Being Thankful in a Thankless World

Friends,

Thankful or thankless -- which word would you say better describes our society today? It seems like the majority of our culture lives with an attitude of entitlement. People feel they are entitled to better pay, better benefits and more stuff.  People feel that if they cannot afford it, then they can rob Peter to pay Paul so to speak, or better yet, have the government pick up the check. The majority never stops to give thanks for what they have, but loudly voices their desire to have more.  We have, in many respects, devolved into a society of thankless people, and there are repercussions. The greatest irony in all of this being that – Thanksgiving has been overrun by NoThanksButIAmShopping. For many people, it is about greed…I am going to get something ahead of you.  This is just the opposite of Thanksgiving.  This is not to say that shopping is evil, just whether greed is dominating our lives, or gratitude.  If we are thankful for what we already have, it should help us not to be so needy or greedy.  We have enjoyed so many blessings that we have come to expect them. We even have begun to display these same attitudes when it comes to God. People acknowledge God less and less…they don’t give Him honor and glory for their success in business, or as pertains to life in general. They will tell you it’s because of their own hard work that they have accomplished these things.  In this familiar passage (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18), Paul reveals to us that thankful hearts shows that we are healthy Christians.  God expects us to be a thankful people. As Christians, we are called to live counter-culture. With the approach of Thanksgiving, let’s discover how to have a thankful heart in an unthankful world.

There are some important realizations that we must own, if we are to live like Christ. One is that we are not entitled to what we have, but understand they everything is a blessing from God.  “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” (James 1:17)  Even at our most economically unstable times, we have so much wealth in the United States that it is easy to take for granted simple blessings.  What we consider to be poverty today far exceeds the standard of living that most people enjoyed a century ago.  We have gained more possessions for ourselves today than at any other time in history.  While a great portion of the world looks at the United States and sees great wealth, many people tend to view it as what we are entitled to for being Americans.  If we encounter situations that cause us to have to tighten our belts (so to speak), and our standard of living has to change, we become upset because we feel we are being denied what is rightfully ours.  The person who believes that the world owes him a living is not going to be thankful for much. He thinks he is doing others a favor by permitting them to serve him. And allowing others to serve should not be a bad thing…it is good.  But, the thankful heart is usually humble…a heart that gladly acknowledges God. When we understand that God is the source of all blessings our natural response should be gratitude. The principle of thanksgiving, including the holiday, allows us the opportunity to put everything in proper perspective and to thank God for His abundant blessings.  A truly thankful heart will change our lives. It will keep us from becoming overly critical or constantly complaining. It will draw us closer to our Heavenly Father and make us more conscious of His presence. Thomas Merton wrote, “Gratitude takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder, and to praise of the goodness of God.”

Finally, this exhortation by Paul proves our need for the Spirit of God, because in our own strength we could never obey it. Gratitude makes us alive! When we are grateful we realize that God is the source of all our blessings, and this keeps us from complaining or taking blessings for granted.  In fact, the word “gratitude” comes from the same root word as “grace.” And “thanksgiving” comes from the same root, as well…they are all connected. If we have experienced the grace of God, then we ought to be grateful for what God brings to us.  Where the Spirit reigns, there is gratitude to God, a deep sense of appreciation, and a spontaneous expression of it. Take some time to think about everything that you have, realize that it was God that gave it to you. When we line up our lives with God’s will, we will discover that it will become easier to be joyful and easier to be thankful.  

Blessings, Don

Putting the Giving Back into Thanksgiving

Friends,

Well, I thought I would be creative with this title…until I googled it and saw dozens of references to it…c’est la vie.  I still believe it is a good subject to consider this time of year.  It has been well-documented how the world has sought to void Christmas from the holiday season.  But, it is just as troubling concerning what has happened to the current holiday, as it has become much more about Thanksgetting than Thanksgiving. Caution…a mini-rant is coming. :-)  A holiday once reserved for family time has become another casualty of the world system, as Black Friday has overridden family time for shopping time.  And, this in and of itself is not necessarily a bad thing…I usually do some shopping myself.  But, when folks line up at stores on Wednesday (and before, much of the time)…and have their cold turkey and dressing on the street while waiting for the stroke of midnight on Friday…something is amiss.  This subject is about our allegiance…it is about the heart. If the focus of this message is that we “give,” then it misses the point.  Giving is a revelation of where the heart is in relationship to our spiritual condition.  There are a number of good passages in the New Testament that help us to understand the importance of this…one of these is 2 Corinthians 9, and it here that we will focus.

God has blessed the Corinthian church in many ways, and yet they are hesitant in some ways to share what they have with others (Chapter 8).  Paul encourages them to give from grace.  And this is not only money, but resources and time. Paul has used the zeal of the Corinthians to challenge the Macedonians in certain ways, and now he turns it around – he uses the Macedonians to challenge the Corinthians.  Paul shares with the Corinthians the example of the Macedonian churches – Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, who have given to the cause of helping the Jerusalem church out of their own poverty.  This becomes a blessing not only for the believers in Jerusalem, but for those in Macedonia, as well.  Our greatest encouragement for giving is to seek to please the Lord.  If our desire is to encourage others to share, then God’s grace can work through us to help others. And when we are able to accomplish this, we begin to see the grand connection between giving and thanksgiving.  The more that we give, the more thankful that we are for what God has given us.  And one of the blessings of giving is that it comes back – “Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Luke 6:38)  We can’t out-give God!  He gives back to us.  It may not always be money or material goods, as some proclaim, but it is spiritual, eternal and always worth far more than we have given!  As I shared from the beginning, giving is not something that you do, it is someone you are! It is an indicator of where your heart is with the Lord…it is a measure of commitment.  Giving is a way of life for the Christian who understands the grace of God. 

When it all comes down to it, this message is not about the church, about the bills, about me, or even about God…it is about you.  This is the one message where “church” is about you. And as with other areas of our spiritual walk, we need to continue to grow in our understanding and application.  Our giving must not come from some obligation that we have, but from the heart…one that is seeking to please God.  If we cannot give joyfully, then we must truly do some soul searching…we must open our hearts to the Lord and ask Him to help us to grow in grace.  God is certainly able to bless a gift that is given out of a sense of duty, but He cannot bless the giver unless the heart is right.  In His grace, God wants to bless the giver and the gift!  Remember, those in Macedonia were not wealthy when it came to their giving to help others…they did so, and experienced joy.  Giving is a personal, communal and spiritual subject that we can’t take for granted or take lightly, but we need to ask ourselves how much we are willing to trust the Lord with what really is His.

Blessings, Don

Don't Call Me Late for Dinner

Friends,

In John 6, a great crowd of people has been following Jesus for several days, listening to His teaching and observing His miracles. He has tried to get away to rest, but the needs of the crowd have pressed in on Him...it is late in the day and they are hungry. Because of His compassion, Jesus ministers to them. The problem, of course, is how to meet the needs of such a great crowd of people...5000 men, as we know it, and likely women and children as well. The disciples take the easy, faithless way out, saying – Jesus, just send them away, let’s be rid of them. Still, Jesus knows that these people will faint along the way if someone does not feed them, as it is now becoming evening and it is not a time to travel...too dangerous.

Philip’s response to Jesus statement in v.5 "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" is a reasonable response to what seems to be an unrealistic expectation -- "go and buy food for them.” Philip must be a math major, for He counts the cost and decides that they would need the equivalent of 200 days wages…and even this would not provide bread enough to satisfy the hunger of all of those present. Too often, we think that if we can just throw enough money at a problem, that it will somehow resolve it, but this is not the case. Yet, Philip passes Jesus’ test...that it is not about money. Andrew has a solution, but he is not quite certain how it is going to work out. He has found a boy with a small lunch...two small fish and five barley loaves. Once again, we see that Andrew is bringing someone to Jesus. (See also...Peter, Greeks -- see John 1:40-42, 12:20-22).

The final solution comes from the Lord, and it is the true solution as amazing as it might be. He takes the boy’s lunch, blesses it, breaks it and hands it out to His disciples and they proceed to distribute it to the whole crowd. It must have been great to see the food just multiply as it continued to go out to the people. We must understand that although the disciples are distributing, the miracle takes place from the Father and through the hands of the Savior. Not only do the people eat until they are filled, but the disciples salvage twelve baskets full of left over fragments -- nothing goes to waste.

There are some key, practical lessons here. Whenever there is a need, we can give all that we have to Jesus…and let Him do the rest. Begin with what you have, but be sure you give it all to Him. This young lad certainly had an experience to go home and tell his folks about...”you will never believe what happened today.” The young man is to be commended for sharing his lunch with Jesus. It is improbable that his mother would have had any clue that she would be a blessing for 5000+ people when she sent him off with his lunch that day. The gift of the little lunch meant a lot to Jesus…and the blessings would reach out to many people. The people respond to this in a forthright way…they rightfully declare that what has happened is a miracle and decide that Jesus should be their new king! The people see Jesus as the answer to their physical needs, but He is like a giant pantry to them...and they are thinking, “Hey we can come and get food from Jesus anytime!” But, we are reminded by Jesus that the glory goes to God, and it is His purpose to get them focused on the spiritual purpose of the event that has just taken place.

There can be no doubt that bread is a basic ration for humans, at least in our culture. When we talk about what people need on their most fundamental level, it is bread and drink...water or juice. So, it is no secret that Jesus will refer to Himself as the Bread of life…that His message is the most basic and important of spiritual rations. It is also reflected in our Lord’s Supper that we share together...when Jesus says, “This is (representative) of my body, broken for you,” what is He speaking about? Bread.

In a time where we have so many things in abundance, it can be a temptation to take the blessings of God for granted. It is easier at this time of year, but I think that the challenge for us is to be thankful for who we are, for what we have and what we are able to do together on a regular basis. In humility, we need to respond to the Father, as Jesus responded to the Father, by just simply giving thanks. Like the young man, we also need to look for opportunities to give and to serve. Little did he know what great effect would be had from one simple act of giving. It is a wonderful ministry to be able to feed people...and we are thankful and blessed to be able to do this with our Meals-on-Wheels ministry called The Dinner Dash.

More importantly, we must trust Jesus for our spiritual sustenance. As we feed our bodies, physically, in order to sustain us, it is just as critical for us to eat spiritually in order to sustain our souls. Some Christians try to live on starvation rations, spiritually, and wonder why they do not have the spiritual energy to live an abundant spiritual existence, combat sin and stay out of the world system. This is not what the Lord intended for us. Rather, He has every desire for us to live life abundantly in and for Him (John 10:10).

Blessings, Don