Attitude Of Gratitude

Joke:

Two men were walking through a field one day when they spotted an angry old bull who wanted them out of his pasture. Instantly, they darted toward the nearest fence. The storming bull followed in hot pursuit and it was soon apparent that they wouldn't make it.

Terrified, one man shouted to the other, "Put up a prayer right now, John! That bull is about to catch up to us!

But John answered right back, "I can't. I've never made a public prayer in my entire life!"

"But you must!" yelled his companion. "The bull is catching up to us. Just use a prayer you have heard before!"

"All right," panted John, "I'll say the only prayer I know, the one my father used to repeat at the table at Thanksgiving: 'O Lord in Heaven, for what we are about to receive, make us truly thankful. Amen!'"

Illustration:

Back in 1860, an excursion boat on Lake Michigan collided with a freighter and began to sink less than a mile from the shore.

Hundreds of passengers began screaming as they leaped into the icy water.

Edward Spencer was a student at a nearby seminary, and he ran down to the beach to see what he could do.

A strong swimmer, for six hours Spencer swam out and back, pulling people ashore, battling stormy waves and the powerful undertow. By dawn, he had personally rescued 15 people in as many trips. Exhausted, he sat down until someone spotted two more people still in the water.

Spencer dove in again and found a man and a woman clinging desperately to a piece of wreckage. He brought them in, too, and collapsed on the beach. Out of 393 passengers, only one-quarter were rescued, and 17 of them were saved by Edward Spencer.

His own health, however, was permanently damaged by his act of heroism. He was never able to return to school and ultimately lived out his days as an invalid. Years later, a reporter doing a story on Great Lakes tragedies found Spencer at a nursing home in California and asked for his recollections of that night.

Spencer said bitterly, "The only thing I remember is that not one of the 17 ever thanked me."

1) Ingratitude

Luke 17:11–19 (ESV)

11 On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee.

12 And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance

13 and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.”

14 When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed.

15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice;

16 and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan.

17 Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?

18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”

19 And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

Jesus is shocked when only one out of the ten returned to offer eucharisteo (give thanks for God’s grace). Shocked! He actually wonders aloud why the others would not do the same? The answer is found once again, in our special word. There was only one leper who fully received God’s grace and offered it back with thanksgiving and praise. Only one accepted the free gift – charis - and freely offered back the same.

Merriam Webster defines ingratitude as "the failure or refusal to acknowledge receipt of something good from another; the forgetfulness of or poor return of kindness."

Think of how many people get healed and never give God thanks and never give their life back to Him who gave them life.

Ingratitude is the choice not to recognize good or kindness in our life.

Cain and Able:

We all know the story of Cain killing his brother Able. Both brothers offered a sacrifice to God. Abel's sacrifice was acceptable; Cain's was not. Knowing Cain's sacrifice was given from an ungrateful heart, God rejected his offering. Cain's ungrateful spirit sparked a wave of stewing anger, which convinced Cain that the answer to his wounded pride was not a reflection of his ungrateful sacrifice but the murder of his brother.

King David:

King David is another example. David lived a blessed life. The Lord gave him a flourishing kingdom, a successful career as king, a wife who loved him, a healthy family, well-being, and provision. However, the moment his gaze shifted from the goodness and mercies in his life and allowed his heart to follow his eyes as he scanned his neighbor's rooftops, David coveted what he didn’t have. And in his heart, he became ungrateful. In turn, his ungrateful spirit led to a great sin - adultery. Even under the umbrella of his grave repentance and God's forgiveness, the remainder of his reign was stained. His life was scarred by his sin. All because his focus shifted from the Lord's grace (charis) in his life, forgetting all for which he had to be grateful.

Not being grateful is like having an Atheistic heart:

By definition atheism is to not believe in God. However, to not believe in something, by its nature implies you actually do believe in something – you believe in not believing.

Romans 1:20–23 (ESV)

20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools,

23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

In an atheistic heart there is no obligation to show a response for what God has freely given. There may be a belief in a God who freely gives, there may be an acceptance of His gifts, but there is no expressive response to His gifts.

They chose not to receive and respond to God’s grace. Therefore, they exchanged God’s grace for backward lives, full of sin, and pain.

Does your life resemble an atheistic or a believing heart?

Instillation:

Paper with dot: What if all the white area is God’s grace and the black dot is our lack. Our natural human nature is the see the black dot in our lives and focus in on our lack. However there is a whole lot more of God’s grace in our life that we have to be thankful for than the lack.

We can walk into church and see the empty seats and complain or we can walk into church and see the wonderful church family that God has blessed each and everyone of us with and be thankful at the same time believing that God is going to grow His church in His time as long as we are doing our part.

Donut: Now we don’t do that with a donut. We don’t say oh man look at this hole in the donut and focus on what’s missing in the center. No we look at the donut and whats all around that hole in the center. So if we don’t do this with donuts we shouldn’t do that with God either. y6t

What is gratitude?:

The English word gratitude stems from the Latin word gratia, which means to give thanks. The Bibles takes this one-word definition further.

In the Bible, gratitude is the word eucharista, which stems from the word charis, which means grace. Charis (grace) - a favor, an act of goodwill, and loving-kindness for which we do not deserve.

Eucharista is an offering of thanks out of the abundance of grace shown to us. It is to give thanks to the Lord with pleasure and delight because we have received delight and pleasure from his grace (charis).

The Bible tells us that God does not desire sacrifice for sacrifice's sake, but that He delights in our expression - our declared praise and adoration, which is an outward expression of what is in our hearts (Psalm 51:15-17).

It is important to note that the gratitude we are talking about is much more than a "thank you" utterance. Practicing eucharista flows out of a sentiment of thankfulness. The gratitude for God's grace is more than a mere recognition of God's grace, but a felt response which intrinsically demands that we express this response.

Story: There was a news article about a police officer responding to a man threatening suicide by jumping off the top of a high building.

When The Officer arrived at the scene, the man on the ledge uttered as he positioned himself perched to jump, "No one loves me. No one cares if I die. No one will miss me." The Officer said it was as if the man's despair was painfully evident as he repeated the sentiment over and over.

As other officers tried to talk him off the ledge, The Officer realized the situation was getting worse, not better, and that the man on the ledge was going to jump.

As The Officer witness this man's pain, he said all he could think at that moment was, "I love this man. I care for this man."

So, this is what The Officer offered this man on the ledge – this intrinsic feeling of love that he had for him. As the man continued to vocalize his brokenness, the officer gently stated, "Don't jump. I love you. You are loved. You are not alone, and someone cares for you. I care for you. I love you." The Officer said this repeatedly, and if you find this story on the internet, you can find the audio of him speaking to the man on the ledge.

The surrounding officers testified that these words brought the man out of his trance of despair. As The Officer continued to tell the stranger on the ledge that he loved him, the man climbed off the ledge and fell into The Officer's arm, sobbing. The Officer held him, embraced him, and continued to repeat that he loved him.

When the reporters asked The Officer why he felt this way toward a man he did not even know, the officer replied something to this effect, "I just felt I loved him even though I did not even know him. And it broke my heart to see him feel so unloved. Because I am loved, I knew I loved him."

This is God's grace poured out in an expression of love. When we receive God's grace in our life, we naturally want to express it. We do not always know how it will come out, be used, or where it will go. But when this grace is received, it desires to be expressed.

The amount of gratitude in my life is proportionate to my revelation of God’s grace.

Another words if I don’t have a attitude of gratitude in my life then grace hasn’t been made real to me.

Grace:

Illistration:

It is easy to recognize God's grace in our life when life's greater needs are met. Or when we are the recipient of unmerited generosity. Children are a perfect example of this.

Ellie:

As parents, one of our biggest tasks is to raise polite and emotionally aware children who say what? Thank you. At our child's birthday party, we continually reminded her to "Say, thank you." " Implying there is to be a response of gratitude for this free and undeserved gift.

As parents, I would even venture to say that some of our most humiliating parenting moments arise from our child's ungrateful behavior – when words and actions are perceived as disrespect.

(This is a great moment to share a story of embarrassment by a child around an ungrateful, possibly even disrespectful moment.)

However, when it comes to some subtle graces in life, because we do not necessarily feel them at that moment, we often fail to recognize God's abundant grace throughout our day. The litmus test for actively identifying God's grace in our lives, is in and of itself, our practice of gratitude.

When does God hear me offer charis for His charis in my life? Is it only at the dinner table when I am in a rush to fill my belly?

How does my response to His grace sound? Do I contemplate his grace and say thank you out of this intentional reflection of the goodness and kindness He has given me? Or, do I just repeat the same four lines I always say before I go to bed?

Do I take the time to consider moments of God's goodness and kindness throughout my day?

When I get up in the morning, do I say, as David, "Thank you God for another morning with new mercies?"

Study of Gratitude:

One study from UCLA hearth shows that practicing gratitude — 15 minutes a day, five days a week — for at least six weeks can enhance mental wellness and possibly promote a lasting change in perspective. Gratitude and its mental health benefits can also positively affect your physical health.

You’ll get the biggest health benefits of gratitude when it becomes habitual and part of your thought process. But even allotting some time each day or week to prioritize gratitude can be beneficial.

Taking time to be thankful may:

Lower depression: A review of 70 studies that include responses from more than 26,000 people found an association between higher levels of gratitude and lower levels of depression.

Lessen Anxiety: If you find yourself focusing on negative thoughts about the past or future, challenge yourself to find something you are grateful for now. It will break the negative thought process and return you to the present.

Support Heart Health: Several studies show that a grateful mindset positively affects biomarkers associated with the risk for heart disease. A 2021 review of research also finds that keeping a gratitude journal can cause a significant drop in diastolic blood pressure — the force your heart exerts between beats.

Relieve Stress: Stress triggers a fight-or-flight response in your nervous system — your heart beats faster, muscles contract and adrenaline pumps. But gratitude can help calm the nervous system. Gratitude and the response it causes help bring down your blood pressure, heart rate and breathing to help with overall relaxation. Which in turn will help your sleep.

Tips to practicing gratitude:

The best way to form a mindset of gratitude is to slip it in throughout the day. You can incorporate more gratitude in your life by:

Writing it down: Take time either at night or in the morning to write down something that went well. Dedicate a notebook or journal to gratitude so you can reflect and remind yourself of those moments.

Hitting pause: Many of us reflexively say, “thanks” often. Next time you hear yourself say it, stop and pinpoint precisely what you are thankful for. 

Redirecting your thoughts: You may feel negative or frustrated during the day. When that happens, step back and shift your focus to a positive aspect of the situation.

Sharing your gratitude: Send a quick note telling someone why you are thankful for them or encourage your family to share something they’re grateful for each night at dinner. (we did this last year at our Thanksgiving meal.)

Conclusion

The answer to our ingratitude does not require a movement of mountains. We can begin to push the needle forward and start practicing gratitude right now.

Ask yourself:

● How can you move the needle forward in your life this week? Does it include a gratitude practice?

● How can we replace this mindset with gratitude?

The beauty of the gospel of grace is just that – it is a freedom based on grace. You do not have to earn your way into a spirit and posture of gratitude. You can receive grace at any time and live in it.

Practicing gratitude, accepting and expressing His grace, can begin right now.

Let’s pray together.