Whenever I read the Gospel story we use as our text every Thanksgiving, it reminds me of the song, "The Twelve Days of Christmas." And for this silly reason. I think of ten lord's a leaping, except it's now, nine lepers leaping. And why not? That most dreaded of all diseases has been conquered and cured. Ten men (were they all men?); ten men were warehoused on the edge of society because of illness and disease. Ten men (maybe some were women? or boys? or girls?); ten men could never go home again. Not because they were evil. Not because they were lost. But only because they were ill. And suddenly, nine lepers leaping ... they were cleansed. When I was a teenager, I had a dreaded case of acne ... skin blemishes. Thank God for Clearasil. If Clearasil did not exactly clear my blemishes, it did hide them a bit. But leprosy. Leprosy makes the embarrassment of teenage acne a trifling thing.

There was no cure for leprosy. The grave I suppose, but that's really no cure. But then the lepers spot Jesus. "Jesus, Master, have pity on us." And Jesus, who had even the cure for the grave (think Easter), Jesus tells the ten lonely lepers to go to the priest ... and as they went, they were cleansed; cured. Nine lepers leaping ... one leper turning. Nine lepers leaping and one leper turning ... to return thanks.

He ran toward Jesus and did a swan dive, landing at the feet of Jesus. Can you picture that man on the ground? Grounded with gratitude? I think I caught a glimpse of that gratitude as I marveled at a picture on the front page of the New York Times. Maybe you saw it a couple weeks ago. Four soldiers in khakis, heavy packs on their backs ... kissing the ground. These four and another 116, are soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division's Second Brigade. They had arrived safely at Fort Drum after fifteen months in Iraq ... and before they kissed their wives and their children - they kissed the ground. Forget the lyrics from Casablanca, "you must remember this, a kiss is just a kiss...." For these soldiers kissing the ground, a kiss is much more than a kiss. Take a look (picture is displayed on the screen). And you know what. Far prior to the days of digital pictures, I picture this: after an arduous journey across the Atlantic, I picture more than one pilgrim leaping from the bow of the Mayflower ... and kissing Plymouth Rock.

Nine lepers leaping. One leper turning ... and before he returned home to kiss his wife and hug his children ... one leper threw himself at the feet of Jesus. And brothers and sisters of Grace, the three images I hold of Thanksgiving, at least for this evening, are images of one man prone at the feet of Jesus; several pilgrims planting a kiss on the face of Plymouth Rock; and four men kissing the ground of this country. This is Thanksgiving for me. God and country, and I am profoundly grateful for both.

I was in Manhattan for a concert a few weeks ago - 174th Street and Broadway. Since I try to be fiscally prudent, some would say cheap, I circled the block three or four times looking for a parking space. Finally I gave up and pulled into a parking garage. There was a sign that said: "Sunday Rates all Day - only $12.00." I probably spent that much in gas searching for a parking place. After the concert, I went back to the parking garage and made my way to the cashier who said, "$21.00, Sir." I pointed to the sign and said, "Excuse me. The sign says it's only $12.00." He gave me a weary look and said politely, "Sir, things aren't always what they seem." I didn't have any counter argument; the attendant had my keys. So I just shrugged and gave him the $21.00. I consoled myself that for a few extra dollars I was reminded again of a very important lesson, one I am continually in the process of trying to learn: "Things are not always what they seem." I am not much of an athlete, but I've always done well at jumping to conclusions.

This Gospel text is a case in point. Nine lepers leaping ... for joy. In my preaching over the years, I've jumped to the conclusion that only one of the ten was thankful. Ten were healed by Jesus ... but only one was thankful. That was my jump to conclusion. Jesus does not tell us that there was only one man grateful for the cleansing ... he merely points out that only one man came back to express his gratitude. It would be an unfair jump to conclusion for any of us to think the other nine were ungrateful. Look again at the picture. It would be an unfair jump to conclusion to suggest that the four soldiers kissing the ground of America were grateful to be safely home .... while the other 116 were not. Of course all ten lepers were grateful; and of course, all 120 soldiers were thankful beyond measure to be treading American soil!

But there is something touching about the one grateful leper at the feet of Jesus. And something touching about the four men kissing the tarmac. We, you and I, have so many blessings in our lives, and so much for which to be grateful. It's hard to fathom why we sometimes forget to express the joy of our gratitude.

John Buchanan, pastor of Fourth Presbyterian church in Chicago, hits upon that theme as he says, "Gratitude is, after all, at the very heart of our faith, the fundamental Christian emotion. Gratitude, the theologians have always said, is the basic human response to the goodness and mercy of God and to grace, God's undeserved and unconditional love. At the heart of Christian experience and teaching is not guilt, as we have sometimes been taught; not obligation, as we occasionally conclude and teach; but gratitude, pure and simple—gratitude for God's grace, gratitude because all of life, all of it, is a gift we did not earn but were given." And referring to the ten lepers, Buchanan continues that after the cleansing, "(o)ne stopped in his tracks, ran back to find Jesus, fell on his face at Jesus' feet, and thanked him. Jesus asks about the other nine and then says a very interesting thing to the grateful man at his feet: 'Get up and go on your way: your faith has made you well.' Now notice that we don't know anything about this man's religion. He is a Samaritan, but we don't know what his theology is. We don't know a thing about his moral values, whether he is pro-choice or pro-life, for or against this or that. We don't know how he voted or how he spends his Sabbath. All we know is that he recognized a gift when he saw it, returned to say thank you, and Jesus said about him, 'Your faith has made you well,' which surely is to say that by Jesus' definition, faith and gratitude are very closely related, that faith without gratitude is maybe not faith at all, and that there is something life-giving about gratitude."

We owe a debt of gratitude to the brave men and women of the 10th Mountain Division's Second Brigade and all in our Armed Forces willing to put their lives on the line on our behalf. But far more than that, we owe a debt of gratitude, which can never be repaid - but ought always be expressed - gratitude to our God. In the person of Jesus Christ ... our God put life on the line and body on the cross - in order that we might live with him forever. As we acknowledge this ultimate of blessings, and as we try in vain to tote up all our blessings, we recognize with the Psalmist, our cups runneth over. Happy Thanksgiving!