Wingham United Church

October 11, 2026

Thanksgiving Sunday

Perfecting Gratitude

Philippians 4:1-9

Luke 17:11-19

          On this Thanksgiving Sunday, we stray a little from our travels through the gospel of Matthew to focus on a story from Luke, chosen specifically for Thanksgiving. On this day, out of the 365 throughout the year, we follow the Samaritan’s example and show our gratitude. Or, at least, we should.

          Will we, though? How many of us actually stop, even on this weekend, and truly take stock of our blessings and express our heart-felt gratitude? Aside from being thankful for an extra day off work, or for a reason to get together with family over the Thanksgiving feast, will this really be a time to not only be grateful, but to also express our gratitude?

          Luke’s story of the ten lepers brings this home. Ten were cleansed. Only one returned to express his gratitude. I’m sure the other nine were equally happy to be cured of such a horrible disease, but they continued on their way without coming back to the one who had made it all happen to say, ‘Thank You!’

          Perhaps we shouldn’t be too hard on the other nine. Jesus had, after all, instructed them to go to the temple and show themselves to the priests. That was what anyone who believed they had been cured of leprosy had to do. Lepers were required to keep their distance from everyone else to reduce the likelihood that they would pass their disease on to someone else. It was only with the priests’ approval that they could rejoin polite Jewish society and end their banishment. The Samaritan had, perhaps, less incentive to follow through on that part of the arrangement. Even though he was now healed, he would still be an outcast in Jerusalem, perhaps even more so now that they had been cured.

          You see, faithful Jews and Samaritans didn’t mix. In fact, they despised each other. It would be interesting to know how the ten former lepers would interact following their cleansing. The illness that isolated them from everyone else was the common ground on which their little community was founded, and their need for companionship trumped their prejudice. Would they continue to associate with one another now that they were all healed of their disease?

          But, perhaps, I digress. This is a message about gratitude, and perhaps more specifically about Jesus’ obvious disappointment when people fail to express their gratitude. “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” Clearly, Jesus was hoping for more.

          There are proven benefits to living life with an attitude of gratitude. I have noticed this, and I imagine you have, too. There are people around us who just naturally seem to be upbeat and positive, even when things are not going well. There are also those who seem capable of finding the cloud that conceals every silver lining. And when you spend time with those people, they rub off on you. Those who are upbeat and positive lift your spirits as well, and those who can see only the negative drag you down with them. One energizes you, the other is exhausting.

          Last Sunday, I had the privilege of presiding over the Celebration of Life for Tim Willis, someone well known for his wonderful outlook on life and constant sense of gratitude. When you asked him how he was, his answer was always the same: “Perfect!” Nearly every time I spoke with Tim, he told me that he had lived a good life and would list some of the things he was grateful for. His attitude of gratitude is inspiring.

          I don’t think being filled with gratitude like that comes naturally to most of us. We need to work at it, but, as with all things, it gets easier with practice. Paul has some great words of advice and encouragement in our final reading from his letter to the Philippians. I’ve grown quite fond of this epistle as I have studied and preached from it over the last few weeks. It’s one of Paul’s shorter letters, but it is filled with great advice.

          In this week’s selection, there is one little problem that he wants to address before he finishes. It seems that two of the women in the church in Philippi are at odds with one another. Paul values both of them for their faithfulness and the hard work they have both contributed to the work of the church, but he also knows how bitterness and resentment can infect the whole community. It is critical that these two women set aside their differences, and Paul not only asks them to do so, but asks the others in the faith community to help them.

          He then goes on to offer some of the greatest advice we will find in scripture for living life as Citizens of Heaven. “4 Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! 5 Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. 6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.”

          That’s quite a recipe for a joy-filled life. Be joyful, be considerate, and don’t burden yourself by worrying about anything. When things aren’t going the way you want them to go, instead of worrying which has never fixed anything anyway, just pray. Tell God what’s on your mind, and leave it in his hands.

          And this is critical, especially on this Thanksgiving weekend, “thank God for all he has done.” Again, that is not always as easy as Paul makes it sound. It’s difficult to feel thankful when things aren’t going well. When you are sick, or grieving, or facing a large, unexpected expense, or any one of a number of things that can go wrong in life, it’s hard to find that silver lining, and it’s hard to feel grateful. I think most of us tend to focus on the negative things in life, the things that we naturally worry about. Very few of us ever respond to the question, “How are you?” by saying, “Perfect!” as our friend Tim always did. Life is almost never perfect, but it is usually pretty good, and the key to seeing that is to turn our attention to the good things in life instead of those other unfortunate circumstances.

          On this Thanksgiving Sunday, we can be grateful to the apostle for giving us these wonderful words of encouragement: “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” This week, I wrote those words on a card which I have kept close ever since. I printed them on a sticky note on my laptop and taped a copy to the computer monitor in my office. Each day, several times a day, I have taken a few moments at some point in the day to just sit and read those words, then follow their guidance. A few minutes to just focus on all the things I can think of for which I am grateful.

          The results vary depending on the mood I’m in or how tired I feel, but at no time did I pull out that card that I couldn’t find something for which to give thanks. By mid-week, I began writing some of them on the back of the card. After a few days, the card got worn and dingy looking, so I wrote those words on another one and carried it with me. Sometimes thinking of things I was grateful for was easy and the list was long. Sometimes it took a little more effort and the gratitude felt a little forced. But each day, it got a little easier, and each time I did it, it made me feel better about the world and about myself. I started to call it my gratitude break.

          This is a spiritual exercise I think you all should try, so I asked Judy to print those words in your bulletins. Take them home and put them up on your refrigerator or mirror or somewhere else you will be likely to see it each day. Set a copy on your bedside table and read it when you get out of bed in the morning and again when you go to bed at night. Set it on the end table so that when you reach for the remote, you are reminded to take a gratitude break before you discover that there isn’t anything on worth watching anyway.

          I am almost certain that you will find that the sun shines a little brighter each day, the things that go wrong will seem far less disastrous, and when someone asks you how you are doing, every now and again you will be able to smile and say, “Perfect!”

Rev. Colin Snyder, MDiv