Mercy and Thanksgiving

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Mercy - the word only has five letters, but it has a lot of meaning. The ten lepers in today's Gospel lifted up their voices, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us." Blind men cried aloud saying, "Have mercy on us, Son of David." A woman whose daughter was demon possessed cried aloud, saying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David" All these people and many more came to Jesus and asked for help with the words "have mercy." Sometimes they expressed their need, but other times as in today's Gospel, they simply asked for mercy and left the expression of that mercy up to Jesus.

Mercy often partners with grace. Grace gives something wonderful that you do not deserve. Mercy holds back something bad that you do deserve. In some ways mercy is sort of the opposite of grace. Grace gives. Mercy holds back. In other ways mercy and grace complete one another. We usually receive grace and mercy together and we are better off for it.

Asking for mercy is a form of confession. You are asking God to hold back the punishment you deserve. You cannot do that unless you believe that you actually deserve that punishment. When you admit that you deserve punishment, you are confessing that you have sinned. “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us; but if we confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just, will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Mercy is you not going to hell for lying to yourself and to God.

Asking for mercy is also a form of praise. You do not ask for help from someone who cannot help you. When you ask God for mercy, you are asserting that He has the power and the authority to hold back the punishment you deserve. You are saying that your well being depends on Him. That is high praise indeed.

When the lepers in today's Gospel came to Jesus and lifted up their voices, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us," they were not just asking for help. They were confessing that they deserved the leprosy they had and much worse. They were praising Jesus by proclaiming that He was one who had the authority and power to heal them. They were stating that their lives were in His hands. So do you deserve likewise, and so also does He hold your life.

Jesus acted on their confession and praise. He told the lepers to show themselves to the priests according to the law. As they traveled, Jesus freed all ten of them from their disease. No doubt, they all rejoiced and were happy over their new health.

You too pray, "Lord, have mercy!" At the same time that you ask for help, you also praise God by admitting that He is the ultimate source of all help. You also admit that you do not deserve His help, but His punishment instead. This is the proper wages for your sin. So you too declare that your lives are in God's hands.

When the lepers realized that they were healthy once again, only one of them returned to give thanks to Jesus directly. Luke tells us that this one leper was a Samaritan - someone who would still be outside of Jewish society even after he was healed. In this way, we learn that God's mercy extends beyond the Jewish nation and culture. It extends to outsiders. God's mercy is for everyone. For Jews and Samaritans, for Romans and Greeks, for Germans and Norwegians, for Englishmen and Scotsmen, for Puritans, Catholics, and Lutherans. The rain falls on the just and the unjust. God gives daily bread to all people, even to all evil people.

This narrative also shows God's mercy to the nine who did not return. We do not read that Jesus rescinded His healing. We do not find that these nine former lepers became lepers once again because they disappointed Jesus by not returning to give thanks. Even though they may never have given thanks to Jesus, their skin remained healthy, for its natural time anyhow. In this way we learn that God's mercy even extends to the ungrateful.

Luther expressed this in his explanation to the Lord's Prayer. Give us this day our daily bread. What does this mean? Answer: God gives daily bread, even without our prayer, even to all evil people; but we pray in this petition that He would lead us to realize this and to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving. Even wicked people receive God's mercy. Jesus Himself said that the Father makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

As much as you need God's mercy for the support of your body, your soul has an even greater need for God's mercy. John wrote, “If we say we have not sinned, we make [God] a liar, and his word is not in us.” David also wrote, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” You were already sinful even as you developed in your mother's womb. Without God's mercy you would have no hope.

But God did have mercy on you. He sent His own Son to be your brother “in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” Jesus became our faithful high priest and made propitiation for us by sacrificing Himself on the cross. He had mercy on us by holding back the punishment we deserved by taking it onto Himself. He satisfied God's justice so that we could experience God's mercy. This is the high priest to whom you are presented, and who declares you clean and pure, and fit for the kingdom of God, because He Himself has cleansed you.

You can be certain that God has mercy on you for Jesus' sake because Jesus did not remain in the grave. His resurrection from the dead assures you that God does indeed have mercy for you. It assures you that you will enjoy God's presence forever in heaven. And it does more than just assure you – the preaching of this same death and resurrection into your heart drives that very mercy into your heart and mind. God's Word gives what it says.

Jesus' sacrifice is the only reason you can come to God and ask for mercy. When you come before the Lord with the words, "Lord, have mercy," you can be confident that our Lord will hold back your punishment for Jesus' sake. Because Jesus went to the cross and rose from the dead, you can be confident that God will act on your cry for help with the help that is best for you. The Divine Service properly begins with this cry for mercy – not just forgiveness, but for peace, safety, security, and unity, all of which are predicated on the grace of Christ.

Mercy teams with grace. God's mercy for Christ's sake holds back the condemnation you deserve. Instead, in His grace, He gives you forgiveness. God's mercy for Christ's sake holds back the punishment of eternal death. Instead, in His grace, He gives you eternal life. God's mercy for Christ's sake holds back the damnation you deserve. Instead, in His grace, He gives you salvation. God pours out His mercy and grace on you for Jesus' sake.

This Thursday, many people will give thanks for their material blessings. Even people who are not quite sure who this god person is will take a few minutes to invoke a name and say, "Thank you." But once this National Day of Thanksgiving is over, will they continue thanking God? How many will not acknowledge God at all, but simply drum up a generic feeling of gratitude, or speak a wish of thanksgiving into the air toward the butcher, baker, and candlestick maker that made their day of gluttony possible? This, too, is a sign of God's mercy, that the godless heathens and the dubious agnostics have their consciences pricked once a year or so.

Many pastors spend a lot of pulpit time this time of year bashing on the sinners who “give thanks” without knowing to whom they give thanks. Well, how about we give thanks that the ungodly have the sense enough, in the midst of their depravity, to give thanks, even if it is driven by misguided sentimentality? Who knows – maybe God will use that sentimentality to drive such a one to the knowledge of the Truth and right thanksgiving by this time next year.

We who trust in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins have the opportunity and privilege of thanking Him every day, not just once a year. We have the faith and knowledge that tells us that God has given us so much more than material prosperity. We know that God has had mercy on us for Jesus' sake. We know that God helps us in our time of need. We can thank God for His mercy and we can thank Him for so much more. We can thank God for the gifts He gives us here and we can also thank Him for the gifts He gives in eternity.

O bless the Lord, my soul!
Let all within me join
And aid my tongue to bless His name
Whose favors are divine.

His wondrous works and ways
He made by Moses known,
But sent the world His truth and grace
By His beloved Son (LSB 814.1, 6).

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.