Gratitude

Focus Statement

Christ is risen! [Pause] God’s grace calls us to lives of gratitude.

POINT OF RELATION

Let us pause and watch short film on Gratitude.

[Show Short Film]

THINGS TO CONSIDER

We all know what gratitude feels like in response to a gift,

but we may not realize that an “attitude of gratitude” is something we can cultivate in our lives.

Practicing gratitude has become increasingly popular in secular culture.

You can find gratitude lists, journals and meditations pretty much anywhere.

Research even shows that gratitude makes people happier

For example, the research done by Harvard Medical School, which was published by Harvard Health Publishing in the article Giving Thanks Can Make You Happier

I have a link to that article in my Sermon Notes which you can download on the Worship Page of our Website, newtonumc.com :

(https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/giving-thanks-can-make-you-happier).

If we look deeper into the meaning of the word “gratitude,”

we will learn that it comes from the Latin word for grace, graciousness and gratefulness.

Gratitude comes out of the recognition that what we receive is not something we’ve earned or deserve

it is pure gift – grace (as the short film so eloquently pointed out).

Think about the difference in feeling when you receive your paycheck compared with receiving a gift.

Easter is the primary event of God’s grace to humanity.

As we celebrate Easter, we can learn to live in response to grace through the practice of gratitude.

The other spiritual disciplines we have looked at during Lent prepare us to be attentive to and aware of the moments and gifts of grace that God gives us every day.

WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYS

To put Easter in the context of our Lenten series on spiritual disciplines, you might consider: why were the women at Jesus’ tomb there in the first place?

To anoint Jesus’ body with the spices they had prepared.

Why on this day and not sooner? Because they rested on the Sabbath?

What would have happened if they had gone with the spices sooner, or not at all? We don’t know for sure.

But the point here is that the women lived life in a spiritual rhythm, their days and weeks and habits formed by the practices of their faith.

It is not that they made resurrection happen through these things,

but their spiritual disciplines put them in the right place at the right time to discover and recognize that the miracle of resurrection had taken place.

Their spiritual disciplines, rather than fear or sadness, shaped their responses to the event of Jesus’ death.

Regardless of how they felt, the women were disciplined enough to do what needed to be done.

That led them to the right place, at the right time.

Resurrection took the women, and later Peter and others, by surprise.

While the women went to the tomb to attend to the dead body of Jesus, God surprised them with the exact opposite – resurrection! Life!

The only way they could respond was in surprise, wonder and awe.

In Jesus, God has taken on the weight of sin and death on the cross and defeated it so that we, like Jesus, might live. This is a tremendous and surprising gift!

Notice that the apostles did not believe the women at first.

Peter immediately ran to the tomb, eager to see what the women are talking about.

When he arrived and saw the empty tomb, he too became amazed.

Next, Luke tells us about the two disciples who meet Jesus on the road to Emmaus.

It took some time for them to recognize the risen Jesus for who he is.

Even though they, too, told the rest of the apostles about Jesus’ resurrection,

the latter are still “startled and terrified” when Jesus showed up in person.

Of course, anyone would be terrified if a dead person appeared to them alive!

Jesus appears at different times and in different ways to different people.

Jesus and the grace offered through him are always unexpected – grace breaks into our lives as a gratuitous gift.

Once the disciples got over the initial shock of Jesus’ resurrection,

and came to understand it as the gift of repentance (metanoia – change of mind/heart) and forgiveness of sins that it is, they respond in gratitude, not just for a moment but as a new way of life.

Luke 24:52-53 tells us, “...they worshiped him and then returned to Jerusalem filled with great joy. And they spent all of their time in the Temple, praising God. ”

Gratitude becomes not just something we express, but part of who we are.

Our disciplines bring us to a place where we trust that God will do something, and we are grateful to be a part of it.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU

Gratitude is a natural response to receiving a gift.

In our busy lives, however, we do not always recognize God’s gifts to us.

As we live lives shaped by spiritual disciplines, we can become more attentive and aware of God’s movement in our lives.

Jesus’ resurrection is the greatest gift of all time...

through it, God conquers sin and death and opens us up to new life in both big and small ways.

This gift is offered to everyone, but it is also especially meant for each one of us in particular.

Intentionally practicing gratitude is not only the appropriate response to this gift,

but it also helps us to become increasingly more attuned to the grace we live in each and every day.

It helps us to see the moments of life in the midst of sorrow, grief, and death.

Some ways to practice gratitude include keeping a gratitude journal,

listing a few things each day that you are thankful for,

sending someone a thank you note or calling them to say thank you,

and praying prayers of thanksgiving.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR US

As a people who are forgiven and reconciled to God through the saving work of Jesus Christ,

we are called to live in a posture of gratitude.

Gratitude is not guilt or indebtedness; it is not feeling like we owe God.

It is the joyful response to the gift of Jesus, given for us.

As a community, we express gratitude...

through baptism

through celebrating the Lord’s supper

by generously giving back to God through offering

through volunteering in mission and ministry

through our prayers of thanksgiving

But there are other ways in which we can express gratitude.

So, I challenge you. Think about how you, as a community, can be more intentional about gratitude and how in doing so, you will participate more fully in heralding the Kingdom of God.