2 Kings 5:1-19; Luke 17:11-19
October 25, 2009
“Hey God – Thanks!”
Rev. Meagan Boozer
According to retailers, we have officially entered into “the holiday season.” Has anyone been to a store lately? Beside the Halloween decorations & costumes you will see Thanksgiving décor - Christmas trees, ornaments, and decorations. Wow. I’m still wondering where the summer went!
Well, if the stores can do it – so can we. We’re officially starting our season of thanksgiving today with a 4-part sermon series called, “Hey God – Thanks!” The apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 4, “Don’t be anxious about anything, but in everything, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God, and the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus.” In these next several weeks we’re going to look at some of what the Bible teaches us about thanksgiving. It’s not just a holiday. Thanksgiving is supposed to be a way of life. Let us pray: Heavenly Father, thank you for who you are – for creating us – for giving us purpose and peace. Thank you for the gift of salvation in Jesus Christ. Thank you for opening our hearts to know you and love you. May we learn in these next weeks how to be your thankful people every day of the year. Fill us anew with your Holy Spirit so that our hearing and my speaking may be just as you intend. We pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Last Friday, John and I arrived home from our trip to Massachusetts in time to welcome two dear friends into Chambersburg. Joe Beczak was a high school friend of John and mine who was partially responsible for getting John to ask me out for the first time way back in 1974. Joe ended up living with John in a falling-down house in State College when they were both up there as students. They both served as leaders in Young Life for Centre County. And when John and I were married in 1978, Joe (of course) was the best man. Well, last Friday, Joe and his wife Lynn flew in from Chicago to go with us to the PSU/Minnesota game last Saturday. We were excited to see them, but a little apprehensive too. You see, about 4 years ago, Joe was diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson’s disease at only 48 years old. When we saw him shortly after the diagnosis, unless you knew he had Parkinson’s, we wouldn’t have known that he had it. After a few years, John and I wondered what we would see in our dear friend.
Joe is 6’8”, and at 52 years old, it is now obvious that he has Parkinsons. He shuffles when he walks, has trouble getting going from standing still, struggles to get up and down, and his right hand shakes – a lot. Joe was always a sort-of slow and deliberate guy – now he is slower and more deliberate.
Walk to the stadium from downtown State College? You bet. Walking is what feels best to him. Sit in the rain/snow/cold for 4 hours of football? Absolutely. That’s part of what we came for.
We met another guy that John and Joe lived with in State College in the house – and to see the three of these guys enjoying each other’s company just like old times was a blessing to the women-folk. Our mouths never stopped talking over lunch. And then it was time to head to the stadium.
We all kept an eye on Joe. We could tell he was pushing it. But he was determined. We took our time amidst the thousands walking by us. When we finally made it to the stadium, it was time to split up to go to three different areas to watch the game. Before we split up, Joe said, “Hey – circle up. Circle up.” So, we made a little circle in the cold rain outside Beaver Stadium with people bumping into us and the stadium speaker blaring pre-game music. We put our arms around each other’s shoulders – not sure exactly what Joe wanted to say to us. And this is what he said, “Heavenly Father, thank you for this day. Thank you for these friends. Thank you that we can be together today. Help everyone enjoy the game and be safe. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
I’m the only one who is a pastor in the group. You’d might expect that the pastor would be the one to call us to prayer. But I didn’t. I was anxious about Joe, about how he was going to sit in such a squished position for such a long time in the cold. I didn’t call everyone to circle up to pray that prayer. John didn’t do it either. Joe – who has early-onset Parkinson’s Disease called us together to pray a prayer of thanksgiving – because his heart wasn’t anxious. His heart was full of gratitude.
A stress researcher Hans Seyle claims that “two attitudes more than any other influence the quality of everyday life, and on these emotions depend our peace of mind, our feelings of security or insecurity, of fulfillment or frustration, in short, the extent to which we can make a success of life. He writes that the most destructive emotion is revenge. But in contrast, among all the emotions, there is one which more than any other, accounts for the absence or presence of stress in human relations: that is the feeling of gratitude.”
The apostle Paul wrote, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God, and the peace of God that passes all understanding will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4)
Thanksgiving is a way of thinking. The words ‘think’ and ‘thank’ come from the same root, reminding us that thanksgiving comes from thinking about our blessings, about what we DO have rather than thinking about our troubles and what we DON’T have. A guy named Frank Clark said this, “If a fellow isn’t thankful for what he’s got, he isn’t likely to be thankful for what he’s going to get.” A thankful person is more able than the anxious person to let the past be the past and trust God with the present and with the future.
Our friend Joe is a thankful person. Just being around him for 24 hours, was life-giving for John and for me. Do you know people like this? Do you want to be a thankful person rather than an anxious or fearful or bitter or negative person?
Let’s open our Bibles to 2 Kings 5, and read about a man who teaches us something about thanksgiving. Then we’re going to go to the Gospel of Luke and hear from Jesus.
1Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man and in high favor with his master, because by him the LORD had given victory to Aram. The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from leprosy. 2Now the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. 3She said to her mistress, “If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” 4So Naaman went in and told his lord just what the girl from the land of Israel had said. 5And the king of Aram said, “Go then, and I will send along a letter to the king of Israel.”
He went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of garments. 6He brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, “When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you my servant Naaman, that you may cure him of his leprosy.” 7When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to give death or life, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Just look and see how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me.”
8But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel.” 9So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and halted at the entrance of Elisha’s house. 10Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean.” 11But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, “I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy! 12Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?” He turned and went away in a rage. 13But his servants approached and said to him, “Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” 14So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean.
15Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company; he came and stood before him and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel; please accept a present from your servant.”
Luke 17:11-19 -
11On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. 12As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, 13they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” 14When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. 15Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. 16He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. 17Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? 18Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”
What is one of the first couple of words we try to teach our children after mama and dada? ‘Please’ and ‘thank you,’ right? Janie wants a cookie? Say please. Good girl. Here you go. Now, what do you say? Thank you! These words come out in all sorts of ways at first, but eventually with lots and lots of practice, begin to sound the way they should.
To thank someone is to express gratitude to them for something. Gratitude is a feeling of being thankful. These two words are connected like peanut and butter: Gratitude and thanksgiving:
I’m so thankful to God for the beautiful leaves this season.
I’m grateful God gave John and I the chance to see our friends last weekend.
Naaman was originally offended by Elisha’s instructions, thinking himself above dipping in the measly Jordan River. But after humbling himself, with the help of his companions, Naaman became thankful – his heart was full of gratitude to Elisha for telling him how he could be healed from his leprosy.
The 10th leper was thankful to Jesus for healing him.
Both returned to the Healer to say ‘thank you.’
Naaman could have immediately jumped back onto his chariot and headed back to his house and his wife to celebrate what God had done. But instead this is what he did: 15Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company; he came and stood before him and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel; please accept a present from your servant.”
Out of his grateful heart, Naaman wanted to give Elisha a gift of thanksgiving – because Grateful Thinking leads to Thankful Living leads to Worship Giving. Naaman vowed never to worship any god but the God of Israel from this moment on.
Grateful thinking leads to thankful living leads to worship giving.
When is the last time you said ‘thank you’ to someone who did something for you that really mattered? I’m not talking about saying thank you to the cashier when he/she hands you your bag of purchases. I’m not talking about saying thank you to the person who held the door for you, or picked up a piece of paper you dropped along the way. I’m talking about someone who did something for you or said something to you that was truly life-giving. A friend, a coach, a teacher, a parent, a grandparent, a child, a counselor…
Far too often I’m like the other 9 lepers who were so excited to be able to run without fear of losing their toes that I don’t take the time to say thank you. Lots of times we start praying with a request instead of a word of thanks to our Creator.
Dear Lord, Please help me… instead of Dear Lord, Thank you.
Thanksgiving is a way of thinking that doesn’t come naturally to our sinful selves. We have to practice being thankful people. We have to help each other be thankful. Naaman’s companions were a critical part of his thanksgiving story, weren’t they? A thankful person is someone who people want to be around because that person has a positive attitude that makes everyone feel better about life – and as Christians – let’s think of spreading the Gospel - if people want to be around us, then that gives us many opportunities to tell them about Jesus.
In the book of James 1:17, we read, “Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
G.K. Chesterton wrote, “When we were children we were grateful to those who filled our stockings at Christmas time. Why are we not grateful to God for filling our stockings with legs?
Henry Ward Beecher wrote, “The unthankful heart . . . discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings!
With your bulletin you should have received an index card. Grateful thinking leads to thankful living leads to worship giving. We have to practice being thankful people. And so here is practice exercise number 1:
Put the name of someone on this card that you are going to thank this week in some way – whether it is a phone call, an email, a hand written note, or a personal face-to-face thank you, write down the name of the person you will contact in some way this week to say thank you for something they added to your life.
Now you may say, “The title of this sermon is “Hey God – thanks!” You’re right, it is. But remember from the book of James, “Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above.” As we thank the people around us, we are thanking God, who alone is responsible for every good thing and every good word that any of us express to one another. God is blessed when his people are thankful people. So let us bless the Lord by writing down a name, and then following through. Let’s be like Naaman and the 10th leper. Let’s be intentionally thankful people – so that we might pass on the gift of healing and wholeness that God has given to us. Amen.
October 25, 2009
“Hey God – Thanks!”
Rev. Meagan Boozer
According to retailers, we have officially entered into “the holiday season.” Has anyone been to a store lately? Beside the Halloween decorations & costumes you will see Thanksgiving décor - Christmas trees, ornaments, and decorations. Wow. I’m still wondering where the summer went!
Well, if the stores can do it – so can we. We’re officially starting our season of thanksgiving today with a 4-part sermon series called, “Hey God – Thanks!” The apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 4, “Don’t be anxious about anything, but in everything, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God, and the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus.” In these next several weeks we’re going to look at some of what the Bible teaches us about thanksgiving. It’s not just a holiday. Thanksgiving is supposed to be a way of life. Let us pray: Heavenly Father, thank you for who you are – for creating us – for giving us purpose and peace. Thank you for the gift of salvation in Jesus Christ. Thank you for opening our hearts to know you and love you. May we learn in these next weeks how to be your thankful people every day of the year. Fill us anew with your Holy Spirit so that our hearing and my speaking may be just as you intend. We pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Last Friday, John and I arrived home from our trip to Massachusetts in time to welcome two dear friends into Chambersburg. Joe Beczak was a high school friend of John and mine who was partially responsible for getting John to ask me out for the first time way back in 1974. Joe ended up living with John in a falling-down house in State College when they were both up there as students. They both served as leaders in Young Life for Centre County. And when John and I were married in 1978, Joe (of course) was the best man. Well, last Friday, Joe and his wife Lynn flew in from Chicago to go with us to the PSU/Minnesota game last Saturday. We were excited to see them, but a little apprehensive too. You see, about 4 years ago, Joe was diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson’s disease at only 48 years old. When we saw him shortly after the diagnosis, unless you knew he had Parkinson’s, we wouldn’t have known that he had it. After a few years, John and I wondered what we would see in our dear friend.
Joe is 6’8”, and at 52 years old, it is now obvious that he has Parkinsons. He shuffles when he walks, has trouble getting going from standing still, struggles to get up and down, and his right hand shakes – a lot. Joe was always a sort-of slow and deliberate guy – now he is slower and more deliberate.
Walk to the stadium from downtown State College? You bet. Walking is what feels best to him. Sit in the rain/snow/cold for 4 hours of football? Absolutely. That’s part of what we came for.
We met another guy that John and Joe lived with in State College in the house – and to see the three of these guys enjoying each other’s company just like old times was a blessing to the women-folk. Our mouths never stopped talking over lunch. And then it was time to head to the stadium.
We all kept an eye on Joe. We could tell he was pushing it. But he was determined. We took our time amidst the thousands walking by us. When we finally made it to the stadium, it was time to split up to go to three different areas to watch the game. Before we split up, Joe said, “Hey – circle up. Circle up.” So, we made a little circle in the cold rain outside Beaver Stadium with people bumping into us and the stadium speaker blaring pre-game music. We put our arms around each other’s shoulders – not sure exactly what Joe wanted to say to us. And this is what he said, “Heavenly Father, thank you for this day. Thank you for these friends. Thank you that we can be together today. Help everyone enjoy the game and be safe. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
I’m the only one who is a pastor in the group. You’d might expect that the pastor would be the one to call us to prayer. But I didn’t. I was anxious about Joe, about how he was going to sit in such a squished position for such a long time in the cold. I didn’t call everyone to circle up to pray that prayer. John didn’t do it either. Joe – who has early-onset Parkinson’s Disease called us together to pray a prayer of thanksgiving – because his heart wasn’t anxious. His heart was full of gratitude.
A stress researcher Hans Seyle claims that “two attitudes more than any other influence the quality of everyday life, and on these emotions depend our peace of mind, our feelings of security or insecurity, of fulfillment or frustration, in short, the extent to which we can make a success of life. He writes that the most destructive emotion is revenge. But in contrast, among all the emotions, there is one which more than any other, accounts for the absence or presence of stress in human relations: that is the feeling of gratitude.”
The apostle Paul wrote, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God, and the peace of God that passes all understanding will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4)
Thanksgiving is a way of thinking. The words ‘think’ and ‘thank’ come from the same root, reminding us that thanksgiving comes from thinking about our blessings, about what we DO have rather than thinking about our troubles and what we DON’T have. A guy named Frank Clark said this, “If a fellow isn’t thankful for what he’s got, he isn’t likely to be thankful for what he’s going to get.” A thankful person is more able than the anxious person to let the past be the past and trust God with the present and with the future.
Our friend Joe is a thankful person. Just being around him for 24 hours, was life-giving for John and for me. Do you know people like this? Do you want to be a thankful person rather than an anxious or fearful or bitter or negative person?
Let’s open our Bibles to 2 Kings 5, and read about a man who teaches us something about thanksgiving. Then we’re going to go to the Gospel of Luke and hear from Jesus.
1Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man and in high favor with his master, because by him the LORD had given victory to Aram. The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from leprosy. 2Now the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. 3She said to her mistress, “If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” 4So Naaman went in and told his lord just what the girl from the land of Israel had said. 5And the king of Aram said, “Go then, and I will send along a letter to the king of Israel.”
He went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of garments. 6He brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, “When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you my servant Naaman, that you may cure him of his leprosy.” 7When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to give death or life, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Just look and see how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me.”
8But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel.” 9So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and halted at the entrance of Elisha’s house. 10Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean.” 11But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, “I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy! 12Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?” He turned and went away in a rage. 13But his servants approached and said to him, “Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” 14So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean.
15Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company; he came and stood before him and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel; please accept a present from your servant.”
Luke 17:11-19 -
11On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. 12As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, 13they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” 14When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. 15Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. 16He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. 17Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? 18Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”
What is one of the first couple of words we try to teach our children after mama and dada? ‘Please’ and ‘thank you,’ right? Janie wants a cookie? Say please. Good girl. Here you go. Now, what do you say? Thank you! These words come out in all sorts of ways at first, but eventually with lots and lots of practice, begin to sound the way they should.
To thank someone is to express gratitude to them for something. Gratitude is a feeling of being thankful. These two words are connected like peanut and butter: Gratitude and thanksgiving:
I’m so thankful to God for the beautiful leaves this season.
I’m grateful God gave John and I the chance to see our friends last weekend.
Naaman was originally offended by Elisha’s instructions, thinking himself above dipping in the measly Jordan River. But after humbling himself, with the help of his companions, Naaman became thankful – his heart was full of gratitude to Elisha for telling him how he could be healed from his leprosy.
The 10th leper was thankful to Jesus for healing him.
Both returned to the Healer to say ‘thank you.’
Naaman could have immediately jumped back onto his chariot and headed back to his house and his wife to celebrate what God had done. But instead this is what he did: 15Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company; he came and stood before him and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel; please accept a present from your servant.”
Out of his grateful heart, Naaman wanted to give Elisha a gift of thanksgiving – because Grateful Thinking leads to Thankful Living leads to Worship Giving. Naaman vowed never to worship any god but the God of Israel from this moment on.
Grateful thinking leads to thankful living leads to worship giving.
When is the last time you said ‘thank you’ to someone who did something for you that really mattered? I’m not talking about saying thank you to the cashier when he/she hands you your bag of purchases. I’m not talking about saying thank you to the person who held the door for you, or picked up a piece of paper you dropped along the way. I’m talking about someone who did something for you or said something to you that was truly life-giving. A friend, a coach, a teacher, a parent, a grandparent, a child, a counselor…
Far too often I’m like the other 9 lepers who were so excited to be able to run without fear of losing their toes that I don’t take the time to say thank you. Lots of times we start praying with a request instead of a word of thanks to our Creator.
Dear Lord, Please help me… instead of Dear Lord, Thank you.
Thanksgiving is a way of thinking that doesn’t come naturally to our sinful selves. We have to practice being thankful people. We have to help each other be thankful. Naaman’s companions were a critical part of his thanksgiving story, weren’t they? A thankful person is someone who people want to be around because that person has a positive attitude that makes everyone feel better about life – and as Christians – let’s think of spreading the Gospel - if people want to be around us, then that gives us many opportunities to tell them about Jesus.
In the book of James 1:17, we read, “Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
G.K. Chesterton wrote, “When we were children we were grateful to those who filled our stockings at Christmas time. Why are we not grateful to God for filling our stockings with legs?
Henry Ward Beecher wrote, “The unthankful heart . . . discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings!
With your bulletin you should have received an index card. Grateful thinking leads to thankful living leads to worship giving. We have to practice being thankful people. And so here is practice exercise number 1:
Put the name of someone on this card that you are going to thank this week in some way – whether it is a phone call, an email, a hand written note, or a personal face-to-face thank you, write down the name of the person you will contact in some way this week to say thank you for something they added to your life.
Now you may say, “The title of this sermon is “Hey God – thanks!” You’re right, it is. But remember from the book of James, “Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above.” As we thank the people around us, we are thanking God, who alone is responsible for every good thing and every good word that any of us express to one another. God is blessed when his people are thankful people. So let us bless the Lord by writing down a name, and then following through. Let’s be like Naaman and the 10th leper. Let’s be intentionally thankful people – so that we might pass on the gift of healing and wholeness that God has given to us. Amen.
