| November 8, 2017 -- Being thankful for blessings is only the first step. Yes, as your mother taught you, you should always say “thank you”, but don’t end it there. There are additional obligations. It is much more important to show thankfulness by deeds than by words. Do you remember Jesus’ parable in Luke about the two men who went up to the Temple to pray? The Pharisee thanked God that he was not like other men, and then started bragging about all the ways that he was righteous, fulfilling all the mandates of the law. Not one word passed from his lips about penitence, about petition for God’s grace and mercy, about having the strength and will to do good to others to show his thankfulness for the benefits he had received. In Luke 12:48 Jesus tells us: “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” But there is another side to this. Later, in Luke 19, Jesus says “to everyone who has will be given more, and from him who has not will be taken away even that which he has”.
Remember the parable of the Talents. A rich master going on a long journey gives each of his three servants an incredible amount of money before leaving. One talent in silver is worth about a million dollars in today’s money, and yet he gives one servant ten talents, one servant gets five talents, and the last gets one talent. The first two servants take their freely given money and use it to greatly increase the value of their holdings; the third servant, in fear, buries his talent so that it cannot be lost. The master, upon his return, is very pleased with the actions of his first two servants and rewards them accordingly, but is much displeased with his third servant and takes away his gift. The lesson for us is that when God gives us good things we should in thankfulness use these gifts in outreach to help others, and as a result will eventually receive much more in reward.
Finally, remember the message in Mark 12: 43-44, [read for homework], where we learn that giving of your abundance is an obligation, while giving when you have little to give is a virtue.
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