AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE

A sermon by the Rev. Dr. James G. Kirk

Harundale Presbyterian Church

Glen Burnie, Maryland

October 10, 2004

Text: “He prostrated himself…and thanked him.” (Luke 17:16)

First Reading: Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7

Second Reading: 2 Timothy 2:8-15

Tomorrow, I fly to Chicago to bury Jamie and Keely’s still born child. They got a stone marker for the grave and had inscribed on it, “Our joys will be greater, our love will be deeper, our lives will be fuller, because we shared Cail’s moments. Baby Cail Kirk, born July 1, 2004. A person’s a person no matter how small!” And I thought when I read their e-mail that their sentiments say it all. They went through probably the greatest heartbreak they could face as a young married couple and yet, they chose to be grateful for the brief time they had with their child.

Our story from Luke this morning is all about the same sort of gratitude. Ten lepers approach Jesus as he’s on his way to Jerusalem in the region between Samaria and Galilee. They keep their distance, because they know they are ritually unclean. They were ostracized by their families, their homes, their livelihoods and their community. Deprived of all social contacts, lepers were banished to the boundaries of their village and forced to become beggars, relying on the mercy and the generosity for their survival.

Calling Jesus “master” they plead for his mercy, which could mean anything from healing to money or food. Jesus responds by telling them to go and show themselves to the priests.” That’s all he says, but that’s all he has to say. They knew what they had to do. They had to go the priests in Jerusalem where they would be examined and receive the necessary rituals to proclaim them “clean” again in the eyes of their people.

Now don’t think ill of the nine; they probably were so caught up in their cleansed status that they merrily set about on their way to Jerusalem. However, the focus of the story is on the one who sees that he’s been healed. Suddenly, he’s overcome with gratitude and can’t help himself from praising and glorifying God. He throws himself at Jesus’ feet and receives from the “master” the blessing, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.” “Our joys will be greater, our love will be deeper, our lives will be fuller, because we shared Cail’s moments.”

It’s no doubt that people who have an attitude of gratitude live healthier, more productive lives. It puts you a cut above the majority of people, especially those who think they’ve somehow earned what they have; that it’s been through their efforts rather than the grace of God that they’re where they are today. I always cringe when someone’s described as a “self made person.” In my opinion there’s no such thing. We are what we are through God’s grace and our use or abuse of all the gifts God so abundantly heaps upon us.

Meister Eckhart tells the story of a scholar, who on his way to church, was surprised to see a man in tattered clothes and barefoot. Nevertheless, as a good Christian, he greeted the poor man. “May God give you a good morning!” The poor man replied cheerfully, “I have never yet had a bad morning.” “Then may God give you good luck!” “I have never yet had bad luck.” “Well, may God give you happiness!” “I have never yet been unhappy.” The scholar then asked the man, “Could you please explain yourself to me? I do not understand.”

And the poor man replied, “With pleasure! You wish me a good morning, yet I have never had a bad morning. For when I am hungry, I praise God; when I feel cold, or when it is raining or snowing, I praise God; and that is why I have never had a bad morning.

“You wish that God may give me luck. However, I have never had bad luck. This is because I live with God and always feel what God does for me is the best. Whatever God sends me, be it pleasant or unpleasant, I accept with a grateful heart. That is why I have never had bad luck.

“Finally, you wish that God should make me happy. But I have never been unhappy. For all I desire is to follow God’s will; I have surrendered my will so totally to God’s will that, whatever God wants, that is what I also want. That is why I have never been unhappy.” (Found in Homiletics Online, Leper No. 10, ll/27/03 Page 6) Now, few of us may have the faith and the conviction of Meister Eckhart, but there’s no denying the fact that people who have an attitude of gratitude will live a more serene, contented life.

This Columbus Day weekend Todd Ruprecht is going to be selling lemonade at his Koon’s Volvo dealership. It all started when Alex Scott, an 8 year old with brain cancer, talked Volvo in sponsoring her lemonade stand in order to raise money for kid’s cancer research. By the time Alex died in August of this year she had raised over $700,000. Now it was Todd Ruprecht chance to do the same thing. For, you see, his daughter Kirstin, also 8, also died of brain cancer.

“Even before her illness, Kirstin was the kind of kid who packed toys in her backpack to give away to school friends. During her illness, she took on the gloomy radiation clinic, getting the staff to find toys, fresh coffee and juice, and providing the cheer herself. And. Although the drug she took didn’t make her lose her hair, she shaved her head in solidarity with children who did.” (The Sun, October 9, 2004, Page 8D)

Anyone who’s had cancer can sympathize with Alex, Kirstin and their families. Cancer is probably the closest we come in today’s society to the lepers found in our story this morning. Kirstin shaved her head even though she didn’t have to, out of solidarity with the other kids. And when your hair starts to fall out the fact that you have cancer announces itself as soon as you enter a room. There’s no hiding the fact that you have a life threatening disease, just like the lepers who were ostracized by their society.

And like the leper who returned to praise God, Alex, Kirstin and the Ruprechts are turning what could be an attitude of despair into an attitude of gratitude. I’m sure Alex Scott was a bright child in announcing to Volvo her desire to turn what could be a lemon into lemonade, since they in their time had probably sold a lemon or two! However, the fact that Volvo nationwide bought her idea and it continues to this day is testimony to her resolve that even a life threatening disease was not going to get the best of her. Her attitude even for an eight year-old, and the $700,000 she raised before she died ranks her as having done more for society than many who have lived out their normal life spans.

All of which brings the story right back to each one of us this morning. We are in the midst of our stewardship campaign. You have heard what the needs are and how these next few years are going to challenging ones for Harundale. More than ever there’s the need to have an attitude of gratitude, gratitude for all the church means in your life, gratitude for all that you do for one another in times of need and illness, gratitude for the mission that serves the community and out into the world, and gratitude for God’s grace that continues to provide each one of us with abundance.

Let us be like the leper and come before God’s throne of grace abounding with thanksgiving for all that God has given us, and in return show our gratitude in giving back to God a portion that will allow God’s work to continue. For then your joys will be greater, your love will be deeper and your lives will be fuller, because you shared a significant moment with a gracious God!

Thanks be to God,

Amen