Thanksgiving
Today's sermon is a topical detour from both the lectionary and our focus on the gospel of Mark. I want to talk about what I believe to be one of the most important values of life. You can’t see it, touch it, smell it, or hear it. You can’t exchange it for money, or sell it at the market. But its value is impossible to overestimate. I have many things, but none of them are more important than gratitude. Psalmist:
3 Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his ;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
Paul, repeating the themes 100s of years later:
16Be joyful always; 17pray continually; 18give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
Possibly Melodie Beattie overstates her case, but I'm not sure: “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity.... It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.”
Like you, I possess a great many things. I have a car, a house, and a little money in the bank. I have CDs and a couple of computers. I have a bunch of stuff. And I have a great family. But I’ve come to believe that one of the greatest possessions I have is gratitude. And I’m not just preaching… I’m telling the truth.
Speaking of preaching, the seminary student asked the old preaching professor, who had just asked the student to preach his first sermon: “But what should I preach about?!” “About God, and about 20 minutes,” was the answer.
I’ll attempt to do both, but here is what I want to say about God and gratitude:
Gratitude implies a Giver –
Gratitude impels a response – both public and private
Gratitude imputes a joy – unrelated to circumstance
In this week’s Kindler I wrote about the issue I have with gifts to family. Maybe you were out at five AM on Black Friday – I personally associate shopping with the lower rings in hell. OK, not always, I do shop, and can occasionally enjoy it, but I think I prefer a dentist chair and a whiny drill to a crowded mall.
As a consequence of this distaste for shopping and as a consequence of my general lack of taste – particularly when compared with Cecelia – she does most of the shopping for family gifts. But the great things is that I get at least half of the gratitude.
“Thanks uncle Scott for that great scarf!” Huh? Oh yeah, when I saw that I thought of you…”
There is a source for the good things that come our way. And we occasionally misplace our gratitude. It’s good to be grateful to secondary givers (like me), but it’s best to trace the gift to its real source.
The psalmist of old, know this. They understand its import for our spiritual lives. They have embraced the need to look up, and give gratitude where it is due.
Now let me clarify. Gratitude implies a Giver, but it does not demand, imply, or even suggest that we understand the Giver. This is why we approach God, the ultimate Giver, in songs, in poetry, in joyful hymns – because we know that our rational speech only begins to approach the mystery that is God.
Meister Eckhart, was the great mystic who emphasized the great inscrutability of God…. But he said: If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice.”
Stuart Hample and Eric Marshall have edited “Children’s Letters to God.” Children get at the mystery that is God better than adults. The striking thing about these letters, is their honesty. Some dare to complain in the best biblical tradition:
Dear God:
Thank you for the baby brother but what I prayed for was a puppy.
Joyce.
Dear God,
Please send Dennis Clark to a different camp this year.
Peter.
And some are beautifully, profoundly human:
Dear God:
Why do people die? You wouldn’t have to keep making new people if you just kept the ones you had.
Emily
Dear God:
I don’t ever feel alone since I found out about you.
Nora
And then there are just the hilarious:
Dear God,
Is Reverend Coe a friend of yours or do you just know him through business?
Donny.
Dear God,
Grandpa says you were around when he was little. How far back do you go?
Love, Dennis.
Children often get, what adults wrongly try to fix. God is a mystery, an inscrutable majesty that we will never get our heads around. We’re best to just try to get our heads inside, not around the mystery that is God. The thing about gratitude is that it doesn’t demand that you know the Giver’s future moves only that you have located the source of past gifts.
Gratitude implies a Giver –
Gratitude impels a response – both public and private
We all love thank-you notes. William James said that “The deepest craving of human nature is the need to be appreciated.” I’m sure like you, there have been those down days when a note arrives in the mail, or in the inbox, that says thanks, and in so doing lifts your soul. Sometimes those are life giving gifts of God. And for the many of you who send those, let me say thanks. And in the best tradition of religious TV: “Keep those cards and letters coming.”
However, the most poignant praise, the most touching thanks, is often given publicly – to another about you. “Hey, so and so told me how much they appreciated such and so.”
Worship is our public thanksgiving to God. Scripture tells us that God delights in this, that he lives in the praises of his people.
Again, I don’t claim to understand fully the mind of God, but I have a sense that one of the reasons this is commanded, is not because God needs it, but because we do. We need to hear others praise God!
Privately, I so identify at times with Anne Lamott who says that sometimes the best I can do is begin with “Help me,” and end the day with, “thank you.”
But corporate worship lifts me to another dimension. It allows me to sing with others, to hear others pray, to listen to other testimonies, to be reminded through the Bible, that others have also had tough times, and praised God.
And this leads me to the last point:
Gratitude implies a Giver –
Gratitude impels a response – both public and private
Gratitude imputes a joy – unrelated to circumstance
Cicero: Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.
“This is confirmed by Dr. Michael McCollough, of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, and Dr. Robert Emmons, of the University of California at Davis, say their initial scientific study indicates that gratitude plays a significant role in a person's sense of well-being.
McCollough and Emmons were curious about why people involved in their faith seem to have more happiness and a greater sense of well-being than those who aren't and decided to study the connections. After making initial observations and compiling all the previous research on gratitude, they conducted the Research Project on Gratitude and Thanksgiving. The study required several hundred people in three different groups to keep daily diaries.
The first group kept a diary of the events that occurred during the day, while the second group recorded their unpleasant experiences. The last group made a daily list of things for which they were grateful.
The results of the study indicated that daily gratitude exercises resulted in higher reported levels of alertness, enthusiasm, determination, optimism and energy. Additionally, the gratitude group experienced less depression and stress, was more likely to help others, exercised more regularly and made more progress toward personal goals. According to the findings, people who feel grateful are also more likely to feel loved. McCollough and Emmons also noted that gratitude encouraged a positive cycle of reciprocal kindness among people since one act of gratitude encourages another.” (ACF news)
Paul, do you really mean?!: 16Be joyful always; 17pray continually; 18give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
I’m sorry to say, I think he actually means it. Remember that one of the most joyful letters that he wrote, one of the most joyful letters ever wrote, Paul wrote from Prison (Philippians).
I don’t claim to have the secret to this figured out, but this I have learned over the last decade or so. The relationship of my inner life to my outer circumstances is made through my attitude. In other words, sometimes things are great, and I’m anything but joyful. There’ve been times when circumstances were not good, but I found a peace that transcended them.
Of course it should be noted that the word is “in” not “for.” Be grateful in all circumstances, no for all of them. Some are just bad – there may be no other way to see a circumstance. But there is always, as long as consciousness remains the possibility of gratitude.
Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his ;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
3 Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his ;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
Paul, repeating the themes 100s of years later:
16Be joyful always; 17pray continually; 18give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
Possibly Melodie Beattie overstates her case, but I'm not sure: “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity.... It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.”
Like you, I possess a great many things. I have a car, a house, and a little money in the bank. I have CDs and a couple of computers. I have a bunch of stuff. And I have a great family. But I’ve come to believe that one of the greatest possessions I have is gratitude. And I’m not just preaching… I’m telling the truth.
Speaking of preaching, the seminary student asked the old preaching professor, who had just asked the student to preach his first sermon: “But what should I preach about?!” “About God, and about 20 minutes,” was the answer.
I’ll attempt to do both, but here is what I want to say about God and gratitude:
Gratitude implies a Giver –
Gratitude impels a response – both public and private
Gratitude imputes a joy – unrelated to circumstance
In this week’s Kindler I wrote about the issue I have with gifts to family. Maybe you were out at five AM on Black Friday – I personally associate shopping with the lower rings in hell. OK, not always, I do shop, and can occasionally enjoy it, but I think I prefer a dentist chair and a whiny drill to a crowded mall.
As a consequence of this distaste for shopping and as a consequence of my general lack of taste – particularly when compared with Cecelia – she does most of the shopping for family gifts. But the great things is that I get at least half of the gratitude.
“Thanks uncle Scott for that great scarf!” Huh? Oh yeah, when I saw that I thought of you…”
There is a source for the good things that come our way. And we occasionally misplace our gratitude. It’s good to be grateful to secondary givers (like me), but it’s best to trace the gift to its real source.
The psalmist of old, know this. They understand its import for our spiritual lives. They have embraced the need to look up, and give gratitude where it is due.
Now let me clarify. Gratitude implies a Giver, but it does not demand, imply, or even suggest that we understand the Giver. This is why we approach God, the ultimate Giver, in songs, in poetry, in joyful hymns – because we know that our rational speech only begins to approach the mystery that is God.
Meister Eckhart, was the great mystic who emphasized the great inscrutability of God…. But he said: If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice.”
Stuart Hample and Eric Marshall have edited “Children’s Letters to God.” Children get at the mystery that is God better than adults. The striking thing about these letters, is their honesty. Some dare to complain in the best biblical tradition:
Dear God:
Thank you for the baby brother but what I prayed for was a puppy.
Joyce.
Dear God,
Please send Dennis Clark to a different camp this year.
Peter.
And some are beautifully, profoundly human:
Dear God:
Why do people die? You wouldn’t have to keep making new people if you just kept the ones you had.
Emily
Dear God:
I don’t ever feel alone since I found out about you.
Nora
And then there are just the hilarious:
Dear God,
Is Reverend Coe a friend of yours or do you just know him through business?
Donny.
Dear God,
Grandpa says you were around when he was little. How far back do you go?
Love, Dennis.
Children often get, what adults wrongly try to fix. God is a mystery, an inscrutable majesty that we will never get our heads around. We’re best to just try to get our heads inside, not around the mystery that is God. The thing about gratitude is that it doesn’t demand that you know the Giver’s future moves only that you have located the source of past gifts.
Gratitude implies a Giver –
Gratitude impels a response – both public and private
We all love thank-you notes. William James said that “The deepest craving of human nature is the need to be appreciated.” I’m sure like you, there have been those down days when a note arrives in the mail, or in the inbox, that says thanks, and in so doing lifts your soul. Sometimes those are life giving gifts of God. And for the many of you who send those, let me say thanks. And in the best tradition of religious TV: “Keep those cards and letters coming.”
However, the most poignant praise, the most touching thanks, is often given publicly – to another about you. “Hey, so and so told me how much they appreciated such and so.”
Worship is our public thanksgiving to God. Scripture tells us that God delights in this, that he lives in the praises of his people.
Again, I don’t claim to understand fully the mind of God, but I have a sense that one of the reasons this is commanded, is not because God needs it, but because we do. We need to hear others praise God!
Privately, I so identify at times with Anne Lamott who says that sometimes the best I can do is begin with “Help me,” and end the day with, “thank you.”
But corporate worship lifts me to another dimension. It allows me to sing with others, to hear others pray, to listen to other testimonies, to be reminded through the Bible, that others have also had tough times, and praised God.
And this leads me to the last point:
Gratitude implies a Giver –
Gratitude impels a response – both public and private
Gratitude imputes a joy – unrelated to circumstance
Cicero: Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.
“This is confirmed by Dr. Michael McCollough, of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, and Dr. Robert Emmons, of the University of California at Davis, say their initial scientific study indicates that gratitude plays a significant role in a person's sense of well-being.
McCollough and Emmons were curious about why people involved in their faith seem to have more happiness and a greater sense of well-being than those who aren't and decided to study the connections. After making initial observations and compiling all the previous research on gratitude, they conducted the Research Project on Gratitude and Thanksgiving. The study required several hundred people in three different groups to keep daily diaries.
The first group kept a diary of the events that occurred during the day, while the second group recorded their unpleasant experiences. The last group made a daily list of things for which they were grateful.
The results of the study indicated that daily gratitude exercises resulted in higher reported levels of alertness, enthusiasm, determination, optimism and energy. Additionally, the gratitude group experienced less depression and stress, was more likely to help others, exercised more regularly and made more progress toward personal goals. According to the findings, people who feel grateful are also more likely to feel loved. McCollough and Emmons also noted that gratitude encouraged a positive cycle of reciprocal kindness among people since one act of gratitude encourages another.” (ACF news)
Paul, do you really mean?!: 16Be joyful always; 17pray continually; 18give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
I’m sorry to say, I think he actually means it. Remember that one of the most joyful letters that he wrote, one of the most joyful letters ever wrote, Paul wrote from Prison (Philippians).
I don’t claim to have the secret to this figured out, but this I have learned over the last decade or so. The relationship of my inner life to my outer circumstances is made through my attitude. In other words, sometimes things are great, and I’m anything but joyful. There’ve been times when circumstances were not good, but I found a peace that transcended them.
Of course it should be noted that the word is “in” not “for.” Be grateful in all circumstances, no for all of them. Some are just bad – there may be no other way to see a circumstance. But there is always, as long as consciousness remains the possibility of gratitude.
Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his ;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
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