Sermon – Attitude of Gratitude

Sermon – May 1, 2005

Intro
For the past several weeks we have been exploring what it means to no longer be spiritual orphans but to act as adopted children of our Heavenly Father. We have said God wants children who are like Him; who imitate their Abba Father. Ephesians 5 leaps into the air about imitating Abba and then lands on our subject for today. Listen:

Eph 5:1-4
5:1 Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. 3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. 4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.

“Rather thanksgiving.” That is our topic for this week: living with an attitude of gratitude. Notice the three “I” words in verse 3: immorality, impurity, and improper. According to this passage, God wants His children to exchange immorality, impurity, and whatever is improper for gratitude. This is amazing. I would guess we are to exchange them for piety, service, or learning. What He said was thanksgiving. What is cool about this is everyone can be grateful. Living with gratitude is not beyond the reach of any. In fact, the simpler we live, the easier it is to be grateful. God wants His adopted children to live with thanksgiving in our hearts and praise on our lips.

Col 3:15-16
15 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 word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.

Let me give you three great reasons God wants gratitude to replace the three I’s.

1) Grabs Goodness
The first reason is gratitude grabs hold of goodness to pull us out of the downward spiral of self-pity. The Bible says we are created in God’s image. God is good, therefore good is stamped into us. It is true that, since the fall of man, our good is mixed up with evil. But the basic foundation for our existence is a need for good. When we dwell on the bad in our lives it is contrary to our basic need. There is a pathological sickness caused by the fall that draws us to wallow in our problems. This unnatural lust for self-pity leads to destruction. We must pull out of it. We must grab hold of the good around us knowing it comes from God. Let me show you this equation from:

Rom 1:21
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.

Paul is speaking of those who reject God. Notice it says they did not give thanks to Him. And notice how the refusal to live with gratitude leads to a dark and futile place. There is a swirling vortex which begins with rejecting God. It sucks humans further down to thanklessness, further and further away from our need for goodness and into dark foolishness where it is futile to try to get out.

There is an old song that says,

When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,Count your many blessings, name them one by one,And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.
Refrain
Count your blessings, name them one by one,Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
The best way out of the doldrums of self-pity is to begin praising God for all the good in my life. When I really try, the list gets quite long and my whole aspect improves.

1 Thess 5:16-18
16 Be joyful always; 17 pray continually; 18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

2) Gives Purpose
The second reason we are told to live with gratitude is that it reveals the purpose in daily living. A grateful person lives for here and now. So often I am preoccupied with a brighter, better tomorrow. When I was younger, I thought my life would begin when I got out of school. Then I thought it would begin when I landed the perfect job. Then when my kids were successful. Then when they moved out. Then when I had a new house or car. Then when I was a missionary in Africa. A grateful person is satisfied with the meaning God gives to the present rather than always lamenting how the good old days are gone or how today is not yet perfect.

Let’s turn to 1 Corinthians 7. Here Paul speaks to three life situations. First, he speaks to those questioning marriage. He concludes his advice in:
1 Cor. 7:17
Nevertheless, each one should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to him and to which God has called him.

Next Paul speaks to those considering circumcision. He concludes in:

1 Cor. 7:20
Each one should remain in the situation which he was in when God called him.

Next he speaks to slaves. He concludes in:

1 Cor. 7:24
Brothers, each man, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation God called him to.

Do you see the pattern? Changing our situation, getting past what troubles us, is not what brings meaning to life. Living in gratitude and recognizing the Lord’s presence in our current circumstance is what gives meaning. Are you happy with where you are right now? If not, the answer is to seek a change of heart attitude not a change of circumstance.

Living with an attitude of gratitude gets our focus on the purpose in life, today.

3) Grows Humility
An attitude of gratitude always walks hand in hand with humility. They are inseparable sisters. Listen to these scriptural couplets and see if you can find the sisters of gratitude and humility:

Ps 147:6-7
6 The LORD sustains the humble
but casts the wicked to the ground.
7 Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving;
make music to our God on the harp.

Isa 29:19
19 Once more the humble will rejoice in the LORD;
the needy will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.


Ps 149:4-5
4 For the LORD takes delight in his people;
he crowns the humble with salvation.
5 Let the saints rejoice in this honor
and sing for joy on their beds.

The reason gratitude always walks with humility is gratitude says, “I am grateful because I am getting more than I deserve.” It is pride who says, “I deserve this gift or that. It is my due.” Gratitude would never lift her head to demand anything. She is always grateful for whatever gifts come her way.

Review – Gratitude:
Grabs Good
Gives Purpose
Grows Humility

Reason For Gratitude
As I researched this message I found that many secular resources endorse living with gratitude. They acknowledge that gratitude stimulates peace and satisfaction in life. But I also found they promote gratitude for gratitude’s sake. Their reasons for living gratefully are hollow. Listen to an example from Buddha:

Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful.

In other words, if you’re not dead shut up and be thankful. Thank you Buddha. Actually, Buddha has a point. Every form of life, no matter how dismal, is worth celebrating. But to talk about life in earthly terms alone would be like me describing you, beginning at your feet and working upward. If I never got past your feet, I could hardly claim to have described you. To describe earthly life only is to stop short after the feet. We have so much more for which to be thankful.

I thank God I have a wonderful wife; but she is not the reason I rejoice every morning. I thank God I have a great family; but that is not my source of satisfaction. I thank God for the privilege of being a servant in His kingdom; but I don’t say yippee everyday because of it. I love flowers, blue sky, oceans, mountains, trees, music, and friends; but that is not why I rejoice. My gratitude comes from just one reason. I could lose all the other blessings and still be supremely content. The reason for my gratitude is Abba has adopted me. I am His child, reconciled to Him by Jesus. Nothing outside of me, not even death, can take that away and it changes everything. This is the rest of the body of life; it is what is above the feet of mere earthly life.

If the unsaved can be filled with gratitude for the gift of life, then we can be filled tenfold. Because of Jesus, our cup is not only full, it runs over and sloshes everywhere around us. We are truly and forever blessed. With complete and yet inadequate praise, every fiber of our being joins with the psalmist to say:
Ps 23:5-6
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.

Ps 16:5-6
5 LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup;
you have made my lot secure.
6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.

Ps 28:7
The LORD is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.
My heart leaps for joy
and I will give thanks to him in song.

Ps 69:30
I will praise God's name in song
and glorify him with thanksgiving.


Conclusion
And so I close with the injunction of:

Heb 12:28
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably…


Prayer