Church of the Holy City

The Offering of Thankfulness

The Offering of Thankfulness
October 11, 2009
Rev. Dr. David J. Fekete

Leviticus 7:11-15 Luke 17:11-18

In our reading this morning from Leviticus, we heard about a special kind of sacrifice. It is called a fellowship offering in the translation I used. This sacrifice is different from the other sacrifices because it is a spontaneous offering of thankfulness. Other sacrifices are commanded either by the church calendar or by the commission of sin. But the fellowship offering could be done at any time, whenever the person wanted to express his feelings of thanks to God. In Leviticus 16:5, God says, “And if you offer a sacrifice of a fellowship offering unto the Lord, you shall offer it at your own will.” This sacrifice, then, is not to put the person back into favor with God, but is a celebration when a person is already in relationship with God. It is a free outpouring of the heart of thanks for God’s love and a person’s recognition of God’s role in his life. The Israelites performed this sacrifice in some of the great events of their history when they were especially grateful and happy. They performed a thank offering on Mount Sinai, when they first made their covenant with God. They performed it at the consecration of Aaron as Yahweh’s priest, and at the consecration of the tabernacle. They performed it at a solemn covenant renewal performed by Joshua in the promised land. They performed it when they anointed their first king Saul. When David brought the ark to Jerusalem, amid great festivity, they performed the fellowship offering. When Solomon completed the Temple they performed the fellowship offering.
And in the New Testament reading, we hear of ten lepers being healed by Jesus. Only one returns to thank Jesus. That one was from the religion that the orthodox Jews thought were heretics—the Samaritans. This is just one of many references in the New Testament in which the social outcasts are used to show true faith.
The healing of the lepers is symbolic of God’s constant providence that lifts us up into a higher and deeper faith life. This God does sometimes despite us. God knows what we need in order to love Him better. And we, ourselves, sometimes don’t know what we need. Sometimes, indeed, we even act contrary to what is best for us. Yet for all our misguided efforts, for all our shortcomings, God ceaselessly and gently draws us upward toward Himself. And for that, we all can be exceedingly grateful.
We can start to contemplate God’s gifts to us at the most basic level. We can thank God for our very life. God is Life Itself. And He gives us the life we call our own. In the youth of my spiritual development, I couldn’t understand what Swedenborg meant when he said that God gives us life. It felt to me like the life I had was mine. I couldn’t grasp the idea that the life I thought was mine, was actually God flowing into me. It took me years of experience, prayer, and study for me to begin to see that my life is a gift from God. From that insight all of real spirituality begins.
Recognizing that our life is a gift from God takes the ego out of our life. It removes the idea of “I”. It erases the concept of self. The Buddhists teach that there is no self. And when you take away the idea of self, then greed, lust, violence, and hatred all fall away like dead fall leaves.
When we acknowledge that the life we have is a gift from God, then everything we do afterward becomes charged with spiritual life. No longer can we take credit for the good things we do. No longer can we take credit for the spiritual advancement we make. No longer can we take credit for the love we share and the joy we feel. This is the beginning of a true faith life. It means that we can do good, and not think we deserve credit for it. Then the good we do shines with divine rays and is not tarnished with selfish conceit.
We then are filled with a feeling of thankfulness. We are thankful to God for allowing us to do the good that we do. We thank God for allowing us to work with Him to bring heaven to earth. Doing good feels good. Doing good is a joy. And all this is a gift from God.
In our earthly lives, too, we have much to be thankful for. In these difficult economic times, we can become overwhelmed with a feeling of loss. Our retirement investments may have dropped. Some have lost their jobs. And instead of feeling thankful, we rather feel lost and abandoned by God.
It is in these times of difficulty that spirituality can be all the more necessary. When we are deprived of our worldly comforts, we can turn to spirituality for consolation. It is all too often the case that we don’t pray from the depths of our heart until we are brought to desperate times. When we are comfortable with the way things are going, it is all to easy to become complacent, and forget about our utter dependence on God. Sometimes it takes sorrow and difficulty for us to reach out to God and to reestablish our connection with Him. Often when things are most difficult for us, God seems to come closer.
When I have had hard times, I get down to the very basics in my life. Do I have a roof over my head? I give thanks for that. Do I have enough food to eat? I give thanks for that. Do I have a jacket for the winter? I give thanks for that. Do I have people around me who care for me? I give thanks for that. Am I one of the fortunate ones who have a job? I give thanks for that. When I make lists like this, I see just how much I have and how much I have to be thankful for. Then there are the extras. Do I have reliable transportation—that might mean a bus ride or a car? Do I have a stereo I can listen to music on for free? I give thanks for that. Do I have clothes to wear? When I break things down to the basic level, I have countless things to thank God for giving me. Life looks rich and joyous when we take the time to count all the little things we have that we take for granted.
On Thanksgiving Day most of us will be enjoying a feast with family and friends. This is one of those special days out of the year when we make time for family and friends. It is a time to renew bonds of love and to show one another how much they mean to us. We need these special days, because in the rush of our work lives we don’t always show our loved ones how we feel for them. We rush from home to work; we clean the house on our days off; we go grocery shopping; we perform countless chores and rush through life. So on days like Thanksgiving Day, and other holidays, we slow down and enjoy those whom we love. Days like Thanksgiving Day make us stop the hustle and bustle of our work lives and look around us. And especially don’t forget to thank the people who worked so hard to cook everything!
There are those unfortunates, however, who are unable to celebrate as we do. There are some who have fallen through the cracks of society and can’t seem to make their way. I think of the many homeless for whom Thanksgiving Day might mean a special meal at the shelter, but not the warmth of home and family. A large number of the homeless suffer from mental illnesses, and for one reason or another haven’t received proper treatment, or haven’t found government subsidies to support them. Some, indeed, are victims of drug addictions; some come from difficult or abusive family environments; some, it seems, just haven’t gotten the proper start in life that we all take for granted. When we say our Thanksgiving grace, I suggest that we also say a prayer for those who have been left out of society for whatever reason.
Let us all remember the countless blessings that have come into our lives. Let us remember the blessings of daily living we often forget. Let us rejoice and give thanks for our families and loved ones. Let us especially give thanks to God for His constant care and His constant work of salvation that His grace provides. Let us not be like the nine lepers who were healed by Jesus, but didn’t think to give thanks to God. Rather, let us be like the Samaritan who returned to Jesus, bowed down and gave thanks. Let Thanksgiving Day be for us a free will offering of gratitude to God in the joy of this holiday.