ME
That song speaks to the heart of where we’re going to be for the next couple of week… Listen to the words… words that you just sang…
Blessed be Your name in the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow, blessed be Your name
Blessed be Your name when I’m found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness, blessed be Your name
Every blessing You pour out I’ll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say
Blessed be the name of the Lord, blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord, blessed be Your glorious name
Blessed be Your name when the sun is shining down on me
When the worlds "all that it should be", blessed be Your name
Blessed be Your name on the road marked with suffering
Though there’s pain in the offering, blessed be Your name
You give and take away, You give and take away
My heart will choose to say, Lord, blessed be Your name
When God gives and when God takes away, our only right response is praise!
Now, before we go any further down that path let take a short time out and kind of set this series up. We’re moving towards Thanksgiving and I want to point out a couple of things…
According to Wal-Mart, Target, Lowes, Home Depot and other retailers – we have officially entered the Christmas season…
I’m not sure when this took place but we don’t have Thanksgiving any more. We have Halloween and then Christmas. I’m not even kidding when I say that I have neighbors who put up Halloween lights and then when Halloween is over they put up Christmas lights.
… This isn’t like the Hoosiers in my neighborhood who leave their Christmas lights up all year long… The people I’m talking about decorate for Halloween and then they decorate for Christmas.
I read somewhere that Christmas is the biggest money making holiday in America and Halloween is the second largest money making holiday. In all of the money to be made on the “Big Two” holidays, Thanksgiving tends to get lost in the shuffle.
I realize that there’s no Biblical mandate to celebrate Thanksgiving. (It’s primarily an American holiday. It was actually made law in 1941 when congress set it as the 4th Thursday of November and F.D.R. signed it into law). Not to mention that Thanksgiving isn’t for three more weeks.
Celebrating the American Holiday of Thanksgiving isn’t a Biblical command…
… but having a heart of thanksgiving IS a biblical mandate. And THAT’S where we’re going today. In fact, for the next couple of weeks we’re going to focus on what it really means to have a thankful heart. What it really means to give God praise, regardless of our situation.
The Bible tells us… “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (I Thessalonians 5:18)
More than a thanksgiving issue, this is a worship issue. When Jesus is the central focus of our lives… when we worship Jesus first, foremost and because of who he is and not for what he gives us… then we are able to give God praise – we are able to give God thanks in EVERY situation.
Like the song says…
Every blessing You pour out I’ll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say
Blessed be the name of the Lord, blessed be Your name
WE
So, where are WE on this thing? Do we give God thanks in EVERY situation? Do we take every blessing and turn it back to praise? When the darkness closes in, do we still say, LORD – JESUS, BLESSED BE YOUR NAME?
I think we all know the drill… The pastor says “it’s easy to bless Jesus when things are good, but when things get tough how do we do?” That’s the conventional wisdom.
But I want to challenge the conventional wisdom.
I don’t think we find it easy to bless him in the good times. I don’t think we turn every blessing back to praise any better than we say “blessed be Your Name” when the darkness begins to surround us.
We struggle to give him the praise and glory he deserves - EVER
So, we’re going to focus on giving thanks and praise to God IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES.
When God gives and when God takes away, our only right response is praise!
GOD
Open your Bibles to Luke 17:11-19
If you don’t have a Bible, raise your hand and our ushers will make sure you have one so you can follow along.
[ushers hand out bibles to those who need them]
As you’re turning to Luke, let me give you some important info regarding the use of language and specifically the word “Praise” because that word is the center point of what we’re talking about.
The song we sang, “Blessed be Your Name” and the foundational passage for where we’re going today is found in the book of Job. I’m not going to go into detail on Job’s story today because we’ll look at it next week. Let me just sum it up with this. Job has just faced a series of major tragedies in his life and his response is recorded in Job 1:20-21
At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said:
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
May the name of the Lord be praised.”
Job 1:20-21(NIV)
In the midst of tragedy, Job’s response is one of WORSHIP… He understands that when God gives and when God takes away, our only right response is praise!
In fact that’s what he says… The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; May the name of the Lord be praised.” (Older translations say… blessed be the name of the Lord – which is where the song comes from.) In the midst of tragedy JOB WORSHIPS GOD BY OFFERING PRAISE!
That word “praise” is important… It literally means to kneel down in worship and adoration. So when Job says “blessed be your name” or “may the name of the Lord be praised.” What he is saying is… “God I come before you and I praise you… I worship you… I kneel in honor and reverence to you… YOU are WORTHY of praise.”
When God gives and when God takes away, our only right response is praise!
Sometimes praise is quiet, but usually praise is loud. Usually it involves letting the joy in your heart spill out to the world around you…
Kid’s practice praise instinctively… when they have something that makes them joyful they dance, they sing, they clap, they shout, sometimes they cry… they can’t contain themselves.
They’re natural response to being blessed is praise!
We’re going to practice praise for just a minute.
[Practice Praise… don’t be afraid to ham it up a little]
-Rams Win!
-Cards Win!
-Church gets out early
Okay, I think we’re getting a handle on praise…
Now get your bibles open to Luke 17. Here we see the story of a man who understood that when God gives and when God takes away, our only right response is praise!
11Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance 13and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!"
14When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed.
15One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.
17Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" 19Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well."
Luke 17:11-19 (NIV)
Jesus is traveling to Jerusalem. As he and his disciples are going along they are confronted with a colony of lepers.
• Men with leprosy were forced to live outside of the community
• Men with leprosy had to announce themselves FROM A DISTANCE
• Men with leprosy were doomed to a life of misery, loneliness and eventually death.
These men have obviously heard of Jesus – if they haven’t seen him before. They’ve heard of his miracles, maybe even witnesses some of them from a distance. In fact, just a few chapters before this Luke records the story of Jesus healing a man with leprosy… by reaching out and TOUCHING him.
I wonder if their thoughts were something like this…
This rabbi was different. He cared. He taught with authority. He healed people. He reached out and touched the untouchable… Maybe, just maybe he will have mercy on us!
So, following custom they stayed at a distance and call out to Jesus, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!"
And Jesus DOES. He tells them to go and show themselves to the priests.
• Jewish law required that a man who has been healed/cleansed/cured of leprosy go show the priest and offer a sacrifice. If the priest is convinced that he is clean, he is given a certificate and allowed to re-enter society.
So all ten men head off towards the Temple and as they went, they were cleansed.
Jesus, in one fell swoop cures all ten men… But here’s where the story intersects OUR story today.
Ten men are healed… but one man returns “praising God in a loud voice. 16He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.”
Imagine the things he wanted to do…
• Walk into town
• Push his way through a crowded market
• Sit in his own house
• Eat at his own table
• Hold his children in his arms
• Hold is wife in his arms
We can ONLY imagine what he must have desired and how impatient he must have been to get on with life… Yet – in the midst of his blessing he takes the time to STOP. He takes the time to REMEMBER WHO had blessed and to respond with thanksgiving and praise.
He understood that when God gives and when God takes away, our only right response is praise!
God blessed – Jesus healed and the man’s response was PRAISE.
And I know we say that we would respond the same way, but I have to wonder... We now live in such an entitlement culture that I believe we have largely forgotten to give praise to Jesus when the blessings fall on us.
To illustrate the point from scripture, look at the other nine men. ALL TEN WERE HEALED. Jesus himself shows surprise by the response of these men "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?"
The assumption is made that the other nine were Jewish men. They were men who were of the same nationality of Jesus (this was a big deal) There was talk of Jesus being the Messiah of Israel, and yet all nine go to the priest but do not return to thank or praise God for his AMAZING BLESSING
But the Samaritan, the one who would have been the outcast among outcasts… The one who should have, by custom rejected Jesus and been rejected by Jesus… He rushes back and falls at the feet of Jesus in praise and worship. He understood that when God gives and when God takes away, our only right response is praise!
9 out of 10 missed this.
Israel had a history of missing this point.
This is illustrated perfectly in Nehemiah chapter 9.
[this isn’t in your notes… ]
Nehemiah 9 is a Cliff’s Notes of the history of Israel. What we see here is that they are really great at crying out to God in prayer when they are need… But they are poor at offering Praise and Thanksgiving when he blesses them. It’s their history.
"Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. 6 You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.
7 "You are the LORD God, who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and named him Abraham. 8 You found his heart faithful to you, and you made a covenant with him to give to his descendants the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites and Girgashites. You have kept your promise because you are righteous.
9 "You saw the suffering of our forefathers in Egypt; you heard their cry at the Red Sea.
Nehemiah 9:5-9 (NIV)
"But they, our forefathers, became arrogant and stiff-necked, and did not obey your commands. 17 They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery.
Nehemiah 9:16-17 (NIV)
"You gave them kingdoms and nations, allotting to them even the remotest frontiers. They took over the country of Sihon king of Heshbon and the country of Og king of Bashan. 23 You made their sons as numerous as the stars in the sky, and you brought them into the land that you told their fathers to enter and possess. 24 Their sons went in and took possession of the land.
Nehemiah 9:22-24 (NIV)
“But they were disobedient and rebelled against you; they put your law behind their backs. They killed your prophets, who had admonished them in order to turn them back to you; they committed awful blasphemies. 27 So you handed them over to their enemies, who oppressed them. But when they were oppressed they cried out to you. From heaven you heard them, and in your great compassion you gave them deliverers, who rescued them from the hand of their enemies.
28 "But as soon as they were at rest, they again did what was evil in your sight. Then you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies so that they ruled over them. And when they cried out to you again, you heard from heaven, and in your compassion you delivered them time after time.
Nehemiah 9: 26-28(NIV)
Here’s the thing. This isn’t just the history of Israel. This is the history of the human heart. We’re great at crying out to God for help when we are in need… (they stood at a distance and cried Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.)
But we’re not very good at coming back to him with thanks and praise when he has blessed us…("Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?”)
And what we MUST realize is that when God gives and when God takes away, our only right response is praise!
SO WHAT?
So… let’s unpack this for just a minute.
YOU
Take a minute and look at your life. Look at the blessing you have. Look at what you have and ask… do I turn every blessing back to praise?
WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN SO MUCH!!!!!!!
WE HAVE RECEIVED BLESSING UPON BLESSING!!!!!!
We have so much and so much to be thankful for. We have so much cause to offer PRAISE to Jesus.
The question isn’t “what do I have to praise him for?” The question we should be asking ourselves is “Which blessings and I going to praise him for today?”
When God gives and when God takes away, our only right response is praise!
WE
We’re going to close with communion, just like we do most Sundays. But today, make it a time of praise and thanksgiving to Jesus for his sacrifice!
And here’s what else I want. After you have taken communion and when the band begins to lead us in songs of worship to Jesus, I want you to SING LOUD. I want you to SING LIKE JESUS HAS BLESSED YOU GREATLY BECAUSE HE HAS!
when God gives and when God takes away, our only RIGHT RESPONSE is praise!
Let me close with this scripture!
1 Praise the LORD, O my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits-
Psalm 103:1-2 (NIV)
Let’s Pray!
