Demonstrating Our Gratitude

Introduction

-{Deuteronomy 26}

-There was a man who had a habit of grumbling at the food his wife placed before him at family meals, but then right after grumbling he would ask the blessing. One day after his usual combination complaint / prayer, his little girl asked, “Daddy, does God hear us when we pray?”

“Why, of course,” he replied. “He hears us every time we pray.”

She paused on this a moment, and asked, “Does He hear everything we say and see all that we do the rest of the time?”

“Yes, dear, every word and every deed,” he replied, encouraged that he had inspired his daughter to be curious about spiritual matters. However, his pride was quickly turned to humility at his daughter’s next question.

“Then, which of those does God believe is the truth?”

-The little girl was implying that the spirituality at the prayer time was a cover for what was really going on in life.

-For the time of year that we are in, it does give us pause to consider if the gratefulness that we give during the time of the Thanksgiving holiday is just kind of a cover for what we really do all the rest of the time.

~Do we act so grateful to God during the prayer at the Thanksgiving table, but then act ungratefully in what we say and how we act the rest of the time?

-God has blessed us with everything we need for eternity. No, God does not give us everything we want (and that’s probably a good thing). But God has provided for our greatest needs, especially our greatest spiritual need.

~That God the Son would leave the glories of heaven to take on humanity and die in our place is the greatest provision from God that there could ever be. We so often forget how desperately sinful we were and how needed salvation was, and we often forget to give thanks.

~But the thanks ought not to be just a passive, verbal afterthought. Upon pondering on this great gift, it leads to an active demonstration of gratitude.

-And we see this in the passage we are studying today. God has brought the Israelites out of Egypt. He made a covenant with them at Sinai. Even though disobedient, He sustained them through wilderness wanderings. And now He has brought them to the edge of the Promised Land, about to usher them in.

-Moses reiterates the covenant and the law and brings to their remembrance all God had accomplished. He now tells them their end of the covenant, and it describes ways to actively demonstrate their commitment to God and their gratefulness to God.

~And now we, the new covenant people of God, have received tremendous blessings through Christ, and we can actively demonstrate our gratefulness for all He accomplished on our behalf.

~I want us to look at 5 active demonstrations we can give out of gratefulness…

1) Use God’s gifts for His glory (vv. 1-4)

Deuteronomy 26:1-4

Deuteronomy 26:1–4 ESV

“When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance and have taken possession of it and live in it, you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from your land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket, and you shall go to the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name to dwell there. And you shall go to the priest who is in office at that time and say to him, ‘I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come into the land that the Lord swore to our fathers to give us.’ Then the priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it down before the altar of the Lord your God.

-Moses reminds the people of the promise of God, that the land that they are entering is a good, rich, fertile land—or as we know the biblical idiom, it’s a land flowing with milk and honey.

~But then Moses charges them that they were to take some of the first and best that the land would offer and take it to the sanctuary (eventually the temple) for it to be used in the service of God. They would normally have two harvests (fall crops and spring crops) and were to bring the first and best to the priests for them to use in the ministry.

-God gifted them with the land and gifted them with the fruit of the land—and now a small portion was returned to the Lord so that the ministry of God would continue for the people’s good and God’s glory.

-What a reminder to us that not only has God gifted us with our talents and resources, but that He did so in order that we may then turn it around and use it for His glory.

~Yes, God has blessed us because He is bountiful and rich in mercy and has deemed to give us good things on this earth by His grace. But He did not do so in order that we might selfishly hoard it for to fulfill all our selfish desires. No, instead, we use what He has given us so that the name of Jesus Christ is made great and made known throughout the world.

-When I first started seminary (many years ago) and we moved to the Memphis area, one thing that Trish and I agreed on was that when we went looking for a church home, we wanted to find a place where we could serve God, using our gifts for His glory and the good of His people. There were many large churches in the area, and it would have been very easy to go to one of those and just come and go on Sunday mornings and that’s it. But we knew God gifted us and called us, and we wanted to find where we could be used. And He did lead us, and it started a great adventure in ministry.

-And God has gifted you—how are you showing gratitude through your gifts?

2) Testify to others about God’s goodness (vv. 5-9)

Deuteronomy 26:5-9

Deuteronomy 26:5–9 ESV

“And you shall make response before the Lord your God, ‘A wandering Aramean was my father. And he went down into Egypt and sojourned there, few in number, and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous. And the Egyptians treated us harshly and humiliated us and laid on us hard labor. Then we cried to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. And the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great deeds of terror, with signs and wonders. And he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.

-One way to demonstrate thanks is by telling other people what it is that someone did for you. Here, the Israelites were to reiterate the story of how God brought them out of Egypt and turned them into a nation.

~God started with Abraham, then Isaac, then Jacob. From Jacob came his sons from whom came the twelve tribes. They went down to Egypt a family of about 70, and they were brought out of Egypt by signs and wonders a people of about 2 million,

~And now God was bringing them into the land He promised Abraham and would turn these people into a mighty nation.

~They were to tell that story over and over again to speak of God’s mighty acts in their lives, so that future generations and other nations would hear and rejoice and follow this same God.

-When I look out into the crowd here, I see people who have a testimony—they have a story to tell. Jesus Christ saved you, and He has changed your life in some way, shape, or form.

~We call it giving a testimony. Jesus Christ brought you out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of His light, and you can thank Him for that by telling others. There is something about testimonies of Jesus’ work in people’s lives that open hearts to the truth.

-In Revelation, it talks about the testimony of the martyred saints, how it had an impact in bringing victory in Jesus’ name. It says:

And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. (Revelation 12:11 ESV)

-Our testimony can be used of God to conquer people’s fears and doubts and unbelief. What has God done in your life, and how can you tell people about it? Demonstrate your thanks by giving your testimony.

3) Give glad worship in His congregation (vv. 10-11)

Deuteronomy 26:10-11

Deuteronomy 26:10–11 ESV

And behold, now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, O Lord, have given me.’ And you shall set it down before the Lord your God and worship before the Lord your God. And you shall rejoice in all the good that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the sojourner who is among you.

-The Israelites would bring their baskets of offerings in the Spirit of rejoicing to the Lord their God. The covenant name for God is used here and expresses the personal and exclusive relationship that God has with His covenant people.

~Israel, who was not a nation, only became a nation because of God’s covenantal grace. We, who were enemies of God, became a covenant people with God through Jesus Christ by grace through faith.

-God has made us a unique people out of the world, different from the world, and witnessing to the world. We are His children and the objects of His love. This is more than ample reason to rejoice in the Lord.

-So, in these two verses we have worship and rejoicing combined. Worship is demonstrating God’s worth. Combined with rejoicing, we have a picture of a people who celebrate the Lord. You could say that we thank God by celebrating God.

-This might sound strange in the ears of a church culture that is used to being passive observers—those who sit back and listen. But worship is a celebration.

~Of course, times with church family aren’t the only worship times, so they aren’t the only celebration times. But we have to get beyond worship being a mere duty, and view it as a time to celebrate our great God and our great Savior, Jesus Christ.

-I think Pastor Brandon Web got it right when he said:

We love celebrations. They are an important part of our lives. We celebrate our birthdays, anniversaries and other important days. We throw parties, take pictures, give flowers and gifts, we, eat special cake, and go to our special restaurants. These special times remind us of the past and bond us together for the future. We not only have personal celebrations, we have national celebrations. We celebrate holidays like Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. Again these celebration days are marked by time away from work, leisure, laughter and play. We picnic, parade, barbecue and shoot off fireworks. We spend time with family and friends. Such celebrations lift us from the routine of our lives. Every Sunday should be a celebration. Every Lord's Day should be a holiday. Worship is like these other celebrations in that it reminds me of the PAST - what God has done. Worship centers me on the PRESENT- what God is doing now. Worship also give me hope for the FUTURE - what God will do soon.

-Giving glad worship to God in celebration of Him and His accomplishments demonstrates our gratefulness to God.

4) Share from God’s blessings with those in need (vv. 12-15)

Deuteronomy 26:12-15

Deuteronomy 26:12–15 ESV

“When you have finished paying all the tithe of your produce in the third year, which is the year of tithing, giving it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat within your towns and be filled, then you shall say before the Lord your God, ‘I have removed the sacred portion out of my house, and moreover, I have given it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all your commandment that you have commanded me. I have not transgressed any of your commandments, nor have I forgotten them. I have not eaten of the tithe while I was mourning, or removed any of it while I was unclean, or offered any of it to the dead. I have obeyed the voice of the Lord my God. I have done according to all that you have commanded me. Look down from your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless your people Israel and the ground that you have given us, as you swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.’

-As part of the covenantal thanksgiving, the people of Israel were to give from what they themselves were given to certain groups that were vulnerable.

~The Levites were not given any land in the promised land, but had to rely completely on the faithfulness of the faith community for their livelihood. If the people didn’t give of the first-fruits and didn’t give their tithes, the Levites and their families would starve.

-But Moses also talked about the sojourner—the person who was wandering around. They either didn’t have a home or their home was taken from them. It may be that they were a foreigner, an outsider, and the people were to make sure that their basic necessities were taken care of.

-The orphans and widows are mentioned throughout Scripture as being especially vulnerable. Without the family member who would bring home the needed income, they were at risk of becoming homeless and starving and being destitute.

~God has a special stage of judgment toward those who would ignore the peril or take advantage of people so susceptible in their weakness.

-God tells Israel that when they enter the Promised Land, if they want to show appreciation to God, they take responsibility for the needs of those who have the greatest needs.

-And now the call goes out to God’s new covenant people. James said in his epistle:

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. (James 1:27 ESV)

-Missionaries in Haiti told the story of a young man that they won to the Lord and discipled, named Miltador. They were among a very poor people, but through hard work Miltador had bought a cow which was a big deal for this group of people.

~One day the missionary asked Miltador about his cow, and he said he no longer had the cow. The missionary thought it was a tragedy. But Miltador had heard John’s words in 1 John 3:16-18 which spoke of Jesus giving his life for ours, so we give our lives for others. There was a sick brother in need, and Miltador sacrificially sold the cow so this brother could use the money to receive needed medical treatment.

~Miltador said: if we have material possessions, and see our brother in need, but don’t help — how could the love of God be in us?

-We show God appreciation when we help others.

5) Conform your life to God’s Holy Word (vv. 16-19)

Deuteronomy 26:16-19

Deuteronomy 26:16–19 ESV

“This day the Lord your God commands you to do these statutes and rules. You shall therefore be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul. You have declared today that the Lord is your God, and that you will walk in his ways, and keep his statutes and his commandments and his rules, and will obey his voice. And the Lord has declared today that you are a people for his treasured possession, as he has promised you, and that you are to keep all his commandments, and that he will set you in praise and in fame and in honor high above all nations that he has made, and that you shall be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he promised.”

-I have spoken on this several times over the past few weeks, so no need to linger here. But Moses reminds the people that God has commands and statutes and rules that they are to be careful to obey.

~For them it was obedience so that they would prosper in the land. But we don’t follow God’s laws and rules in order to gain something from God—there’s nothing to gain. Jesus paid it all and gained for us eternal life and adoption into God’s family. We don’t follow rules in order to get God to love us. We follow God’s Word because He was the one who loved us enough o provide for our greatest spiritual need.

-We conform ourselves to God’s Word because we are thankful that He is the One that provided for what we could not provide for ourselves.

-As one author wrote:

Gratitude fuels the new-heart-attitude and rectified-will thus making it unthinkable that blood-washed sinners would respond any other way than by offering themselves unto God for righteous living. This unmerited forgiveness for our sins is not just a one time occurrence but is experienced throughout the Christian's life. We are sinners who still sin. And thankfully we have a Mediator and Advocate in heaven - Jesus Christ the Righteous - who intercedes continually for us with his precious blood... whose intercession allows for assurance of forgiveness in our consciences again and again. It would seem to me then that gratitude, as [a] motive of obedience for blood-washed sinners, includes within it all other motives for the Christian's pursuit of holiness.

Conclusion

-So, this Thanksgiving, let’s not just give empty words and pious platitudes, let’s actively demonstrate our gratefulness to God for His eternal blessings that we too often take for granted.

-But, there may be some here who have not yet received these blessings…