11-23-08 An Attitude of Gratitude

Have you noticed that few people appear, from the looks of their faces and from their body language, to be really happy? As you observe people from your automobile, or see them walking in the grocery store or the shopping malls, you see face after face looking tired, worn out, bored, or just empty and drained of any emotion. You can go for hours without encountering a single truly jolly person.

 

Life gets more serious as we get older; we know that. But one gets the impression that even kids are not as carefree as they were in earlier days. It’s a fact that team spirit and school enthusiasm have significantly weakened at the secondary level all over our country. High school students are a lot more serious than they once were. When you notice young people not having as much fun as they’re really entitled to have, you realize this is a symptom of a serious problem.

 

There are a myriad of reasons.

1. Many young people are from hurting and broken homes.
2. The economy is not very promising and the future financial and employment forecast looks kind of bleak.
3. Young people face pressure to do well academically to get into a good school-a cheap school but a good school. They’re studying harder, having to learn more, faster.
4. Some face scary problems in schools; violence is commonplace.
5. There’s a lot of pressure to have sex-but don’t get pregnant!
6. There’s confusion about sexual identity, and the rules change rapidly.
7. Many young people don’t have a compassionate, wise person to help them sort these things out. No wonder it’s not as much fun to be a kid now-a-days.

 

Our churches and homes can be places of joy. They will be if we learn some of the secrets of joy. I believe one of the secrets of a joyful spirit is coming to understand the graciousness of God. This mighty, holy, awesome God, whom we worship, is at heart a gracious, generous, giving, compassionate, merciful person who cares about you more than you care about you.

 

If we can come to appreciate and understand this, and let it work its way through our lives-our thoughts, our emotions, our relationships-we can be transformed by the grace of God. We will become more thankful people, and thankful people are always joyful people. Thanksgiving Day is nearly here, and it’s an appropriate time to reflect on this.

 

So for a moment, I want to focus us on the importance of being thankful.

 

Luke has given us a story from the life of Jesus that helps me reflect on the importance of being thankful for God’s goodness to me. And this story can help us to grow in our own understanding of this important issue. With the story of the ten lepers, Luke emphasizes the rarity of a thankful spirit. This is the story:

 

Luke 17:11-19 (MSG)
It happened that as Jesus made his way toward Jerusalem, he crossed over the border between Samaria and Galilee.  As he entered a village, ten men, all lepers, met him. They kept their distance  but raised their voices, calling out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” Taking a good look at them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” They went, and while still on their way, became clean. They became well – all their weeping, pussy sores healed miraculously  One of them, when he realized that he was healed, turned around and went back, shouting his gratitude, glorifying God.  He kneeled at Jesus’ feet, so grateful. He couldn’t thank him enough-and he was a Samaritan. Jesus said, “Were not ten healed? Where are the other nine?  Can none be found to come back and give glory to God except this outsider?” ¹⁹ Then he said to him, “Get up. On your way. Your faith has healed and saved you.”

Jesus is teaching his disciples about his view of people and his view on thanksgiving.

Only one had taken the time to thank the person who had made his recovery possible. The others were thankful, but selfishly so. They were thankful that they were healed, but they’re thanks did not extend outside themselves. They’re thanks did not return to God.

 

Gratitude is rarely expressed. In WW II a pastor wrote in his report that nine persons had been lost at sea. When the congregation read it, they expressed great shock and said how can this be. The pastor replied, “Well, eleven people came to me and requested prayers for those going to sea. But only two returned and asked me to give thanks to God for their safe return. So I assumed the other nine were all lost at sea.” We ask God for much, but how little do I remember to thank him for what he has provided.

 

A man at the post office was approached by an older fellow who had a post card in his hand. The old man said, “Sir, I have arthritis in my hands, could you please address this post card for me?” The man gladly did so, and he agreed to write a short message on the post card, and he even signed it for the man, too.

 

Finally the man doing the writing said to the older man, “Now, is there anything else I can do for you?”

 

The old fellow thought about it for a minute, and he said, “Yes, at the end could you just put, ‘P.S. Please excuse the sloppy handwriting.’”

 

How often do you hear people express sincere gratitude? Try an experiment. Keep track of the number of complaints you hear each day, and compare that with the number of times you hear people express sincere words of gratitude.

 

I have been to many sporting events, where the fans criticize the referees for doing a poor job. But I rarely see any of the fans go up the referees at the end of a game and thank them for doing a good job. People are great critics, but poor givers of thanks

 

In 2 Timothy 3:1-2 Paul writes,

 

2 Timothy 3:1-5 (NIV)
¹ But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. ² People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³ without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, ⁴ treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God– ⁵ having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.

Do you see what’s in amongst all of those things? Being ungrateful. Paul puts being ungrateful along with a whole list of things that are, I think, in all of our minds, evil and contrary to God and who he created us to be. So I have to ask the question: Are we really grateful people? Are we more apt to complain than to give God thanks? Are we more apt to complain than to thank someone for who they are?

 

Paul says in Colossians 4:2, “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.”

 

It’s easy to be a complainer. I come by that naturally. I have to really be watchful; I have to be observant; I have to be aware, to be grateful. Why? Because I have to be looking for the good or else it escapes me.

 

What kind of prayer is Paul talking about here? He’s talking about the kind of prayer where I either in audible conversation with God or just to myself, where I say, Thank you for my wife; thank you for the soft, warmth that I feel when she touches my hand.

 

Do you realize this? A person who’s not thankful is a joyless person. Without thanksgiving, without being thankful, we have no joy.

 

Ok, so I’m going to give you three reasons to be thankful. First, be thankful for all the resources God has given us: creative minds, the ability to choose and act decisively, limitless knowledge to be discovered, the ability to grow and expand our horizons in art, music, literature, humor, and beauty-not to mention God himself, who cares and hears and has given us his Word to show us how to live.

 

Perhaps some of you here today are in deep trouble. I would think that whatever difficulties you might be experiencing, you could sit down and without any trouble make a list of at least fifty concrete things for which to give God thanks. And that’s probably the best therapy for a troubled spirit.

 

A second reason to be thankful is that no matter what we are experiencing, no matter how much a mess your life may seem right now, no matter how much pain you may be experiencing right now. If you trust God, he will be at work guiding, directing, and bringing about his good will in your life. Difficult seasons in life are there to help us trust God even more. If you trust God and give thanks for even the small things in the midst of your troubles in life, it will give you joy and it will change everything.

 

In her book, The Hiding Place, Corrie ten Boom tells about an incident that taught her the principle of giving thanks in all things. It was during World War II. Corrie and her sister, Betsy, had been harboring Jewish people in their home, so they were arrested and imprisoned at Ravensbruck – a concentration camp.

 

The barracks was extremely crowded and infested with fleas. One morning they read in their tattered Bible from 1 Thessalonians the reminder to rejoice in all things.

 

Betsy said, “Corrie, we’ve got to give thanks for this barracks and even for these fleas.”

 

Corrie replied, “No way am I going to thank God for fleas.” But Betsy was persuasive, and they did thank God even for the fleas.

 

During the months that followed, they found that their barracks was left relatively unsupervised, and they could do Bible study, talk openly, and even pray in the barracks. It was their only place of refuge. Several months later they learned that the reason the guards never entered their barracks was because of the heavy infestation of fleas.

 

Even those things that are uncomfortable and painful in our lives, God can use those to sharpen and hone who he created you to be.

 

The third reason for giving God thanks is that we’re commanded to be thankful. For our welfare, we’re told over and over to give thanks. Paul says we’re to:
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV)

Choosing, as an act of the will, to thank God in whatever circumstances shows spiritual maturity. It not only pleases God, it puts our problems in proper perspective.

 

To stop in the midst of a situation and simply breathe a three-word prayer, “Thank you, Lord,” can change everything. If you want to be a joyful person, you must develop an attitude of gratitude. A thankful spirit produces a joyful person. People who focus on their difficulties are difficult to be around. People who focus on their blessings are a blessing to be around. There’s no shame in weeping over our difficulties. Jesus weeps with us. But gratitude is the ground out of which a peaceful, thankful, trusting spirit can develop. Our tendency is to focus on our problems rather than on our blessings.

 

I have a quote taped to the bookshelf above my desk that I read often. It reads: As a person believes in their heart, so they are. What I focus on is what I become. Whatever we focus on, controls us. If we focus on our fears or our problems, they control you, they control your heart, and they control your attitude. If you focus on all the reasons that you have to be thankful, then that is a road and it leads somewhere – it leads toward becoming a joyful, thankful person despite the troubles that you are facing

 

What about discouragement?

 

The Devil was having a yard sale, and all of his tools were marked with different prices. The tools that were for sale were hatred, jealously, deceit, lying, and pride-and all were marked with expensive price tags. But over to the side of the yard on display was a tool more obviously worn than any of the other tools. It was the most costly tool. The tool was labeled, DISCOURAGEMENT.

 

I questioned the  Devil about it and he said, “It’s more useful to me than any other tool. When I can’t bring down my victims with any of the rest of these tools, I use discouragement, because so few people realize that it belongs to me.”

 

The enemy of joy is discouragement. It causes one to want to quit. If we’re going to learn to live productive lives, we’ve got to learn to overcome discouragement. The more discouragement a person can overcome, in a sense, the greater that person is.

 

A man whom many believe was the greatest American president is a good example. When he was 7 years of age, his family was forced out of their home, and he went to work. When he was 9, his mother died. He lost his job as a store clerk when he was 20. He wanted to go to law school, but he didn’t have the education. At age 23 he went into debt to be a partner in a small store. Three years later the business partner died, and the resulting debt took years to repay.

 

When he was 28, after courting a girl for four years, he asked her to marry him, and she turned him down. On his third try he was elected to Congress, at age 37, but then failed to be re-elected. His son died at 4 years of age. When this man was 45, he ran for the Senate and lost. At age 47 he ran for the vice-presidency and lost. But at age 51 he was elected president of the United States.

 

The man was Abraham Lincoln, a man who learned to face discouragement and move beyond it. Did you know that it was Abraham Lincoln who, in the midst of the Civil War in 1863, established the annual celebration of Thanksgiving? Lincoln through all the trials, struggles and disappointments, had learned how important it is to stop and thank God in the midst of great difficulties.

 

 People of every age have problems. Young people might not like their face or their figure or their friends or their grades. They might not succeed in sports or get a part in the play.

 

A few years later the problems become different. There’s not enough money or the job isn’t working out. There may be alcoholism or divorce or infertility or the death of loved ones. Sadness, loneliness, and disappointment confront all of us.

 

There are three options for dealing with discouragement. The first is simply to give in to it. Let it overwhelm you. Let it eat at you as you focus on the negative. Become depressed, negative, and hopeless as the disappointments keep coming. The light at the end of the tunnel may be just another train coming at full speed. We can give in to discouragement.

 

Second, we can deny the problem. My wife doesn’t really have a drinking problem. This sickness really isn’t anything to worry about. My daughter is lonely, but it will pass. In denying our problems, we either minimize them or we spiritualize them, saying, “Praise God, it doesn’t matter.”

 

Don’t deny the problems in your life; it doesn’t help. It won’t help your children to encourage them to deny serious problems. We do them a favor, rather, when we help them meet discouraging situations in a better way, which is the third way: facing our problems with realism and with faith, thanking God for all the good that’s in our lives, in the midst of them.

 

The psalmist caught this spirit in Psalm 97 when he reminds us that whatever is going on, the Lord reigns and the Earth should be glad. As long as God rules, I can be joyful. God is over all things. He’s not responsible for all things, but he’s promised to work through all things and bring good to those who trust him. It’s not unusual for God to use the very worst developments to bring about the very best of endings.

 

A ship was wrecked, and the only survivor washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He was exhausted. He cried out to God to save him. Every day he scanned the horizon, searching for help. Finally, he managed to build a rough hut and put his few articles in that hut.

 

One day, coming home from hunting for food, he was stung with grief to see his little hut in flames and a cloud of smoke. The worst had happened. But early the next day, a ship drew in and rescued him.

 

He asked the crew, “How did you know I was here?” They replied, “We saw your smoke signal.”

 

Maybe the difficulty you are experiencing now is a smoke signal that will lead to a greater blessing.

 

A famous English Bible scholar named Matthew Henry was once attacked by thieves and robbed of his money. He wrote these words in his diary: “Let me be thankful. First, I was never robbed before. Second, although they took my money, they didn’t take my life. Third, although they took my all, it was not much. Fourth, let me be thankful because it was I who was robbed and not I who did the robbing.”

 

I sometimes think we could help each other a whole lot by simply asking, “What are you thankful for today?” instead of “How are you today?”

 

Jesus said, “Weren’t nine others healed? Where are they?”

 

How many of our needs has God met? How many of our prayers has God answered. Have you thanked God? Will you be overcome by your problems, or will you choose to thank God and go on?