AN ATTITUDE OF THANKFULNESS (
THANKSGIVING SUNDAY
SERIES: THE ATTITUDES DISCIPLES REVEAL,
PART 2
GCEFC:
INTRODUCTION
1.
True story told about Mrs. Dwight Morrow.
2.
The moral of this story is that we tend to
act out what we focus on. And we tend to neglect what we don’t focus on.
3.
Thursday is Thanksgiving. A day we will
hopefully focus on thankfulness.
4.
Some people are bothered by the concept of
setting aside one specific day of the year for being thankful. They argue that
we should be thankful every day—not
just the 4th Thursday in November.
5.
Of course they’re right. We should be thankful all the time. But
this misses the point.
a. We
realize every day that Jesus has
come into the world. But at Christmas we celebrate the event and focus on it in a special way.
b. We
know Jesus rose from the dead and that his conquering of death has a profound
and eternal impact every single day. But we focus on it and celebrate it at Easter.
c. And
everybody in this room has clearly been born and that’s a daily reality. But
this doesn’t lessen the value of focusing
on the birth of each person one day
each year.
6.
Setting aside one day each year to focus
on thankfulness is a good thing. And thanks to President Abraham Lincoln back
in 1863, we even have a national holiday to do it.
7.
But Thanksgiving is not just a great
opportunity to be thankful. It’s a
great reminder that we should be thankful the other 364 days of the
year too. We know we should be—but reminders are helpful.
8.
We just began a new series of sermons last
Sunday. We’re looking at The Attitudes
Disciples Reveal.
9.
You may have guessed that for the second
installment in this series on the Sunday before Thanksgiving we would explore The Attitude of Thankfulness. You’re
right.
10.
A.
THE
THANKFULNESS PRINCIPLE—LEVEL ONE
1. The
command in V15 is to: Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,
since as members of one body you were called to peace.
2. The
word translated rule is used only
this one time in the entire New Testament. It has the idea of arbitrate, or settle the argument, or umpire.
3. It
means that the peace that Christ brings should be the all-prevailing determiner
in our interpersonal relationships.
d. On a
practical level, it means that peace should arbitrate our interactions. That
peace should be the goal no matter what the issue or interaction happens to be.
e. Just
as an umpire is meant to promote peace in an athletic contest. A runner slides
into second base. The runner thinks: I’m
safe. The second baseman thinks: He’s
out.
f.
The umpire raises his hand and says: OUT! That’s it. It’s settled. Even though
one player and one team will be happy and the other player and team will be
unhappy.
g. But
the result is peace—it’s been
settled. Both players and both teams then go: Oh, okay, he’s out—let’s move on.
4. The
more we grow as disciples, the more committed we should be to peace in our relationships. One caveat
is the one Paul gives in ROM
5. Some
people are just determined to be at war with you and there’s little you can do
about it. Paul says to the degree that you CAN
do something about it—you should. Otherwise it’s not your problem—it’s
theirs.
6. Think
of your growth as a disciple like a triangle. Christ is at the top. And we are
the legs of the triangle. As we get closer to Christ and his likeness—we get
closer to each other. As our relationship with him grows—so should our
relationship with each other.
7. So
the peace of Christ becomes the arbiter in our interpersonal interactions. This
past Sunday at our annual congregational meeting, we had the opportunity to
live this out.
8. There
were times in the meeting when not everyone agreed with everyone else. But the
peace of Christ should have been our arbiter. Not my opinion. Not my position.
Not my preference. Nor yours. All voices can be heard. But the peace of Christ
is the umpire.
9. Why
is peace important? V15—because we
are members of one body. Peace
fosters unity. And unity fosters growth.
10. Have
you ever tried to do something requiring fine manual dexterity while engaged in
a heated argument? How did that go?
11. Churches
that devote a lot of time to wrangling are not poised for growth. You can’t do
both well. Either you’re good at wrangling or you’re good at growing. You must
choose.
12. Then
three words are given that introduce us to the first level of thankfulness: And be thankful (Still V15).
13. The
first level of thankfulness is just recognizing that it’s an attitude we should
have as disciples. It merely says be
thankful.
a.
It doesn’t say how or when or why. Just
that we are to be thankful. So our response is: Okay, I got it. I’m to be thankful.
b.
Suppose that if on Thanksgiving Day you
went down to the town square and ask people that walk by if they’re thankful?
Many would say—Sure, I’m thankful.
c.
So you ask what they’re thankful for? They say: Well, nothing in particular, I’m just kind
of generally thankful—in a general sort of way.
d.
And if you ask them who they’re thankful to? They say: Well, nobody in particular. I’m just generally thankful to no one
specific.
e.
We would say, how can that be? How
can you be thankful, but not be thankful for
anything in particular? Doesn’t one sort of imply the other?
f.
And how can you be thankful for something, without being thankful to someone who is the source of that
something?
14. But
knowing we should be thankful is
just an important place to start.
B.
THE
THANKFUL FEELING—LEVEL TWO
1. V16: Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and
admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and
spiritual songs with gratitude in your
hearts.
2. Let
me suggest that V16 reveals Level 2 Thankfulness. Level 1 is simply the acknowledgement that
thankfulness is mandatory for a disciple.
3. But
Level 2 is that I should FEEL THANKFUL. We
should sing with gratitude in our
hearts. It’s not just a concept—it’s an emotional response to truth we
believe.
4. Notice
that the word of Christ is to dwell in
us richly. We know what dwell
means. It means to be a permanent resident, to reside, to live in a place
continually.
5. The
word of Christ isn’t just to be a casual and sporadic visitor to my heart. Not
just a temporary visitor who stays a little while then leaves. The Word is a
permanent resident.
6. And
we are to be so comfortable with it, and it’s to be so at home in us, that
there is a spontaneous desire to share insight and break out into song.
7. You
know how in musicals on the stage or on film everything is going along in a
predictable way and then somebody bursts
into song?
8. That’s
the idea. That the truth of God and the peace of God are so much a part of who we are—we can’t help singing.
9. And
gratitude and thankfulness has moved from being a theoretical duty to a joyful
and spontaneous privilege we can’t even stop—it just comes out.
10. But
what’s this part about teaching and admonishing? How did they get in here?
Well there’s always a place for teaching and admonishing.
11. Let’s
remember that the word disciple means….learner.
And that part of being a disciple means being a learner. Eager to learn. Eager
to know and do what’s right.
12. But
the teaching and admonishing are to be done with all wisdom. They’re to be done gently, lovingly, and
tactfully. The Bible sums it up with speaking
the truth in love.
C.
GIVING
THANKS—LEVEL THREE
1.
This brings us to Level 3 thankfulness. Level 1 is
acknowledgement that it’s every disciple’s duty.
2.
Level
2 is when we actually feel
it. Thankfulness has moved from our head to our heart. It’s emotional.
3.
V17
gives us Level 3: And whatever you do, whether in word of deed, do it all in the name of the
Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the
Father through him.
4.
At this level we are actually giving thanks. We are verbalizing our thankfulness.
5.
We aren’t just thankful in general. We
aren’t just thankful to no one in particular. We’re thankful specifically and specifically we’re thankful to God and we say so.
6.
And where is this to occur?
a.
It’s to occur in whatever we do. Remember a couple weeks ago when we looked at the
disciples commitment to service?
b.
Just nod your head and I’ll feel better
even if you don’t actually remember.
c.
In 1
PET 4 it says that if anyone SPEAKS
or if anyone SERVES that both should
be done to the praise of Jesus Christ.
d.
Our service can be divided into 2 broad
categories. Speaking and doing. Here Paul picks up on the same idea.
e.
Whether it’s in WORD or DEED. Whether its something you’re SAYING
or DOING. Do it all in the name
of the Lord Jesus.
f.
Doing it in the name of Jesus means doing
it in his authority and as his representative.
7.
We are to give thanks. We are to be
thankful. We are to offer thanksgiving. We are to speak praise and thanks—in
all things that we do.
8.
From the most mundane to the most sublime,
it’s all worthy of praise and thankfulness. In all things, disciples should have
an attitude of thankfulness.
9.
In fact, an attitude of humility (from
last Sunday) and an attitude of thankfulness (this Sunday) go hand-in-hand.
10. People
of humility should be thankful. And people of thankfulness should be humble.
And if both are attitudes disciples have—then both should characterize every
disciple. Including you and me.