November 23, 2014
Scripture Reading
Luke 17:11-17
Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between
Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had
leprosy met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud voice,
“Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
14
When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as
they went, they were cleansed.
15
One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a
loud voice.16 He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was
a Samaritan.
17
Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?
11
Ephesians 5:19b–20
Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord,20 always giving thanks to
God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 5:16–18
Rejoice always, pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for
this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
16
17
Colossians 3:15–17
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one
body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
16
Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and
admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs
from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever
you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through him.
15
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011
by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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Message
“Gratitude”
I have a theory; that Americans feel less joy than they used to. While
some studies indicate that feelings of happiness are on the rise, that’s not
joy? I don’t see deep and abiding joy in a population striving to manufacture
more and more happiness to counter the mounting difficulties of life.
I’m talking about the attractive but temporary happiness sold by
Disney or expressed every day on Good Morning America where
concerning news stories are interlaced with musical performances, funny
videos and great bargains on jewelry and handbags. I’m talking about a
temporary happiness promised to lottery winners, the happiness we feel
when we are able to escape into our favorite music; the happiness many
seek with drugs, or adrenaline- sparking events, or by participating in
random acts of kindness, or achieving a fleeting fame through selfies and
YouTube video posts.
People are constantly looking for more happiness because they lack
a joy that is lasting.
Need more proof? As noted in a Huffington Post article:
Go on Google and plug in "happiness coaching." Then, look at how
many people are waiting by their phone for you to cough up cash to learn to
be happier. There are even university degrees that can teach you to teach
people to be happier (for only $40,000 per year)!
It has also been concluded by scientists that…
…. as people place more importance on being happy, they become more
unhappy and depressed. The pressure to be happy makes people less
happy.
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All of which tells me that our cultural artificial happiness cannot last
forever; for a while it may satisfy, if we are willing to play the game, but
eventually the game has the opposite effect…..
Organizing your life around trying to become happier, making happiness
the primary objective of life, gets in the way of actually becoming happy…..
Citation: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/todd-kashdan/whats-wrong-with-happines_b_740518.html
There is a second part to my theory; That Americans feel less true,
abundant and lasting joy than they used to, because they are turning away
from the God of grace who has revealed Himself in Jesus Christ.
Jesus spoke of a “complete joy” as something that is ours when we
walk in His love:
John 15:10-11
10
If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept
my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so
that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
For me, the most visible contrast between the joy that Jesus offers
humanity and the artificial happiness of this world is seen among
teenagers; perhaps because they strive to be real; they initially resist the
artificial happiness-games of this world, but in doing so, if they are without
the joy of Jesus, they experience a very dark world.
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Psychologist Madeline Levine has been counseling teenagers for
over 25 years, but recently Levine has begun to see a new breed of
unhappy teenagers—smart, successful, and privileged kids who feel utterly
lost and empty. For Levine, one client in particular typified this kind of
unhappy teenager.
Late on a Friday afternoon—the last appointment of her week—
Levine saw a 15-year-old girl who was "bright, personable, highly
pressured by her adoring, but frequently preoccupied … parents." The girl
was also "very angry."
Levine quickly recognized the girl's "cutter disguise"—a long-sleeve tshirt pulled halfway over her hand, with an opening torn in the cuff for her
thumb. Such t-shirts are used to hide self-mutilating behaviors: cutting with
sharp instruments, piercing with safety pins, or burning with matches.
When the young girl pulled back her sleeve, Levine was startled to find that
the girl had used a razor to carve onto her forearm the word “EMPTY”."
Levine commented:
I tried to imagine how intensely unhappy my young patient must have felt to
cut her distress into her flesh …. The most common thing I hear in my
office from the kids is, "I'm fake." The surface of [their family life] always
looks good …. The lawns are always perfectly manicured, the houses
always look beautiful. But when you get to what's going on beneath these
kids' T-shirts, there's not much happening inside.
Matt Woodley, managing editor, PreachingToday.com; sources: Madeline Levine, The Price of
Privilege (Harper Perennial, 2008), pp. 3-5; Joy Lanzendorfer, "All and Nothing," Metro Active, (1-3-07)
modified
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My theory is that Americans are feeling less true, abundant and lasting joy
than they used to, and that is because they are turning away from the God
of grace who has revealed Himself in Jesus Christ.
Before I tie what I have been talking about to the title of today’s
message; “Gratitude” or “Thankfulness”: a fitting focus for the week ahead
of us, let me just say that the joy we experience in Christ is not a joy that
denies life’s difficulties:
- The grief we experience at the loss of a parent, sibling or child.
- The financial difficulties we encounter with the loss of a job.
- The relational difficulties we face when unfaithfulness threatens a
marriage.
I have been around self-proclaimed “victorious Christians” who deliberately
avoid talking about such things and, in my opinion, deny the Body of Christ
opportunity to minister love and healing in Jesus’ name.
No, the joy I speak of is a joy that stays with us even as we face life’s
struggles.
Consider the history of the Thanksgiving holiday in America; instituted
by President Abraham Lincoln who at the age of 7 what forced out of his
parent’s home and into the workplace. When he was 9 his mother died, and
when he was 20 he lost his job as a store clerk. He wanted to become a
lawyer but didn’t have the education. At 23 he partnered in a business only
to see his partner die, leaving him a debt that took years to pay back. A girl
he dated for 4 years turned down his proposal of marriage. He lost 5
election campaigns over a period of 20 years and lost a 4-year old son
along the way before he became President at the age of 51.
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It was amid his struggles, and the struggle of a nation caught up in
Civil War, that President Lincoln called upon our Nation to set aside “a day
of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the
Heavens.”
More so than ever, as the world experiences escalating tension and
tragedies, we need grateful hearts aimed toward God.
My theory is that Americans feel less joy than they used to, because
they are turning away from the God of grace, our beneficent Father who
dwelleth in the Heavens, who has revealed Himself in Jesus Christ.
AND, I strongly believe that if we turn back to God with thankful hearts, we
will rediscover joy.
For true & abiding joy is a byproduct of seeing the world correctly,
from a biblical viewpoint, and responding to God’s graciousness with
gratitude & thanksgiving.
If I put that thought into an equation it would look like this:
God’s Grace + Our Grateful Hearts = True & Abiding Joy
To understand this biblical viewpoint, we need to explore three “benes” first
outlined by a Christian writer named Robert Roberts.
Robert Roberts believed that Christians have a unique three-point
vantage point of gratitude, and all three points contain the Latin word bene
which means “good”. Since gratitude is “the perception of the good”,
Christian are able to see three important benes”.
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The first “bene” is:
1. BENEfit
“Benefit” means “good gift”.
Are we able to see the good gifts we have been given in life? Or, do
we focus more on what we failed to get?
On day a man writing at a desk in the post office was approached by
an older man who had a postcard in his hand. The older man said, “Sir,
could you please address this postcard for me?” The younger man gladly
did so, and he also agreed to write a short message on the post card; even
signing it for the man.
“Is there anything else I can do for you?”, ask the helpful man.
The old fellow thought for a minute, and he said, “Yes. At the end
could you just put “P.S. Please excuse the sloppy handwriting.”
Are you able to see the benefits; the good gifts you receive in life, or do you
only see what is wrong or missing?
God’s word encourages us to see benefits. The 103rd Psalm begins with:
Psalm 103
1
Praise the LORD, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2
Praise the LORD, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—
3
who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
4
who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
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5
who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
(This psalm goes on and on, only to end with more praise to God.)
Last week we paused to recognize all that comes to us from a
gracious God’s hands; benefits for us to use, and to discover our purpose
as we serve His Kingdom.
Do you see all the benefits; the good gifts you have been given to
work with:
- wisdom,
- education,
- opportunity,
- freedom,
- faith
As we sent off Operation Christmas Child boxes again this year filled with
flashlights, socks, pencils & paper to kids who will treasure their good yet
simple gifts, is your heart filled with gratitude for your good gifts?
We need to see our benefits.
A second “bene” word that describes our unique Christian vantage point for
gratitude is
2. BENEficiary
A beneficiary is the one who receives the good.
We are the ones who receive benefits from God. And just as “benefits” in
the work place describe “good gifts” that are given above the norm; above
the expected hourly wage if you will, so too, “beneficiaries” are the
recipients of something they didn’t earn, merit or deserve to get.
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We use the term “beneficiary” most often when talking about wills,
don’t we? A beneficiary is a person whose name is on someone else’s will,
and has been chosen to receive something decided upon by another.
With an awareness of sin, Christians know that anything we receive
from God is something we did not earn.
- He gave us a perfect world and we trashed it.
- He gave us His Son, and we killed Him.
What does God owe us? There is not one verse in scripture that contains
the two words “God” “owes”.
And yet He gives to us… to you and to me. We are the beneficiaries
of His gracious gifts: food, clothing, rest, strength, protection, forgiveness,
eternal life. Don’t ever fool yourself into thinking that these are things
you’ve grabbed for yourself along life’s journey. No! These are good gifts
given to us by God. We are beneficiaries of God’s grace.
So Christian gratitude is based on recognizing our benefits, seeing
ourselves as beneficiaries, but most importantly, through Christ we see our
3. BENEfactor
A benefactor is one who produces and provides. (“Factor” and
“factory” come from the same root word.) And I would argue today, that
when people notice the Benefactor temporary happiness is replaced by a
complete & eternal joy in Christ.
But doesn’t everybody notice the Benefactor?
As our country turns away from a gracious God revealed in Jesus
Christ, fewer and fewer people take notice of God.
Illustration:
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This past week, in addition to prayer and reading, I prepared for this
message by listening.
This past week I became extremely sensitive to how we as a culture
celebrate thanksgiving. As I listened to the radio, watched TV and noted the
Internet, I heard a lot of encouragement to “take time to be thankful”. These
media listed benefits that come into our lives, and they spoke of how we
are blessed by those benefits. But what was startling to me was the
absence of “the benefactor”.
By the end of the week I would hear someone say, “Be thankful” and I
would say back to them, “Be thankful to who?” And I never got an answer
from the world.
What I experienced this week was exactly what Cornelius Plantinga
communicated in our Thought Before Worship:
It must be an odd feeling to be thankful to nobody in particular.
Christians in public institutions often see this odd thing happening
on Thanksgiving Day. Everyone in the institution seems to be
thankful "in general." It's very strange.
Cornelius Plantinga, Jr., “Assurances of the Heart”,
Christianity Today, Vol. 39, no. 13.
Listen for yourself: This week listen for a subtle but extremely important
change in America, a lack of gratitude to God.
Is this kind of general thankfulness an important thing? Of course it is;
it keeps us from becoming completely lost in a sense of entitlement. We
need to be thankful for what we have, but if our thankfulness has no focus,
happiness is fleeting.
But with knowledge of God as our benefactor, our gratitude and
thanksgiving yields a permanent joy founded in God’s promises and
faithfulness. We have a God who has provided good gifts, and will provide
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what we need tomorrow. God has equipped us with gifts that define our
purpose here on earth; to love others and redeem a broken world.
This week I have an assignment for you. I want you all to practice a
Jewish tradition called the “18 Benedictions”; another “bene” that simply
means “good words”. Eighteen Benedictions are “good words” or blessings
you offer to God; words of thanks for the benefits He has given to you.
And since Jewish Rabbis varied in the 18 Benedictions they taught
their followers, as your “Rabbi” this is my instruction to you. Offer your 18
benedictions on Thanksgiving day as you gather around your feast, but
also consider doing it every day in other settings. For it is an exercise that
flies in the face of a thankful world that has forgotten to whom they are
thankful, and because of that, are running out of joy.
Here is what you are to do.
After a blessing is offered for your Thanksgiving meal; after someone has
hopefully thanks God for the food set before you, I want you to offer a
blessing to God for each food you put on your plate. Either with your mouth
or in your heart, say:
- Thank you God for the Jello salad.
- Thank you God for black & green olives.
- Thank you God for turkey & dressing,
- Thank you God for mashed potatoes and gravy,
- Thank you God for green bean casserole with French fried onions
on the top
- Thank you God for yams & butternut squash.
- Thank you God for my favorite pies.
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Thank God for the company you may have, and for a warm home. Thank
God that you don’t have 7 feet of snow to shovel!
To rediscover joy,
- we need to see benefits,
- we need to see ourselves as deeply loved beneficiaries, and
- we need to see God as our benefactor.
Let this week be a week of thanksgiving to God, and a week of
rediscovering complete and abiding joy that comes to those who walk in
Christ’s ways.
Have a joyful thanksgiving to God as you rediscover a joy-filled life.
AMEN
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011
by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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