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 by David Phelps
“Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.” – Mother Teresa
A few days
before Thanksgiving, while on my way to work,
I saw what at first appeared to be a typical
“homeless” person standing on a street corner.
This individual was a youngish woman holding
the standard hand lettered cardboard sign
saying, “Please help.” For better or worse,
such individuals are part of the urban
American landscape. Some look resigned, others
downtrodden. This woman looked angry.
In fact, from her expression and body
language, I could see that she was very
angry. She wasn’t saying anything but her
whole body seemed to be shouting, “Hey! Don’t
you see my sign? Why don’t you help me?” I
often help such individuals, whether I have a
“blessing bag” in my car or not, but not this
time. I kept my windows rolled up and drove on
as soon as the light changed because I thought
she obviously didn’t “deserve” help.
I give to those who ask but not to people who demand my help. And when I do give I usually expect gratitude. This is quite a contrast to the example of Christ. A recent devotional in The Upper Room was about the ten lepers who were healed by Jesus (Luke 17:11-19). The ten started out well enough. They saw Jesus passing by and shouted, “‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.’” (vs. 13b ESV). Jesus told the lepers, “‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’” (vs. 14b ESV). As they left, their condition was healed (vs. 14c). When he realized he had been healed, one of the ten lepers “turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks.” (vs. 15b-16a ESV). Jesus asked why only one of the ten had returned to thank him (vs. 17) but I believe he had already known what was going to happen. But even if he knew, he healed them anyway, which is a challenge to me. Ten men (at least, we assume they were all men) asked for help but only one returned and thanked Jesus. If he expected gratitude, he was probably disappointed but again, I believe he knew. He gave to all who were in need, including giving himself. “Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live.” (Gal. 1:4 ESV). And he did it all without receiving thanks. In America, we’re supposed to have a tradition of giving thanks. People in their various communities have just celebrated Thanksgiving. But from spending a day in thanks for what we have, we go directly to an entire season of wanting more. In fact, many of us don’t even wait. This is not the picture of gratitude that God wants for us and we shouldn’t copy the rest of the world (Rom. 12:1-2). Instead, we’re expected to become more and more like God as revealed in Jesus. Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Eph. 5:1-2 ESV). Part of becoming like Christ is learning submission. James wrote, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (Jas. 4:7 ESV). Submission means following God’s will, and part of God’s will is for us to give, not only our possessions but ourselves. As we become more Christlike, we will be more inclined toward generosity. Proverbs 28:27 (ESV) says, “Whoever gives to the poor will not want, / but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse.” We are called to be both thankful and generous. I’ll continue to keep “blessing bags” in my car and give them away as the Spirit leads. And I hope I’ll also continue to be thankful for all the opportunities to serve that God presents to me. During the Cathar Crusade in early 13th century France, Roman Catholic Cistercian abbot Arnaud Amaury was credited with saying, “Kill them all! God will know his own.” This was later paraphrased as, “Kill them all and let God sort them out.” But for today, it might be better to “Serve them all and let God sort out who ‘deserves’ it.” I need to concentrate on my own gratitude and not worry about anyone else, and I hope you will too. “You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.” (2 Cor. 9:11 ESV.) |