Now on His way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As He was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met Him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” When He saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked Him—and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then He said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” Luke 17:11-19
“I entreat you, beloved, let those words of the Savior touch your hearts, Who, when by the power of His mercy He had cleansed ten lepers, said that only one of them all had returned to give thanks: meaning without doubt that, though the ungrateful ones had gained soundness of body, yet their failure in this godly duty arose from ungodliness of heart. And therefore, dearly-beloved, that this brand of ingratitude may not be applied to you, return to the LORD, remembering the marvels which He has deigned to perform among us; and ascribing our release not, as the ungodly suppose, to the influences of the stars, but to the unspeakable mercy of Almighty GOD, Who has deigned to soften the hearts of raging barbarians, betake yourselves to the commemoration of so great a benefit with all the vigor of faith. Grave neglect must be atoned for by yet greater tokens of repentance.”
Leo the Great (c. 400-461) in Sermon LXXXIV entitled “Concerning the Neglect of the Commemoration” in Leo the Great, Gregory the Great, edited by Philip Schaff (Grand Rapids: CCEL, 2004) 323.
As I explore ‘gratitude’ in the writings of the doctors of the church, I continue to find it fascinating that it is more common to locate ‘ingratitude’ as an expression. Here, Leo the Great links ‘ingratitude’ to forgetting all Christ has done for us.
He uses the story of the ten lepers to illustrate it and drives home his point with this strong statement: “Grave neglect must be atoned for by yet greater tokens of repentance.” This is what Lent is all about.
Lent is a time to “return to the LORD” and remind ourselves of all the Christ has done for us. It’s a time to focus on prayer, fasting, and giving motivated by one thing: gratitude.
Pause to consider what you are learning this Lent. And ponder ‘ingratitude’ with the doctors of the church. How might we avoid the pattern of neglecting to show ‘gratitude’ throughout the year?
I hope that by focusing on gratitude for 40 days, we can shift from a place of neglect to adopting a pattern of offering tokens of repentance on an everyday basis, like the grateful leper.