Why Give Thanks?


Mark Orr - July 1, 2009

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Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
- Philippians 4:6

I like Thanksgiving because it's so simple and straightforward. It's not about a lot of decorating or buying gifts. It is very basic – it's about getting together with family and friends, eating a meal (my favorite part), watching a little football – and most importantly, giving thanks for our many blessings.

With that being said, it still leaves the question: Why give thanks? Why take the time? Why make the effort? It turns out that there are some really good reasons to be thankful.

In Luke 17, we read that Jesus passed through a village where ten lepers, men with a very serious skin disease, met Him. They stayed at a distance because they were not allowed to approach anyone who was healthy. From a distance they called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, master, have mercy on us!"

These were desperate men in a desperate situation, and they believed that Jesus was the solution to their problem. When Jesus saw the men, He said, "go and show yourselves to the priests; and as they went they were cleansed."

Notice Jesus didn't say "be healed" or "be clean." He didn't touch them; He simply told them to go and show themselves to the priests. According to Jewish law, only a priest could declare a person clean from this infection. The men obeyed, and as they walked, they were healed. They didn't ask 100 questions. They didn't say, "But Jesus…" They simply trusted and obeyed, and because they did so, they experienced freedom from their problem.

Now comes the sad part of the story: All ten men were healed, but only one returned to give thanks. "One of them, when he saw that he had been healed, came back praising God in a loud voice." He threw himself at Jesus' feet and THANKED Him. Remember, he was a Samaritan; one who was looked down upon by the Jews as a half-breed and an idolater. Jesus asked: "Were not ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner? Then Jesus said to him, 'Rise and go, your faith has made you well.'"

So, what's the point? Why give thanks? Here are four reasons I want us to consider.

Giving thanks pleases God and brings us close to Him.

All ten men were healed, but only one man, the one who took the time to return and give thanks, entered into the intimate presence of the Son of God. What about the others? Were they too excited? Did they forget? Were they just anxious to get back to their loved ones? We don't know. But only one had a personal audience with the Messiah, the Savior of the world, the Lamb of God. All ten were healed, but only one of the ten received the blessing of personal time alone with the most important Man who ever lived. And all because he took the time to return and give thanks.

Giving thanks pleases God and brings us close to God, and that would be reason enough to be thankful. But there is more.

Giving thanks makes us strong.

The pilgrims landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts on December 26, 1620. They lacked sufficient provisions and shelter for the winter, so most of them become ill within weeks. By April, more than half of the population had died of disease or famine.

As the pilgrims grappled with these incredible hardships, how were they able to maintain their historically famous spirit of gratitude toward God? The answer lies in the fact that they had cultivated a habit of gratefulness long before they sailed to America's shores. Traditionally, they set aside regular days for communal thanksgiving throughout the year to acknowledge God's mercies and praise Him for His faithfulness. This practice had deeply ingrained an attitude of thankfulness that was not shaken by life's events. Their trust in the Lord's goodness and pine plan allowed them to find solace and strength to face adversity.

Giving thanks makes us emotionally healthy people.

Did you know that a thankful heart, an "attitude of gratitude," is viewed by many health professionals as the single most important aspect of maintaining emotional balance, a healthy outlook, as well as producing a resilient spirit?

Thankful people are optimistic and giving people. They not only see their "water glass" as half-full, but they often spend their time trying to give away the half they have. Ungrateful people, on the other hand, are usually pessimists who not only see the glass as half-empty, but often spend their time trying to figure out who took the other half of their water!

Giving thanks will help us deal with depression and help lift heavy sorrow.

It's been said that it is impossible to be thankful and depressed at the same time.

If you are in a very dark room, just the light from the hallway visible under the door is enough to give you some comfort. Thankfulness works that way. It allows light to invade the darkness in our lives. And while we may not be able to turn on the light and chase the darkness completely away, the light from the hall gives us hope. Thankfulness works this way. In desperate situations we must force ourselves to focus on – and list, in our minds or on paper – those things we are thankful for.

You might remember the crash of American Airlines flight 587 on takeoff from JFK airport in New York on November 12, 2001– just two months after 9/11. I was serving in Connecticut at the time – only 40 miles from Ground Zero and several miles from the flight 587 crash site. For me, it was another tragedy—almost too much too bear. Many times I, along with people from our church, had taken that very same flight from JFK to the Dominican Republic to do mission work there. We collaborated on those projects with Rev. Jean Luc Pharnord, a Haitian pastor in the D.R.

The night of the airline crash, I received a call telling me that Jean Luc, a man who had become a friend and an inspiration, was on that plane. He left behind not only a congregation, but a wife and three children. The next morning I sat looking out over the waters of Long Island Sound, deeply saddened. But then, I began to thank God for the gift of Jean Luc's life and for all the incredible things that had been accomplished through his ministry. I thought of as many reasons as I could to be thankful – and you know what? It worked! My sadness did not suddenly disappear, but it was not nearly as heavy. The "light" that thankfulness brought into the situation began to chase away the deep darkness.

There are plenty of circumstances in our lives that can discourage us. But may we all be like the one man who took the time to thank Jesus – and not like the other nine.

May I encourage you to pause this very minute to give thanks? Why not take a pencil, grab a piece of paper, and write down at least five things that you are truly thankful for, fold it up. On Sunday, place it in the offering plate as a gift to God. Make this a regular habit.

I pray that we truly be and become a thankful people and thereby know all of the blessings that result from a grateful heart: "O give thanks to the Lord for He is Good, His loving kindness endures forever!"
- Psalm 136

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Image of Member 074503 02012006 39852Mark Orr has served in youth ministry for more than 30 years in both church and parachurch settings. From 1984 through 2005, he was the associate pastor for youth and young adult ministries at Noroton Presbyterian Church in Darien, Connecticut. Prior to attending seminary, Mark served as an area director for Young Life in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, and also worked as a drug and alcohol prevention specialist in several school districts. Mark now serves as the executive director of REACH Youth New England and also as the New England regional coordinator for NNYM. Mark and his wife, DJ, have two adult children and reside in Norwalk, Conn.

 

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