Believe: bonus #2 practice of living gratefully RUMC April 2, 2017

Believe: bonus #2 practice of living gratefully

RUMC April 2, 2017

It seemed like she had everything… She was young and beautiful and her dream of becoming a professional Christian Musician was coming true. She was applauded for writing the song “Indescribable” which was picked up and recorded by Chris Tomlin. When she sings it, it sounds like this.

  (Play indescribable)

 After that song was released, she won a Dove award and was twice nominated as female vocalist of the year. She married her high school sweetheart Martin Elvington in 2005. She began work as a music minister in the 4,000-member "Perimeter Church" in Atlanta. She had everything she hoped for, and she was only 28.

Then a brain tumor hospitalized her husband of less than one year. They were promised a long surgery, 2 days in intensive care, 2 days in a regular room and they could get on with life. Complications found her still sitting in the hospital next to her husband’s bed 4 months after the surgery. He had severe, permanent, memory impairment, and vision loss. It seemed like life was crashing in on her. (Hold on to that story)

We all face struggles in life. Not just brain tumors; but sickness, and violence, and stress, and poverty, and broken relationships, and shattered dreams. This is a troubled world, filled with troubled people. Including every one of us.

To these troubled people who live in this troubled world, Paul writes, “Be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Did you notice what I noticed?

 “Be thankful…with gratitude in your hearts… giving thanks to the father through Jesus. “ How could he say that?

Almost every letter of Paul contained in the Bible begins with thanksgiving. I count at least 49 occurrences of various forms of the words ‘thanks” Paul’s writings. He has been called the “apostle of thanks.”

In the gospel reading, Jesus encounters 10 people with a very real problem: leprosy. He heals all 10, but how many came back to say thank you? One. That seems about right. One in 10. One way of looking at it is we probably ought to be 10 times as thankful as we are.

This week’s Spiritual Practice is living gratefully.

In the Wesleyan tradition, we talk a lot about “grace.” It comes from the Latin word GRATIS, which is the root of the word grateful. I think, if we look at how we use the derivatives of the words “grace” and “gratis” in our everyday language, we will begin to get a deeper understanding of key concept of gratitude.

When we say grace before we eat, we acknowledge that our food is a gift from God. When someone does something kind, we’re grateful. When we hear good news, we’re gratified. When we’re successful, we are congratulated. When someone invites us to their house, we say that they’re gracious. At a restaurant, we show our gratitude to a server by the size of the gratuity we give.

Looking at the other side of the coin, reporters have referred to the demise of celebrities, politicians, and religious leaders suffering “a fall from grace.” When someone shows a lack of grace, we call them an “ingrate” or a “disgrace” or we say they have no “saving grace.” A person who commits an act of treason or treachery can be declared persona non grata – “person without grace.”

Fundamentally the spiritual practice of gratitude is the practice of being aware that in every moment of our lives, God’s grace surrounds us, and fills us. Living in God’s grace means living with a spirit of gratitude.

Exploring gratitude requires us to ask three fundamental questions.

 First, we ask, “Am I all there is?” If the answer is yes, there is no one to whom we need to be grateful. If there is nothing beyond you, to whom would you give thanks?

First, we have to admit that we are not the end all and be-all of this life. If we are to live gratefully, we have to get out of our own heads, our own lives, and our own egocentricity. If we are to live gratefully, we have to admit that most of what is beautiful, or miraculous, or powerful, or grand in this world is much bigger than us. When we understand that all of life is a free gift of grace from God, we have taken the first step in living gratefully.

 Second, we have to ask, "How powerful am I?” If we are honest, we have to admit that we are pretty powerless creatures. It is not possible for us to change the path of the tornado, cause a rainbow to arch across the sky, make ourselves a naturally talented artist, or bring life to a child. As we plant a seed, we have to admit that it is beyond our ability to make it grow. All of those things are free gifts of grace from God. If we are to live gratefully, we have to admit that most of what is beautiful, or miraculous, or powerful, or grand in this world is beyond our control. When we understand that everything we do is a free gift of grace from God, we have taken the second step in living gratefully.

 Third, we have to ask, “What did I do to earn this?” “What did I do to earn waking up this morning?” Or, “What did I do to earn that sunset the other night?” I have to ask, “Do I really deserve a wonderful wife like Robyn?” Maybe you ask, “What did I do to earn this bountiful harvest, this great job, this wonderful house, these terrific opportunities I have had.” And if we answer honestly, we have to admit that we are not entitled to anything. We may work hard. We may get lucky. However, most of life is a gracious gift of God.

We live in an entitlement society, a capitalist-pull yourself up by your bootstraps culture, and that creates the illusion that we earn our way through life. I, for one, am grateful that I do not get what I deserve. If we are to live gratefully, we have to admit that we do not deserve the beautiful, or miraculous, or powerful, or grand things of this life. When we understand that everything is a free gift of grace from God, we have taken the final step in living gratefully.

 When we know our little place in the universe, when we admit that we are powerless, and when we face the fact that we are completely unworthy of the beautiful, or miraculous, or powerful, or grand in this world; our hearts should overflow with gratitude. Right? But sometimes they don’t… How can that be? 

I’ll tell you how. Because sometimes life is not always beautiful, miraculous, powerful, or grand. Sometimes life just stinks.  Sometimes the hurts, and disappointments, and troubles of life wipe out our gratitude.

Remember the story about the woman at the beginning of the message. 28 years old and on top of the world. 29 years old and a new bride sitting next to her husband’s bed wondering if he is going to live, let alone whether they will have children, or grow old together.

The woman’s name is Laura Story. She says she learned along the way that sometimes what seems like a detour in life, is actually the road. She had to redefine the word “blessing.” She previously thought that blessings were always good things and happy things. Laura learned that sometimes the blessing is God’s presence in the hard times. Laura leaned that in the midst of suffering, sometimes the blessing is being surrounded by people who love, hold, and pray for one another. Laura learned that sometimes the blessing is found not in the victory, but in the tears. She learned what it really means to live with gratitude.

Listen to the song Laura wrote. You are welcome to sing if you know it.

  When we know our little place in the universe, when we admit we are powerless, and when we face the fact that we are completely unworthy… and God creates us anyway… we should be filled with gratitude and overflowing with thanksgiving.

When we know our little place in the universe, when we admit that we are powerless, and when we face the fact that we are completely unworthy …and Jesus dies for us anyway… we should be filled with gratitude and overflowing with thanksgiving.

When we know our little place in the universe, when we admit that we are powerless, and when we face the fact that we are completely unworthy… and we find ourselves the recipient of the most glorious sunset we have ever seen, or in the most difficult times, we are surrounded by a supportive praying church… we should be filled with gratitude and overflowing with thanksgiving.

When we know our little place in the universe, when we admit that we are powerless, and when we face the fact that we are completely unworthy… and we still find ourselves standing in the powerful loving presence of the God of heaven and earth, in good circumstances or in bad, we should be filled with gratitude and overflowing with thanksgiving.

Is it easy? No. However, neither are any of the other Spiritual practices we have discussed in the last 12 weeks. Just like prayer, and scripture reading, and worship, and offering our stuff; it comes with practice. You probably know me well enough to know that I am still practicing, and I have a long way to go. I am willing to work on living gratefully if you will. 

 “Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”