Jesu Juva
St. Luke 17:11-19
November 27, 2025
Thanksgiving Day
Dear saints of our Savior~
Those pesky lepers are back again. And that’s no surprise, really. They turn up almost every Thanksgiving, like some long-lost cousins from Kansas who just suddenly show up in the driveway. Turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie . . . lepers. Sounds about right!
These ten men with leprosy showed up really early this year—all the way back on October 12th—a feature of the three-year lectionary. Back on that Sunday we focused on the leper’s prayer. We leaned into the leper’s litany which they loudly called out as Jesus passed by: Jesus, master, have mercy on us. That refrain for mercy teaches us a lot about prayer—about the necessity of prayer, and even how to pray. Pray like a leper.
But who are we kidding? This text pops up today because of the single, solitary, newly healed leper who gives thanks (and he was a Samaritan). Giving thanks is always the focus of this fourth Thursday in November. All ten lepers prayed. All ten lepers were healed. All ten were shown mercy. But only one praised God in a loud voice. Only one threw himself at Jesus’ feet. Only one gave thanks to Jesus for the healing he had received.
Back in October we reflected on how the lepers should lead each of us into a regular and robust life of prayer. If you aren’t praying like the lepers did, then you are failing at one of the fundamental duties of every Christian. Today, we might add: If you’re not giving thanks like the one leper who returned to Jesus, then you are likewise failing.
This goes all the way back to the Ten Commandments, by the way. The Second Commandment is given to us so that we don’t misuse God’s name by cursing and swearing, but so that we call upon it in every trouble: pray, praise, and give thanks. Hence, the title of this sermon. Pray, Praise, and Give Thanks. (It sounds almost as good as Luther’s original German: Beten, Loben, und Danken.)
Why did nine out of ten fail? They got what they prayed for. Mercy received. Miraculous healing. Life restored. Lockdown lifted. Family reunited. Why did all ten pray, but just one lonely leper praised and gave thanks to Jesus? Failing to give thanks to God isn’t just impolite. And it’s much more serious than a case of bad manners. At the bare minimum, it is a sin of omission.
When all ten lepers lifted their voices and prayed, there was something in it for them. They had a need—a desperate need for mercy and healing and cleansing. And their prayer carried the possibility that they would receive all that they prayed for in faith. Ask, and it will be given. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened to you. There’s great incentive to pray—to ask, seek, and knock. You never know! You just might get what you pray for. You might end up like those lucky lepers, who probably felt like they’d hit the prayer jackpot.
But thanksgiving is a distinct and different sort of prayer. Supplication carries at least the possibility (or probability) of healing, relief, resolution, rescue, reconciliation. It’s amazing that we don’t spend more time in prayer with incentives like those. But what incentive do we have for giving thanks? To put it bluntly, what’s in it for me? What do you stand to get out of giving thanks and praise to God? It’s such a crass question to ask. But our sinful natures never shy away from the crass approach, and the entitled approach, and the “what’s in it for me” approach. It’s an approach we all know too well. It would certainly explain why the nine failed to return and give thanks. They already had what they most wanted! They had their reward in full. Why waste time giving thanks?
Now, maybe you’re not like the nine. Perhaps, for you, every day is Thanksgiving Day. Perhaps your life is always punctuated with praise and thanks and gratitude to God. If so, keep it up. It’s no accident that as the catechism teaches us to pray, both in the morning and in the evening, that prayer begins with this phrase: I thank You. I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son. Not a bad way to start the day—or end the day and drift to sleep—with daily thanksgiving.
Jesus Christ is the key that unlocks all our praise and thanksgiving. Nine out of ten lepers got what they prayed for and then turned their attention elsewhere. Maybe they went off witnessing and telling the good news about Jesus. But the fact remains; Jesus was in their rear view mirror. Mercy requested; mercy received. Bye-bye!
But only one leper ordered his life around the Man who gave the mercy. With nothing more to be gained—with no crass calculations or quid pro quos—that former leper, now cleansed and free—he went right back to Jesus, threw himself at Jesus’ feet, and thanked Him. Only one returned to give thanks—but that one gave thanks with the volume and devotion of ten men. Ten tremendous thanksgivings funneled into one voice and two bending knees.
This man didn’t just count his blessings and then pop the cork and carve the bird. He knew that the Giver of the blessing was more important than the blessing itself. The Giver of the cleansing was more important than the cleansing. Leper number ten no doubt had people to see and places to go—perhaps even over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house. But none of that mattered as much as Jesus—the Giver—the Source of healing and restoration. Jesus gave that leper what he wasn’t entitled to—what he didn’t deserve. Your faith has saved you. We call that grace; and it changes everything.
It changes everything for you and me on this Thanksgiving Day in the year of our Lord 2025. Jesus has had mercy on us. Jesus has cleansed us of our sin. Jesus has rescued us from the death and hell our sin deserves. When Jesus willingly walked the path to Calvary’s cross, He did not ask: What’s in it for me? He did not calculate or equivocate or waver. In love He took your place. In love He suffered for you. In love He bore your sin. In love He died, so that you might live. By His holy cross Jesus has earned for you a wealth of grace and mercy and the forgiveness of your sins.
And like leper number ten, you have come here today—you have sought out the Savior where He has promised to be found. And you have done it with a thankful heart. Come, ye thankful people, come. Come, not with cold, crass calculation, but come knowing only your need and your Savior’s love. Give thanks to God in word and song, with prayer and praise, with bended knees and hearts lifted high. You have come to where Jesus is—to where His promises are preached and to a feast of forgiveness in His body and blood. Jesus gives; we receive. Rise and go; your faith has saved you.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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