"The Gratitude Attitude"
(Psalm 100)
Rev. Billy D. Strayhorn
Psalm 100:1-5
A Psalm of thanksgiving.
INTRODUCTION:
Thanksgiving was nearing when a little boy came home from kindergarten eager to tell what he'd learned about the Pilgrims. He explained, "They sailed across the ocean to find freedom in America. And their boat was called the 'Cauliflower'." (1)
Here it is, the Sunday before Thanksgiving. But it's also Christ the King Sunday, a day in the Church that we celebrate the Lordship of Jesus as the King of Kings. It's also Commitment Sunday for our Stewardship Campaign.
At first they may not seem related at all but they are. They are intricately woven together. For you see, it is the Lordship of Christ in our lives that allows us and leads us to make our Commitment to the Church and to do so with Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving is a day originally set aside to thank God for all the blessings of life. It's very name implies the purpose of the day. A day of giving thanks. For many people, the day is simply a day for the family to get together, eat too much and watch football. The only thing they give is each other a hard time. And the only thanks expressed, is thanking God when the day is finally over and all the relatives have gone home.
Although the holiday of Thanksgiving is a relatively new holiday created by our government; from the Christian perspective, giving thanks has always been a very sacred event. The Psalm this morning is a Psalm of thanksgiving. It is a call to give thanks to God through praise and remembrance of all that God has done.
I. ALL FROM GOD:
A. The underlying belief, the foundation upon which this praise and thanksgiving is raised, is the Biblical assertion and belief that all things come from God. Every good gift comes from God. God is the beginning and the end. God is the source of all of life, the source of every blessing and every aspect of life. The very breath we breathe is the free gift of God.
The photographs from the Hubble Telescope that were released, sometime ago, showing the splendor of God's creation a jillion miles away brought it all back for me. Those photos amazed and humbled me. To see God's ongoing creation on such a massive level. To realize we started like that, a tiny dot on the edge of a star cluster in a universe filled with millions of star clusters. But the thing that really amazes and humbles me is not our insignificance; but that God, the Creator of this vast universe loves and cares for each of us individually, as if God had nothing else to do.
And even more than that, it amazes me that when we turned our back on God, God didn't turn His back on us. Instead, God sent His only Son to save us and to guide and bring us back. We are not our own. We have been given the gift of life but we belong to God.
II. GIVING THANKS:
A. Our response to all of this is gratitude. How do you feel when you receive a gift? You feel grateful or thankful, especially if it's something you've always wanted or one of those gifts that the giver gave a lot of thought to buying or making. It's special because it came from that person. Every time we see it, it reminds us of that person's love, friendship or thoughtfulness. And we give thanks.
Giving thanks and remembering that God gives all reminds us that we are NOT the center of the universe or the center of creation. The world doesn't revolve around us. And all things don't exist simply to please us.
In the Church we thank God for the overwhelming blessings of life through our prayers, our presence, our gifts and our service. We thank God through our support of God's church. In fact, the whole Christian life is one big "Thank You," a living expression of our gratitude to God for God's grace and God's goodness. Most of the time, though, we take God for granted. And the sad truth is: that what we take for granted we never take seriously. (2)
B. That's why we need to give thanks and to develop a thankful spirit. Thankfulness is the opposite of selfishness. The selfish person says, "I deserve" what comes to me! Other people "ought" to make me happy." The mature Christian realizes that life is a gift from God, and that the blessings of life come only from God's generous and bountiful hand. We can't learn that at too young of an age. Our children need to know what it is to be thankful and to give thanks. We need to help them develop the gratitude attitude, especially as it relates to giving thanks to God.
It all starts with us. Our children learn from us. So stop and ask yourself. For what are you thankful?
I'm thankful for: my family, my health, this Church, for friends etc. For music, food. I'm thankful for my wife and her teaching skills, how God is fulfilling her calling and her life through her profession. I'm even thankful for my idiot little brother and the relationship we have. For both of my sons and my daughter in law. And even for Midnight the Wonder Dog.
What are you thankful for? Each of us can be thankful for at least 100 things. Think not? You might try writing these down.
10 Gifts from the garden
10 Meaningful memories
10 Favorite meals
10 Handy tools or appliances
10 Loving people
10 Influential stories or movies
10 Spiritual Leaders
10 Favorite places
10 Medical Miracles
10 World Leaders who have made a difference
We are all called to have the gratitude attitude. It is what should guide our life and our faith. We're called to do all we do out of gratitude for our salvation. And we begin to develop the gratitude attitude simply through giving thanks, through listing all the blessings we have from God and saying "Thank You, Lord."
III. THANKFUL GIVING:
A. The gratitude attitude is what drives our giving to the Church and to the work of the Church. Our giving begins with God, continues with God and always extends from God. Our giving is an act of faith, an act of love and an act thankfulness. We give in direct response to God's love for us and the salvation we have experienced.
Giving isn't the result of regret, guilt, duty or obligation. For Christians, giving is glad, generous and given freely and abundantly. Generous, glad giving grows and lasts. Giving and tithing are not just ways to thank God for the blessings of life. They are ways to trust God's love and care. They are actions, tools, outward and visible signs of an inward and spiritual grace that has touched and filled our lives.
B. In A Second Helping of Chicken Soup for the Soul, Rev. John R. Ramsey tells how in one church a certain person provided him with a rose boutonniere for the lapel of his suit every Sunday. At first he really appreciated it but then it sort of became routine. Then one Sunday it became very special.
As he was leaving the Sunday Service a young boy walked up to him and said, "Sir, what are you going to do with your flower?" At first the preacher didn't know what the boy was talking about. When it sank in, he pointed to the rose on his lapel and asked the boy, "Do you mean this?"
The boy said, "Yes, sir. If you're just going to throw it away, I would like it."
The preacher smiled and told him he could have the flower and then casually asked what he was going to do with it. The boy, who was probably no more than 10 years old, looked up at the preacher and said, "Sir, I'm going to give it to my granny. My mother and father divorced last year. I was living with my mother, but she married again, and wanted me to live with my father. I lived with him for a while, but he said I couldn't stay, so he sent me to live with my grandmother. She is so good to me. She cooks for me and takes care of me. She has been so good to me that I wanted to give her that pretty flower for loving me."
When the little boy finished, the preacher could hardly speak. His eyes filled with tears and he knew he had been touched by God. He reached up and unpinned the rose. With the flower in his hand, he looked at the boy and said, "Son, that is the nicest thing that I've ever heard but you can't have this flower because it's not enough. If you'll look in front of the pulpit, you'll see a big bouquet of flowers. Different families buy them for the Church each week. Please take those flowers to your granny because she deserves the very best."
Then the boy made one last statement which Rev. Ramsey said he will always treasure. The boy said, "What a wonderful day! I asked for one flower but got a beautiful bouquet." (4)
That's the thankful spirit. That's the gratitude attitude. And it's that attitude that should guide our giving and our lives. Like that boy's granny, God has blessed us so much. God has been so good to us that giving shouldn't even be a question. It should just flow from us naturally. We should want to give out of gratitude for all that God has blessed us with. We should be looking for ways to give and ways to express our thanksgiving to God through God's Church.
CONCLUSION:
A church was having a financial campaign just like we are. In the campaign the pastor suggested that husbands and wives pray separately about how much to give. He suggested that God would give each of them a figure and in most cases, they would be very, very similar. Later that week, a guy who was known for being a bit of a tightwad came up to the pastor just totally amazed. "You know, Preacher, you were right. My wife and I prayed about how much to give each week for this next year and it turned out there was only one dollar's difference between us. She wants to give a dollar and I don't want to give anything."
I know none of you would never give or never want to give anything to God. I've seen your generosity. Remember we are just stewards of life, money and possesions, everything comes from God. Give thanks to God for all that God has given you and how God has blessed your life. Then make that thankfulness visible through your giving to the Church. Take a few minutes to consider what God wants you to do. Pray. Let God lead you in your decision.
This is the Word of the Lord for this day.
Let us Pray
Lord we pause to give you thanks.
For the simple blessings of the day.
For the laughter of children.
For grass and trees and water and sunshine;
the soft patter of rain upon the leaves,
and the friendly bark of a dog.
For neighbors and friends and strangers,
who pause to bestow acts of kindness.
For the calm of the night, and a star-filled sky to light the dark way. For warm firesides and still shadows.
For the smile of the stranger to remind us to smile again.
For the physician's healing hand,
the scientist's impenetrable mysteries;
for all who mobilize for human need and happiness.
But mostly we give thanks for You who guides us and leads us;
who comforts us and feeds us;
who gives us that second chance when we fail;
and who loves us despite our failings.
Thank you for loving us.
Guide us in returning that love in thanks giving and thankful giving.
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1. Donna Waters of Harmony, Pennsylvania, Country Woman Magazine, November & December, 1992
2. Adapted from Vance Havner in "The Vance Havner Quote Book". Christianity Today-Vol. 31, #17.
3. Adapted from Warren W. Wiersbe in "A Time To Be Renewed". Christianity Today-Vol. 32, #17.
4. Adapted from A Second Helping of Chicken Soup for the Soul by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, Health Communications, Inc., Deerfield Beach, Florida, 1995, pp. 32-33.