16 He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. 17 Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” (Luke 17:16-19)
Ten lepers are healed after calling out to Jesus and obeying his words. However, only one person thinks of Jesus at the moment. A heart overflowing with gratitude, he runs over to Jesus to express his thankfulness and appreciation for his new life. Breathing heavily, his tears must have been swelling up and blurring his vision as he ran. Even his fatigue, hunger, and thirst would not have slowed him down. Instead, his heart must have been exploding with immense gratitude for the Jesus who had given him a new life. And when the man finally confesses this thankfulness to Jesus at His feet, Jesus in turn proclaims the good news of His salvation, “Your faith has made you well”.
Salvation and thanksgiving; a thankful heart to Jesus is an important sign that you have been saved. Anyone who lacks thankfulness for His grace cannot achieve salvation. Only those who truly admire and thank Jesus for His grace on the cross can become Christian. Being a Christian means becoming a person of gratitude. The thankful heart and salvation go together.
Jesus is not emphasizing thanksgiving just to show off His grace. Thanksgiving is a required prerequisite to enter the gates of Heaven. Realistically, do you think you would be happy in heaven without being thankful? Even on earth today, thankfulness is the key to enjoying paradise in our hearts. Adam and Eve are expelled from the Garden of Eden after losing their hearts of thankfulness by finding a single complaint in the flourishing paradise of abundance and happiness. On the other hand, we, Christians enter Heaven with a thankful heart to Jesus. This sounds to me like “Your thanksgiving has brought you salvation.”
In Mokjang, we always begin our sharing with something we were thankful for this week. Some say that they soon run out of things to share; however, the theme of gratitude is woven into many different aspects of our lives. In fact, there are many things to be thankful for: the joy of finding a heavenly treasure in your daily life, things in the past that you forgot to be thankful about, hopes for what tomorrow can bring, current circumstances, our material possessions, relationships with others, our creator God, our savior God, and spiritual enlightenment. If you can discover these treasures and share them with others in every Mokjang meeting, then each sharing time will be new and plentiful and never run out or become dry. Thankfulness is not only conveyed in words during Mokjang. In fact, it is also expressed through your facial gestures, your tone of speaking, and your gaze upon others. Through the combination of our grateful hearts, we begin to taste/experience heaven in Mokjang.
Following the shepherd…
Pastor Jiwon Choi