Where Are the Other Nine?

Thanksgiving is coming. Last week, in search of inspiration, I looked through my collection of notes and quotes and found a file titled “Colossians 3.” I don’t know when or why I saved it, but Colossians 3 contains a message about being thankful. St. Paul wrote his Epistle to the church in Colossae while in prison, offering encouragement and direction: “You have taken off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed… in the image of its creator.”

Then he describes what this “new self” should look like: “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved,heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another… as the Lord has forgiven you, And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection. And let the peace of Christ control your hearts…And be thankful.” Colossians 3:9-15

What stands out to me is that, unlike all those first-rate virtues that St. Paul mentions, thankfulness gets its own sentence. It’s as if he rates it higher than the others, higher than patience, higher than compassion.

Thankfulness is also at the heart of the Gospel story that is often read in church on Thanksgiving Day, “The Cleansing of Ten Lepers” in Luke 17:11-19. In it, Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem, when He is approached by a group of lepers. “When he saw them he said to them, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’ And as they went they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks…Jesus said in reply, ‘Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine?’” No one answered Him. I have been noticing more and more places in the Gospels where Jesus doesn’t expect an answer. He wants His followers, both then and now, to think about what He is asking, meditate on it, contemplate and mull it over. So, that’s what I did.

I can’t imagine that the other nine lepers were not just as delighted and grateful as the one who ran back to thank Jesus. For years, they had suffered the effects of their disease and carried that horrible label, “unclean.” Suddenly, they were free! I am sure they were dancing and “praising God with a loud voice,” just as the other one had. The difference is that they didn’t come back to express their thankfulness to the One who had healed them.

I believe that, when Jesus asked, “Where are the other nine?” He wanted us to understand that there is a big difference between being thankful and actually giving thanks and that having a heart filled with gratitude is not the same as offering a heartfelt “Thank you.”

St. Paul understood that. He told the Colossians that they should be, “singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:16-17

Gratitude needs to be expressed. Sing it, say it, shout it, pray it.

Thanks be to God!

“Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.”
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18