Archimandrite Kirill (Pavlov). In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit!
Dear brothers and sisters, we have now been offered a very edifying gospel narrative about the miraculous healing of ten lepers by our Lord Jesus Christ. The Evangelist Luke tells us that the Lord, on his way to Jerusalem, passed between Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off, And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner? And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole (Lk. 17:12-19).
Dear brothers and sisters, the present Gospel tells us about the duty of Christians to thank God for all His inexpressible generosity to us. About the ungrateful, the Lord said, How did they not return to give glory to God? Gratitude is a feeling implanted in us by God, by which we express appreciation to the person who has done us some good deed. Ingratitude before men is the rudest and most unbearable vice, and ingratitude before God is moreover a grave, unnatural crime. Nature itself draws our hearts to thank its benefactor. After all, both dumb animals and wild animals express, as best they can, their gratitude to the person who benefits them.
If our very nature attracts us to express gratitude to the person who has given us this or that favor, how much more should we give thanks to God, from Whom we receive everything! Everything that people give us, they do not give their own, but rather it is God's gift, for every gift is perfect and comes from the Father of Lights (cf. James 1:17). And what are human mercies compared to the mercies of God?
God’s mercies are infinite, but human gifts are insignificant. The Lord is our Creator and Maker, from Whom we have received our very existence and our life. He created our body. He breathed into us an immortal soul that gives life to our body. He has given us intelligence, which distinguishes us from the unintelligent animals. He has given us free will, which makes us self-governing in our actions. He has given us a heart capable of enjoying the gifts of God's goodness and experiencing happiness, joy and bliss in life.
The Lord God is our Provider and Guardian. He commands the sun to shine above us, which warms, illuminates and delights us. He does us good by sending rain from heaven, giving fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and joy (cf. Acts 14:17). He commanded the earth to cultivate diverse fruits that nourish and strengthen our body, and he caused the many different kinds of animals to serve us. Mountains, seas, rivers, birds, fish, earth, air all serve for our benefit and enjoyment according to God’s determination. His divine inherent power supports us and preserves our lives in the midst of everything hostile to us in the world. By him we live and move (Acts 17:28). Not to see all these benefits of God means not to be aware of your very existence, not to feel your own life, to become like a stone, a completely insensitive and lifeless person.
This, however, is not all, for the loving Heavenly Father so loved the world, that He also gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16). The only begotten Son of God so loved us that He took upon Himself the sins of the human race, became incarnate and was made man for our salvation, endured for our sake humiliation, spitting, strangling, beating, suffering on the cross and shameful death, being crucified with evildoers, shed His Blood for us and laid down His Soul. The Holy Spirit, who is consubstantial with the Father and the Son, so loved us that, not disdaining our uncleanness, he descends upon us, revives us who are dead in trespasses, and sanctifies us who are defiled and indecent.
How many times have we responded to God’s love with our sins, our unrighteousness, our iniquities—but the Lord not only does not destroy us, He has mercy and spares us; He does not deprive us of the gifts of His goodness, patiently waiting for our conversion and repentance, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. (cf. 2 Pet. 3:9). If, after this infinite goodness and mercy of God, I remain ungrateful before the incomprehensible love of God, if I count as nothing the Blood of the Son of God shed for me, if I neglect the inestimable grace of the Spirit of God, then what do I deserve but final rejection from the face of God and eternal condemnation and torment?
Therefore, our whole being, our whole life, our nature, our happiness in the present and future ages require that we not remain insensitive to the God’s benefactions, not be ungrateful before His goodness and mercy, nor offend His truth and holiness by our insensitivity and ingratitude. What shall we repay the Lord for all his benefits to us (cf. Ps. 115:3, Church Slavonic text)? For His infinite love for us, we can only repay Him with sincere, wholehearted love for Him. Our Lord requires nothing else from us. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind: This is the first and greatest commandment (Matthew 22:37-38).
The one who loves God with all his heart is he who is sincerely grateful to the Lord for all His innumerable and ineffable benefits, who does not betray his heart to the power of carnal passions, who is ready to sacrifice everything carnal and earthly for the glory of the name of God, for Christian faith and piety, for the honor of the Gospel and the Cross of Christ, and not to spare his own life for the Lord who loved us. For, who will separate us from the love of God, says the holy apostle Paul. Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or hunger, or nakedness, or danger, or the sword? Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us (Rom. 8, 35, 37).
Remembering the constant blessings of God, we must always and for everything glorify His holy name, and this gratitude to the Lord should be expressed in offering a prayer of thanksgiving to Him, a sincere, heartfelt and pure prayer. The Lord looks upon a grateful person with favor and love, fulfills his good requests and sends him new mercies. On the other hand, our ingratitude testifies to the callousness and rudeness of our heart, our lack of remembrance and misunderstanding of God's blessings, our dissatisfaction with our position and other vices of our soul. And to whom do we sinners show more favor? To the one who appreciates our goodness and gives thanks for it, or to the one who treats our goodness with disdain? Certainly, to the former. Likewise, the Lord deprives ungrateful people of His mercies.
So, dear brothers and sisters, let us not forget to always thank the Lord for His great mercies and benefits to us sinners, especially spiritual mercies, for the forgiveness and purification of our sins and iniquities, for all the gifts of God's grace, for the hope of salvation given to us by Jesus Christ our Lord. Let us also give thanks for the adversities and misfortunes of life, for sufferings and sorrows—for they are also a mercy to us from the Lord, Who, according to His unfailing word, leads us through our many sorrows into the Kingdom of God (cf. Acts. 14:22).
Amen.
