Sermon Tone Analysis

*Give Thanks for He is Good*

*Psalm 118:1; Philippians 2:14-15; Colossians 3:12-15*

*/November 30, 2008/*

 

 

*Prep: *

·         Sermons: Phil.

10, John 7 and 18,

·         Leftovers: DPL article

·         Col.

3:1ff; Ps 118

 

 

*Intro:*

 

I think I was supposed to give this sermon *last* *Sunday*, but because of the announcement about Peter and Cecil’s candidacy, it was pushed off.

·         Please *comment* this week, before Elders’ meeting.

I still really wanted to preach this sermon about thanksgiving and gratitude because of how much *I learned*; a whole new perspective of thanksgiving.

·         There will be time for Q & A.

 

 

*prayer*

 

·         Mocabees

 

 

*Try harder!*

Part of preparing a sermon is *reading other sermons* on a topic.

This is not laziness, and my work is original, but humility, to recognize that *God* has *spoken* *through* *others*, but I was disappointed this time.

Most of the sermons I saw on “being thankful” mainly comprised making us *feel* *guilty* for not appreciating all of the *good* *stuff* we have as Americans and *making* up *lists* of these things.

First, *guilt* *motivation* seldom produces *lasting* *change*.

Second, it ignores the fact that we can be in real *suffering* even in the midst of *bounty*.

·         It’s easy to sneer at *Hollywood stars* in the midst of trouble because they are “rich and famous,” but they still suffer.

The *foundation* for *thankfulness* does not lie is what we *do* or do *not* *have*, or what has happened to us, but it lies in who *God* is, in his *faithfulness*, *love*, and *goodness*.

·         This will be an *unusual* “thanksgiving sermon” because I’m not asking you to think about *what* you have to be thankful for.

Becoming more thankful doesn’t consist of *trying* *really* *hard* to think of everything but *focusing* on how *good* *God* is.

·         At the *end* of this sermon, we should all have a better sense of how *cool God is* and how *grateful* we are to him.

Ä  To get there, we will look briefly at four aspects of thankfulness that we don’t usually think of:

 

1.

Thanksgiving as act of faith.

2. Thanksgiving as an act of humility.

3. Thanksgiving as act of worship.

4. Thanksgiving as act that unifies.

BTW: “*Thanksgiving*” and “*gratitude*” as near *synonyms*, but the difference is that *gratitude* is the *attitude* that inspires the *acts* of thankfulness.

*Gratitude: The Heartbeat of Pauline Spirituality*

 

I want to begin by reading from “Dictionary of Paul and His Letters,” a scholarly collection of articles on Paul’s writings:

 

Gratitude is not only [Paul’s] response to his overwhelming experience of the grace of God; it is also the prospective attitude that he carries — and exhorts believers to carry — into their daily life in the world.

For Paul, thanksgiving marks the dividing line between belief and unbelief, between the obedient and the disobedient heart.

It is in the expression of gratitude that one truly honors God as the creator and Lord of the world (Rom 14:6).

On the other hand, a lack of gratitude is a primary sin against God.

·         The key thought here: “...thanksgiving marks the dividing line between belief and unbelief...”

*Thanksgiving as act of faith*

 

Psalm 118:1 ESV: “Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!”

 

·         Notice thanks is given both for the *past* and *present* (“he is good”) and the *future* (“his steadfast love endures forever”).

*Thanksgiving* and *gratitude* demonstrate that we *believe* that God is *good*; he loves us and cares for us.

The fact that he has been *good* in the *past* gives us *hope* that he will *continue* to be good.

Conversely, *ingratitude* demonstrates a *lack* of *faith*, not believing that God is *good*, in *control*, and *taking* *care* of us.

·         If the action of gratitude is thanksgiving, then the *action* of *ingratitude* is *grumbling* and *complaining*.

*Philippians 2:14-15 ESV *Do all things without grumbling or questioning,  15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world...

 

What makes this example important is that Paul is alluding to the *Israelites*.

Their example is important because time and time *God* *worked* in amazing way to save them, but each time a *new* *crisis* came up, the *panicked* and started *grumbling*.

Q   Sound familiar?

Our *habit* of *ingratitude* in the face of *hardships* demonstrates that we *don’t* *believe* the God is taking care of us.

How much *more* *so* when we fail to *thank* *him* when things are *going* *well*?

·         That probably indicate that we think we earned it.

*Faith perspective, not rose-colored glasses*

 

This is not a “*Pollyannaish*” everything is *great*, don’t *worry*, be *happy*.

This is a *foundation* of *faith* that allows us to be thankful for what God has done and will do.

This is not about *optimism* and *pessimism*, “the glass is half full~/empty.”

This is about trust that no matter how full the glass is, God has *promised* to fill it to *overflowing*.

·         In order to be people of thankfulness I think our *focus* can’t be on our *circumstance*, which change all the time, but *in him*.

Accordingly, it is not only possible, but proper to be *thankful* for something that has *not* *happened*.

Not even the specific things, but the firm knowledge that God *will* *do* *what is good*.

·         Our hope lies in God, nothing more or less.

“But all shall be well,

And all shall be well,

And all manner of things shall be well” (Julian of Norwich)

 

Ä  When our *hope* is *grounded *in God, our hearts overflow with gratitude for all he’s done and will do, but there’s a big *IF*.

*Thankfulness as humility*

 

·         We will be grateful, *IF* we are *humble*.

Thankfulness is an act of *humility*.

A proud person is *seldom* *grateful* because he thinks he has only gotten what he *deserves*.

·         A core foundation of Christianity is that we *don’t* *deserve* *anything*, and that everything we are given is grace.

We walk around with this *silly* *notion* that our time, our possessions, or relationship are “*ours*.”

But they are all his because he made them as *gifts* to *lavish* upon us.

An *atheist* complained that Christians are “condemned to live in this posture of *gratitude*, permanent gratitude, to an *unalterable* *dictatorship* in whose installation we had no say.”

·         To him gratitude is a bad thing.

·         How many children do you know who will pass up their birthday gifts rather than saying thank you?

 

Again, this goes back to faith: The more clearly we see and believe in God’s *goodness* and *overwhelming* *grace* to us, the more *grateful* we become.

Ä  From this position of humility, *thanksgiving naturally flows* out as praise.

*Thankfulness as worship:*

 

We can do absolutely nothing to *repay* God’s goodness or to *earn* it, again, that is *grace*.

·         *All* we can do is *draw attention* to how God he is, which is another way of *describing worship*.

Our *mission* *statement* says: “We are a Christian community striving to glorify God and engage our culture.”

·         I try to touch on one of these points in the majority of my sermons.

This week it is “to *glorify God*.”

To *glorify* *God* means that in everything we *do*, *think*, *feel*, or *say*, we are becoming more *captivated* by God’s *grandeur*, *love*, *holiness*, and the entirety of his *greatness*, that we are *acting* accordingly, and that we are *causing* *others* to do the *same*.

·         Glorifying God does not mean that we *add* to his glory, it means that we more fully *see* it and help *others* *see* it.

When we are a people of *faith*-*driven* *thankfulness*, we are *glorifying* God and *showing* the world how *good* he is.

But when we are chronically ungrateful and complaining, we are *communicating* to our culture that God is *not* *good*, that he hasn’t taken care of me.

It’s like “*anti*-worship.”

Our *first* *response* of gratitude or ingratitude, in even the most mundane things in life, demonstrates our *attitude* *about* *God*.

·         Everything we do is an opportunity to *glorify* or *dishonor* God.

Ä  There is one last aspect of thankfulness that you probably haven’t thought of – I hadn’t.

*Thankfulness as a unifier *

 

In Colossian, Paul makes an *interesting* *connection*.

These *paragraph* *breaks* follow what is happening in the Greek, in order to show you the main points.

*Colossians 3:12-15 ESV* Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved,

compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and

patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a

complaint against another, forgiving each other;