enjoy. So they don’t feel so extraordinary, so unexpected. And so we don’t feel the overwhelming sense of gratitude which spills over in praise for God. And Thanksgiving gets buried in Black Friday sales and all the other activities which usher in Christmas.

I’m glad we set aside a day to share a meal with others and to give thanks for our blessings. This year, I don’t want to push past this time of celebration. I want to cherish my blessings as undeserved, or unexpected gifts. I want to be like the Samaritan leper whose unexpected blessing prompted him to pour out praise in a loud voice. 

Wherever the road takes us this Thanksgiving holiday, I pray we pause and appreciate the many blessings we’ve received. And may we all, like the Samaritan leper, praise the One from whom all blessings flow.