Jesus asked, "Were not all 10 cleansed? Where are the other 9?"

I have to ask you a question: Do any of you ever daydream during the sermon? Be careful how you answer that. Of course, you don't daydream here. But when you worship somewhere else…Do you ever become distracted?

Last week I was off, and so we worshiped at another congregation. Being a good Lutheran, we sat in the very back. When the sermon began, I noticed something adorable. In the pew in front of us was a 2 year old girl. One lady sitting in the pew in front of this girl turned around smiled and blinked and fussed over this little girl. You could tell the little girl loved every minute of it.

So much so, that she went to her toy bag, and grabbed a toy and gave it to this lady in front of her. That lady acted as if she had received a million bucks. So the little girl goes and grabs a book and gives it to the woman. Another good reaction. And then the girl grabs another toy and gives it to the woman. They were playing "the giving game."

And when the little girl was all out of toys to give to the woman, she went to the woman and I think the girl was ready to get them back. And the woman in front of her did the most amazing thing. She turned around and leaned over, bending down, and took the little girl in her arms and pulled her up to the next pew. And together they spent the rest of the service playing! She gave the little girl MORE than she had received. She gave the girl LOVE.

As I sat there I thought this was an amazing picture of our relationship with the Lord. God blesses us with so much. But God in Christ Jesus bends down and reaches out to us with His love and forgiveness and His presence. It was a good sermon that day, both from the pulpit and from the pew.

I love the story of the 10 lepers. Picture those 10 men. They were a society of their own. Ostracized from the world, no hugs, no touch. They were commanded to cry out "Unclean! Unclean!" if anyone approached. They must have heard about Jesus since they called Him by name. So they cry out for His mercy. If anyone could help them, it would be Jesus.

And Jesus hears their request, "Go show yourselves to the priests." This was in line with Jewish Law. The priest would verify the healing and then the lepers were to offer proper thanksgiving to God for the purification.

As they travel to the temple they are healed. Skin that was scraped raw was smooth. Maybe they laughed, their raspy throat and voice now restored like sweet music. Maybe they jumped in the air with fully functioning feet. Maybe they ran to their families.

Except one. One man turned around and ran back the way he had come. He saw Jesus and fell at His feet in gratitude.

Gratitude is always an act of humility. I read that one African tribe expresses thanksgiving by putting their foreheads on the ground and saying, "My head is in the dirt." In another tribe, they express gratitude by just sitting at the feet of the one who has blessed them.

And so today, we come and kneel before the Lord, we sit at His feet, and we give Him thanks. We praise Him for good gifts in this life, but primarily do we praise God for sending Jesus Christ to cleanse us from sin, from death, from Satan. We come and worship Jesus Christ, who died so that we could live. We praise Jesus for His death and His resurrection. His victory is our victory. We are thankful to our loving God … who bent down and hugged us through the cross of our Savior.

Jesus looks at the leper. "Weren't all 10 cleansed? Where are the other 9?"

That part of the story gets me every time. Because, more often than not, I am in the group of the 9 who forgot to say Thank You, the group who took the blessing and failed to show gratitude.

Why do we fail to have a grateful heart when we are SO BLESSED! We're sinners and that expresses itself in so many ways. We are filled with pride. We like to see ourselves as "self-sufficient."

I saw a great movie this week, an old Civil War movie, starring Jimmy Stewart, called Shenandoah. You may need a hankerchief if you are going to watch it. Jimmy Stewart plays a widowed father of a large farm family. He's cranky, crusty, self-sufficient. At the beginning of the movie, he is praying with his family over dinner, only because his wife made him promise to do this. And his prayer goes like this: "Lord, we cleared the land, we plowed it, we planted it, we harvested the crops, we fixed the food. We worked til we were dog-boned-tired. None of us would be here if it weren't for us, but thank you anyway. Amen."

Then the war comes, he loses so much. The family is ripped apart, some die, one is a prisoner of war, life in the 1800s was hard, especially in time of war. Toward the end of the movie, the remnant of the family is gathered together for dinner. Jimmy Stewart begins to pray: Lord, we cleared the land, we plowed it…" and he stops. The suffering, loss, shattered self-sufficiency. Loss and pain cleared away the pride, and opened the door to sincere faith and gratitude.

We also fail to be thankful because of our critical and judgmental spirit. We've all learned to see the thorns rather than the rose.

They did an experiment in New York's Central Park. They dressed up a man like a street person who was blind with a cup to collect money. They put a sign nearby that read, "I'm Blind." That day he collected about $4.00.

The next day they dressed the man the same way, but changed the sign to read, "It's springtime and I am blind." That day he collected $40. Instead of judging and critiquing the beggar, they people were reminded how blessed they were to see beautiful flowers, birds, the sunrise, the sunset.

Oh, we Christians are so blessed. How much God has given us. But above all, He has given us His son, His only Son, Jesus Christ. Because Jesus died, our sins are forgiven and heaven is God's free gift to all who believe.

Can we allow God to cultivate gratitude within our hearts? Can we allow God to plant the seeds of thanksgiving? A member of our church dropped by some persimmon seeds, he cut them open and there was the SPOON -- it's going to be a snowy winter with lots of shoveling! Can we be thankful even for that?!

Let's take the letters in the word S-E-E-D to let God cultivate in our hearts the seeds of thanksgiving!

S stands for Slow Down. A thankful heart requires us to meditate on the blessings, to slow down and recognize God's Good gifts. A friend was telling me that she went to a bookstore and asked for a book on the traditions of Thanksigiving. They had trouble finding a book like that, and the clerk said, "Don't you know that Thanksgiving is the lost holiday?" We are in such a hurry to get ready for Christmas that we forget to offer thanks. Slow Down.

E stands for Express. When you slow down, take the time to express to God your gratitude. Or try writing down everything you are thankful for. Don't assume that others know that you value them. Express your gratitude, to God and others.

The second E in SEED stands for Enflesh your gratitude. Sometimes the best way to express gratitude is to demonstrate through acts of servanthood. We can talk a good game, but to put the thanksgiving into acts of kindness to others is equally important. Show your thanks to Jesus in HOW we treat one another.

As we cultivate the seeds of gratitude, the D stands for Deepen gratitude. I'm glad you are here to worship and praise the Lord. The root of all thanksgiving is found at the cross. In psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, we praise our God for Jesus Christ our Savior. We look at the cross and we are reminded that our sins are forgiven, including the sins of ingratitude.

This day recognize that nothing would matter very much apart from Calvary. We rejoice, most of all, in forgiveness, life and salvation. That deepens, the meaning of this holiday, don't you think.

My prayer is that you and yours enjoy a wonderful thanksgiving -- centered in Jesus Christ who bends down and embraces us with His love.