THE ATTITUDES OF INGRATITUDE AND GRATITUDE
THE ATTITUDES OF INGRATITUDE AND GRATITUDE
Introduction
Come with me and I will quickly tell you a
story. Two friends sat at a Waffle House kindly and
quietly eating their meals. Fifteen minutes into
eating the meal, one friend noticed a dirty, drunk,
stank, and disoriented homeless man was sitting in a
booth all alone. The friend did not want any of his
double hash browns and offered the man his uneaten
hash browns. The man accepted the offer, ate three
bites of the hash browns, waited five minutes, and
then screamed at the waitress to bring him free food.
The man shouted, “These hash browns are not good
enough for me, I want some hash browns-scattered,
smothered with onions, covered with cheese, and topped
with chili. The friend who gave away the food turned
to the other friend and said, “Look at that dirty
ungrateful bastard, my food was not good enough for
him. People get blessed by God all day long and do
not look up to God and say thank you. Today we will
learn about topics that we truly need to learn
ingratitude and gratitude.
POINT ONE-INGRATITUDE IS THE FAITH WHICH MAKES SOULS LOST
The first point that I want us to see is that
ingratitude is the faith that makes souls lost. Focus
on religion is a way of being ungrateful which leads
to lost souls or misdirected focus. Religion is not
enough to save anybody. There is no salvation in
religion. The Pharisees lived as the strictest and
most religious group of Jews who believed in our God
in Jesus’ days. These folk always went to pray in the
Temple of God. The Israelites in Moses’ days often
held many religious parties and gatherings but our God
Yahweh Elohim often rejected them but the people often
worshipped other little gods instead of worshipping
the one true God. The Pharisee and several of the
Israelites mentioned in these texts concerned
themselves more with show for the outside world rather
than the state of being for their hearts. They were
more concerned with others praising them rather than
praising God for God’s goodness. They became
ungrateful. Ingratitude makes you unfocused or
possess misguided directions. Brothers and sisters I
tell you this time that there be many individuals who
come to church all the time and their hearts are not
in the right place. They want to be seen and heard
rather than hear and see God’s blessings in the
church. You can come to church all you want but if
your focus is not on God and learning what God would
have you to do to become loving and unselfish you are
being ungrateful of God’s goodness. I must admit that
when I started preaching some six years ago I wanted
to hear the roar of a cheering crowd rather than hear
the roar of God’s movements. I held the wrong notions
but God convicted me and changed my heart. Please do
not just come to the church house but take the spirit
of the church house with you when you leave. Let us
go to the next point.
POINT TWO: INGRATITUDE MAKES ONE LOST
The second point that I want to us see is that
ingratitude is the character that makes one lost. The
Pharisee thought that he was all that because of his
character. He was not a thief. He was not a rogue.
He was not an adulterer. He was not evil like the tax
collector. He stood just as wrong and sinful as
anyone else did however because he was selfish,
arrogant, and self-praising. He pointed fingers at
others and did not even clean himself of his flaws.
Moses reminded the Israelites in the chapter before
chapter ten of Deuteronomy that they were not
righteous enough to enter the promise land for they
had made too mistakes and false judgments but God’s
grace and mercy was moving them into the land promised
to them. Not being thankful to God will cause one to
be stuck on stupid and one’s own character. Good
character is not enough to lead anyone to
righteousness or heaven and let me say that Christians
do not have the monopoly on good character and
morals. I remember when I was fifteen years old and I
tried witnessing to everybody at my high school about
how they needed to be saved. I told others of how bad
they were and how wrong their lives were. I kept
constantly pointing the finger instead of showing the
need to have a relationship with God through the
person of Jesus Christ. I fell flat on my face one
day I realized I was just as dirty as anyone else
was. My life was unfocused and I drew more people
away from the benefits of God than to the benefits of
God. Goodness and morals are not enough to live
repaired, renewed, and recovered lives for God. God’s
grace and mercy exist as what we need to live healthy
lives.
The Pharisee and the Israelites in the texts
were misguided because they trusted in religious
observances. The Pharisee went to the Temple often,
fasted twice a week, and gave his tithe. The
Israelites held their holy days, offered their
sacrifices, and held fast to the tradition of their
ancestors primarily the male ancestors. Brothers and
sisters I tell you that being observant of all
celebrations and holy days is not enough to lived
empowered and renewed lives. Sentences such as I am a
Christian, I was baptized, I was baptized here, I
founded this church, I am Pastor, I am Treasurer, I am
the First Row Pew Sitter, I am This and That in this
Church are not enough to live holy. Millions’ lives
lie cluttered, dormant, and depressed because they
trusted in a baptism, christening, confirmation,
sacrament, confession, status, power, or position
rather than saying thank you to God and trusting in
God. Many persons’ very essence of being lie in the
teetering see-saw of life because they have not
addressed their sins i.e. their character defects,
flaws, selfish desires, hidden agendas, darkened and
prejudiced views, addictions, and/or their need serve
people, places, and things rather than serve God. Let
us move to the next point.
POINT THREE: GRATITUDE IS THE FAITH THAT LEADS TO BETTER, GODLIER ACTIONS
The third point is that gratitude is the faith that
leads to better, godly actions. The publican-greedy
tax collector life became recovered, renewed,
restored, and transformed because he took his place
before God as a misdirected person and told God thank
you. The tax collector; dirty, greedy, selfish,
lustful, and scheming as he was, possessed enough
sense to go to God and ask God for help and say thank
you. The tax collector asked to be merciful to him, a
sinner. The man asked God to take look at him and see
him as he was and if God thought to shine grace and
mercy upon him it would be enough for him. The
request stood not for things, wealth, money, or the
luxuries of life but it stood for as one for mercy.
Do we need God’s mercy today? Tell God thank you for
holding you and blessing thus far in spite of our
wrongdoings. Then look let us look at ourselves and
ask God to look at us. Let us admit our sin, admit
our addictions, admit our bondage and become concerned
enough to save our life and God remains faithful and
just enough to repair, renew, and refocus our
directions.
CONCLUSION
The life of gratitude to God is not an easy one, for
it has some requirements for us to follow. God
requires that we fear the Lord our God, walk in all
God’s ways, love God, serve the Lord our God with all
our heart and with all our soul, and keep the
commandments of the Lord our God and his decrees for
our own well being. The life of gratitude—saying
thank you to God requires that we love our enemies, be
kind to the homeless, neglected, abused, forsaken, and
downtraughten. The life of gratitude—saying thank you
to God requires that we worship God, hold fast to God,
and cling to God. Are you ready to tell God thank
you? Are you ready to celebrate the benefits of God?
The road is not easy but it is rewarding if you
continue to trek up the road in spite of bumps,
bruises, scars, and obstacles. Let us tell God thank
you and live the new loving life. AMEN.
