Thursday, November 19, 2015

SO WHO NEEDS THANKSGIVING

On my other blog ONE A DAY, YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS "THANKS FOR THANKSGIVING."

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     Psalm 100:1-4

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.

Serve the Lord with gladness; come before his presence with singing,

Know ye that the Lord he is God; it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves;

we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise;

be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

 

The question I put before you this morning is, who needs thanksgiving?

 Not just as a national holiday but as a way of being. 

If your answer is, “I don’t,” then you are emotionally and spiritually anemic and sadly, may not even be aware of it. 

Is that possible?

        ‘Fraid so.  We all at one time or the other pick up bad emotional, spiritual and physical habits until we are so overwhelmed by them, they exist as a natural state of affairs.

 To admit to being thankful is certainly a Christian response to a Biblical admonition. 

If you can’t or refuse to find things for which you are thankful then unfortunately you daily carry around your own little rain cloud. 

Giving thanks isn’t just for preachers to preach about or newspaper columnist to write about, it is rather a very special shining moment when you manage to capture a grateful heart and hold on to it with might and main. 

I don’t mean the huff and puff for Thanksgiving Day fluff.  I mean a deep down awareness that makes you want to express thanksgiving on a regular basis. 

It is not only foolish to do otherwise, it is bad manners.  

Indeed, have you ever stopped to think that to take and take and take without saying thank you is more than just rude, it is ruthless? 

It is actually destructive to civilization. 

Pretty strong talk about whether to be grateful or not, isn’t it? 

But just in case you don’t understand the power of thanksgiving let me share a story with you.  A true story. 

The man was depressed, and that word does not even begin to describe how low he felt.  A thousand pounds of problems were pulling his soul apart. 

He had lost faith in himself, in his God and in all the people around him in the restaurant.  The meal he had just ordered tasted to him like ground-up paper and re-fortified sawdust. 

And to make the moment even worse, a little girl across the restaurant was loudly complaining to her mother.

       He tried to ignore the situation but could not help overhearing her repeated words.  “But, mamma, why can’t we say a blessing before we eat?”

       The waitress who had just served their breakfast turned back to the table and said, “Why, of course, we can say the blessing, little one.”  Turning to all the rest of the people she said, “Can we all bow our heads in prayer?” 

       Surprisingly, or perhaps not so surprisingly, everyone stopped eating and bowed their heads.  The little girl in a voice loud and clear exclaimed, “God is great, God is good.  Let us thank him for our food.  Amen.”

       That simple prayer, that well meant moment of thanksgiving, changed the entire atmosphere.  The customers began to talk to each other. 

       There were more smiles.  And the waitress, loud enough for everyone to hear, said, “Maybe we should do this more often.”

       The man who had been so depressed didn’t raise his head after the little girl’s “amen.”  He continued praying and thanking God for all his blessings, rather than majoring in complaining to himself about all the things he didn’t have and couldn’t do.

       Sometimes simplicity speaks with such eloquence. 

       Such as the little fourth grader who, when asked to write about Thanksgiving Day, wrote,  “The Pilgrims came here seeking freedom, of you know what.  When they landed they gave thanks, to you know who.  Because of them, we can worship each Sunday, you know where. 

       So this morning I’d like you to let a few simple words speak with eloquence.  In the bulletins which each of you were given are three blank cards with A Thank You Note printed at the top.  I would like for you to take those cards, if you haven’t already, and put them in your pocket or pocketbook, and later today write three short thank you’s. 

Fact of the matter, I’m going to stop right now in the beginning of my sermon to give you time to write down the names of three people you need to write thank you notes to.

 Later today finish the notes - and be sure to mail them!. 

It need be no more than, “Dear John, thank you for being my friend.”  “Dear Joyce, thank you for all the good things you have done for me in all the many years we have known each other.”  “Dear…. (whoever)  This is just a short note to say Thank You for sharing your faith with me.”  “Dear…” you fill in the blanks, they are your friends. You certainly will mightily surprise them when you put down in writing how and why you are thankful for their friendship.  But take my word for it, they will never forget it. 

Never. 

Are you are perhaps sitting there thinking to yourself, Well, that’s a great idea preacher and I really ought to do it, but I probably won’t.  And if I were to ask you why, your only reason might well be something like, “ah…because.”

Well, maybe I should tell you the following story in hopes it will lift you out of your lethargy.  Lead you to write the three notes and perhaps three more.

 In 1860, a young ministerial student, Edward Spencer, in Evanston, Illinois watched a ship go aground on the shore of Lake Michigan.  It was the dead of winter and ice floated all around.        Nevertheless, time and time again he waded into the frigid waters to rescue 17 passengers.

 In the process, his health was permanently and irreparably damaged.  Some years later at his funeral, it was noted that not one of the people he rescued ever thanked him.

       Will you one day stand beside the grave of a friend or family member and speak of all the things you are thankful for that came from them, or for who they were? 

       Will you stand around their grave and be thankful but not do so now before it is too late?  Now is when they can know and appreciate and be warmed by your love and thanksgiving.  So get busy and write.

Hopefully, all of you had no trouble thinking of three people and why you are thankful for their friendship, but if you did have trouble, why? 

Is it because you can’t think of anyone or anything to be thankful for? 

Or, is it perhaps because the very thought of putting such words in writing is embarrassing?  Or, do you feel it might embarrass them to receive your note?

 What a sad state of affairs if any or all of this is true.  Truly sad.

       Remember in the book of Luke the ten lepers that Jesus healed and how afterwards only one came back with thanksgiving? 

       Have you ever stopped to wonder why the other nine didn’t give thanks? 

“Well, hey, I’m rushed right now…I’ll get around to it.”  

“Hey, I did what I was told.  Doesn’t that

show I am obedient and therefore thankful?”

“He’s God, he knows I’m grateful - why do I have to say it out loud.”

It is, indeed, the Thanksgiving season and how have your thanksgiving-times been going?  Or have you been practicing creative thanksgiving abstinence?  

Do you complain at the alarm clock when it goes off all week long?  Think of all those who cannot hear. 

When grumpily you arose each morning, did you stop to think of those who are bedridden?

Do you fuss at all the drivers who cut you off in traffic?  Think of those who cannot drive because they cannot see.

Are you unhappy because you feel your job is boring?  Your television tells you all the time about those who have no jobs and the many who fear they may lose the jobs they have.  

                     (rewrite of a newsletter by Charles L. Brown)

In the year 1883, it was inaccurately reported that the sun did not rise.  However, on that day in August the people opened their eyes to an eerie darkness. 

   No roosters crowed, no birds chirped, none of the usual sounds of a new day took place.  Around the world, people gathered in small groups to discuss what was happening. 

   Slowly the churches began to fill and by noon every church was overflowing.  There were cries for mercy.  Cries of bewilderment. 

   Prayers that lasted into the night. 

   Prayers that the next morning the sun would return.

When time for the next new day grew near, great crowds began to gather on the highest hilltops, atop the highest buildings. 

   People stared at the eastern horizon; every eye fixed on that point where the sun should appear.

And then it came.  Came with its usual exuberance.  Came with its rays painting patterns across the sky.  Warm and comforting as it had always been.  At first there was only silence and then as one mighty voice, shouts of thanksgiving.        Thank you, Lord echoed all around.

   No one yet knew that a sleeping, giant volcano in Indonesia, called Krakatoa, had come to life.  When it exploded, it had sent streaming 6 miles into the atmosphere tons of ash and lava rock, a black cloud so thick the sun’s rays could not penetrate it. 

   On the wings of the wind it rapidly traveled around the world, covering whole regions from horizon to horizon with its debris. 

   It was the first time such a gigantic eruption had ever happened. 

   It was also the first time many in the gathered masses had thanked God for the sun. 

   Of course, few people thank God for the sun, it’s always there.  And perhaps that’s the point.  We need to constantly thank God for the always there’s He daily gives us.

Two men were walking without a care in the world through a beautiful meadow. 

Suddenly, nothing was beautiful at all - an enraged bull, seeing them, began to paw the ground and then headed in their direction. 

As they ran for their lives, one man shouted at the other, “Pray, John.  Pray.” 

The other man shouted back, “I’ve never made a public prayer in my life.”

 “Well, now is the time,” puffed back his companion, “the bull is about to catch us.” 

“All right,” panted John, “I’ll pray the only prayer I know, one my father used to repeat at the table, ‘O Lord, make us truly thankful for what we are about to receive.”

A good thanksgiving prayer is improved and better aimed with practice. 

A good thanksgiving prayer is an extension of many thanksgiving prayers just sitting and waiting to be used again.

 A good thanksgiving prayer doesn’t become a joke because it is the only one you know, and haven’t even used that one very often.

When Tucky and I eat out I always ask for a table by a window or in the corner.  Both offer a great view.  And I guess that is what having a thankful heart is all about.  Having an attitude toward life with a great view.  And more importantly, the ability to appreciate the view.

Have you ever dared to complain that you have not been getting what you deserve? 

Perhaps you had better offer up a prayer of gratitude that you have not been getting what you deserve.

Gratitude – thanksgiving…these are gifts, but you have to recognize them as such.  Be excited by them.  Unwrap them with joy and apply them with enthusiasm.

Were your taxes higher than you would have liked them to be?  The streets of Miami are filled with those who pay no taxes.  During the last election campaigns did you get sick and tired of the attack ads?

 Bad as they were, and I agree we would have been better off without them, would you prefer to live where such freedom of speech did not exist to then be abused?

 Do you complain that the bathroom scales must be broken when you look down at a new high?  There are millions in Africa who haven’t over-eaten in years. 

Why be thankful?  Because there is transformation in gratitude.  There is energy in gratitude.  There is the smell and touch of eternity in gratitude.  One thing is for sure, if you cannot find gratitude for what you have, it is quite likely you will never get enough to make you grateful. 

Remember the Peanuts cartoon where Lucy says to Charlie Brown, “I have everything, I hate everybody.  I hate the whole wide world.”  Charlie Brown replies, “But I thought you had inner peace.”  Lucy retorts, “I do have inner peace.  But I still have outer obnoxiousness.” 

People who are without gratitude are often obnoxious.  How could they be otherwise?  How can one smile when there is a scowl on their soul?   How can anyone do anything else but fight the world when they believe the world is dedicated to fighting them?  A grateful heart just looks at the world differently.  A man or woman who says “Thank you” a dozen times a day does not complain a dozen times a day.

Did you ever stop to think that gratitude creates environmental protection?  It is thanksgiving in action.  Yes, bringing to the table of life an appreciative spirit improves the environment for you and those who live around you.  When you enter a room what do you do to the emotional atmosphere and climate?  When you leave, what have you done?

What I have been trying to suggest, in all the ways I can think of, is that you become a prisoner of the spirit of thanksgiving, not a prisoner to pessimism and all its woes. 

To be held captive by a thankful spirit so you don’t become a modern day Ebenezer Scrooge.       Would you be happy and content?  Then grow so comfortable with being thankful you wear that attitude like an old suit that fits well and feels good.

 There is such beauty in thanksgiving and when it is lacking, there is such empty ugliness. 

The story is told of a man who found the barn where Satan stores the seeds he sows in the human heart: envy, greed, anger, hatred, lust, and so on. The man soon noticed that Satan had more seeds of despair and discouragement than of any other kind.  He learned that those seeds could be made to grow almost anywhere.  When Satan was questioned, he reluctantly admitted that there was one place in which he could not get them to grow. "And where is that?" asked the man.  Satan sadly replied with defeat in his voice, "In the heart of a thankful man.”

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Recent articles Rev. Wyrick has written for this web site are:  REFLECTIONS


·         Here Comes Summer (July 2012)

·         Spring (May 2012)

·         Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow (April 2012)

·         Wayward and Windy (April 2012)


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