Quam dilecta: Start:Stop – Give Thanks In All Things

Tuesday 19 June 2018

Start:Stop – Give Thanks In All Things

Good morning, thank you for joining us for Start:Stop. My name is Phillip Dawson. Reverend Stephen will be back next week. This month we are exploring the themes in the method of prayer known by the acronym ACTS. Today we are thinking about thanksgiving. This reflection will last approximately ten minutes. We begin with a bible reading, which can be found at the top of page 86 in the New Testament section of the Bible.

Bible Reading

Luke 17:11-19 - Jesus Cleanses Ten Lepers

On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!’ When he saw them, he said to them, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’ And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. 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?’ Then he said to him, ‘Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.’

Reflection

“Ingratitude” says Immanuel Kant, “is the essence of vileness.” Despite that somewhat direct and damning proclamation by the German philosopher, I rather identify with those ungrateful lepers - perhaps too easily!

On the surface the lepers are all believers. They believed that Jesus could heal them, so approached him on the edge of the village, keeping a respectful distance and addressed him as Master. They must have believed the words of Jesus because even though the miracle of their healing was not immediately apparent, they faithfully obeyed his command and went away to present themselves to the priests, in order that they could be pronounced ‘clean’ under Jewish law and re-join their families. But, like me on so many occasions, most of them failed to give thanks to God for the gift of life.

Leprosy damages the nerves on the surface of the skin - resulting in a loss of feeling. It is hard to imagine what it must be like to exist in a state so independent from the world around you that you cannot feel yourself sitting down on a chair or your skin burning in the sun, or the pain of treading on something sharp on the ground - or the festering wounds that result. In being made “clean” by Jesus, the lepers regained their feeling – in a physical sense at least – limbs healed, sight restored. They were reconnected with the world around them – but only one of them acknowledged their connection to God - only the Samaritan returned to give thanks in prayer and in doing so, was made “well.”

Rowan Williams says - as only a Welshman could - “the Englishman takes pride in being a self-made man, thereby relieving God of a fearful responsibility.” Perhaps, in our individualistic culture, it is our unwillingness to acknowledge our dependency that makes it hard for us to give thanks to God? Yet we find it so easy to expect thanks from others! How many times have you heard the phrase “the least I could expect around here is a bit of thanks?” At one level there seems to be nothing wrong with that; the very least we can do is be thankful for a good deed or a gift given to us; St Thomas Aquinas described gratitude as a virtue annexed to justice. But our capacity for gratitude is not a finite resource - so how do we determine when a debt of gratitude has been repaid? Without acknowledging our dependence on God, how do we ensure our expectations are just?

This week is Refugee Week and it is in the context of our relationship with refugees that unjust expectations of gratitude seem to be clearly evident. Dina Nayeri is a self-described “ungrateful refugee.” This isn’t because she is ungrateful for asylum after her mother converted to Christianity and her family fled Iran, but because she is suspicious of the idea that refugees should be eternally thankful to us. Dina talks of an inequality in our expectation of gratitude – one that sets the bar higher for the achievements of immigrants and asylum seekers than it does for the indigenous population; we expect full assimilation in terms of language and culture, full employment, a ‘proper’ contribution to society – while so many of “our own” people would fail to make that grade.

Last week the Attorney General of the United States quoted from St Paul’s letter to the Romans to justify the policy of separating immigrant children from their families at the US border. St Thomas Aquinas quotes a later passage from the same chapter in explaining debts of gratitude: “Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.” How easily we put ourselves in place of God – expecting not to give thanks for His works, but to receive thanks for what is not ours - and, all the time, forgetting the greatest commandment, to love God and to love one another – all people, unconditionally, wherever they are from!

St Paul deals with the theme of gratitude and thankfulness forty six times in his writing. In his first letter to the Thessalonians, he encourages us to “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” The ungrateful lepers remind us that it’s hard enough to be thankful for God’s gifts when things are going well; perhaps that’s why those who are thankful “in all circumstances” – even when facing death – are so inspirational. Every time we celebrate the Eucharist – which means thanksgiving - we give thanks for God’s greatest gift to us – his Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ, who suffered and died for us. Standing before the altar seems an appropriate time to bring before God all that for which we are thankful.

The Ravensbruck Prayer, found on a scrap of paper near the body of a dead child in the concentration camp where 92,000 women and children died, is another example of thankfulness in unimaginable adversity. In an astonishing act of humility, the anonymous author asks us not only to remember those of good will, but also those of evil will – not to dwell on the suffering they caused, but the “fruits we have borne thanks to this suffering.”

It is from the horrors of the Second World War that the book “Sleeping with Bread” takes its title; recalling how children in refugee camps found peace through sleeping with small pieces of bread - taking away their fear of once again being homeless with nothing to eat. Proof perhaps that you cannot be grateful and unhappy, as the saying goes. Written by Jesuits, the book sets out a method of praying the Examen - the only prayer that St Ignatius - the founder of the order - insisted on being said at least daily. This version of the Examen consists of two questions:-

For what am I most grateful?

For what am I least grateful?

When did I give and receive the most love today?

When did I give and receive the least love today?

Asking these questions can make us aware of - and so be thankful for - God in the everyday, in all things - moments in our lives that we might otherwise pass by as insignificant. As Thomas Merton explains:

“To be grateful is to recognize the love of God in everything He has given us—and He has given us everything. Every breath we draw is a gift of His love, every moment of existence is grace, for it brings with us immense graces from Him. Gratitude therefore takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder, and to praise of the goodness of God. For the grateful person knows that God is good, not by hearsay but by experience. And that is what makes all the difference.”

Thanks be to God.

Let us pray.

Prayers

The Ravensbruck Prayer

O Lord, remember not only the men and women of good will

but also those of evil will.

But do not remember all the suffering they have inflicted upon us;

remember the fruits we have borne thanks to this suffering –

our comradeship,

our loyalty,

our humility,

our courage,

our generosity,

the greatness of heart which has grown out of all this;

and when they come to the judgement,

let all the fruits that we have borne be their forgiveness.

Amen.

Please join me in a prayer of thanksgiving using the response
We give thanks to you, O Lord after each verse.

For the beauty of your creation and this new day that you have made :