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Century Christian
Church 1301 Tamarack Road, Owensboro, KY 42301, (270) 684-0286, Pastor: Rev. Jim Westmoreland |
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Worry, Priority and Gratitude Do you know what I like about Thanksgiving? It's the least commercialized of all the national holidays. The stores cash in on Halloween, Christmas, Valentine's Day, and Easter, but there's not much of a Thanksgiving windfall for retailers. As a result, we don't suffer from Thanksgiving overkill. We're not expected to buy Thanksgiving candy, or send Thanksgiving cards, or pass out Thanksgiving gifts. Other than the turkey, there's no "hot point" in this holiday for advertisers to exploit.(1) As you know, the day after Thanksgiving kicks off the busiest time of the year for the shopping malls, and it kicks off the busiest time of the year for most of you, too. In the next 4-5 weeks there will be parties to attend, shopping to finish, gifts to wrap, cookies to bake, programs to go to, special services at church, visiting relatives, and on and on and on. For most of us, the next several weeks will be the most hectic days of the year. But before the insanity begins, we can look forward to Thanksgiving Day. Though Thanksgiving isn't specifically a religious holiday, it can be spiritually uplifting if you let it--because a thankful heart opens the door to God's blessings in your life. Sir John Templeton, the billionaire investor, was once asked what is the secret of wealth. He said, "Gratitude. If you're not grateful, you're not rich--no matter how much you have." The flip side of that is, "If you're grateful, you are rich--no matter how little you have." So, today, your life can become rich--if you choose to be thankful for all that you have. Our national holiday tends to be superficial. When we do it right, we go beyond what we possess. But, we have trouble even being grateful for what we have bought since in the last twelve months. No want goes unmet. But our own feelings of entitlement smother the more humble expressions of thanksgiving and gratitude. Too often, we compare ourselves with those whose lives appear to be richer, fuller, and more exciting than ours. We sometimes feel short-changed. We wonder why others have it so much better than we do. We worry because of what others have that we don't have. Of course, that's distorted thinking. But I want you to realize that having a thankful heart is not about comparing yourself to others, it's about recognizing and acknowledging what God has done in your life. Most of us here have gone through our own hard times. It is amazing that, in the hardest of times when the temptation to be overwhelmed with worries is the greatest, God comes near to us in our suffering, and our gratitude finds expression despite all the reasons to be negative and down. Thanksgiving is more often born of adversity and difficult times. So many of the greatest expressions of thanksgiving have occurred under circumstances so debilitating one wonders why people give thanks. It would seem the more reasonable response would be bitterness and ingratitude. Paul writing from a prison cell and probably knowing that he would soon die writes to the Philippians, "I give thanks to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German pastor imprisoned in 1943 for his political and Christian opposition to the Nazi regime, was executed two years later. On the day that the sentence was carried out he conducted a service for the other prisoners. One of those prisoners, an English officer who survived, wrote these words: Bonhoeffer always seemed to me to spread an atmosphere of happiness and joy over the least incident, and profound gratitude for the mere fact that he was alive... He was one of the very few persons I have ever met for whom God was real and always near... On Sunday, April 8, 1945, Pastor Bonhoeffer conducted a little service of worship and spoke to us in a way that went to the heart of all of us. He found just the right words to express the spirit of our imprisonment, and the thoughts and resolutions it had brought us. He had hardly ended his last prayer when the door opened and two civilians entered. They said, "Prisoner Bonhoeffer, come with us." That had only one meaning for all prisoners--the gallows. We said good-bye to him. He took me aside: "This is the end; but for me it is the beginning of life." The next day he was hanged in Flossenburg. Out of great suffering have come the greatest expressions of gratitude. And so I suggest to you this morning, we have all the more reason to celebrate Thanksgiving.(2) V. 25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, wht you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?" ... v. 33 "But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Several churches in North Dakota were being served by an old preacher. The people were always amazed, for no matter what the circumstances, the preacher could always find something to give thanks for. As he made his rounds one cold December morning, he was late in getting to worship because of excessive snow drifts. As he began the service with prayer, the parishioners were eager to see what the old preacher could come up with to be thankful for on this dismal and frigid morning. "Gracious Lord," his prayer began, "we thank you that all days are not like today."(3) As the people of God, we are called not only to praise the Lord with our voices, but to praise God with our lives as well. When we stop worrying about our own needs and wants, we are free to live for others. When we stop looking at our own wants and desires, we can more clearly see the needs of others around us. We can give freely of our time, talents, and treasures, trusting that the Lord will take care of us as well. Jesus said, "Indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matthew 6:32-33 NRSV) When we strive for the Kingdom of God, our priorities are being shaped by the work of God in our lives and not by our own self-interests. We look for opportunities to bring equality and justice to light in our communities. That is not a natural result of our economic system and of human nature. For too many, we have reduced the idea of freedom to mean unrestrained selfishness. When we strive for the Kingdom of God, our priorities are shaped by God, and we see the face of Jesus in those who are hurting and suffering in our own communities, and we work to free them from the chains of suffering and oppression that bind them and keep them down. After all, our Lord Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice to free us from the chains of suffering and oppression that bound us in our sin. I proclaim to you today that God has freed us. He has freed us to love and serve our neighbor, to act on behalf of those in need in our midst. We have been richly blessed in order to be a blessing to others. There is indeed much to give thanks for. So go ahead. Clean the house and prepare the turkey. But remember to set aside some time to thank God for the many, many blessings that you have received, and ask God to use you to work for justice on behalf of those in need. "Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matthew 6:32-33 NRSV) Amen Century Christian Church, November 19, 2006 - Sermon by Jim Westmoreland 1. Steve May, What Do I Have to Be Thankful For?, www.aboutsunday.com for 11-19-06. 2. Brett Blair, In All Things Be Thankful, esermons.com, for Sunday 11-19-06. 3. Pastor Maurice Schaus, Give Thanks?, November 19, 2000. |
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