For The Love Of God Is Thankful 2

"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

be acceptable to you, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer."

"The Love Of God Is Thankful" 

(Luke 17:11-19; 1 Thes. 5:16-18)

INTRO:

            Thanksgiving was nearing and a little boy came home from school  busting at the seams to tell what he'd learned about the Pilgrims.  When Mom stopped to listen he told her, "They sailed across the ocean to find freedom in America and their boat was called the 'Cauliflower'." (1)

            Thursday is Thanksgiving and even our youngest children know that it is a day to say, "Thank you" to God.  That's a stark contrast to the lepers in the passage from Luke.  They amazed Jesus. Only one  came back to say, "Thanks."  Reminds me of  the time Bart Simpson was asked to say grace.  He said, "Dear God, we paid for all this stuff ourselves, so thanks for nothing."

1.  THE GRATITUDE ATTITUDE:

            Maybe Will Rogers was right when he said, "In the days of our founders, they were willing to give thanks for mighty little, for mighty little was all they expected. But now, neither government or nature can give enough but what we think it's too little. Those old boys in the fall of the year, if they could gather in a few pumpkins, potatoes and some corn for the winter, they was in a thanking mood.  But if we can't gather in a new Buick, a new radio, a tuxedo and some government relief, why, we feel like the world is against us."

            Hard to admit, sometimes we're just like that.  Modern Americans seldom pause to give thanks for the simple blessings of life even though most of us have more than we could ever give thanks for right now.  One reason is that we're used to having so much.  We falsely assume that we'll have all the good stuff all the time. 

            We also have a tendency to focus on the wrong thing, we focus on what we don't have instead of the blessings we do have. 

            Another reason is that it hurts our pride to be grateful.  We do not want to admit that God is the Provider. Like Bart said, we earned it and bought it all.  Being thankful requires humility and faith in God.  Means we're not in charge and we don't give that up easily.

            We all need Gratitude Attitude a deep spirit of thankfulness. Thankfulness is the opposite of selfishness.  The selfish person says, "I deserve what comes to me!"  Thankfulness realizes that life is a gift from God, and that the blessings of life come from God

            Some tribal languages have no words to express the idea of  `thank you.' Can you imagine that: no word or no way in which to say thanks. That's sad, because we all have a need to say thank you.                Cicero said, "A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all other virtues." John Henry Jowett agreed  with him and wrote: "Life without thankfulness is devoid of love and passion.  Hope without thankfulness is lacking in fine perception.  Faith without thankfulness lacks strength and fortitude.  Every virtue divorced from thankfulness is maimed and limps along the spiritual road."   When we are truly thankful, we remember and affirm our faith in God and we live out God's intent for us. 

            And there is always something for which to be thankful .

2.  THANKS IN ALL THINGS:

            In Paul 's first letter to the Thessalonians he says that we should "give thanks in all circumstances." Now, I'll be honest.  That's hard to do sometimes.  But it is possible. It just takes a thankful heart, a thankful spirit.  One that recognizes that life and faith are dependant upon our loving and caring God who provides all our needs.

            Bible commentator Matthew Henry, was once robbed.  Later he told his family he was thankful and they wanted to for what.  He said, "I'm thankful:  Because I was never robbed before. Because although they took my wallet they didn't take my life.  Because although they took my all, it wasn't very much.  And  I'm thankful that it was I who was robbed and not I who did the robbing."

            There's always something to be thankful for.  If you can't pay your bills, you can be thankful you're not one of your creditors;

            Be thankful that only you and God know the real you.

            You can be thankful for doors of opportunity and for friends who oil the hinges. 

            If you think you're getting too much government, then you can be thankful you're not getting as much as you're paying for.

            If you don't have everything you want, then be thankful for the things  you don't have that you don't want.

            Thankful that there aren't twice as many Congressman and only half as many doctors.

            That civil servants aren't less civil.

            Thankful that teenagers will ultimately have children of their own who will grow up to become teenagers.

            Thankful your not a turkey this week.

            Thankful that hugs and kisses, the real kind not the Hershey's Chocolate kind, don't add weight or cause cancer.

            And at the end of one of those days when the  kids have driven you up the wall, and you've wanted to kill them, you can be thankful you didn't and that they are finally in bed. 

            You CAN be thankful in all circumstances, it just depends on how you look at the situation.

3.  GIVE THANKS TODAY:

A.        I'm thankful for: my family, my health, this Church, for friends etc.  For music, food. My wife and her teaching skills, how God is  fulfilling her calling and her life through her profession.  For my little brother and the relationship we have.  For both of my sons.  For my daughter in law.  And even for Midnight the Wonder Dog.

B.        What are you thankful for? Each of us can be thankful for at least 100 things.  Think not?  You might try writing these down.

            10        Gifts from the garden

            10        Meaningful memories

            10        Favorite meals

            10        Handy tools or appliances

            10        Loving people

            10        Influential stories or movies

            10        Spiritual Leaders        

            10        Favorite places

            10        Medical Miracles

            10        World Leaders who have made a difference

C.        You see, we can be thankful.  Especially for the one person who holds us all together, who fills our hearts and souls with the knowledge that we are loved and forgiven.  Of course that's Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God.  He gave us the greatest gift of all.  Himself.  He chose us over life.  He chose to die for our sakes, so that we would know the deep joy of living a forgiven and thankful life.

CONCLUSION:

            In early New England, it was the custom at Thanksgiving to place five grains of corn at every plate as a reminder of the first winter, when food was so depleted that only five grains of corn were rationed to each individual.

            The Pilgrims wanted their children to remember the suffering which made possible the settlement of a free people in a free land-that on the day in which their ration was so reduced, only seven healthy colonists remained to nurse the sick and almost half their original number lay in the windswept graveyard on the hill.

            Maybe it would help us to be thankful if we were to see five grains of corn beside our Thanksgiving plates.  Maybe it would remind us to be like the one leper out of ten who came back and said, "Thank You!"   Remember, it is the love of God in Christ which gives life meaning and purpose and fills our hearts with  the gratitude attitude.   Don't forget to give thanks.

This is the word of  the Lord for this day.

1.         Donna Waters, Harmony Pennsylvania, Country Woman Magazine, Nov/Dec 1992