The Jonesville Gang

I think Thanksgiving is also one of my favorite holidays because it has become relatively untouched by the commercial machine that is our economy. Thanksgiving used to be the traditional start of the Christmas shopping season. That’s not even the case anymore. Many stores began putting up Christmas displays before Halloween – some even as early as September. They call it the “Christmas Creep,” where they slowly add more Christmas displays each week. It’s an attempt to get us to start buying Christmas presents earlier and earlier, spending more money than you initially planned. With such a commercial emphasis on the Christmas season, Thanksgiving Day is relatively untouched by the marketers. The meaning of the day isn’t drowned out by the bells and whistles of Christmas commercialism. And I like it like that.

The story of the Puritans’ struggles in the New World remain a focal point of the day and serve as an example to us of remaining faithful to God during times of terrible conditions. Having taken issue with the corruption that was the Church of England at the time, the Puritans chose to separate themselves from the state-run religion. This led to harsh persecutions by the authorities. After three failed attempts to flee to the New World, they finally set sail on the Mayflower on September 6, 1620. Over 130 people began the voyage on that tiny, 90 foot-long ship. Not all passengers were Puritan Pilgrims, but they did provide the bulk of the leadership for the group of travelers.

The two month-long journey was not a pleasant cruise. No, it was far from it. The quarters were cramped, the food was terrible, and the weather conditions were dangerous throughout most of the trip. Remarkably, none died during the journey across the Atlantic. They eventually established the small Plymouth Colony in the New World.

Shortly after arriving in New England, half of the travelers had died. Disease was running rampant throughout the new colony. The New England winter was much harsher than expected, and the food supply was running short. Unaccustomed to the land, they could not plant crops or distinguish between the edible and poisonous plants. They had no knowledge of fishing or hunting. Things looked bleak for these Pilgrims in the New World. Legend has it that food was so scarce that some meals were as small as five kernels of corn per person. The New World hardly seemed like the Promised Land they had hoped it would be.

But the Pilgrims remained faithful. They continued to praise God in all circumstances.

Momentum shifted the following Spring. Local Native Americans befriended the Pilgrims and showed them how to tame the New England soil and how to catch their food. After a bitter winter that most thought they would not survive, Spring brought new hope along with the new friendships. The Colonists planted and hunted, just as they were taught. Their strength was renewed and the colony grew stronger every day.

And the Pilgrims remained faithful. They continued to praise God in all circumstances.

When harvest time came in October, the Puritan Colonists were joined by their new Native American friends for a celebration of God’s provision and protection over the past year. The three-day celebration included wild turkeys, venison, and all kinds of vegetables. The first Thanksgiving Day in the New World was born. It was a sign of friendship, and a reminder of what God had done for them over the past year.

The Gospel of Luke has a similar story about a group of people who were facing life-threatening disease and how they reacted when they encountered Jesus. Turn to Luke 17.

As you’re flipping to the text, it’s appropriate that I give a little background to the story. Jesus has begun his long, final trip to Jerusalem where he knows he will ultimately have to give up his own life in order to save us. Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem makes up a significant amount of the Gospel of Luke, covering almost 10 whole chapters. Much of what Jesus reveals to the Disciples and to us shows us what it means to be a follower of Christ. According to Luke, it’s on his way to Jerusalem that Jesus teaches the Lord’s Prayer, tells the parables of the Good Samaritan, the Lost Sheep, Lost Coin, and Lost Son (or the Loving Father), along with many other parables about the Kingdom of God. It is on the way to Jerusalem that Jesus encounters a group of ten men suffering from leprosy.

(Read:)
11 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy*met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”

Now, we don’t know exactly what the disease was that the Bible refers to as leprosy. Most scholars think it is not the Hansen’s disease we know today as leprosy. It appears to be a term for a range of skin diseases which are assumed to be contagious. Leprosy was the dreaded disease of Jesus’ day. Iheard one preacher say it’s a lot like cancer is the dreaded disease of our day. No one wants to hear the “C” word from a doctor, friend, or family member. In those days, no one wanted to hear the “L” word. It meant that you were going to be shunned from the community.

The Levitic law had very specific instructions about how a person with leprosy was supposed to be cared for: “45 “The person with such an infectious disease must wear torn clothes, let his hair be unkempt,* cover the lower part of his face and cry out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ 46 As long as he has the infection he remains unclean. He must live alone; he must live outside the camp” (Lev. 13:45-46). The leper would only be allowed back within the city limits after a priest had examined the person and determined that person to be clean of the disease.

As you can see, leprosy was not only painful to the body, but the isolation caused by it was also painful to the soul, too. Most people would not ever be cured of their disease. One commentary says, “To the rabbis, the cure of a leper was as difficult as raising a person from the dead.” Being diagnosed with this disease was essentially a kiss of death. These men were hopeless before they encountered Jesus. And here’s what he did:

14 When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.
15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 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 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

It’s easy to turn to Jesus when things are difficult. These men were at rock bottom. They had nowhere else to turn. When they saw Jesus coming down the road, they clung to what little hope they had and called out his name – practically begging for him to do something…to do anything.

How do you respond in times of trial or suffering? Do you sit around and wait for things to get worse, feeling sorry for yourself and throwing your own little pity-party? Or do you turn to the One who brings hope, strength, and healing?

We can learn from the examples of the persecuted Christians around the world. According to Voice of the Martyrs, there were more Christians killed for their faith in the 20th Century than in the previous 19 centuries combined. Nus Reimas has experienced this persecution first-hand. Nus ministers in the highly volatile Indonesian province of Maluku. Listen to this account of one particularly difficult day: