Just Say “Thank You”
Excerpt from Luke 17: 17 – 18
“Then Jesus asked, ‘Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?’”
Reflection by Anthony B. Robinson
Here’s another good Samaritan, but different than the really well-known one in Luke 10. When ten sick people asked Jesus to heal them, and he did, the only one who came back to say thank you was a Samaritan. Jesus noted this and asked, aloud, why?
Maybe the other nine, who were Israelites, felt Jesus’ attention and God’s healing were their due? It was owed to them. They were entitled to this attention, to this help, to these services.
The Samaritan, who belonged to a group that Jewish society looked down upon and considered inferior, did not apparently feel he was entitled. His healing was a gift. So he said, “Thank you,” and praised God.
We find ourselves, these days, living in a time and society when many people feel entitled. Entitled to attention, entitled to services, entitled to time, entitled to have it better. When the entitled don’t get their entitlements, they complain. Sometimes, I get caught up in that. I feel entitled to more and better, and I carry around a smelly bundle of grievances. It’s a good way, maybe the best way, to avoid God—focus on your grievances.
But, as Jesus notes, entitlement and grievance aren’t really how it is. Gift and grace are at the heart of things. We are all undeserving, all receivers of grace. We all get more than we could ever deserve. None of us are entitled, not really. Your grandmother was right. Saying “thank you” is nice for others and it’s good for you, too. Just say, “Thank you.”
Prayer
Help me, Lord, to forget and forego my alleged grievances, and to remember the many gifts and graces I have received. Set my heart and tongue free in thanks and praise. Amen.
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