back to index2019-11-24 So Thankful, For Good Reason
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Today, because Thanksgiving is on Thursday and we want to really prepare our hearts and 00:00:13.600 |
also think through the facet of thankfulness and gratitude in our hearts, I've prepared 00:00:20.520 |
a sermon pertaining to this topic of Thanksgiving, but the way I've entitled it is "So Thankful 00:00:28.920 |
And the reason why is because as I took a moment to think about this topic, I asked 00:00:38.520 |
I'm super grateful for the many things that are happening in my life, but I have been 00:00:44.800 |
Have I been maturing and growing in my thankfulness?" 00:00:49.000 |
Or on the flip side of it, I just started kind of asking, "Or have I become just pretty 00:00:54.880 |
And although I'm grateful, it's just not that deep." 00:00:58.340 |
And as I started to think about that, there was a kind of fear in me. 00:01:02.320 |
And the reason why is because, yes, I am grateful, but clearly the scriptures calls us as Christians 00:01:11.240 |
It calls us to really be overjoyed, to rejoice always, and to have this gratitude that's 00:01:21.080 |
But then, there's a part of me that wonders, "Have I become so, again, accustomed and trained? 00:01:30.080 |
You know, three times a day, every time you eat, you say the prayer, 'Thank you for this 00:01:45.720 |
And the fear is not so much because, "Oh, man, I ought to be more thankful." 00:01:49.040 |
The fear is because if I am thinking about my God appropriately, if I do that, it could 00:02:01.000 |
That if the Lord truly has given us such a blessing in all the heavenly realm, such a 00:02:06.860 |
treasure that it's His very presence and it's the gift of His most precious Son, and the 00:02:13.960 |
best I can give to Him is politeness, although I'm trying, it could end up being one of those 00:02:20.240 |
things where although I am trying, it can be offensive. 00:02:25.080 |
Because the Scripture has called us to a state of mind where we are literally spilling over 00:02:29.880 |
with gratitude because God has so filled our hearts and our lives with blessing upon blessing, 00:02:39.080 |
And so as I started to think about this, I started having this mentality. 00:02:43.940 |
I need to ask myself the question, 'How deep is my gratitude and my appreciation for the 00:02:58.440 |
Is it appropriate to my relationship with Him?" 00:03:00.920 |
And that's the way I want to challenge us today. 00:03:03.460 |
So please turn your Bibles over to Luke chapter 7, verse 36 through 47. 00:03:13.600 |
And again, my assumption is should you have been a Christian long enough, you know you 00:03:19.120 |
ought to be thankful, and I assume that you are. 00:03:22.960 |
The challenge is not so much stop being so ungrateful and spoiled. 00:03:26.360 |
The challenge is from where you are, how deep has your gratitude gone? 00:03:31.760 |
From where you are in your faith, is your gratitude maturing, deepening, widening, and 00:03:37.240 |
all the more growing with your understanding of God? 00:03:40.760 |
So starting from verse 36, the Scripture says this. 00:03:46.400 |
"One of the Pharisees asked him," that is Christ, "to eat with him. 00:03:50.400 |
And he went into Pharisee's house and reclined at the table. 00:03:54.240 |
And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining 00:03:59.540 |
at the table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment. 00:04:04.280 |
And standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, 00:04:09.640 |
and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with 00:04:14.960 |
And when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, 'If this man 00:04:18.960 |
were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching 00:04:33.160 |
And Jesus answering him said, 'Simon, I have something to say to you.' 00:04:39.760 |
A certain moneylender has two debtors, one owed five hundred denarii, and another fifty. 00:04:45.760 |
When they could not pay, he canceled the debt of both. 00:04:50.880 |
Simon answered, 'The one, I suppose, for whom he canceled the larger debt.' 00:04:54.760 |
And he said to him, 'You have judged rightly.' 00:04:58.080 |
Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, 'Do you see this woman? 00:05:05.920 |
But she has wet my feet with her tears, and wiped them with her hair. 00:05:09.560 |
You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in, she has not ceased to kiss my feet. 00:05:14.580 |
You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 00:05:19.360 |
Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven. 00:05:22.760 |
For she loved much, but he who is forgiven little, loves little." 00:05:30.440 |
All right, God, we want to thank you for your precious word. 00:05:37.320 |
We want to thank you because as our heavenly Father, you are teaching us what it means 00:05:44.680 |
Father God, we want to repent of the fact that, yes, in many seasons of life and in 00:05:50.260 |
many ways, we can be so absent-minded, forgetful, and inconsiderate of the fact that we owe 00:05:58.440 |
But thank you again, Lord, that you lead us in the spirit. 00:06:01.720 |
I pray, more than anything, God, you would open our eyes to just see, to see the reality, 00:06:08.080 |
the spiritual picture of your relationship with us. 00:06:12.280 |
And God, from seeing the whole scenario, we would just lavish, Father God, and we would 00:06:21.440 |
So again, thankfulness, the way that Jesus is describing it, it's pretty simple, right? 00:06:29.920 |
I mean, all it is is essentially you receiving something as a grace gift from God, right? 00:06:34.840 |
So you're receiving something, and so you're thankful, okay? 00:06:38.760 |
But remember, today, we're talking about the depth of your gratitude. 00:06:41.400 |
We're talking about how you can grow and expand in your gratitude. 00:06:45.640 |
And so I want to say, even just that simple picture of how you are supposed to receive 00:06:54.340 |
Because depending on how you see yourself in the picture, depending on how you see your 00:07:01.840 |
Depending on your deficiency, you're going to grow in the depth of your gratitude. 00:07:06.160 |
Depending on what it is you actually think you received, right? 00:07:09.680 |
Depending on the actual gift itself, depending on the act of grace that you receive, you're 00:07:15.960 |
But most importantly, depending on the person you see, the one who's giving it to you, you're 00:07:23.980 |
And so in those three ways, I'm going to walk down them one by one now. 00:07:27.440 |
I want to challenge you to grow in our gratitude. 00:07:30.560 |
And essentially, as I go through that, you're going to recognize very clearly, we're just 00:07:35.880 |
Rehearsing the gospel and its narrative about who you are prior to knowing God, the amazing 00:07:41.200 |
gift that you have, and then being able to actually know him. 00:07:45.080 |
Now first, the way I want to phrase it is, I am so thankful because, because I want to 00:07:51.720 |
I'm so grateful because I am deeply undeserving. 00:07:58.760 |
I want to show you by this story and parable, and the incident when Jesus enters into the 00:08:03.800 |
Pharisee's house, what Jesus is emphasizing by his parable. 00:08:08.800 |
So in his Antidote, he essentially gives us this amazing principle of life. 00:08:13.720 |
In verse 47, he said, "He who is forgiven little, loves little." 00:08:18.720 |
That's a principle he's saying, there is a direct correlation here. 00:08:22.800 |
You think you've been forgiven this, your gratitude is this. 00:08:29.200 |
For our purposes, we can use a synonymous term, much forgiven, much thankful. 00:08:33.600 |
On the flip side, little forgiven, little thankful. 00:08:36.960 |
But I want us to take a second look at that passage, because there's so much more to glean 00:08:40.540 |
in terms of where Jesus is pointing the finger at the error in the whole scenario. 00:08:46.560 |
Well, starting from verse 40 again, Jesus answered Simon, because Simon said something. 00:08:56.400 |
And Jesus answers and says, "I've got something to say to you." 00:09:00.560 |
Verse 41, "A certain money lender had two debtors. 00:09:04.440 |
He owed five, one owed 500 denarii and the other 50. 00:09:08.200 |
When they could not pay, he canceled the debts of both. 00:09:14.560 |
Okay, so there's the impetus for our question of growing deeper, right? 00:09:20.480 |
There's a degree to which one should be more grateful. 00:09:23.680 |
And Simon answered, "The one I suppose for whom he canceled the larger debt." 00:09:28.760 |
And Jesus said to him, "You have judged rightly." 00:09:31.880 |
Then now turning to the woman, he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? 00:09:38.160 |
You gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with tears and wiped them 00:09:43.960 |
You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in, she has not ceased to kiss my feet. 00:09:49.480 |
You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 00:09:53.320 |
Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much." 00:10:05.920 |
The error in the scenario is not so much that the Pharisees said, "Look at that woman. 00:10:18.400 |
Because even Jesus says, "Her sins are many." 00:10:21.020 |
As a matter of fact, the narrative in the story says, "There was this sinner who came." 00:10:25.640 |
There's an affirmation of the fact that their sins are many. 00:10:31.440 |
It is the mentality of the Pharisee to presume, "I'm the sinner with the 50 denarii debt." 00:10:39.640 |
Why do you automatically assume you're not the guy with more? 00:10:45.200 |
When you say, "She's a sinner," it betrays you. 00:10:49.400 |
Because you say that with the assumption and you're not. 00:10:58.140 |
When we see the depth of our sin, when we see the kind of weight and gravity of our 00:11:06.240 |
own wretchedness, there is automatically going to be an appreciation for God's grace. 00:11:12.040 |
Should you assume, "Oh, what I got was this nice help that I could have used, might have 00:11:20.800 |
done well with, but I didn't necessarily need," your thankfulness will never be appropriate 00:11:31.080 |
And so to talk about that a little bit, I think there is this kind of dangerous mantra 00:11:36.520 |
I hear it in the songs, I hear it sometimes on the radio when I listen. 00:11:40.640 |
And the mentality is, you know, we're all hurt people and all we need is love. 00:11:49.160 |
It's kind of sentiment and mentality of our modern culture where they believe all we need 00:11:54.320 |
And what I'm going to say to that is, it is true. 00:11:59.800 |
We were built with the capacity to love, God desires to show His love, and we need it. 00:12:06.520 |
But something that's a little off is, is that really all you need? 00:12:12.280 |
Take a moment to think about that and chew on it. 00:12:20.620 |
Because when I say this is what I need, it presumes who I am prior, right? 00:12:27.040 |
We absolutely need righteousness because we're unrighteous. 00:12:31.920 |
We need holiness because we have such depravity, wickedness, and evil within us. 00:12:37.800 |
Let me have you chew on something else for a little bit. 00:12:40.220 |
Imagine this, we know through the gospel that we have the certificate of death. 00:12:45.880 |
We essentially have a ledger with the red markings of our sin. 00:12:54.480 |
Imagine by the grace of God, He says, "You know what? 00:12:58.640 |
Does He still have to accept you into His kingdom? 00:13:05.960 |
For people who have no righteousness of your own, you need Christ's righteousness. 00:13:13.160 |
Should Jesus not give to us His righteousness, what righteousness do we have? 00:13:18.400 |
Even if we went from negative three billion to zero, what righteousness do we have? 00:13:22.900 |
What meritous kind of advantageous, what anything do we have to show the Lord? 00:13:32.920 |
We need not only His righteousness, we need His mercy. 00:13:36.200 |
Because should we believe we are criminals who have transgressed law, I need mercy. 00:13:42.040 |
I need sustenance because I'm a child, I'm an infant, and I don't know how to take care 00:13:59.900 |
But if you thought, "You know, that's all I need." 00:14:02.500 |
My admonition to you is going to be, "No, your need is so much deeper." 00:14:10.100 |
Everything you have, you don't have the power to even sustain it. 00:14:16.580 |
Everything you are right now, you owe to the mercies of God. 00:14:22.700 |
Everything has been merciful, gracious acts to you. 00:14:27.200 |
And for you, you are to feel, "And I absolutely needed every ounce of it." 00:14:34.340 |
They were not just good and nice stuff that we received. 00:14:37.620 |
And that's why I want to read to you this passage, 1 Corinthians 4, verse 6-7. 00:14:42.420 |
Apostle Paul says, "Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively applied to myself and 00:14:47.300 |
Apollos for your sake, so that in us you may learn not to exceed what is written, so that 00:14:52.380 |
no one of you will become arrogant in behalf of one against another. 00:15:02.160 |
And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?" 00:15:08.340 |
That's an important phrase for us to understand. 00:15:11.220 |
So, I have this thought I want to share with you, that not only then are we supposed to 00:15:18.020 |
appreciate the depth of our sin, but in that light then, we of all people should know the 00:15:24.740 |
difference of the value of the merciful gifts that we receive. 00:15:28.100 |
What I'm talking about is, in the parable that Jesus is saying, there is a clear difference 00:15:37.540 |
Now in order to communicate this a little bit more, I want to share with you sometimes, 00:15:42.020 |
there are moments when I kind of worry, when I hear people's testimony. 00:15:46.940 |
What am I talking about that I worry hearing people's testimony? 00:15:50.960 |
Sometimes I talk to individuals and they have this testimony where they share. 00:15:55.620 |
When I ask them, "When did it really make sense to you? 00:16:02.220 |
And they'll say, "Yeah, I was in high school, I was a senior, so much was changing. 00:16:07.100 |
I didn't get into the school that I want, my friends were leaving, it was such a rough 00:16:12.460 |
Okay, I heard that and I said, "Hmm, did you say a rough patch?" 00:16:21.700 |
It's like, "You know, I was changing because I had so much expectations, I was disappointed, 00:16:27.220 |
I was wrestling with pressure, just the burden of my parents, and then things happening, 00:16:33.140 |
and there were so many hurdles, but God helped me through every hurdle." 00:16:42.740 |
I want you to take a moment to think about that. 00:16:47.220 |
The reason why I worry is because if the good news of the gospel to you surmounts to God 00:16:53.820 |
helping you hurdle obstacles, you will never be thankful enough, and you will be in danger 00:17:04.380 |
Now when I say that, I don't say that to diminish people's experience, because if God helps 00:17:09.900 |
you in the time of need, should you give honor and thank him? 00:17:14.220 |
Praise his name, because every season of your life, you're going to need his help. 00:17:21.420 |
I'm not trying to minimize the story, I'm not trying to minimize the suffering, I'm 00:17:28.620 |
But you of all people should be able to tell the difference between 500 and 50. 00:17:35.460 |
You and I as believers should know the difference between eternity with God in heaven versus 00:17:40.380 |
overcoming two years of suffering, overcoming my senior year in high school, overcoming 00:17:46.360 |
that weird stage when I was changing, being forgiven so that you no longer face the wrath 00:17:52.860 |
of God in all eternity in hell versus having the power to go through hardship, pains, and 00:18:01.500 |
You should be able to tell the difference, and your gratitude should match the difference. 00:18:10.060 |
And so I want to give you this matter of admonition, our thankfulness, our thankfulness has to 00:18:18.700 |
And we see the value, not just simply because of what people around us are experiencing, 00:18:24.260 |
because I see the value of my need, of my desperate need. 00:18:27.820 |
And when are we then going to be like this woman who has this incredible joy, incredible 00:18:34.340 |
Do you think she was crying like that because now she got out of the city? 00:18:44.700 |
And so that's why I say as a challenge to every single one of us, our challenge to grow 00:18:49.340 |
in our gratitude is a challenge to accept the depth of our undeserving nature, of our 00:18:54.860 |
wretchedness, and therefore to see the great need that God has filled. 00:19:00.300 |
And so to highlight that, there's a special verse in Luke chapter 18 where Jesus highlights 00:19:10.620 |
Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 00:19:16.340 |
The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself, "God, I thank you. 00:19:21.180 |
I want you to take a moment to recognize that. 00:19:26.780 |
And he says, "That I am not like the others, swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like 00:19:37.700 |
But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes 00:19:43.980 |
to heaven, but was beating his breast saying, 'God, be merciful to me, the sinner.' 00:19:49.140 |
I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other. 00:19:53.340 |
For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted." 00:20:01.520 |
If we are growing as Christians over the years, we should all of a sudden be more in tune 00:20:11.400 |
We should all the more see the dependency of our lives, that we absolutely need every 00:20:16.980 |
ounce of grace, and that the depth of our wretchedness only then inspires the gratitude 00:20:25.060 |
And so I want to move to the second point, that I'm so thankful because of his extensive 00:20:32.540 |
Because if you were to just focus on your then deep, deep pit of depravity, you would 00:20:42.540 |
But it's in that light, in that reality, we see the extensive works of God, then we can 00:20:47.460 |
grow in love and we can grow in thankfulness. 00:20:50.620 |
I want to remind you, the scripture says that God's love is not only deep, but he wants 00:21:01.340 |
And what I'm talking about here is if you have been Christian for some time, are you 00:21:05.260 |
growing in the knowledge and breadth of the kind of works that God has accomplished? 00:21:10.420 |
Are you growing in your appreciation for the details of what he has done? 00:21:18.020 |
How meticulously he's been planning our salvation? 00:21:20.820 |
That his redemptive plan was not any kind of fluke like, "You know what? 00:21:27.100 |
That is not the way God has worked in history and that is not the way he's working now. 00:21:32.020 |
Remember that God is taking people from the kingdom of darkness, from the reign of Satan, 00:21:39.420 |
Remember that he's taking rebellious enemies of God and making them friends of the Lord. 00:21:44.540 |
He's taking you, he's taking me from being abandoned, abandoned children, children of 00:21:52.140 |
the devil, to then adopted sons and daughters. 00:21:56.180 |
He's taking us, those who are lifeless, decaying corpse to abundant fullness of life. 00:22:06.100 |
Only to learn in scripture when he says, "I'm removing it," he's taking that sin and placing 00:22:12.420 |
Right now what I did is just two minutes go through various avenues by which God has worked. 00:22:17.260 |
My question to you is, if someone asks you, "Why are you so thankful for the faith that 00:22:23.380 |
Why are you so thankful for the salvation that you have?" 00:22:25.300 |
And the best you can say is, "Well, I know Jesus came, died, and left." 00:22:30.900 |
The depth of your gratitude is only going to be that. 00:22:34.940 |
And yes, surely enough, that alone is going to be causing you tons of praise and glorious 00:22:44.860 |
You need to grow in the understanding of his grace and his work towards us. 00:22:50.020 |
I want to read to you Psalm 107, verses 1 through 7, which says this, "Oh, give thanks 00:22:57.780 |
to the Lord for he is good, for his loving kindness is everlasting. 00:23:02.340 |
Let the redeemed of the Lord say, 'So whom he has redeemed from the land of the adversary, 00:23:08.700 |
and gathered from the land, from the east, from the west, from the north, from the south. 00:23:12.360 |
They wandered in the wilderness, in the desert region. 00:23:14.840 |
They did not find a way to an inhabited city. 00:23:20.720 |
Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble. 00:23:25.220 |
He led them also by a straight way to go to an inhabited city. 00:23:29.880 |
Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind. 00:23:35.900 |
For he satisfies the thirsty, and he fills the hungry with good things." 00:23:40.220 |
Man, I ask myself, am I growing and maturing and understanding? 00:23:47.020 |
And I want to share with you, this is to our joy that we get to grow in this fashion with 00:23:53.700 |
It's to your great joy that you get to constantly learn, my God is my creator. 00:24:00.380 |
To experience, my God is my defender, he's my sustainer, he's my shepherd, right? 00:24:05.800 |
To all these things, it is to our benefit to grow in every single fashion, to learn 00:24:10.040 |
he is my judge who's going to vindicate, he's going to be the righteous one who will lead 00:24:19.400 |
Now here's an area that I want to just highlight for you because there is another danger that's 00:24:29.960 |
I've been a pastor for like eight or nine years, you know? 00:24:32.800 |
I've been preaching on the pulpit pretty regularly. 00:24:35.540 |
So if you were to ask that question, "Do you know these things?" 00:24:38.200 |
Well, my answer, I'm not trying to be prideful, I'm going to be like, "Yes, I preached it." 00:24:44.160 |
But then there's that question, "Why then do I find that sometimes my gratitude more 00:24:50.520 |
feels like etiquette than a deep felt appreciation that's moving me? 00:24:58.800 |
And I wonder if you can relate to me and ask that same question, like, "I know the stuff. 00:25:11.300 |
Sometimes it's just small, small, narrow, narrow, like I would say, error in belief 00:25:19.580 |
And in order to highlight that, I want to give you an example, okay? 00:25:22.960 |
I don't know if some of you guys are like major romantics in here. 00:25:26.520 |
Unfortunately, I'm not, but I wish I was more. 00:25:30.440 |
Now imagine that you are a crazy romantic and to the girl that you like, or for you 00:25:34.740 |
husbands, to your wife, you're like, "You know what? 00:25:42.620 |
So you tell your special lady, "Hey, you don't have to lift a finger. 00:25:47.660 |
And so you plan ahead, you carve out a time, you make the day. 00:25:51.720 |
And then not only do you plan out the day, you pick the venue, you decide to hire people 00:25:56.900 |
So you, you know, use some of the college students here and you're just like, "I'll 00:26:01.280 |
And then you have them go decorate this place with streamers and pedals and stuff like that. 00:26:08.960 |
And then, not only that, but for food, you plan it out. 00:26:13.660 |
And therefore, you even plan to have it tested. 00:26:16.760 |
You do a run through with all the ingredients, you make someone test it, and they're like, 00:26:22.800 |
And then you go and you go prepare this thing. 00:26:24.760 |
You do the whole spread, you turn on the music, everything's beautiful. 00:26:28.800 |
Day comes and then she comes in, she's like, "Wow. 00:26:41.640 |
But to your surprise, out of, you know, what should be gratitude, she should say something 00:26:57.280 |
Imagine if she said in response to all that, like, "Good job. 00:27:06.920 |
I'd just be like, "I guess dinner's done, 'cause I'm not even gonna..." 00:27:11.480 |
'Cause you just feel like so underappreciated. 00:27:16.280 |
See, we could see all of God's work and you could see all of his wondrous plans. 00:27:22.860 |
But if in your heart you think God is just doing his duty towards you, your thankfulness 00:27:28.480 |
If you believe God is just fulfilling his responsibilities to you as God, and then when 00:27:32.760 |
he doesn't, you look up and you're like, "What are you doing? 00:27:38.720 |
If you treat the Lord that way, I hope you don't treat people that way, but I hope you 00:27:42.200 |
realize that sometimes we are in danger of treating God that way. 00:27:51.840 |
I want us to remember, God doesn't even have to listen to us. 00:27:57.680 |
When I ask him for something and I pray, there is no obligation that is infringed upon God 00:28:10.200 |
And so in that way, when you see the vast array of his mercies and works of grace towards 00:28:21.960 |
And then what's more, I want to move to our third point, which is I am even more so thankful 00:28:45.040 |
I want to remind you that yes, learning about our depravity and our wretchedness deepens 00:28:55.360 |
And yes, seeing all the little works, all the big works, all the various things God 00:29:09.440 |
Biblical thankfulness, you've heard this probably before. 00:29:15.160 |
You might be having a rough season in your life. 00:29:16.880 |
You might be going through some struggles and people say to you, "You got to really 00:29:23.640 |
You should look for the blessings and you should count them. 00:29:29.520 |
But if that's all you do, you missed the big picture. 00:29:33.440 |
All you did is bean counting and you're not going to feel good after that. 00:29:40.520 |
What you should do is you should look to God. 00:29:43.760 |
He is the greatest source, the greatest power. 00:29:48.400 |
In your relationship to Him, He is your greatest answer, He is your greatest comfort to whatever 00:30:02.800 |
You know what's really interesting is not too long ago, someone asked me, "Is it wrong 00:30:12.520 |
They said, "Yeah, I'm not like jettisoning the faith. 00:30:15.200 |
I'm not going to run away and throw him to the curb, but is it wrong to pray in anger 00:30:27.000 |
I was like, "Hmm, let me look for all the places in the Bible I remember people are 00:30:31.360 |
And I was like, "Oh, there's a lot of mad people in the Bible." 00:30:44.120 |
So I was tempted to be like, "I guess you can." 00:30:53.840 |
Now, I don't like using the word because it's a little harsh, but let's just use the word 00:31:01.560 |
So when you start asking the question, "Can I do this in this context?" 00:31:05.400 |
I'm not sure if you're seeing the big picture. 00:31:07.360 |
And that's what I mean by God is the biggest reality. 00:31:20.760 |
And you're sitting there like, "Do you think I could be angry with him? 00:31:30.800 |
And then maybe someone could counter-argue and say, "Well, now we're children of God. 00:31:35.920 |
As a son, shouldn't I have the open door to go to God in this fashion?" 00:31:43.800 |
If you are a child of God, you should know better than anybody else. 00:31:50.960 |
And this Almighty God is the person you have." 00:31:56.800 |
You don't have things that you can run away with. 00:31:58.840 |
You don't have things where we have the tendency to appreciate the gift and forget the giver. 00:32:09.880 |
And Jesus tells this kind of funny story that we made into a children's song. 00:32:16.560 |
And what Jesus says is, "On the way to Jerusalem, he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. 00:32:21.680 |
And as he entered a village, he was met by 10 lepers who stood at a distance and lifted 00:32:26.060 |
up their voices, saying, 'Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.' 00:32:30.240 |
When he saw them, he said to them, 'Go and show yourself to the priests.' 00:32:35.600 |
Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud 00:32:41.240 |
And he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving thanks to him. 00:32:47.200 |
Then Jesus answered, 'Were there not 10 lepers cleansed? 00:32:55.040 |
Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?' 00:33:02.080 |
Remember, we are susceptible to be so excited. 00:33:07.660 |
I don't think all of these lepers were just so ungrateful, spoiled people who were just 00:33:14.400 |
They were just so excited about being healed because they knew their depravity. 00:33:24.140 |
They knew their whole lives they were unclean. 00:33:27.660 |
They're so excited about their healing, they ran off and didn't appreciate the giver. 00:33:38.900 |
All the more we have to appreciate the giver of the gifts. 00:33:42.720 |
So with that said, I want to challenge us to the depths of the thankfulness that you 00:34:01.260 |
Yes, it's not going to be perfect because we know, "Lord, I'm not going to fully see 00:34:09.420 |
But in as much as you've shown me, thank you so much." 00:34:13.260 |
Now beyond that, not only do I want to say you need to grow in that kind of fashion, 00:34:16.960 |
what I'm going to do now is quickly, quickly go through. 00:34:20.260 |
If your heart is thankful, may we not be like the scenario where only one out of ten comes 00:34:26.780 |
back because in our hearts we have to express it. 00:34:34.140 |
In our relationship with God, we have to reveal, "God, this is my heart. 00:34:40.560 |
And that's why scripture calls us to overflow, overflow with gratitude, to always be grateful 00:34:54.740 |
By way of the expression then, as you recognize what the Lord has done, as we recognize who 00:34:59.420 |
he is to us, I want you to think about the woman at the dinner table. 00:35:06.860 |
And I'll give you three, three very fast expressions of gratitude that every single one of us can 00:35:15.980 |
First, is to bless the Lord, to bless the Lord. 00:35:19.900 |
I want you to think back with me at the woman, the woman from the city, the sinner who came 00:35:26.580 |
She came in and she knew that he was reclining there and she knew that this was an intense 00:35:32.060 |
I just want you to understand that the scenario was kind of intense because the Pharisees 00:35:36.060 |
are religious leaders of the time and they already felt threatened. 00:35:44.080 |
To jump into this meeting would be kind of like if, let's say, our church leadership 00:35:48.860 |
was in a heated debate with another camp and we were going at it or something like that. 00:35:53.180 |
I mean, obviously, it doesn't sound like they were going at it here, but then you didn't 00:35:56.100 |
know what's happening and you just walked in and you're like, "Oh," and you slowly close 00:36:01.400 |
To want attention in an arena, no one would want that kind of attention. 00:36:08.720 |
The risk this lady took, it must have been worth it. 00:36:18.700 |
High risk scenario for a sinning lady who pretty much had a reputation because everybody 00:36:23.180 |
somehow knew her to come into this arena where there is religious leaders of the time having 00:36:29.460 |
this dinner to make a scene as high risk must have been worth it. 00:36:42.420 |
My point to you is she wanted to accomplish nothing more than to bless her savior. 00:36:48.540 |
She wasn't there to go make a case, "I'm fighting for the ladies in the city. 00:36:57.560 |
She didn't go in there to correct the Pharisees and say, "You religious leaders, look what 00:37:02.660 |
you're doing to us, heavily burdening us, basically condemning us." 00:37:16.300 |
When you see the picture, you just start picturing it. 00:37:19.060 |
This lady came in and she humbled herself to the point where she didn't even feel the 00:37:25.140 |
Did you notice that it says she was by her feet? 00:37:27.560 |
She was washing it, but she did it from behind him. 00:37:31.180 |
She lowered herself and blessed him with the ointment, with her tears, and with her love. 00:37:38.840 |
If there are ways for us to grow in our gratitude, let us grow in this. 00:37:44.540 |
And that's why scriptures in Psalm chapter 103 says, it commands us, "Bless the Lord, 00:37:48.940 |
O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. 00:37:53.860 |
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all our iniquity, 00:37:59.460 |
who heals all our diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast 00:38:05.540 |
love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's." 00:38:15.620 |
What an inspiration for us to show our Lord our gratitude just by blessing him with our 00:38:23.900 |
And what's more, secondly, we can express our gratitude by boasting in God. 00:38:31.140 |
If it so fills your heart, if it so edifies, if it so refreshes your soul, it's going to 00:38:39.420 |
And what the scripture says is beyond just saying, "Oh, thank you." 00:38:47.180 |
In Psalm chapter 44 verse 8, it says, "In God we have boasted all day long, and we will 00:39:01.820 |
The next passage here is Psalm 9 verse 1 through 2. 00:39:04.580 |
"I'll give thanks to the Lord with all my heart. 00:39:16.260 |
What I want to share with you is, man, I feel like in this generation, people want to be 00:39:22.920 |
People want to be able to communicate that they're experts in their field. 00:39:30.020 |
We got guys who are experts at this and that. 00:39:32.060 |
If there is anything you are wanting to boast about, boast about this, scripture says, 00:39:42.260 |
This is one of the greatest ways for you to show your appreciation for God. 00:39:48.940 |
Express your gratitude towards God by giving all of yourself to him. 00:39:56.620 |
Now, as I talk about this, I want to say, we see that the scriptures show us that there 00:40:04.140 |
So I want you to think about times when you've been really thankful. 00:40:07.580 |
I know that some of you guys receive birthday cards and then everybody, you know, Facebook 00:40:13.140 |
Like, man, people really, sometimes they think of you. 00:40:16.460 |
And then so when they send you a card, you're like, "Thanks for thinking of me." 00:40:19.540 |
You know, and then you just want to show your gratitude like that. 00:40:27.580 |
When you're just like so thankful, it kind of moves you to tears. 00:40:31.540 |
About two weeks ago, there was a wedding and then the maid of honor was the sister of the 00:40:39.120 |
And then when they give the speech, it's like emotionally really intense, but they start 00:40:42.340 |
talking about like, "Thank you, like that life lived together, all the moments of like 00:40:49.460 |
And then they start crying and I'm sitting there like, "Don't cry." 00:40:55.740 |
Because I get moved by stuff like that because I grew up and my older brother, he's about 00:41:00.500 |
He's been like the best brother in the world. 00:41:03.380 |
And then, you know, it's like, you know how it is sometimes it just moves you. 00:41:10.540 |
And I gave a speech at my brother's wedding, he gave a speech at mine. 00:41:14.100 |
And I'm so thankful for him because you think about the longevity of the years together. 00:41:19.420 |
It's hard not to cry, you know, especially moments of milestone. 00:41:23.500 |
You're just so grateful, it moves you to tears. 00:41:28.700 |
But did you know there's a level up beyond that, what I like to call the ugly cry? 00:41:33.220 |
Because I see some of you guys at the weddings, right? 00:41:35.940 |
When you go to meet your parents after you go and do the unicandle and they say the groom 00:41:41.060 |
and the bride are going to come and thank the parents and they go over to the parents 00:41:46.140 |
And you do the ugly cry and you're just like, you know, everyone's watching you, you know, 00:41:50.580 |
the parents' faces facing that way, your face is just like right there. 00:41:54.940 |
But you're just so thankful, you can't help but ugly cry. 00:41:59.260 |
But there is actually a level of thankfulness even beyond that, right? 00:42:04.020 |
Whenever you felt a level of thankfulness behind that, typically it is only when your 00:42:08.140 |
savior has done for you what you know there was no other option. 00:42:13.340 |
What you know you could not do and you did not deserve. 00:42:18.300 |
There is a kind of thankfulness that moves you to say, "I don't know how to thank you 00:42:22.420 |
from words, from crying, from whatever it may be. 00:42:27.900 |
You tell me what you need me to do, I'll do it." 00:42:37.500 |
You're just so thankful and inspired, I feel like I just want to give to you. 00:42:54.180 |
Because the kind of gratitude that we're supposed to have is this incredible gratitude that 00:42:58.140 |
is, yes, at some points and moments in our lives, maybe we think, "Oh, is this right? 00:43:07.900 |
The debtor's ethic is false, okay, which says this, "Oh my goodness, I am such a wretched 00:43:21.420 |
And then God says to you, "What are you doing? 00:43:24.620 |
Don't act like you could have done something to prevent Jesus from going to the cross, 00:43:32.980 |
I have this incredible payment that you paid and I feel super bad for it and I wish there 00:43:40.540 |
And God Almighty will say, "Son, you had no other option but to put your burdens on Christ. 00:43:52.740 |
What I'm talking about is the ethic of thanksgiving where you say, 'You've been so generous to 00:44:03.260 |
I am both inspired, I'm vulnerable, I'm open to give back to you and whatever you want, 00:44:15.300 |
Take a look at this passage in Psalm 116 verse 12. 00:44:22.020 |
The psalmist says, "What shall I render to the Lord for all of his benefits to me? 00:44:27.020 |
I'll lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord. 00:44:31.220 |
I'll pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of his people." 00:44:41.540 |
You lose my bonds, I'll offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the 00:44:47.580 |
I'll pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people, in the courts of the house 00:44:56.900 |
My question to you, have we felt that gratitude that is so powerful it moves you to say, "God, 00:45:06.740 |
I'm not trying to repay you because I know I can't. 00:45:09.180 |
I'm not trying to make up for stuff because I can't make it up, but I am at your service 00:45:23.900 |
It doesn't matter if I'm here or there, in front of people or in private, I am yours." 00:45:30.460 |
This is the kind of gratitude that I hope we will aspire to because this is the kind 00:45:41.380 |
The kind of gratitude that moves you to freely give of yourself to the Lord, that's the kind 00:45:50.660 |
There's a passage in 2 Corinthians 9 that says this, "You will be enriched in every 00:45:56.580 |
way so that you can be generous on every occasion. 00:46:00.900 |
And through us, your generosity result in thanksgiving to God. 00:46:04.700 |
This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord's people, 00:46:09.500 |
but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. 00:46:15.180 |
Your generosity, your transformed life, because you received so much, it points to God and 00:46:26.140 |
Another passage I want to show you, 2 Corinthians 4 verse 15, "For all things are for your sakes 00:46:31.940 |
so that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of things 00:46:41.180 |
Today we were talking about growing in the depth and breadth of our gratitude to the 00:46:47.260 |
And I pray that we'll be inspired that no matter where you are currently, there has 00:46:56.720 |
And as you do that, understand that as you are being filled, God has so designed it to 00:47:01.340 |
transform you from being self-preserving, self-focused, self-attaining individuals to 00:47:11.940 |
Altogether powerful, altogether generous, altogether gracious. 00:47:31.260 |
God, we cannot even begin just to enumerate all the ways by which you have been merciful 00:47:39.740 |
But I pray, Lord, that although it's impossible for us to exhaustively do that, that God, 00:47:47.380 |
We would not grow weary of giving things to you. 00:47:53.180 |
Father God, you are so deserving that for eternity forward, people, your people, your 00:48:01.820 |
And I pray, Father God, that you would continue then to inspire us by faith, to help us to 00:48:05.980 |
see you, so that in every day, Lord, we would render to you our worship. 00:48:10.220 |
Father God, thank you for your word that speaks to us to examine our hearts. 00:48:15.380 |
I pray, Lord, that we would not sit on these things, but Lord, our expression would come