Pastor Larry MacKay
October 2, 2011
With Thanksgiving almost here have you thought of anything to complain about? How about the weather? The other day I commented to someone what a beautiful day it was. They agreed and then couldn’t resist adding, “But the wind is really cool.” I’d missed that. I’d missed a chance to find fault with the weather and when we have so few opportunities.
I’m sure though if you think for a second you can find something besides the weather to complain about. What about your job, government spending, or telephone soliciting? Complaining is so easy. When all else fails you can even complain about complainers. We live with complaining every day. As we do it blinds us to the blessings that are ours, and keeps us from recognizing the One who has given them.
Ten lepers approached Jesus and begged for His mercy. They had nothing to offer Him in payment. From the scraps they begged for - like street people asking for spare change - they couldn’t possibly have given Him a generous Thanksgiving Day offering. Disfigured by illness, ostracized and feared by society they never got close enough to Jesus to touch His robe, but He reached out to them and showed them mercy.
We know that mercy. He has reached out to us in the midst of all our fears and doubts, in spite of our complaining, in the face and fact of our guilt, in the situations that discourage and depress us – the relationships that have failed and hurt us – the sin that haunts us. He has invited us to come and be healed - filled with His goodness so that we can begin to see life differently – to see each and every moment as a very precious gift from God for which to give thanks.
If you need a new perspective on life with all its challenges speak to someone who lives with chronic pain or faces a terminal illness, speak to someone who has nothing and then take another look at your blessings. Even more so - remember without God, without His forgiveness in Jesus, without His gift of life now and forever we would be nothing. For all the material wealth, career success, or good health we may have, without God’s love in Jesus it still only amounts to terminal existence.
Sadly, we seem to treat thanksgiving like a flu shot. You get it once each fall and you’re done for the year. The challenge is to put an end to complaining and to live with thanksgiving. It takes effort and sacrifice. It requires self-discipline and means praying for the ability to recognize a blessing – big or small – when we see one. It all begins in recognizing God’s grace to you and me. Like the single leper who – on realizing he was healed – came and fell at Jesus’ feet to give Him thanks. May we daily recognize our blessings, put an end to our complaining, and offer Him our heartfelt thanks.
Pastor Larry MacKay
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