What Do We Have to Be Thankful For?
Pastor Tan Thai · Nov 9, 2014
This Thanksgiving sermon explores the true meaning of gratitude through the story of ten lepers healed in Luke 17. Only one of the ten returned to give thanks—the despised Samaritan. The sermon challenges the congregation to recognize God's mercy and grace as the foundation of genuine gratitude, and calls each person to serve God out of a thankful heart.
This sermon was preached on the Sunday before Thanksgiving 2014, opening with a humorous anecdote about someone who understood the holiday simply as 'turkey day.' From there, the pastor led the congregation to recognize that gratitude is not a seasonal attitude but a constant way of life. He cited World Bank statistics about billions of people living in poverty to remind the congregation that each person present has far more to be thankful for than they might realize.
The heart of the sermon analyzes the story of the ten lepers in Luke 17. In that society, lepers were completely isolated from family and community. When they cried out 'Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!', they were not merely asking to be healed—they were asking for mercy, just as other figures in Scripture had done: the Canaanite mother (Matthew 15:22), the father of the demon-possessed boy (Matthew 17:15), and the two blind men by the road (Matthew 20:30). Mercy is defined as 'an awareness of another's suffering combined with a desire to relieve that suffering,' and it is this mercy—not material blessings—that is the most worthy object of gratitude.
When all ten lepers were healed, only one—the despised Samaritan—returned to fall at Jesus' feet in thanksgiving. Jesus asked, 'Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?' The sermon raises the question of why the nine did not return: perhaps they forgot, were preoccupied, or came to regard their healing as their due. The pastor drew on Deuteronomy 8:11-14 to warn that prosperity and abundance can cause people to forget God and become proud.
The sermon goes on to note that gratitude is not a natural instinct—children must be taught to say thank you, and even adults struggle to remain grateful once they have grown accustomed to comfort. The pastor used the illustration of basketball star Scottie Pippen, who earned tens of millions of dollars a year yet envied his billionaire owner Paul Allen, to illustrate humanity's instinct for discontentment. True gratitude comes only when a person focuses on the generosity of the giver rather than the size of the gift.
The application calls the congregation to imitate the Samaritan leper—to return, praise God, and bow before Christ in thanksgiving. The pastor cited Paul's words in 1 Timothy 1:12-13, reminding the church that gratitude for God's mercy and redemption is the true motivation for worship and service—not the pursuit of more blessings or personal recognition. The sermon concludes with 1 Thessalonians 5:18: 'Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.'