Faith and Thanksgiving
(Luke 17:11-19)

Today is Thanksgiving Sunday. The real thanksgiving satisfies God. With thanksgiving, we glorify God. God will give salvation to those who give thanks to God. Thinking the meaning of thanksgiving, we should restore the faith giving thanks to God on this Thanksgiving Day.

1. A desperate being

　When Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee, ten leprosies saw Jesus and asked him to give mercy on them. (Luke 17:12-13) At that time, the disease was considered unclean and they had to be away from their family and was no way to be healed but for miracle. And this desperate situation goes to people who cannot reach the glory of God because of sins. (Rom. 3:23) To get out of desperation, we should be forgiven by mercy of Jesus who was sent by God. (Rom. 3:24) Therefore, if you want to solve your problems driving you to despair, you should meet Jesus and ask mercy.

2. Jesus Christ who is the healer
When Jesus saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." (Luke 17:14a) To show themselves to the priests was to get confirmation of their being healed so that they were happy but embarrassed. However, they obeyed Jesus because Jesus said to them and they didn't have any other hope. Finally, they experienced the miracle of being healed on the way to meet the priest. (Luke 17:14b) Therefore, we should believe in Jesus who still shows miracle and obey the word of Jesus if we want to receive the blessing of healing and restoration.
3. Faith with thanksgiving

All of them men were healed because of their faith and obedience but the only one came back to give glory to Jesus. (Luke 14:15-16) The one realized that Jesus had been sent by God to save the desperate beings. Jesus was alarmed the other nine men didn't come back and was surprised the one who gave praise to Jesus was Samaritan. (Luke17:17-18) This situation can be the parable to us who don't give thanks to Jesus, even though we experience so many small and big miracles every day. Therefore, we should give thanks to Lord all the time as the mature Christians who are acknowledged by God. (Luke 17:19)