Thank you

“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? Was no one found to return and 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)

In some ways, the story recounted above is the simplest of all lessons:  a lesson about the importance of saying thank you. Ten lepers received healing from Jesus, but only one came back to say thank you, and as a result, only that leper received the deeper healing (seeing as how Jesus had just healed him and his friends of leprosy, I’m assuming “your faith has made you well” refers to the forgiveness of sins, like the paralytic in Matthew 9:2). But even simple lessons can be much-needed reminders. As I meditate on this passage, I am reminded of how there is great power in gratitude, and especially in recognizing those who have been instrumental in our own spiritual healing and growth. None of us have arrived at the place we are at in our spiritual journey on our own, without any help from others. But like the nine lepers, we can often get caught up in our own lives and forget to return and say thank you to those who have forever changed our lives for the better.

So without further ado, Thank You to:

My parents, for bringing me to church and for teaching me how to love and trust
My grandmothers, who faithfully prayed for me

My Sunday School teachers and Senior Pilgrim Fellowship youth leaders at Wapping
 Community Church in South Windsor, who did the best they could to teach me the faith and organize mission trips where my faith and view of the world would be stretched

Stephan, Shari, and Karlyn, for spending the summer of 1994 leading the youth group where I learned that God was more than just some irrelevant being up in the sky
Scott, Mark, Jon, Patrick, Steve, Doug, Chris, John, and all the other Christians in Buckley Dorm at UConn who provided a welcoming community for this scared freshman

Hans and Carrie, who led the Christian fellowship at UConn where I learned about Jesus and the importance of community

Chris and Jen, who became my two closest friends in college and spurred me on in my Christian faith

Jon and Jama, for leading Musicon and finding a place for me on staff, and for teaching me what discipleship, worship, and youth ministry are all about

Bill, Al, Colleen, and the other Musicon staff members who taught me how to minister to teens

Darcy, for encouraging me to apply for the summer youth program director position at South United Methodist in Manchester, and believing that I could do it

Carl and Megan and all the teens at South United Methodist who taught me the joy, frustration, and joy again of working with teens

Nate and Mat, whose friendship and accountability spurred me on towards greater devotion to God

Peter, Eddie, Kevin, Ron, and the NewLife members who took a chance on a 21-year-old college senior and hired him as their youth pastor

Scott and Dave, who partnered with me in the adventure of using our home for ministry

The hundreds of teens who passed through the NewLife youth group and gave me the opportunity to share the love of Jesus with them

Dr. Gibson, Dr. Robinson, Dr. Swetland, and the other seminary professors who trained me to be a pastor

Todd and Jenny, whose friendship and support helped get our family through seminary

Jon, Mark, Ben, Dave, Deryk, Tom, Adam, Mel, Scott, Chris, Joel, Kevin, and all of the pastors who have helped mentor, encourage, and serve the Lord with me along the way

All the NewLife elders – Andy, Dave, Rob, Ben, Duane, Eddie, Gino, Eric, Jesse, John, and Tim – and the many leaders who have given of their time and energy to shepherd this church alongside me, and who have been patient with me as God works to complete the good work He has begun

Jim, Anthony, Paul, Ryan, Davey and Rich for their friendship, prayers and accountability

The family of NewLife, who bless me with their love for God and for my family, and who continue to believe that God is at work in our church and that the best is yet to come

My kids, who remind me daily of the Father’s love for me

Michele, who married me, encourages and supports me, shows me God’s grace, and spurs me on to become a better man

As I look back at this list, it is staggering to see the number of people God has used along the way to help me along this road of faith (and I know I could list many more people). Some people on the list have been by my side in the faith for almost 30 years. Others were only in my life for a season. But each one deserves a portion of the credit for any good that has come out of my life. And for that I am very, very thankful.

What about you? This Thanksgiving, to whom do you need to return and say “thank you”?