One soldier stationed on an island of the Philippines during WW II told this story: “Although the region was secure, sometimes the enemy tried to infiltrate our food storage area. One such adversary, dressed in GI clothing, once worked himself into the noontime chow line. Our camp cook spotted him, reached under the serving table for his pistol and yelled for the MPs who were patrolling the area.
After it was all over, we asked the cook how he knew the man was an enemy soldier. "I figured it wasn’t one of you guys, he said, "’cause he was coming back for seconds."
APPLY: That enemy soldier stood out because he was a thankful person. Likewise, God tells us that we should stand out as thankful people.
Heb 13:15 Through Jesus, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise...
Eph 5:20 always give thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Col 3:17 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.
1Th 5:18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
THEREFORE as a Christian, thankfulness should be so much a part of our lives that we should stand out. So, I guess it should come as no surprise to discover that Jesus was thankful. Reread Matthew 25:34-40.
But, you know, I’ve never thought of God as being thankful before. I’ve never heard a sermon telling me about how thankful God was. Now why would that be?
I. Actually, there’s a VERY GOOD reason why:
Too many people think God ought to be grateful to them.
FOR EXAMPLE: A lot of people think that God owes them salvation. They’ve been pretty good. Sure, they’ve done bad things, but only when they had to, or when they were weak, or (well) the other guy did worse. But they’ve done a number of good deeds. Surely they deserve salvation. They view it as kind of a point system. They’ve earned enough points to redeem their gift.
And yet Eph 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no-one can boast.
GOD DOESN’T OWE US SALVATION – we can’t do enough. Our sin makes even our good deeds ugly.
ILLUS: I have here a mug I drank chocolate milk out of last night. Now I haven’t had a chance to clean it out, so as you can see it looks a bit grungy. I also have an unopened can of Pepsi (open it and begin to pour it into the mug). The Pepsi is absolutely clean and cold and refreshing. Who would like to take a drink??? Why not? Ah! Because it has been poured into unclean vessel. That’s how it is when we offer our "clean" deeds to God without first having Him cleanse your heart and soul. However clean the liquid, the vessel is still unacceptable.
Even the religious church goer can get opinion that they are doing God a favor. Somehow they get the opinion that God ought to be thankful for what they do. That’s what the Pharisees did. This type of person plays the game. They are faithful in attending church, praying, working, singing. BUT IT’S ALL TO EARN BROWNIE POINTS so the end they can say to God: You owe us.
ILLUS: When I was a young boy, I had a paper route. I remember stopping at one trailer and the person there gave me my first tip of a quarter. I must not have ever received a tip before, because I got it into my mind that somehow I was owed that tip. So I dutifully told the next paper customer that I expected a tip. You can imagine how they reacted.
II. AND SO (because people too often believe God should be grateful for them) you’re not likely to hear many sermons about God being thankful to us. It just feeds the wrong motivation.
But God is grateful. Though He is our master and owes us nothing, God can be thankful. He wants to reward us when we do that which pleases Him because He wants to show us gratefulness.
· Heb 6:10 "God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them."
· Luke 6:35 "But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High…"
· Pr 19:17 He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done.
· Mt 25:40 "The King will reply, `I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
And so, God tells us He wants to reward us. He wants to be thankful.
III. But I am faced with a conflict here. God wants to be thankful to me… but I shouldn’t presume that God SHOULD be thankful to me. How do I deal with this?
HOW do I avoid falling into the trap of thinking God owes me? Look again to the answer the “sheep” gave to the king (vs 35-39). Notice how surprised they are. They never thought about their good deeds as Brownie points, as debts that God owed them a return on their investment.
They did what they did because that’s THEY KNEW that’s what God wanted.
They did what they did because they wanted their light to shine before men so that others see might see their good deeds and glorify their Father in Heaven.
AND THEY became so used to that behavior, that became natural - like breathing.
ILLUS: Book called "Rescuers: Portraits of Holocaust survivors" interviewed 105 people who had harbored fugitive Jews in their homes despite the danger to they & their families
A Professor of Sociology at the University of Connecticut found that many of the rescuers had a history of doing good deeds before the war - some visiting people in the hospital, others, collecting books for poor students, still others taking care of stray animals. "They just got into the habit of doing good. If they hadn’t perceived that pattern as natural they might have been paralyzed into inaction." – THEY DID WHAT CAME NATURAL
IV. Another thing to consider – they did what they did, because they loved God
ILLUS: Years ago there was a TV show called "Kung Fu". It was about a Chinese monk skilled in art of Kung Fu. And though he was “a man of peace” you could count on him beating bad guys to a pulp at least twice a show. One of the story telling techniques they used was flashbacks to the days when he was a young trainee of blind master. The Master called the boy "grasshopper." In one such flashback, "grasshopper" was standing in a line to give a gift of flowers to the blind teacher. But before he could give his gift, another student who stood in front of him with a similar gift of flowers was rejected and turned away. Sadly "grasshopper" turned away fearing similar rejection, but the master called to him.
"Why do you turn away?" asked the Master.
"Because you rejected another student with the same gift," the boy replied.
"Oh, you don’t understand," said the blind teacher. "He did not bring his gift because he loved me. He brought the gift to gain influence, to buy my approval. You have brought your gift out of love. That’s the gift I desire."
Remember what Jesus said to Peter after the resurrection?
1. Peter do you love me? = feed my lambs
2. Peter do you love me? = take care of my sheep
3. Peter do you love me? = feed my sheep
The highest – and only acceptable motivation for serving God is "Do you love Him?"
V. Last point I want to make is: God’s rewards aren’t always immediate.
One of the things that struck me about the story of the sheep & goats is that you don’t get impression that they’ve been rewarded for their deeds on earth (at least not as much as God intended). They did their acts of kindness without expecting reward and the most valuable reward is offered now - at the judgment seat of Christ.
Paul was conscious of this reality when he wrote in Galatians 6:9 "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."
Part of the reason God may not reward us immediately for our “good deeds” may indeed be to make sure we aren’t doing it for wrong reasons. To make God owe us. AND SO, when God doesn’t reward us immediately for the good we have done, it can get easy to become discouraged.
CLOSE ILLUS: An old missionary couple had been working in Africa for years and were returning to New York to retire. They had no pension; their health was broken; they were defeated, discouraged, and afraid. They discovered they were booked on the same ship as President Teddy Roosevelt, who was returning from one of his big game hunting expeditions.
No one paid any attention to them. They watched the fanfare that accompanied the President’s entourage, with passengers trying to catch a glimpse of the great man.
As the ship moved across the ocean, the old missionary said to his wife, "Something is wrong. Why should we have given our lives in faithful service for God in Africa all these many years and have no one care a thing about us? Here this man comes back from a hunting trip and everybody makes much over him, but nobody gives two hoots about us."
"Dear, you shouldn’t feel that way," his wife said.
"I can’t help it; it doesn’t seem right."
When the ship docked in New York, a band was waiting to greet the President. The mayor and other dignitaries were there. The papers were full of the President’s arrival, but no one noticed this missionary couple. They slipped off the ship and found a cheap flat on the East Side, hoping the next day to see what they could do to make a living in the city.
That night the man’s spirit broke. He said to his wife, "I can’t take this; God is not treating us fairly.
His wife replied, "Why don’t you go in the bedroom and tell that to the Lord?"
A short time later, he came out from the bedroom, but now his face was completely different. His wife asked, "Dear, what happened?"
"The Lord settled it with me," he said. "I told him how bitter I was that the President should receive this tremendous homecoming, when no one met us as we returned home. And when I finished, it seemed as though the Lord put his hand on my shoulder and simply said, ’But you’re not home yet!’"
