Thanksgiving Unplugged

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90 Seconds of chat - tell someone one thing you’re thankful for

Sermon

I hope everyone had a great thanksgiving

Psalm 92:1-2 “It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praise to your name, Most High, to declare your faithful love in the morning and your faithfulness at night,”

A couple Saturdays back, a small group was putting Christmas lights up around the church

Unfortunately, about half the lights we had last year were no longer functioning, so I picked up some new ones.

I found some that promised less potential for failure, and a decent price for 157 lit feet. Perfect, a couple of those should go all the way around.

Bill was our man in the sky doing the work, and as we were finishing the first strand we realized we would need more clips, so leaving others to hold the ladder, I left.

When I got back, I found they were on to the second strand. Before long I realized that the plug for the second strand was hanging down at a corner of the building. I wondered…why didn’t they plug it in to the first strand?

Well, because it turns out I bought strands that were dead ends. You could not add strands because there was no plug at the end.

In my mind, Christmas lights should never dead end. I checked the label, and there was no warning that these lights were selfish.

As I considered the message this morning on thanksgiving, I kept thinking about those lights.

In the same way electricity fills those strands for light, our lives are filled with blessing.

I say this to you even if as you look around all your life seems to be everything but blessing.

Paul gives us the example as one whose life was about loss of everything, but he had Jesus and that was blessing, and made even the loss overflow into blessing.

Romans 5:3-5 “And not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

and

2 Corinthians 4:8-10 “We are afflicted in every way but not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair; we are persecuted but not abandoned; we are struck down but not destroyed. We always carry the death of Jesus in our body, so that the life of Jesus may also be displayed in our body.”

I could go on. Jesus, James, and so many more speak to this truth. If you are in Christ, you are blessed REGARDLESS of you circumstance.

So our lives are filled with blessing, like a Christmas light strand is filled with light…but are we intended to be like these strands I grabbed that dead end? Or are we to be traditional strands where the electricity passes from one strand to the other?

Meaning, does thanksgiving end with us appreciating that we are blessed? Or, does thanksgiving begin with us appreciating our blessing, and then passing the blessing forward to another?

I would suggest that God’s intention is for us to be the latter. That done right, one persons blessing becomes like the Griswold’s house lighting the night sky and blinding neighbors

Just a little farther from our last verse:

2 Corinthians 4:15-16 “Indeed, everything is for your benefit so that, as grace extends through more and more people, it may cause thanksgiving to increase to the glory of God. Therefore we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day.”

Notice 2 Things that happen when Thanksgiving increases:

Thanksgiving Increases

When It Goes Through

Let’s take another look

2 Corinthians 4:15 “Indeed, everything is for your benefit so that, as grace extends through more and more people, it may cause thanksgiving to increase to the glory of God.”

All of those struggles…and if those struggles could be blessing, how much more does this apply to those things we call good things in our lives? All those struggles are for our benefit so as grace extends THROUGH more and more people.

Blessings you have recieved, especially grace, move through us into another and cause thanksgiving! Now our own, becomes someone else’s!

and then

Then It Goes Up

2 Corinthians 4:15 “Indeed, everything is for your benefit so that, as grace extends through more and more people, it may cause thanksgiving to increase to the glory of God.”

As Thanksgiving passes through, as we pass along our blessing, the increase in thanksgiving accomplishes PRAISE! God is glorified when our blessings in all kinds produce blessings for another

Gratitude is meant to go up for certain, but it’s also called to go out.

Believers are blessed with the privilege of enjoying good things twice.

Monica made some delicious Keto chili yesterday. She’s not on a low carb diet, but I am, and she chose to make for lunch something I could enjoy.

That’s a pretty big blessing. It was also delicious. which is another one.

As a non-believer I could eat that chili and be thankful that I got to eat some yummy food.

As a Christian, after I have done that, I also get the joy of praising God in thankfulness for a gracious wife, for creating a world where all these ingredients exist to be picked up at my convenience at Safeway, for the way he gave me a tongue ready to appreciate the flavor combinations. There is so much joy there!

But Monica got the better joy. She also got to enjoy the chili, but she also saw me enjoy the chili.

I make a mean brisket. I love to make it, and I love to watch other people enjoy it. Recently I’ve had a couple friends get my technique from me and then report back that their friends and family got to enjoy butter knife tender deliciousness. And their joy in sharing became my joy in sharing.

Do you see?

Gratitude, when done right, not only flows up to God, or to the one who blessed us, but it extends out to others, I’ll call that plugged in gratitude

what is received is passed along. like light strands, Not diminishing the light of the first string, but lighting up another one that can light up another one...

How can we experience plugged in gratitude? Or how can we know we are practicing plugged in gratitude?

Well, like plugged in strands create light, plugged in gratitude creates something as well. Joyful sacrifice to bless others. in short, Gratitude done right creates Generosity.

Let me unpack that: Plugged In Gratitude Creates

Generous Hearts (grace)

What do I mean by generous hearts?

(Important aside) What do I mean by generous?

Generosity is the giving of what we have with no expectation of return.

Jesus tells us It is not generous to invite a well-to-do friend for dinner because they can invite us back. Instead, generosity comes when we give with no expectation for something back.

Can you see why gratitude is needed? We need to be in a place where we are satisfied with what we have been given to joyfully give away what won’t be returned.

Doesn’t mean we have much. But if we are grateful, we will give.

Luke 21:1-4 “He looked up and saw the rich dropping their offerings into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow dropping in two tiny coins. “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For all these people have put in gifts out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.””

He was giving to receive recognition, she gave to give.

Ok, back to generous hearts

Take two fingers, put them right there, you should feel a pulse. If you don’t, you’re a walking miracle. If you have a pulse, you’ve been hurt. And you’ve hurt others.

Jesus gives an example of an ungrateful and therefore ungenerous heart:

A man owed his master a huge amount of money…master commanded that he and his family be sold to pay the debt (not even close to enough…) The man pleaded and the master relented.

Then the servant found a friend who owed him a pittance and acted like his master, demanding repayment…only he didn’t relent when he heard the pleas.

Others told the master who hauled him back in there

Matthew 18:32-33 “Then, after he had summoned him, his master said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’”

What has God forgiven you of? The more I know God’s word, the more I grow, the more I realize the magnitude of his grace in my life.

Should that stop at a thank you? Or, does it go through me to others? What does plugged in gratitude do?

One, my life is now ABOUT telling you and anyone else who will listen about the grace available through Jesus.

Two, my life better be about demonstrating that same forgiveness to others.

In fact, Jesus says that is the mark of actually experiencing forgiveness:

In his comment immediately following the Lord’s prayer where he teaches them to pray: Forgive us our debts AS WE also have forgiven our debtors

Matthew 6:14-15 ““For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well. But if you don’t forgive others, your Father will not forgive your offenses.”

That should give us pause and lead us to pray. Father show me my unforgiveness and give me the gratitude for my own to give me the strength to do it now.

Generous hearts go beyond this.

Patience to walk with people of weaker or stronger faith

Friendship with those who challenge us

In as many ways as there are to be stingy with our hearts, there are ways to be generous with them.

I would encourage deeper looks there. but for now, let’s move forward.

Generous Feet (Service)

By generous feet, I mean a willingness to serve those who can’t repay.

And I could shorthand this point by just going to Matthew 7:12...

Matthew 7:12 “Therefore, whatever you want others to do for you, do also the same for them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”

But, That is a command (which coming from Jesus…) This is about plugged in gratitude flowing into generosity

Check out what Paul says in Philippians:

Philippians 2:1 “If, then, there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy,”

In other words, if Jesus has blessed you…and he HAS...

Philippians 2:2-4 “make my joy complete by thinking the same way, having the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others.”

What does the person in front of me lack? What would bless them? What are their interests?

How easy to focus on what another doesn’t do for us.

They don’t meet our need, show me kindness, they don’t see me, hear me, love me...

Paul’s argument isn’t based on reciprocation, it’s based on Jesus. Plugged in gratitude seeks to add to others because Jesus has added to us.

Encouragement, consolation of love, fellowship, affection, mercy...

The tree lighting, which is coming up REALLY FAST doesn’t offer HCC any tangible benefits. There is no guarantee that anyone will choose to come here, become a Christian, or compensate us.

But it meets a need for connection that exists in this community and so we do it because of the connection Jesus has given us.

Notice a pattern developing.

Plugged in gratitude changes our hearts toward others first. This leads us to service. Then we get to the hard part.

Generous Hands (Resource)

Disclaimer. I am going to talk about money. Very directly and openly. I am going to talk about giving money to the church and to others. Money isn’t the only resource, but it’s one Jesus talks about more than heaven and hell, so it must matter.

So a couple notes before I jump in.

One, if you are a visitor or don’t yet consider HCC home, I am not asking you to give anything. Our offering is for those who call HCC home to contribute to the ministry of HCC, provide for salaries, buildings, ministries, upkeep, and planning for the future.

budget gratitude

Two, nothing I am about to say is about obligation. In general, I am going to talk about the heart issues around financial generosity, for specifics I am going to speak to what God has laid on my heart and conscience.

And though I believe I am following God’s heart on this matter, this is not an area to be legalistic, but to intentionally follow Jesus by searching his word in study and prayer and seeking his will for you.

Which leads to three, I am not going to speak to anything I don’t practice myself. I don’t say this to toot my own horn, but to speak from a place of integrity. I can’t encourage you to do something I’m not willing to do myself.

In 2 Corinthians, Paul asks them to prepare an offering they had promised ahead of time and he gives us some great thoughts on thanksgiving and generosity. I want to take it a bit at a time.

2 Corinthians 9:6-7 “The point is this: The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously. Each person should do as he has decided in his heart—not reluctantly or out of compulsion, since God loves a cheerful giver.”

We get this picture of sowing and reaping, which sounds a bit like investing… and it is. But...

This is not a promise of give money and you’ll get more. That wouldn’t be generosity by our definition. That would be a get rich scheme. God isn’t that.

But as Jesus pointed out, what is sown and what is grown are different. The seed becomes a plant. It isn’t a seed anymore. The plant bears seeds, but those don’t increase the plant…they go out.

So what crop do we look for in giving?

One, we follow Jesus’ call to not store up treasure on earth, but to lay up treasure in heaven. Our hearts move out of ourselves when our money moves out of our account.

That’s for better or worse.

You make sacrifices for a fancy car, your heart will grow attached to that car…until it rusts or isn’t as interesting as the next car.

You buy the fanciest food, your heart will grow attached to food, until you are hungry again.

You invest in eternal things, your heart will grow more attached to heaven…which never disappoints, never loses value, and never is lost.

In my youth ministry days I asked many volunteers to take weeks off work to do camps with students.

Many gave up paid weeks to do so.

None of them ever came back and told me how much they missed the money they would have made. They asked if they could do it again next year.

They saw eternal changes in the hearts of kids and wanted more of that.

Second point out of this passage, is that it should be done NOT out of obligation, but should make a decision from the heart and then give cheerfully. Why? Because God loves a cheerful giver.

What does that tell us about God’s heart?

He likes to see plugged in gratitude…why? Because we are imitating his character powerfully when we do so. When we give without expectation of return.

Paul then goes on to solidify that point:

2 Corinthians 9:8-10 “And God is able to make every grace overflow to you, so that in every way, always having everything you need, you may excel in every good work. As it is written: He distributed freely; he gave to the poor; his righteousness endures forever. Now the one who provides seed for the sower and bread for food will also provide and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your righteousness.”

God will give you what you need so you will have what you need to excel in “every good work” Because HE distributed freely, he GAVe, he provides...

We’re imitating him when we give.

And going full circle on our concept of plugged in gratitude:

2 Corinthians 9:11-15 “You will be enriched in every way for all generosity, which produces thanksgiving to God through us. For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the proof provided by this ministry, they will glorify God for your obedient confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone. And as they pray on your behalf, they will have deep affection for you because of the surpassing grace of God in you. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”

Your generosity produces thanksgiving to God through us...

Note this: Because of the proof provided by this ministry...

There is something about our giving that is a proof of what exists on the inside.

Money is personal. It’s why we react so strongly in conversations about it. Why it is at the heart of many divorces, sibling issues after the loss of a parent, relationships in business, and so much more.

Consider how you feel when your employer gives you a raise…it’s not just money is it. It’s a demonstration of value and appreciation. It’s a demonstration to a long term commitment to you. They are invested.

They can talk appreciation, give you certificates of appreciation, and let you wear casual clothes on Fridays…but that doesn’t have the impact money does.

Money is personal. Paul tells Timothy:

1 Timothy 6:10 “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”

All kinds of evil come about when money is what we love. It’s personal and powerful.

Which is why generosity matters so much as an expression of gratitude.

That’s what the word says, here is my practice and why I chose it.

I don’t believe we can draw a direct 1 for 1 parallel to the tithe of the OT to say Jesus requires 10%. There were many kinds of tithes, it was actually more than 25-30% when it was all said and done.

But I have found 10% to be a very healthy starting point.

It addressed the love of money, and my dependence upon it. There have been and still are months where I could really use that difference…there have been times when we really needed it.

So 10% is enough to push the question: who is my provider? Is it the money or the Lord? If my trust is in the money, I will grow to love it. If my trust is in the Lord, my generosity will not just come from gratitude, but lead to it when he provides.

Secondly, by using a percentage, I follow Paul’s statement earlier in 2 Corinthians when talking about this offering:

2 Corinthians 8:11-12 “Now also finish the task, so that just as there was an eager desire, there may also be a completion, according to what you have. For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have.”

According to what you have. The widow we mentioned earlier gave 2 coins…but according to what she had it was amazingly generous. The rich folk dumping in bags of money were giving poorly…according to what they had.

By locking in on a percentage, my base level giving is always proportional.

For most people, no matter how poor or wealthy, 10% is doable and also enough to feel it. It changes your lifestyle.

Thirdly, it changes my perception about all the rest.

When I give in a way that impacts my lifestyle, I find myself more eager to give away more.

first, becuase I have learned the joy of giving.

Second, because I have learned God will provide

Third, because I have learned I can do with less.

Summary on this. Again, I recommend this practice, but do not insist that this is the “Word of the Lord”. My encouragement is to use this as a starting point and then study this topic and pray.

We give 10% of our income to the ministry of our church. That’s HCC in case there was confusion.

We then give as we are called and able to other ministries. Because of my long time in youth ministry, I support youth for Christ in my hometown, the national network of youth ministry here in our area, for example.

Then we have our eyes out for other places where God is calling us to meet needs, care for others, and contribute to our community.

We haven’t always done this. We have always intended to…but didn’t always follow through.

This is what I can say with certainty.

God has never failed to meet our needs when we practice good stewardship of our finances.

We have never regretted when we gave, only when we didn’t.

We have learned that God doesn’t need our money, we need to give.

When the light stops with us, it gives Bill more work in setting up the christmas lights. But more, we miss the great joy of seeing what God can do as our gratitude becomes generosity, which generates more gratitude to the praise of our king.

I am genuinely thankful for each of you who choose to give to the ministry of HCC. It should be noted that I don’t know who gives or how much, just how many give and the totals.

As we have been working on our budget for 2023, while we are needing to be careful as we continue to come back financially from the pandemic season…we can’t help but recognize what a generous congregation you are.

Faithfully supporting what God is doing and will do in the years to come here in Hockinson.

So I don’t teach this to lay pressure on you, but rather to invite you into a lifestyle of plugged in gratitude for your joy and God’s glory.

I’ll share in the wednesday email some study resources on the three generosity topics we covered today. That email also gets posted to facebook, so you can find it if you aren’t subscribed…and subscribe to make sure you don’t miss out.

Light strands should always have plug ins to pass along the power. Our gratitude likewise will be all the greater when it doesn’t stop with a thank you, but begins there and then goes on to be the blessing someone else will praise God for.

Let’s pray.