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Sermon:
Today’s gospel reading of the ten lepers is one of the key passages used in school assemblies up and down the country especially when looking at the value of ‘thankfulness’ and it may be suggested that school assembly explorations have no place in the gravitas of a diocesan podcast. However, if I’ve learnt one thing in ministry over the years its that as we become adults, we either forget the very important theological stuff we teach our children or view it as something childish which has no place in adulthood, both of which I think should be challenged. If theological teaching is important to our kids, it is important to adults just as much. Therefore, today, as we look at the story of the ten lepers I want us to think about the theological importance of saying ‘thank you’ and being thankful.
When I was on my ordination retreat the retreat leader spent a considerable amount of time reminding those of us about to embark on ordained ministry about the importance of regularly saying thank you and never taking people for granted. We explored how this wasn’t just about politeness but rather something deeply theological and I’ve endeavoured to live this out. Not always as fully as I would like but I have done it regularly and witnessed the profound transformation and joy in people when they are thanked for doing what they do and in today’s gospel we have an important lesson in the power of encounter with Jesus followed by the ongoing transformation which comes from thankfulness. Part of what I want to offer in this podcast isn’t me saying ‘aren’t I good at saying thank you’ but share my own experience of the theological importance of saying thank you so that the power of saying thank you is shared and experienced by us all.
I spend far too much time on social media and it’s often a place where criticism, ridicule and anger rule supreme. It’s often a place where we find the complete opposite of thankfulness. Just occasionally though people will use social media to say thank you often to mark a simple act of kindness such as helping get someone up off the floor after they have fallen over or where a purse or wallet has been returned to its owner. Just reading these acts of thankfulness brings me joy and hope even though they aren’t related to me in any way and this always serves as a reminder of the importance of saying thank you. This simple act is transformational and Jesus is all about transformation as we see in today’s gospel.
Whenever I read the story of the ten lepers I’m always fascinated in exploring that whilst all the lepers would have been outcasts the Samaritan leper would have been even more outcast and yet it is he who returns to give thanks to Jesus. Those who are a bit more on the inside walk away and, in many ways, demonstrate a culture of expectation and once healed a culture of privilege. It feels like they expected and deserved the healing and having received it just walked away back to a life of being on the inside now they were healed whereas the Samaritan would have continued to be an outsider. I often see this in society where many people who consider themselves part of the in crowd believe they deserve certain things and because of this don’t offer thanks for things they receive. Whether that is thanking God or one another. It is important to always guard against this culture of expectation which can often come to the fore when people are part of the powerful and privileged in crowd. In many ways thankfulness is steeped in humility rather than privilege.
Looking out upon the world today I can often see a world where the privileged and the powerful increasingly expect the life they have and because of this do not believe they should say thank you or offer thankfulness. Why should they? All too often the privileges they have are seen as being their right. This is not the world of the kingdom. The world of the kingdom is steeped in giving thanks and this can be seen most visibly when bread is broken, wine is poured out and thanks to God is given. The Kingdom is a Kingdom of thankfulness. Given this, saying thank you in a world of privilege and assuming the right to things it hugely counter cultural and radical. The very act of teaching our kids to say thank you isn’t about being polite but about turning a self centred world culture on its head and teaching our kids to be radical partakers in the gospel. To say thank you, to be thankful is part of transforming the world and we all need to be part of this. Children, and adults, alike. It is part of the Christian life.
The story of the ten lepers is a story of encounter but it is also a story of subversion not just because of who it is that gives thanks to Jesus but because in the act of thankfulness we see an act of the kingdom, an act of subversion, an act of transformation and transformation is what our world needs today.
Questions:
- How can you build thankfulness and saying thank you into your spiritual practices?
- How do you respond to the idea that saying thank you is an increasingly radical thing to do?
- Can you identify any examples of times when you haven’t said thank you and the reasons behind that were?