Always?!
Philippians 4:4-8 (New International Version)
4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
INTRODUCTION: Gratitude, Grit, or Grouch?
When it comes to life’s circumstances and what goes on each day, how do you respond with gratitude, grit, or grouch? And is your response determined by your circumstance or by your character?
I have come up with a quiz to assess your response. Let’s start with question 1: You are in the 10 item, cash only line at Vons with your 2 cans of green beans and 1 can of Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup with a fresh $20 bill from your ATM machine in your hand. The person in front of you has 15 items and a checkbook in their back pocket. How do you respond?
A. Gratitude for the Green Bean Bake your family will enjoy.
B. Grit your teeth and wonder if the guy ahead of you failed math or reading.
C. Yell at the cashier, “Checkout Line Violation -- 15 items! 15 items!”
Question 2: You receive a letter from the IRS, stating you will soon be receiving a $1,000 refund on your tax return, how do you respond?
A. Gratitude to live in America, the land of the free and the home of the brave.
B. Grit your teeth about the other $10,000 you paid in taxes last year.
C. Rip the letter to shreds while demanding more.
Question 3: You receive a letter from the IRS, stating you will be audited. How do you respond?
A. Gratitude to live in America, the land of the free and the home of the brave.
B. Clench the phone and call your accountant.
C. Write the Union Tribune an angry letter about tax oppression in the USA.
Question 4: You are driving your daughter to school, and as you drop her off, the car in front of you decides to just park there, trapping you in the school parking lot. How do you respond?
A. You look out the window and give thanks for this time to stop and smell the roses and car fumes.
B. Grab the steering wheel tighter as steam comes out of your ears.
C. Honk your horn continuously until you sound out “move your car” in Morse code.
Question 5: You are watching your football team play on Sunday, and they win by a touchdown in a close game. How do you respond?
A. Stand up and start singing “San Diego Super Chargers”!
B. Wring your hands over the game next week.
C. Call a sports radio station and complain how we should have won by 3 touchdowns.
If you had all B’s for your answers, you need to take a breath, chill out and relax. If you had all C’s for your answers, you may need therapy. If you had all A’s, you need to teach this message. If you had a mixture of A’s, B’s, and C’s, welcome to the club. I am not surprised when people are grateful when life goes right. I am surprised and a bit envious when life goes wrong, and people respond with a grateful heart. I want to be able to respond to all of life with gratitude, not grit, and not grouch, but a grateful heart to God. What I have observed in such people and in rare moments for myself is that the gratitude God gives changes my perspective about life. Today let’s look at 3 perspectives Paul shares about the gift of gratitude that God gives.
PERSPECTIVE 1: Release the past by receiving and giving forgiveness. Paul says in Philippians 4:7, And God’s peace [shall be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace] which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. -- (The Amplified Bible)
Two days before Christmas in 1982, eighteen-year-old Ted Morris was killed by a drunk driver. Ted’s parents, Elizabeth and Frank Morris, plunged into a deep pit of despair and anger. In her grief, Elizabeth Morris fantasized about killing the drunk driver, Tommy Pigage. But eventually, Elizabeth realized that her anger was destroying her life, and she chose to forgive Pigage.
The Morrises reached out to him, and it was through their friendship that Tommy Pigage became a Christian. Today, the Morrises and the Pigages attend church together and share a close friendship.
Let’s face it, in matters of forgiveness there is always a prisoner, either the one needing forgiveness or the one withholding forgiveness. God’s gift of gratitude leads us to remember the past by receiving and giving forgiveness. When that happens, Paul shares the result in Philippians 4:7, "Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life." -- (The Message)
As Isabelle Holland said, “As long as you don’t forgive, who and whatever it is will occupy rent-free space in your mind.”
We live with a grateful heart because we live with a God who gave His life that we might have life. Jesus paid the price that we might have peace and forgiveness. The gratitude God gives changes my perspective about life as I remember the past by receiving and giving forgiveness.
PERSPECTIVE 2: Experience the present by exercising joy. Robert Schuller taught me this one. He tells about a time that he was to speak at a seminar in Korea he and his wife Arvella were attending. The day before he was supposed to speak, he received a phone call from Iowa that his daughter had been in a serious accident, had been taken to the hospital and was in critical condition.
Immediately he called the seminar host pastor and said he had to get back to the States and would be unable to speak. The host pastor, Dr. Cho, told him, “You and your wife pack your suitcases and meet me at the airport, we will arrange transportation for you back to Iowa.”
Sure enough, Schuller and his wife meet Cho at the airport where they joined in prayer. Before the Schullers board the flight home, Cho asks, “Have you thanked God for this yet?”
Schuller says, “I thought to myself how can I give thanks to God for this. Doesn’t he know my daughter might be dying? How can I thank God for this?”
Yet as the long flight winded its way back to the States, Schuller could not forget Dr. Cho’s question, “Have you thanked God for this?”
Schuller went to the lavatory to freshen up, but really to cry out for his daughter. He started thinking, “I thank you Lord my daughter is not alone, but that family has come along her side to support her. I thank you Lord that my daughter is still alive.” He continued to pray for his daughter with thanks.
When they got to Iowa, he discovered that his daughter had been hurt in an accident and had one of her legs amputated. Again he found it difficult to give thanks, but not his daughter. She gave thanks for life and her family. Schuller says he learned from her and Cho to take your scars and turn them into stars.
From a prison cell, Paul declares in Philippians 4:4, “Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!” -- (New Living Translation) Those words would be easier if Paul had merely said, “Be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again – rejoice!” But he begins with that word, “Always.” Not sometimes, or when I fell like it, but always. In the Gratitude quiz, Paul was in the “A” zone to always be full of joy. Gratitude comes as God changes my perspective in experiencing the present by exercising joy.
Paul explains how that happens in Philippians 4:6, “Do not worry about anything. Talk to God about everything. Thank him for what you have. Ask him for what you need.” – (Worldwide English New Testament)
Does such gratitude easily come to you? Want to improve those B’s and C’s to A’s? Start a gratitude journal. End of the day between now and the end of the year, write down 5 gifts every day. Some days, it will be easy. Some days, it may feel a bit sarcastic. Yet gratitude awakens awareness of God’s presence and provision in life, and leads to thanksgiving. The gratitude God gives changes my perspective about life as I experience the present by exercising joy.
PERSPECTIVE 3: See the future by pursuing hope. Lewis Smedes wrote, “When the Bible says we ought to be grateful, it is not so much the ought of obligation as it is an ought of opportunity. When the primary motive of gratitude is obligation, it tends to choke out the heart.” With His gift of gratitude, God equips me to see the future by pursuing hope. An attitude of gratitude helps me to pursue hope because I realize God is on my side, and He holds my future in His hands.
Paul calls us to pursue hope in Philippians 4:5, "Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you’re on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute!" -- (The Message)
Recently we observed the 15th anniversary of the Berlin Wall coming down. Years ago when Berlin was originally being divided into East Berlin controlled by the communists, and West Berlin, a part of the free world, a group of East Berliners dumped a whole truckload of garbage on the West Side. The people from West Berlin thought they’d pick up all the garbage, put it on a truck, and dump it back on the East Side. Then they decided that wasn’t the way to handle it. Instead they filled a dump truck with canned goods and other non-perishable food items, went over to the East Side, stacked it neatly, and put a sign beside it. The sign read, “Each gives what each has to give.”
When I give gratitude, it is because God has given such gratitude to me. I give because of what God has first given. Paul calls us to fill the well of our mind with God’s great stuff. He says in Philippians 4:8b, "Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise." -- (New Living Translation) The gratitude God gives changes my perspective about life to see the future by pursuing hope.
CONCLUSION: The Taste Berry.
In Africa there is a fruit called the "taste berry," because it changes a person’s taste so that everything eaten tastes sweet and pleasant. Sour fruit, even if eaten several hours after the "taste berry," becomes sweet and delicious. Gratitude to God is the "taste berry" of Christianity. Such a “sweet taste” of life all flows out of what Jesus has done for us on the cross.
Through the taste berry of Jesus death and resurrection, I remember the past by receiving and giving forgiveness for it is the gift His blood has purchased.
Through the taste berry of Jesus death and resurrection, I experience the present by exercising joy for it is the perspective of one who has tasted death and received the gift of life eternal.
Through the taste berry of Jesus death and resurrection, I see the future by pursuing hope because I know God is in control and He provides the ultimate victory.
Through the taste berry of Jesus death and resurrection, the gratitude God gives changes my perspective about life.
Through the taste berry of Jesus death and resurrection, maybe on the next gratitude quiz, you and I will get straight A’s. Amen.
