Well, we come together for Thanksgiving, and we have made this a custom, obviously, in our land, and as Christians, something that we are to know as a way of life, which is one of the things that the Lord tells us constantly, is that we should be a people who are thankful, always giving thanks. Remember, it is the characteristic of a darkened mind of people in Romans 1 who do not give thanks. Nor were they thankful, Paul said in Romans 1, as one of the reasons that God gave them over to a debased mind. Thanksgiving is a way of life for the Christian, but on this particular day, we do pause and we thank the Lord. It's helpful and good to reflect upon His goodness to us and His faithfulness to all that He's spoken in His Word. Sometimes I think we forget the history of this in light of what our presidents would say at times like this. I was surprised to go back and read again. I don't know if it ever just didn't catch me before. But when they were calling the nation to thanksgiving, when they were telling people to thank God, they would then almost always follow up with that this was also an opportunity to humble ourselves and confess our sins. When Washington gave it, he said, that we may then unite, all unite, and rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks. And also, that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and ruler of nations, and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions. Lincoln would say the same thing, that he called the nation to offer prayers with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, especially praying for the widows and orphans of the Civil War. And I think what you hear there was a concern that when Thanksgiving is celebrated, that the most important things would be kept in front of us. That we would not lose what is most important in this. And as Christians, of course, we should be the ones leading the way in what is most important. We should be the ones who gather in Thanksgiving, who have, with understanding, great praise and gratitude to the Lord, understanding all that he has done for us in this day that we call Thanksgiving. And I believe that Luke chapter 17 helps us today to give us a good picture and understanding of the kind of Thanksgiving that pleases God, the kind of Thanksgiving that comes from the heart, the kind of Thanksgiving that he loves, which in contrast shows that there are people practicing Thanksgiving and doing things that he does not love, that he does not see as helpful at all. and this particular passage shows us that one of the most interesting encounters that we come across in the gospel with Jesus. We read that he had went up to Jerusalem in verse 11, and he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee, and as he did this, there met him ten lepers who come to him and are seeking from him help. Jesus had purposely passed through this region. You'll notice it's Galilee and Samaria, so we have a mixture here. And these common lepers in their common misery have united together. And remember that with lepers, they were always set outside of the camp. Everyone understood them to be absolutely unclean. You'll remember from Leviticus, the leper on whom the sore is, his clothes shall be torn and his head shall be bare and he shall cover his mustache and cry unclean unclean and all the days he has the sore he shall be unclean he is unclean he shall dwell alone his dwelling shall be outside the camp the last thing i wanted to talk to you about in thanksgiving was leprosy you know i really don't want to go through the details of this it just doesn't seem very happy but i want to for a minute you understand the awful problem of the disease our modern medicine has all almost eliminated it but but it was terrible you know that body parts would would essentially rot off it was an awful thing to have happen to you it was a terrible sickness and a terrible disease and people would come together and they would come together in groups outside of these dwelling places because of their unclean and infectious state. As I read this, the first thing I think to myself is, is here we see the common misery in life of people who are suffering and who are crying out for help. There are a few different ways to apply this today, but I want you to notice here that the degree to which the common misery affects you will be the degree to which you're crying out for a remedy all of us uh in the course of this life face things like this because of sin and because of the consequences of sin in the body and the body is breaking down the body is dying and there are people feeling the real effects of sin some worse than others at the moment and this is one of those interesting moments in the gospels where they all come to him and they all cry out to Jesus for help. We want freedom from the pain of all of this, Jesus. We want freedom from the struggles that we're having in this life. We need you. We understand who you are, and we know that you can lighten the load on us. We know that you can take care of these burdens and that you can stop this. It always seems to come out at this time of year, too. I don't know what it is about Thanksgiving and Christmas, but particularly Thanksgiving, that the misery of society seems to work its way out right to us. And here are all these people with real needs who are coming at us and asking for help. It was like this every time in every church that I've been in, that it was at this time of year, the phones always rang for people asking for help and asking for money and freedom from all this pain. And you know it. Look at the hardships in all of this. It can be terribly distressing, the hardships of seeing in our own families and in our own lives, broken homes and broken marriages, and we see hatred and we see division and violence, and life is hard. Sin has brought a terrible bondage upon people, and we see it everywhere, and we see it in our own lives at times. Well, here's this picture of common misery right in front of us, and now enter Jesus in the scene. Many people view him as the guy who can heal everything. As the one who can give us the pain-free life. News had spread all over the region. This is how they viewed Jesus. News had spread all over the region of Jesus that people were being brought to him on mats. People were coming to him with all their sicknesses and all their hardships and all their infirmities to be healed of Jesus. And I can't imagine that. I was at the gym the other day and somebody asked me to put their hands on them and heal their backache. I'm not kidding you. This is how they see the spiritual people in the world. Jesus par excellence is the best one, right? So here we are. They lift up their voices and they say, Jesus, have mercy on us. And the first thing you have to say is, is look at how compassionate our Lord is. he knows this is the mindset. He knows exactly why they've come. And look at him in his compassion. You see him all throughout the Gospels this way. He would look at the multitudes and he realized they were hungry and they needed to be fed and they were sheep without a shepherd. The compassion that welled up from him for these people. It's overwhelming to study. And that the scriptures show us this grand desire for him to help. He desires to help. He desires to take off the load. He fed people. He cared for people. What a Savior. And the Psalms don't just describe this as only for the people of God. This sort of benefit of Him arriving on the scene of history and the benefits of the cross. There's a common benevolence that goes out because of what he's done and the psalms anticipated this great is the lord and most worthy of praise psalm 145 his greatness no one can fathom they tell of the power of your awesome works and i will proclaim your great deeds they celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness the lord is gracious and compassionate slow to anger and rich in love The Lord is good to all. He has compassion on all He has made. All your works praise you, Lord. Your faithful people extol you. Psalm 104. All of these depend on you to provide them with food, and you feed each one with your own hand until they are full. It's the compassion of the Savior on all of the creation that He has made, but also on those who are image bearers of God who are suffering in this common misery. the fact is the lord is restraining constantly and he is taking away the pains and the consequences of what sin could do right now and i think you get a little taste when he lifts his hands of how this all could unravel so quickly and and spiral down in the worst sort of ways in ruining ourselves where society would utterly destroy itself here the lord is presenting himself as good to all and paul told us the reason for this why is god good this way do you not know that the goodness of god is meant to do what leads you to repentance leads you to come to him a god like this so here is here's display the the utter compassion of jesus and he heals all of them notice this He tells them, I want you to go and show yourselves to the priest. And as they went, they were cleansed. I don't know what you would have thought, but that is a remarkable thing that he had simply said it would happen. And as they're walking, their bones strengthen, their flesh right in front of them heals, and they are full and healthy again. Their eyes, everything they saw, they saw wholeness in their bodies. You imagine the excitement? You imagine the joy of that moment that had filled them? Years of this misery, years of this bondage, years of this pain, years of being shut out from all of society, years of it. And all of a sudden now, they're healed. But I think this is where the story presses us, right here. It's been a confusing story for many. Everyone is gathering today for Thanksgiving. And for what reason? What are the reasons the nation is gathering? What are the reasons that the nation is gathering and that you went to Costco and could hardly find a turkey? Why? Well, I hear it all the time. We are just so thankful for all this blessing. Look at all this blessing. Look at all this blessing. Our prayers say this all the time. Lord, thank you for blessing us so much. Thank you for blessing us so much. This is kind of the common thing we say to the Lord in prayer. But here's why I love the story. All of them walk away and all of them receive goodness from the hand of the Lord. All of them in this text. And they were to go to the priest and they were to get a clean bill of health then they could be normal members of society again, function, be successful, all that. Why in the world is Jesus sending them away? Jesus says, go to the priests, show yourselves that you are clean. And Leviticus 14, he's following exactly the Old Testament rules for doing this, how to prove and get a clean bill of health so that society will recognize it. But it's perplexing. It's perplexing because why is Jesus doing this? You should always ask these kind of questions. What is he doing? Here's the heart of it. In verse 15. Such a powerful section. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back. Stop. One. When he saw that he was healed, he turned back. Didn't the others see that they were healed? Of course they did. What did he see? You see, Jesus had said go to the priests, but the Samaritan, the outcast of outcasts, stops. And you have to look at this and think to yourself, Jesus has put a test on them. Jesus has put a big test on them with his goodness. Only one saw. So that the generations would read this and think about this one big question as you come to Luke 17, what did they see? What did he see? Well, Jesus had said, go to the temple. Jesus had said, go to the priest. And the man must have stopped and said to himself, why would I do that? Why would I do that? You see, I don't know any priest who has the power to speak and heal. But this one does. And you see, you start to realize that what Jesus did here was test them. Who's the priest? Who's the temple? And this one was able to see through it all. These accounts are all teaching us something so clearly about the greatest need and the greatest problem that our sin has left us barred from God's presence. That's why we're in this misery. That's why we go through this misery. And Jesus has come and has poured out his goodness and his goodness is seen everywhere. But our sin has rendered us, our sin has kept us barred from the presence of God. But this man, this man saw that this priest had cleansed him. And that the faith that Jesus recognizes in this man was a faith that saw him as the ultimate blessing of it all. So the beautiful statement is given that one of them, when he saw that he was healed, he returned with a loud voice and glorified God. And what did he do? He fell down at his feet. And how can you miss the little phrase there that is the highlight of the whole thing? And he gave thanks. That's the most beautiful moment in the Gospels. One of the most tender, beautiful moments. There was a zeal to immediately return and notice the intensity. He is crying out from the heart. It is praise birthed out of that heart. It's coming out of that heart. so thankful, giving glory to God that Jesus would come and do this for him. You see, the actions of this man tell us that he knew he needed something far greater than physical healing. Of course he did. This is why Jesus talks about faith. When Jesus Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come through the eternal spirit, he offered himself without blemish to God. Who's without blemish? Who's pure? him. To do what? To purify our consciences from dead works that we might have the ability to come back into the presence of God. To know his love. To know his favor. To know what ultimately matters in this life. He saw it. That the greatest gift, the greatest gift of the Lord was Jesus himself. That's what he saw. The offering of his life. The giving of him to die on the cross to forgive sins. Thanksgiving is not just about abundance of food and families and turkeys. It's a silly thing, I have to say, that our nation pardons turkeys. It's not just about that, is it? What are these things without Jesus? They should lead us to him. All the kindness and blessing that you have in this life, your health that you take for granted when it's tested, then you know. All the goodness that you've enjoyed the whole way and given you in the whole scheme of things. Look what your life could have been. And He's given you a comfortable, blessed, happy life even in the hardship of it all. All of it should lead you to Jesus. All of it should lead you to come back just like this. Here's how true thanksgiving is shown from the heart when it's understood you'll notice here there's a heartfelt connection notice the connection between true thanksgiving and what worship worship so it says he fell at his feet he gave thanks and he worshiped him i really can't listen to people who are thankful for anything unless there is a desire to come back and worship the king of kings and lord of lords who gave his life so that they can enjoy him and god's presence forever true thanksgiving is driven by an understanding of who has been given to you and how he has addressed your greatest need and answered you and healed you. While many come to Jesus for his ability to give them temporal benefits, to somehow think that they've met his good graces by going through a ritual, the true test of thanksgiving is are we willing to come and be thankful and fall at his feet and sing from our heart his praise for his abundant goodness in saving us. To close, just turn with me to Psalm 103. It's a beautiful psalm. You know the psalm. I started the service with it. It begins by calling us from the heart to bless the Lord, to exalt Him, to praise Him. You'll notice, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits. But read them in reverse with me just for a minute. Start with the bottom one, verse 5. What does He do? What are the benefits? He satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagles. You're going to go home today and you're going to fill your mouths with good things. You're going to taste all of His kind provisions and blessings. And you know He gives you a certain energy and strength in life, doesn't He? That He constantly is renewing you and helping you and lifting you up amidst all of life's troubles. now this the the keep going up verse 4 who redeems your life from the pit who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy how many times put it this way how many times could you have wrecked your life if the lord weren't with you how many times could you have wrecked this all many times have you done things that would that would utterly have have had you'd be dead today if he had let you fallen and slipped and let you go it would have been over but the truth is you're here and every time he has lifted you out of the pit he has picked you back up and all you have known from him is this kind of care and this kind of love in the course of life keep going what does he do he heals all your diseases i've said this before how many times have we prayed as god's people and the lord has answered those prayers and delivered people from sickness i know there's a man sitting back there i don't know if he's here right now but john boar here i see him the lord has given him relief from that hasn't he and we praise him doesn't mean he always does it he might have a greater purpose to bring somebody home but he's proven his care and helping us when we've cried out and he has given healing and help. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. There's one left but it's the first one. Who forgives all my iniquity? If all those other benefits were taken away and that is what he had said to you this is the test of true worship because we know that in the resurrection all the other things will be absolutely true but if he had said to you i have forgiven which he has all your sins and that had been the extent of this psalm would you be here today worshiping and thanking him this is what i think that man saw this is what he understood that Jesus had been given a high priest of the more perfect things to come who had given him the true healing who had come to forgive his sins and now from that flows all these other benefits that you enjoy what a reason to be thankful what a reason to be thankful today so much to praise his name for so much to go home keeping it in priority recognizing Jesus came to lay down his life so that He might turn your misery into happiness. And the response that He desires of us is this, right here. When we return to the Lord every Sunday to worship, we should come to Him with hearts springing out of gratitude, singing His praise, falling down in heart before Him, bowing our hearts and saying, thank you, O Lord, and enjoying Him in worship. That is true thanksgiving. And that's the kind of thanksgiving that pleases God. Let's pray. Gracious Heavenly Father, what a beautiful text that helps us to understand who we come to and truly who has been given to us. Thank You for giving Your Son. Thank You for giving us righteousness and life through His name. And now we see all that has accrued, the benefits that have been given to us because of His sacrifice and His death. for everything else in this life. The care You give us, the healing we've enjoyed, picking us up when we've fallen, crowning us along the way, renewing our strength, feeding our mouths, we praise and thank You for. But we see ultimately what had to be done to restore this. And we thank You with sincere hearts today for Jesus. Thank You for Jesus. We pray these things in his name. Amen.