A Grateful Heart
Selected Texts
Introduction
It has been an eventful couple of weeks - - - with the presidential election finally taking place in
our country.
In the aftermath - - - we have seen different protests take place around the country - - - people
expressing their disapproval of the newly elected president.
Hillary Miller – 36 and a Des Moines mother - - - after reading about middle school students at a
Des Moines area school – who walked out of class in numbers – to protest the election of Donald
Trump – Mrs. Miller decided to post a little video on social media in response to the behavior.
What did Mrs. Miller say to these future community organizers?
‘first off - - - you guys are children – You don’t get a say - you aren’t even old enough to vote –
or serve in the military.’ [When you are – then you can have a say]
Instead – try doing something good for your community. Walking out of school – getting police
involved – who have more important things to do - - - this is not helpful.’
‘If your parents support you – they’re stupid too.’
The video has had over 380,000 views as of Wednesday – when asked – Mrs. Miller declined to
tell the DM Register who she voted for.
Along similar lines – other high school and college student protestors in the Iowa City area –
stopped traffic along I-80 last Friday - - - to show their disapproval of the election results.
We have seen similar scenes play out in the nation - - - signs held up with the words: ‘Not my
President’ - - - it seems that we are becoming a nation of protestors.
There was a ‘protest movement’ in the OT - - - actually against - - - Moses
We might call it the protest of Korah - Dathan and Abiram. They staged a little walk out - - overlooking the fact that just a few short years earlier – it was Moses who led the people of Israel
thru the Red Sea - - -- in a miraculous deliverance of the people of Israel out of slavery from
Egypt
Numbers 16:1, 2 – ‘Now Korah [and some others] rose up before Moses, together with some
of the sons of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation . . . and they assembled
against Moses and Aaron and said to them, ‘you have gone far enough.’ [perhaps blocking traffic
of the camel caravans]
Moses summoned them for a conference
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Their response: ‘We will not come up. Is it not enough that you have brought us up out of a land
flowing with milk and honey to have us die in the wilderness?’ [Numbers 16:12-13]
i.e. – they referred to Egypt as the land of milk and honey
God Himself intervened – opened up the ground to swallow up the whole company of protestors
– for their rebellion and ingratitude [Numbers 16]
What is the point of the story? It is not that all protest movements are wrong
But I would like to draw a theological principle from the rebellion of Korah to the Thanksgiving
Holiday we will all be observing this week
Jeremiah Burroughs [a Puritan] put his finger on this insight: ‘though their deliverance from
Egypt was a great mercy, they made it to be nothing [The Rare Jewel, p. 156]
Korah / Dathan / Abiram - - - they failed to count their blessings - -- that is why they protested
– they were ungrateful for what they had
I think of that for many in America – protesting this and that
They have no idea what blessings they enjoy in this country - - - they spit upon them
The right to vote in free elections
The privilege of living in a country that was founded upon Judeo-Christian values – having a
constitution that recognizes the inherent sinfulness of man – establishes limits to the powers of
government
The freedom to gather and worship our God in public assembly – sing His praises / Hear His
Word preached - - - those are blessings we cherish / value
We give thanks
O. Hallesby: ‘when we give thanks we give God the glory for what He has done for us’
On that note – I would like to give us a few reasons for giving thanks this holiday season –
because gratitude matters – and having a grateful heart gives glory to our God – and fosters joy
in our own hearts
I.
Thankfulness is a matter of the heart - Luke 17:11-19
Here is a healing miracle recorded in the gospels
The focus in this narrative is not so much on the healing itself – but the response / reaction to
it of the healed
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How do these ten lepers respond to this particular mercy having been shown unto them?
v. 14 – as they departed – they were cleansed [all ten receive this blessing]
But – they don’t all respond in the same way
This reminds us of an important truth
*** Thankfulness has more to do with the individual’s heart - - - than it does have to do with
one’s circumstances
Unthankfulness can exist among the most privileged on earth and thankfulness can dwell
among the most destitute
These ten lepers - they all had the same miracle / blessing
They were all healed – only one returned to give thanks - - - had gratitude in his heart
There is always the temptation to think – well – I would be thankful if such and such
occurred. [win the lottery / stock market booms / my candidate won the election]
Some might think – ‘Boy – I’ll be really thankful when . . . I finish school, I get married / I
get promoted, I get rich, when we have children – when the children are grown – when this
bill is paid, when I can travel, when the new floor is put in, etc.’
Or one might think, ‘If only this [horrible / rotten thing] would not have happened . . . then I
could be thankful’
Instead – they allow the horrible / rotten thing to keep them from thankfulness
*** Thankfulness is not dependent upon circumstances – it is an attitude of the heart
It is also the will of God – I Thess. 5:18 – ‘In everything give thanks . . .’
Paul David Tripp said that he once asked a man from India – what his impressions of
Americans were. He hesitated – but Paul encouraged him – ‘it’s ok – be honest.’ The man
replied: ‘Because you have so much – you complain so much.’ [Lost in the Middle, p. 84]
Obviously he has been around the wrong Americans - - but his point is well taken
Scripture uses another word for complaining - - - it calls it grumbling / murmuring
It occurred on several occasions with the Israelites in the wilderness
I Cor. 10:8-11
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When Israel grumbled against the Lord – it reflected ingratitude for their rescue from Egypt
They complained about the manna that God miraculously provided [we hate it / we loathe
this miserable food - - - they looked back to the food of their slavery]
Paul tells us to learn from their mistake - - - so that we do not grumble like they did against
the Lord - - - instead - - - we are to have a thankful heart
When gratitude fills the heart - - - grumbling finds no room to lodge in
Note: Gratitude Gives Glory to God – Luke 17:16-18
v. 16 – the leper gave thanks
v. 18 – Jesus says that he gave glory to God
Gratitude is one way we give glory to God
II.
Thankfulness Reflects an Accurate Assessment of our Blessed Condition
as Christians – Eph. 1:3 / Phil. 4:8
If you are a Christian – you are blessed
Rom. 8:1 – ‘there is no condemnation . . .’
Eph. 1:3 – ‘blessed with every spiritual blessing’
You have an eternal inheritance / you are an heir of eternal life / heaven /etc.
Adoption / redemption / the Holy Spirit / The Bible to guide us
The blessings Scripture uses to describe what the believer has are staggering
Rom. 8:18 – ‘I consider that the sufferings of this life are not worthy to be
compared to the glory that will be revealed to us.’
So – we need to lodge such truths in our minds – let them affect our outlook on life
*** If you are a Christian who struggles to be grateful – this is where you likely fall
Phil. 4:8 – ‘whatever is true . . . let your mind dwell on these things.’
We are called to think upon what is true
If the real nature of our circumstances – in the eyes of heaven - - - is that we enjoy many
blessings from the hand of God - - - if we instead choose to spend our days complaining /
griping and spitting on those blessings - - - that becomes a great sin – and leads to great
unhappiness / discontent
Ingratitude stifles joy / gratitude fosters it / nourishes it
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Christian poet – John Milton: ‘The mind is its own place, and it itself can make a heaven of
hell, and a hell of heaven.’
I remember visiting Nelle Kooistra - - - at the New Sharon nursing home - - - she had two
roommates [in a room that was probably 15 x 8 ft.] - - - one roomate was flat out bonkers - - would wake Nelle up in the middle of the night
I would say to Nelle – ‘Nelle – I don’t know how you do it.’
She’d say, ‘Oh – it’s not so bad’
I was always struck by her godly attitude:
She would minimize any negative – magnify the positive - - - seemed truly thankful for the
good things she had enjoyed in life
Jeremiah Burroughs: ‘The godly man wonders at his cross that it is not more, a wicked man
wonders his cross is so much: “Oh “ – he says, “none was ever so afflicted as I am.” If there
is a cross, the devil puts the soul to musing on it, and making it greater than it is, and so it
brings discontent. And on the other side, if there is a mercy. “aye – indeed” he says, ‘the
thing is a good thing, but what is it? It is not a great matter . . . Thus the rhetoric of Satan
lessens God’s mercies, and increases afflictions.’ [The Rare Jewel, p. 156]
Satan magnifies our burdens and lessens our blessings
You and I have to make a conscious choice to reject his math
Last week – Jeff Corbett texted me – saying he would be the worship leader [filling in for
Dave] - - - so I asked him if he wanted to take the sermon as well
He said – ‘sure – we’ll be doing fraction multiplication – bring a pencil]
We are doing some math today! - - - counting our blessings
How many do you have?
Thomas Watson: ‘A child of God keeps two books always by him: one to write his sins in, so
that he may be humble; the other to write his mercies in, so that he may be thankful.’ [The
Godly Man’s Picture, p. 132]
When you get up in the morning – you have a choice
You can say, ‘I am so glad that Jesus paid the price for all my sins - - - that I am redeemed . .
. thank you Lord Jesus.’
Or you can say, ‘Looks like another lousy day - - - because of . . .’
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Psalm 118:24 – ‘This is the day which the Lord has made – let us rejoice and be
glad in it.’
We can rejoice in our blessings - - - or we can minimize them thru sinful thinking
We need to do better math – thankfulness reflects an accurate assessment of our blessed
condition as Christians.
III.
Gratitude is the response of a people who know they have a God who is
good – Psalm 118:1
Psalm 118:1 – ‘Give thanks to the Lord for He is good; for His lovingkindness is
everlasting.’
There is only one question we need to ask: ‘Is God good?’
Is the universe run by a good God who loves you and gave His Son for the purpose of your
eternal salvation?
If the answer is yes - - - then give thanks
Give thanks for God’s providential rule – Rom. 8:28
Trust in the God of providence says: ‘the Lord knows how to order things better than I do - - my job is to trust Him.’
Thomas Watson: ‘a humble saint likes that condition which God sees best for him. A proud
man complains that he has no more; a humble man wonders that he has so much.’ [The Godly
Man’s Picture, p. 81]
Burroughs: ‘Who am I that the sun should always shine upon me, that I must have fair
weather all my days?’ [The Rare Jewel, p. 204]
Into every life a little rain must fall – nobody gets fair weather all their days
Job is the great example: [after great loss] - - ‘the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away - - blessed be the name of the Lord.’
As we look into the Scriptures – we see that gratitude matters quite a bit - - - and we have
many reasons to be grateful
IV.
The unbeliever / the wicked is characterized by ingratitude – [Rom. 1:1821]
The unbeliever is characterized at a fundamental level by a failure to give thanks
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*** Does the atheist celebrate thanksgiving?
Who does the atheist give thanks to?
Some are actually sensitive to this question
I looked the question up online – and they want us to know that they do celebrate
thanksgiving – they are thankful
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They are thankful for family and friends
They are thankful for teachers / government / firefighters / police / military
They are thankful for doctors / medicine - - - good health
Those are all good things to be thankful for
Do they express their thanksgiving to all these folks?
One said he was thankful to farmers for food
I wondered – ‘how many of our farmers ever get a thank-you note from an atheist on
thanksgiving’ – I think I know the answer
It’s good to be thankful to each other – appreciate others [as secondary agents of blessing]
But noticeably - - - they don’t thank God from whom all blessings flow – the one who
created us – and gave us the world to live in – all the rich blessings we enjoy
The story of the ten lepers reminds us that God is well aware of gratitude in the heart - - - or a
lack thereof [Jesus points it out]
*** When we fail to give God thanks – we fail to give God the glory He deserves – and we
reflect a heart in need of a change
Conclusion
Jerry Bridges writes: ‘When one of the American lunar missions was in serious trouble some
years ago, the American people were asked to pray for the safe return of the astronauts.
[Apollo 13]. When they were safely back on earth, credit was given to the technological
achievements and skill of the American space industry. No thanks or credit was given
publicly to God. This is not unusual. It is the natural tendency of mankind.’ [The Practice of
Holiness, p. 102]
Let us be people who reflect gratitude not only this week – but throughout our lives
Gospel
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