“At The Heart of Thanks” I Chronicles 16:24-36
Introduction
There was once a man who set out to have a well dug in his own house that he might draw water from it whenever he wished to drink. The experience of this man’s well, reminds me of what I perceive to be the rather encumbered faith of so many believers in our day, who recognize their need for God but only go as far as seeking to be excited by Him, motivated by Him, but never experience the depth of His grace at work their lives.
You see, the man hired workers and they began to dig. They dug through mud, clay, and stone, but found no water. Here is the example of the supposedly deep experience of many, all earth and no living spring, the filth of the mud and rocky places of our lives revealed but not removed, the leper discovered but not healed.
Another hundred feet of hard digging, deep in the dark, but no water; still deeper experience of God, revealing His truth but not yet fully discovered. Then a third hundred feet, and still dirt, but no crystal clear water. Here we see illustrated the very finest grade of the deeply skeptical believer, who has been denied the teaching of the trustworthiness of the Bible. This man ridicules the joys of faith as being of the flesh and overly presumptuous.
Still on, on, on went the workers, till one day, leaving their tools to go to dinner, upon their return they found that the water was raising fast and their tools were drowned. Be this last, the true experience of grace – to go so deep as to reach the springs of everlasting love and find all my poor doings and efforts have broken in on me, covering all the mire, and rock, and earth of my poor, naturally evil heart.
It is at last, as we come to the deepest place of God’s revelation to us that we discover what it is at the heart of thanksgiving; grace. For you see, it is only when all of my works, all of my knowledge, all of my longing and reaching up to God are covered by the crystal clear water His grace at work in my life that I see myself for what I actually am; a sinner, separated from God and in desperate need of the one thing which can redeem my condition; the abundance of God’s unending grace working in my soul. (Adapted from Spurgeon’s “Deep Experience of Grace”)
Transition
This evening we celebrate Thanksgiving. Tomorrow there will banquet feasts, celebrating the blessings of family, friends, and God’s abundant provision. Here, tonight, it is my goal to focus on what is at the heart of thanks; grace.
And more specifically, on that which is the gateway to experiencing the depth of grace that is available to us; namely, that which allows us to relate rightly to God, that most precious and necessary of Christian virtues which allows us to gaze past self, past pride, past all of that which clutters our pure vision of God; humility.
D.L. Moody The 19th century Congregational Clergymen and founder of Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, once said that, “Man can counterfeit love, he can counterfeit faith, he can counterfeit hope and all the other graces, but it is very difficult [near impossible] to counterfeit humility.”
Exposition
At the outset, let us clarify what humility is not, that we might come to some right understanding of what it is. There is the story of two very elderly ladies who were roommates at a local nursing home. These lovely little old ladies were sitting together over a small Thanksgiving meal prepared for the residents of this nursing home. The two ladies, and the others at their table, were sharing together things for which they were thankful.
Some folks shared that they were thankful for their families who came to visit them regularly. Others shared that they were thankful for the many years spent with their spouses and other such things. Finally, it was the turn of one of these dear old ladies. In her turn, this lady showed the simplicity of thanks. She said, “I thank the Lord for two perfectly good teeth, one in my upper jaw and one in my lower jaw. And further that they match so that I can chew my food.”
Humility has little to do with self deprecation, that is, it has little to do with having a low opinion of oneself, and everything to do with having a right understanding of who we are compared to who He is. Humility is about living fully in the recognition that all that I have, all that am, all that I may ever hope to attain, become, achieve, or do is ultimately the gift of God’s grace.
In Ephesians 2:8 the Apostle Paul writes, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” (NIV) The Bible teaches us that faith is the means of accessing God’s grace. Sola Fide, faith alone, and here, the Apostle Paul teaches us that even the faith which we use to access God’s grace, is a gift of God’s grace.
At the very center of a thankful heart is the grace of God, encapsulated by the gift of humility; as we recognize that all that we have, even our faith, is the gift of God’s unending grace. God calls us out of darkness and fills us with Himself.
We live in a culture which elevates self, don’t we? We live in the “Have it your way” culture where the concept of universal Truth has been replaced with universal acceptance of all truths. Rather than seeing himself as dependant upon God for the very breath of life, man now sees himself as dependant upon no one, nothing, most often, not even his fellow man.
We are living in a disconnected age where man, in exalting himself has cut himself off from his source; the only true and living God. I would submit to you these questions to consider; how can one be truly thankful if he believes himself unaccountable to any other? How can a heart bear the evidence of thanks without first bearing the burden of humility?
In a relativistic culture, such as the one in which we all currently live, where truth is said to be unknowable and where each person’s own conscience is said to be the only guide available, is it any wonder that rather than having a heart of pure and true and genuine and lasting thanks, we live in an age where people are thankful but know not to whom it is to which they ought to be thankful.
Ours is a day when people are likely to pray a blessing over a Thanksgiving meal for tradition sake, rather than for the sake of purely giving thanks to the eternal God who fills our heart with the abundance of His grace, out of which flows a right understanding of one’s self; leading to genuine humility and genuine thankfulness?
The ancient, Greek philosopher, Protagoras is famous for saying that “Man is the measure of all things: of things which are, that they are, and of things which are not, that they are not.” Protagoras argued his relativistic philosophy some two and a half millennia ago, and yet his words ring as true as ever to this very day.
When man is the measure of all things, when our conscience alone is our guide, with no recognition for the God who has revealed Himself to us in the Bible and in the person of Jesus Christ, when our only mandate is the elevation of self, then any thanks we may offer is but empty rhetoric, void of any meaning, because it is baseless, if it is not based on the words of the only true and living God.
In Psalms 100:2-5, the Psalmist writes, “Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” (NIV)
At the heart of thanks is grace encapsulate with the fruit of having a right understanding of ourselves in God’s eternal light; humility. Seeing ourselves for what we are; sinners, in terrible need of God’s grace does not remove our worth; it frees us from the shackles of pride to be able to fully receive His worth credited to our lowly account.
No, humility does not bring us low insomuch as it brings us rightly to a place of being able to receive the abundance of God’s grace. A truly thankful heart is a humble heart which has been filled to overflowing with grace.
Conclusion
This Thanksgiving season, allow me to encourage you, indeed let us all be reminded to see ourselves rightly as recipients of grace. God has showered us with His mercy. We have not merely received a drop of grace, no; we have not merely received a splash of His grace. It is as though we are standing waist deep in a pool of precious clear and refreshing water below, while being showered all the while from above by a continuous near crushingly powerful flow of water as from a water fall high above us which only grows in intensity the more aware of its presence we become!
The Christian life is about receiving this overwhelming, abundant flow of Grace, reflecting that back to God in worship and thanksgiving, and then to pass that grace on to others in compassion, love, and Christ-like service in the Kingdom of God. This season, let us give thanks completely, in humility, recognizing that God’s grace alone is the source of all that we have. Thanks be unto God, the author and finisher of our salvation; the giver and sustainer of life.
In Colossians 3:12-17, the Apostle Paul writes, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 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 to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (NIV)
Amen.
