The Key to Gratitude

November 1, 2015       NOTES NOT EDITED

The Key to Gratitude

Psalm 100

SIS—The key to a heart of gratitude is in our relationship to a Person, not our possessions.

God has spoken to me of late on the matter of "gratitude," or being truly thankful for all that I have. Many people have much more than I have by way of earthly possessions. Many more have far less--even to the point of not having even the basic necessities of life.  I am in the category of rich when compared with most of the people of the world—in fact, unbelievably rich. Why do I have so much and so many have so little? I did not choose to be born into the affluence of America. I was there when it happened, but contributed nothing to the event. I have had a little success in life I suppose. I did well in the Navy.  I managed to get a Bachelor’s Degree, and then finish a Master’s degree.  I’ve pastored some great churches.  I think I pastor a great church, now.  Has my success been due to my vast reservoir of skills and talent?  I don’t think so.  Any success or riches I’ve enjoyed have come more by accident than by design—if I were to be truly honest.  Just like the day of my birth I’ve been more of an effect, than a cause in most of what I’ve enjoyed in this life.

So, why am I so very rich? When one answers this question, one has grasped the key to what gratitude is really all about. It is not about "stuff" at all. It is not about health, wealth, or happiness. The Key to Gratitude is a "Person," not any possession." The Key to Gratitude is God, and especially what He has done for us through His Son.

I am not likely to get rich in this life. I am plumb out of "rich uncles" who can leave me a vast fortune when they die. Yet, I sit here feeling very rich. Very blessed. I have five springs that keep the arteries in my heart clear for circulation. I have diabetes. I'm loosing my hair (thought the Dr. says that rarely leads to death). I'm over the hill and on the downside of life.  In actuality, death is no closer to me at this juncture in life than when I was a teen--and thinking of my foolishness as a teen, perhaps death was even closer then. Thankfully, the statute of limitations has expired on my teen activities. However, the “thought of death” is much closer now than when I was younger. I contemplate that the book of my life is quickly approaching the Appendix.

Here's where gratitude really steps in: regardless of how many days I have left on this planet--and I plan to be here for every one--my total days of existence remain the same. I have eternal life.

As with the day and accidents of my birth, I contributed nothing to the day of my "re-birth," nor do I contribute anything to my eternal existence. Being born-again and living for eternity all comes down to Who God is, and What God did (and does) for me. Jesus Christ is the "Key to Gratitude." In fact, He's the "Key" to everything (Col. 1:17).

This Sunday inaugurates a month of Thanksgiving in our church. True gratitude deserves more than a day. This week we will follow that admonishment of the Psalmist who said, "Enter HIs gates with thanksgiving!" (100:4).  Let’s read that Psalm together.

Why should I be eternally grateful?  Three reasons come to mind:

1.  Because of WHO Jesus is (v3)

Acknowledge that Yahweh is God. He made us, and we are His — His people, the sheep of His pasture.

What does it mean to “acknowledge that Yahweh is God?”  The word translated “acknowledge” is the same word used in Genesis 4:1:

Adam was intimate with (KJV, knew) his wife Eve,

and she conceived and gave birth to Cain.

The sexual union between a man and his wife is the “closest” relationship that a person can experience this side of heaven.  Literally, this makes two people as “one.”  There is nothing “casual” about sex, and there is nothing “casual” about our relationship with God.  Too often marriage partners take their relationship for granted, and that relationship suffers—sometimes, it even dies.  When a believer does not fully “acknowledge” Who God is in Christ, the relationship suffers, and it will die spiritually.  Far too many Christians have a “casual” relationship with God which actually is nothing more than a “cold” relationship.  Most Christians are either spiritually sick, or actually dead in regard to their relationship with God.  Hence, far too many Christians lack the kind of gratitude expressed in this psalm as reflected by a joyful, glad-hearted, meaningful and consistent worship to God.

What exactly are we to base this deep and meaningful relationship with God upon?  In one word, “utter and total dependence.”  OK, that’s four words but you get the idea.  Not only is God our Creator but He is our Sustainer.  Two different words meaning, “God,” are used in this verse.  It would be linguistically valid to translate this verse as:  “Maintain a deep and abiding relationship with the God who loves you and provides for you (Yahweh), and the God Who created you by His power (Elohim).”  One cannot truly “acknowledge” Who God is without feeling a deep sense of gratitude every moment of every day.  The writer of Revelation reminds us of Who God is and the praise He deserves as a consequence (Rev. 3:11):

Our Lord and God, You are worthy to receive glory and honor and power, because You have created all things, and because of Your will they exist and were created.

Notice that this verse almost perfectly parallels the verse in Psalm 100, even to the degree of using two different words referring to God as the Creator and Sustainer of life.  We owe God our gratitude and exuberant praise because of Who He is.  He is God.  We owe God everything.  The experience of a college student illustrates the sublime impression upon a person that comes when a person “acknowledges Who God really is.”

A college student found himself overwhelmed, deeply troubled, and depressed.  He was doing well in school.  He had all the money he needed. Everything, on the surface, seemed as grand as it could be.  But, he was deeply troubled, even fearful of life.  In the course of his college education he learned something he had not anticipated learning—his life had no meaning or purpose.  He felt like an empty container, though his life was filled with all kinds of stuff.  Then, something remarkable happened.  He read a book on biblical prophecy.  A light clicked on in his heart.  He realized that the meaning of life was in the message of the Bible.  He discovered that God had not only created him, but God had died on the cross for him.  He realized that Yahweh loved him and that Yahweh sustained him.  He came to acknowledge that the very essence of life was to know God through Jesus Christ.  There in his dorm room he confessed Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. 

Isaiah paints a very poignant portrait of Christ in chapter 53, verse 3:

He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering who knew what sickness was. He was like someone people turned away from; He was despised, and we didn’t value Him.

Isaiah, like a master painter describes the plight of the Lord Jesus when he fell into the hands of men.  “Despised, rejected, suffering, and sick” describes the Lord has He took upon Himself the sins of mankind.  But, the most telling stroke of Isaiah’s pen highlights the very basic problem of man:  “we don’t value Who Jesus is.” 

The words “didn’t value Him” (or esteemed Him not, NIV) are very interesting.  This word is used over 124 times in the O.T.  It speaks of deep thought or planning, imagining, and cunning to name a few of the various translations.  At the root of this verb family is the meaning to “fabricate, weave, or braid” (both figuratively and literally).  Isaiah uses this vivid word to describe man’s basic problem:  “we do not weave God into the fabric of our lives.”

True gratitude bubble up into exuberant praise to God when we weave God into the very fabric of our daily lives by acknowledging that we “are” nothing and we “have” nothing apart from God’s love and providence.  True gratitude acknowledges “Who” God is in Christ.

2.  Because we OWE it to Him for WHAT He’s Done (3b, 5a)

^3b we are His — His people, the sheep of His pasture
………………………………………. 
^5a For Yahweh is good,

Because God is “good” His goodness drives His Providence.  Put another way, because God is good, His care for His possessions is exceedingly good. Let give a personal spin on what it means to belong to God—to be one of His possessions, or a sheep in His fold.  When I was a boy I was particularly fastidious, that is, extremely meticulous, precise and fussy in regard to my space and my stuff.  I liked everything to have its place and be in good order. This created a great deal of anxiety on my part because I shared a bedroom with my two brothers who were not particularly fastidious.  Everything I owned was highly prized.  So much so, that Mom liked to tell people how I would often wash and carefully dry my toys.  They were my possessions and I felt a great sense of responsibility to lovingly care for them.  I was so meticulous about the care of my possessions that the three guns I owned to hunt rabbit, squirrel and deer looked brand new when I finally sold them years later.  I’ve never completely grown out of this almost obsessive/compulsive fastidiousness, as my wife will tell you, but I’ve made some improvements.  The point I want to make is this:  “God is good and His care for us, His prized possessions, is exceedingly good.”  For all that we receive from God on a daily basis, we should be exceedingly grateful.

If God never gave us anything, we would still owe Him everything, as I just mentioned, simply for WHO He is. The fact of the matter is, God HAS given us so much we OWE it to Him to give Him our deepest and most sincere gratitude.  By God’s grace, and only by His grace, can we “live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).  Beyond that, every “good and perfect gift” (Jam. 1:17) that comes into our lives flows from the fountain of God’s grace.  How is it possible NOT TO GIVE GOD PRAISE when we receive so much on a daily basis as a result of God’s grace? 

I was talking to someone this week about money—specifically giving God a tenth (or a tithe) of all that comes into our possession.  Many false teachers speak against tithing as “an O.T. practice.”  This is a false and dangerous teaching on many levels.  For one, Jesus, Himself, sanctioned the discipline of “tithing” (Mat 23:23).  But, simple logic would show that a “non-tithing” Christian is an oxymoron—a godless absurdity.  Under the Law, the Ancients of the Faith gave at least three tithes plus free-will offerings.  Depending on how one interprets various passages, the pious lover of God under that Law gave between 23¹/₃ percent of their income to 30 percent, plus free-will offerings above that. 

We who have experienced God’s saving mercy have been freed from the Law and we live under grace.  Here is where an understanding of WHAT God has done enters the equation of how a Christian should express our gratitude:  “grace is a HIGHER standard, not a lower standard than the Law.”  Whereas God required a “tenth” of everything under the Law, under Grace Jesus requires “everything!” (Lk. 14:33).

We should be driven by love and devotion to pour out all that we have and all that we are in service to God because we have received the grace of God through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Beyond this, we should be driven by an eternal sense of gratitude to vivaciously express our praise to God.  We OWE it to God to thank Him, not only for Who He is, but for what He DOES. 

The roof over our head comes from God. // The food in our belly comes from God. // The clothes on our back come from God. // Even the very breath in our lungs and the beating or our heart is a gift from God.

James tells us as I’ve mentioned a couple of times, but it bears repeating:  Every generous act and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights; with Him there is no variation or shadow cast by turning” (1:17).l

A poet once declared:

Without God’s Sunshine and His Rain;

We could not have the golden grain.

Without His love we’d not be fed;

We must thank Him for our daily bread.

When I was a little boy my Mom and Dad insisted that I demonstrate good manners.  This included saying, “Thank You,” to people who bestowed a kindness upon me in any way.  I think that our society has gotten a bit out of practice in regard to a basic attitude of gratitude.  I believe the problem is as bad, or worse, in regard to the Household of Faith.  Years ago I read a story about a little boy being raised by his grandmother (as many have been and are today).  She was a godly lady who took great care to instill proper values in her grandson.  She schooled him in proper etiquette in regard to how to act in public, how to speak to adults, and many other matters of civility and manners.  One day the little boy rushed into the kitchen where Grandma was preparing pies for the upcoming Thanksgiving dinner.  The little boy entered a conversation with his Grandma.  “Grandma,” the little boy said, “It is very important to show good manners in public, isn’t it?”  Grandma smiled and replied, “Why, yes dear, it is very good to show good manners in private or public.”  The little boy’s face lit up like a lamp and he asked, “Well, if I am invited out to dinner, is it good manners to eat pie with a fork?”  The Grandma was so pleased to see her grandchild learning to appreciate good manners.  She answered, “Yes, son, eating pie with a fork is perfectly acceptable in public.”  The little boy was not finished with the conversation just yet.  He continued, “Well, Grandma, do you have a little piece of pie that I could practice on?”

I think we all could use a little bit of “practice” in regard to showing gratitude for all that we receive on a daily basis from God.  We OWE it to God to thank Him for all that He gives us on a daily basis.  

3.  Because of WHAT He has promised to do (5b)

Thankfulness to God covers the whole spectrum of human existence.  It covers our past.  What greater gift could we thank God for than that he has saved us (past tense) from our sin?  We just looked at how we need to be thankful for all that God is doing for us on a daily basis (the present).  He not only “has” saved us, but “is” saving us.  Perhaps our greatest reason for being grateful to God comes not from looking back, but by looking forward to what “God is yet to do.”  Look at v5 again, the last part:

His love is eternal; His faithfulness

endures through all generations.

God’s love and care for us is “eternal” and stretching out for “all” generations to come, which is another way of describing eternity.  God’s love comes with an “Eternal Lifetime Guarantee.”

I am sure that many of you have seen a product being advertised that promises a “Lifetime Guarantee.”  What exactly does that mean?  Certainly if a die I will no longer need the product or service, so there is no problem if the “Lifetime” is my life. Then there’s the matter of no guarantee without a receipt.  In this case, the “lifetime” is the life span of a piece of paper.  But, what about the “lifetime of the company?”   As my Mom often said, “You can’t squeeze blood out of a turnip.”  A guarantee is no better than the guarantor. 

With God, we don’t have to worry about the “Guarantor.”  God is eternal.  His faithfulness is eternal.  We can count on God ALWAYS and FOREVER delivering on every one of His promises.  For this, we should be eternally grateful.  By eternal I mean not simply the length of our gratitude, but the depth.

Paul declared, (2Cor. 1:20-21)  ²⁰ For every one of God’s promises  is “Yes” in Him. Therefore, the “Amen”  is also spoken through Him by us for God’s glory.  ²¹ Now it is God who strengthens us, with you, in Christ and has anointed  us. ²² He has also sealed us and given us the Spirit as a down payment  in our hearts.

Reminds me of that Stevie Wonder song, “Signed, sealed, delivered I’m yours!”  As God’s children we are “strengthened by God, anointed by Christ, and sealed by the Holy Spirit.”  Just like a down payment on a house “seals” or “secures” the right to purchase that house, God’s Holy Spirit is God’s “down payment” securing our eternal home! 

The Psalmist gives us three reasons our lives should overflow with gratitude to God through service and devotion:  because of Who He is, because we Owe it to Him for What He does, and because of What He has promised.  Eternal gratitude will never flow from a relationship centered on our possessions, no matter how much we can acquire.  Eternal gratitude focuses on an eternal relationship with God through Jesus Christ—eternal in both quality and quantity.  Jesus Christ is the “Key to Gratitude.”  God is the key to everything.

To a world of bombs and bursting shells,

Sorrow, want and woe no tongue can tell,

Darkness, hunger, death, a living hell,

God still holds the key.

To an age of greed and bitter hate,

To the hearts that bleed, hope, and wait,

While the hour of time is growing late,

God still holds the key.

To the restless heart that knows no peace,

To the darkened life that nothing sees,
To the slaves of sin that need release,

God still holds the key.

To the boundless wealth within His word,

Where the trusting soul shall find reward,

To the shores of grace yet unexplored,

God still holds the key.

The key to a heart of gratitude is in our relationship to a Person, not our possessions.