Giving Thanks for Every Day

“It’s good to be blessed. It’s better to be a blessing.”

Thank you for the gift of time to step away from the pressures and stress of ministry for a sabbatical this fall. I feel great and I’m excited to be back at BBC. I’m deeply grateful to all of you and to our entire staff, leaders, and volunteers who have carried on our ministry here at BBC so well. I want to especially thank David Pranga because he had the heaviest load to bear while I was away; my thanks also to Mary, Barbara, Sharon and Carol in the office, Chris, Tom and our Sexton team.

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November 29, 2015
1 Thessalonians 3:9-13, Giving Thanks for Every Day
Pastor Doug Scalise, Brewster Baptist Church

Jill and I experienced many things over the last three months, and, as is often true in life, some of those things we didn’t anticipate; like getting my first deer on the second day of hunting season in Oregon. The only problem was I got it with the rental car I was driving. We hadn’t planned that I’d need shoulder surgery on October 15, or that, eight days after that operation I’d have a suspicious looking bug bite with an oval rash around it which meant two weeks on an antibiotic. Other than a car accident, surgery and rehab, and the threat of Lyme disease, I had a great sabbatical.

We enjoyed time with family and friends in Maine, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Washington, Oregon and North Carolina. We drove thousands of miles and walked and hiked seeing fossil beds, hot springs, geysers, lakes, woods, mountains, and witnessing the beauty of creation in 19 states. We walked on the beaches of Cape Cod and Maine and stood on the windblown sands of the Oregon coast and looked at the vastness of the Pacific. We indulged my interest in history at Gettysburg, PA and Antietam, MD two of the most important battlefields from the American Civil War where thousands of Americans were killed and wounded fighting so that our nation might remain the United States of America. In Virginia, we toured Monticello the home of Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence and Virginia’s law on religious liberty and the founder of the University of Virginia. He was one of the smartest Presidents ever to serve in office and yet as much as he wrote about freedom, his complex legacy includes the fact that he enslaved other people to enhance his own prosperity.

As President, Jefferson sent out Merriweather Lewis, William Clark and the Corps of Discovery in 1804-1806 that traveled from the Midwest all the way to the Pacific Ocean and back. We stopped in many of the places they did from Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia where they gathered key supplies, to Great Falls, Montana where the falls poised a monumental obstacle on their journey to reach the Pacific to Fort Clatsop in Oregon where they spent the winter. We learned a lot about the first peoples who populated the west especially at places like the Museum of the Plains Indians and the Park where for thousands of years they stampeded bison over a cliff and then used every part of the bison to support their lifestyle. There were more than a few times we felt the sadness of the first people whose numbers were decimated by diseases for which they had no resistance and whose way of life and rights were disrespected and disregarded.

We attended worship all over the country in small churches and large churches, in older, traditional churches and newer contemporary churches. We both read a number of books and began a spiritual formation program that will continue in 2016. November 9-12 I attended an informative and enjoyable four day course on Fundraising for Religious Institutions taught by the Lake Institute on Faith & Giving in Durham, NC. We’ve been a part of BBC and Cape Cod for so long now and we missed all of you and we missed being a part of Sunday morning worship. As Dorothy says at the end of The Wizard of Oz, there’s no place like home. It’s very nice to be back.

In selecting a scripture to preach from today these verses from 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13 seemed fitting: “How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we feel before our God because of you? Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you face to face and restore whatever is lacking in your faith. Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you. And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you. And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.”

As you heard earlier, today is the First Sunday of Advent, it’s the day we begin to mark the time before we celebrate the birth of Jesus. This year our worship in Advent will also feature scenes from one of my favorite movies. Directed by the great Frank Capra, It’s A Wonderful Life, was released in 1946, one year after the end of World War Two and features Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey and Donna Reed as his wife Mary. We’re told as the movie opens that George is thinking about “throwing away God’s greatest gift” – his life – right before Christmas. As angels discuss George, we see his life in a series of flashbacks. George is not feeling thankful or grateful; he’s wishing he’d never been born. In a desperate attempt to escape his problems and pain, George is contemplating suicide by jumping from a bridge but instead dives in and rescues Clarence who turns out to be his guardian angel. Clarence shows George what his town would’ve been like if he hadn’t been born and accomplished all the good he had done for others throughout his life. George is transformed by gratitude and thanksgiving for what a wonderful life he’s had, even though he hadn’t realized it.

While the movie was not initially a big commercial success, as time passed its enduring values about the importance of family and friends, caring for others, seeking the welfare of one’s community, and much more (as well as the great performances and it showing annually on TV) have made It’s a Wonderful Life a Christmas tradition appreciated by millions of people. Each week we’re going to see a brief clip and since it’s just a couple days since Thanksgiving, our theme today is Giving Thanks for Every Day Blessings. Today’s clip shows a happy and grateful family of Italian immigrants, the Martini’s, moving from their rundown rental shack into their first home of their own. Clip – Video clip 1:34 The Martini’s New House Mary: Bread… that this house may never know hunger. [Mary hands a loaf of bread to Mrs. Martini] Mary: Salt… that life may always have flavor. [Mary hands a box of salt to Mrs. Martini] George Bailey: And wine… that joy and prosperity may reign forever. Enter the Martini Castle. [George hands Mr. Martini a bottle of wine].

One evening, TV host Stephen Colbert and four other people, one an author and three spiritual leaders in the United States were enjoying dinner in Manhattan after a live filming of The Colbert Report. Over dinner the author asked the three spiritual leaders a question: “What is the single most valuable insight, attribute, or discipline you ascribe to personally – and advise others to cultivate – in order to live a life of fulfillment, peace, and joy?” Without hesitation they replied in quiet, succinct, rapid succession. “Be forgiving,” said the first. “Be kind,” stated the second. “Be grateful,” concluded the third. Forgiveness, kindness, gratitude. We would do well to resolve to be more forgiving of each other and ourselves, to be kinder to all we encounter, and to live with intentional gratitude.[1] Our country is a mess right now and so are a lot of individuals in part because not enough people are trying to do those three things as a consistent part of their daily living. How different would life in our country be if millions of people who call themselves Christians were focused on being forgiving, kind and grateful? Today I’m going to focus on the third behavior, living with intentional gratitude. G.K. Chesterton wrote, “I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.”

People often want to know, “What is God’s will for my life?” When people ask about God’s will, they’re typically thinking about what they should do next in a particular area of their lives. Where should I go to school? Which job should I accept? Is this the person I should marry? What should I do in my retirement? Is this the time I should sell my house and move? As important as it is to discern God’s will in those kinds of choices, (and it’s not always easy) one thing I do know is God’s will is, first and foremost, that we learn to give thanks. Psalm 9:1 exclaims, “I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.” Making a habit of giving thanks for every day blessings, learning to live with gratitude, is God’s will for all of us no matter what happens in our life. We are to give thanks, not for our circumstances but in all circumstances, for at least four reasons.

1. Gratitude honors God. Anytime you thank someone you honor them. How do you feel when you do something for someone and there is no “Thank You,” no acknowledgement of what you’ve done? If you do something for a family member or co-worker, for a friend or someone you don’t know, it’s nice to hear, “Thank You,” isn’t it? It shouldn’t be why we do what we do, but it’s still nice to hear it. “Thank You,” is one of the first things we teach a child to say. If hearing “Thank You” is so important to us and we miss when it’s not expressed, how do you think God feels when we don’t express our gratitude and thanks?

We thank God not just for what God does but who God is. “God, I thank you for your love… I thank you for your mercy… I thank you that you’re faithful even when I’m not…” Beyond God’s nature and character, we have so many blessings for which to give thanks. If we have a roof over our head, food to eat, are educated enough to be able to read and have access to a computer and the internet, we have received more opportunities, material goods, and education than most of the world’s population. Think about that for a moment. However, burdened we may be with the problems that we inevitably face in life, we often fail to remember the blessings. Have you ever thought, “What I would do if I won the lottery?” In many ways, we’ve already won a lot of lotteries: to be born where we were born, the families we have, freedom, the chance to be educated, to have food to eat, a roof over our heads, access to medical care, friends to share life with, gifts, talents, abilities, expertise we can share. We’ve already won a lot of lotteries. The question is: what are we doing with what we’ve already won? Do we persist in complaining about scarcity or do we share our abundance with others? Do we live with gratitude, integrity, authenticity, thanksgiving and joy? Henry David Thoreau wrote, “I am grateful for what I am and have. Thanksgiving is perpetual.”

Doctors know that gratitude is the healthiest human emotion. The more grateful you are in life, the healthier you’ll be, physically. So here’s something anyone can do: Every day sit on the side of your bed and think of ten things to thank God for before you get out of bed. It’ll change your attitude. It’ll change your day. The first five minutes of your day can set your mood for the rest of your day. If you start it with gratitude, you’ll be healthier, you’ll be happier; you’ll be closer to God. Give thanks. It honors God. 1 Chronicles 16:34, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.”

2. Gratitude builds deeper relationships between yourself and other people. Do you want to rebuild a relationship with a friend, a parent, a spouse, with people in your small group? Whoever you want to get closer to, start spending more time expressing gratitude to them. Do you want to strengthen your family or a friendship; to build your small group or grow closer to your co-workers? During the week text them, email them, call them, or write them. Be more intentional expressing gratitude to the people you encounter throughout the day. This week, write some notes, send some text messages or emails. Tell people how grateful you are for them. It brings you closer together.
3. Gratitude develops our faith. Can you thank God when life stinks? That’s the test of whether we’re a shallow Christian or a deep one. Can we thank God even when life is hard? When it feels like everything is going wrong? If you’re going through tough times, don’t look at what’s lost. Look at what’s left. No matter how bad things are in our life, we can still be thankful to God just for being God. God has promised to be with us through life’s most difficult situations – to help us, to strengthen and care for us. God promises that even when things don’t go our way, God can bring some good out of it. It’s actually more important to give thanks when we don’t feel like then when we have plenty of reason to. Rabbi Harold Kushner, “If you concentrate on finding whatever is good in every situation, you will discover that your life will suddenly be filled with gratitude, a feeling that nurtures the soul.” A key habit that can help us in this area is to keep a gratitude journal. Sometimes one single event can ruin an entire day and an unpleasant interaction or experience at night can overshadow the enjoyable parts of our day. With the awareness that our mind tends to cling to the negative, we can intentionally focus on the good parts of our day to offset this imbalance. Try writing down 5 things that you feel grateful for every day and see how your attitude changes. Science has found that gratitude can significantly increase our happiness, and protect us from stress, negativity, anxiety and depression.
4. Gratitude serves others.

If you’ve ever bought a car you know the meaning of the word depreciation. The moment you drive the car off the lot the it’s worth less than you paid for it. Even if it’s brand new, if you take it back, it’s worth less. Depreciation means to decrease in value. We can make people feel less valuable by not saying Thank you and not expressing our gratitude. Habituation – is when we get used to what and who we have and take it or them for granted. Often we don’t realize how important someone is to us until we’re apart and he or she isn’t there. We don’t value our health until it’s gone. Depreciation and Habituation are two things to strive against compared to Appreciation which means to rise in value. And this is a ministry. When we appreciate our spouse, we raise his or her value. When you appreciate your friends, you raise their value. When you appreciate your kids, you raise their value. When you appreciate your co-workers, you raise their value to you and to the organization. Each of us desires to be affirmed, loved, and appreciated. And so does everybody else. If you want to be used by God appreciate everybody. Show gratitude to everybody. Three words which can describe our attitude and our life: Depreciation, Habituation, Appreciation – which one do you want to describe how you treat other people?

I follow the Cleveland Clinic, one of the nation’s premier centers for heart treatment, on Twitter and they shared this thought on Monday, Start practicing gratitude and you can reap benefits that go far beyond the Thanksgiving table — including a healthy heart and happiness. Country music legend Willie Nelson stated, “When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around.” I close with this thought, “No one is more impoverished than the one who has no gratitude. Gratitude is a currency that we can mint for ourselves, and spend without fear of bankruptcy.”— Fred De Witt Van Amburgh

Let’s pray: Gracious and Loving God, may we always remember “It’s good to be blessed. It’s better to be a blessing.” Help us to be increasing and abounding in love for one another and for all because love is the essence of your nature, love is expressed supremely in Jesus, and love is what you call us to each and every moment of the day. May we be forgiving and kind and always grateful for the abundance of blessings we experience from your loving hand every day. In the name of Jesus who loves us all. Amen.

Blessing: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Questions for Discussion or Reflection

1. On a scale of 1-10 with 1 being “Not at all” and 10 being “Tremendously,” how blessed do you feel today? What is causing you feel the way you do? How does your faith in Jesus help you to increase that number?
2. Christian author G.K. Chesterton wrote, “I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” Discuss or reflect on your response to that statement.
3. On Thanksgiving Day this past week, was there anything you especially expressed thanks for in a prayer or conversation? What was it?
4. The hymn, Count Your Blessings encourages us to, “Count your blessings, name them one by, count your many blessings see what God has done.” What impact does thinking about, counting, and naming our blessings on a daily basis make on our attitude and our perspective on life?
5. While Thanksgiving is highlighted only one day out of 365 in our culture, for Christians every day is to be a day of Thanksgiving. What practical steps can you take to daily have an attitude of gratitude? Are there any changes you might need to make in terms of what you listen to, watch, read, or write to help you in this regard?
6. Never forget, “It’s good ___________________. It’s better __________________.”
   

[1] Robinson, 48-49.