Should He Be Thanked?

Today, on Thanksgiving Day, I’m thinking about the circumstances for which a person giving a gift or performing a charitable work should be thanked, or whether they should expect to be thanked.  President Trump expected to be thanked after the UCLA basketball players were released from prison in China and allowed to fly back to this country following a shoplifting incident and the President’s apparent intervention.  A grandmother writes in to a newspaper columnist to ask whether she should expect a thank-you note from a grandchild after sending him/her a birthday gift. 

In the case of President Trump, politics and arrogance are part of the equation.  Mr. Trump is known for self-promotion and arrogance.  It would have been an act of humility for him to say nothing and then let journalists discover his act of kindness apart from any personal statement he might have made.  But, no.  He wanted to be sure that everyone knew about the gesture and that he wasn’t thanked.  And the grandmother?  Though she might be a humble person, it is reasonable for her to want to know that the gift had been received and “not lost in the mail.”  Aside from that, it is a matter of common etiquette to thank anyone who gives you a gift or performs an act of kindness for you.  I believe most people understand that.  And it is not like a journalist is going to discover her kindness and report it in the newspaper as might have been the case with the President!

What would Jesus do or say?  There is a perfect example in Sacred Scripture (Luke 17:11-19).  Jesus met up with ten lepers who asked Him to “have pity on us.”  He told them to go and show themselves to the priests.  On the way, they noticed that they had been cured.  One of them returned to Jesus and glorified God in a loud voice and thanked Him while falling at His feet.  But then Jesus said in reply “Ten were cleansed, were they not?  Where are the other nine?  Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?”  He clearly expected to be thanked.  Was this a case of self-promotion, or arrogance, or an expectation of common etiquette?  One could argue that He expected common etiquette … an expression of thanks.  But I think there was a larger message.  It was an act of God that cured the lepers.  The proper response to almighty God?  The one grateful leper “returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked Him.”  This profound gratitude and act of sincere worship are the proper responses.    

So where God is concerned, it is important to express our thanks for his many wonderful gifts.  And, indeed, there are many.  I think it would be good to sit and ponder that for a few minutes today … God’s many gifts.  And then, return to Him to show our profound gratitude and with sincere worship.  For He indeed has done many, many wondrous things for us.  Amen.  Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!