The Stewardship of Gratitude
Montreal/Townships
October 15, 2005
Last weekend was a special weekend in Canada- it’s Thanksgiving weekend- and thousands of families enjoyed a special meal and special times together over the course of the weekend. Tables were heaped with special treats, including the traditional turkey and pumpkin pie. Because of the long-weekend, families were together, or traveling, who wouldn’t normally be together or traveling. It’s a wonderful time of year, too, with the colours of creation different than six months ago, as we began to come into the greens of spring- now the colours of red, gold, green, and brown are everywhere, delighting our visual senses.
How are we to respond in this weekend, in Canada, or the end of November, in the USA? How are we to respond, living a life of gratitude?
Please turn to Psa.116- and we’ll read this together and consider what it tells us.
Psa.116.1-19
This psalm is written against the background of a man who had experienced a severe sickness or some other situation of danger. Having been delivered, he then gave thanksgiving for what the Lord had done and made promises of what he would do in gratitude for his deliverance. An “attitude of gratitude” shows that one is a mature person. Ingratitude has been called the “chiefest of sins.” In Dante’s ‘Inferno’, his masterpiece concerning everlasting punishment, he did not put in the pit of hell those whose iniquity had sprung from passion. Rather, the pit of his hell was filled with sullen, ungrateful men frozen in ice. On this Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend, let’s reflect on the many goodnesses of God and examine our hearts to see the quantity and quality of our gratitude. Let us look at what the psalmist said he would do in appreciation for al that the Lord had done for him.
1. I will take the cup of salvation- v.13.
Until we have seen ourselves as sinners and have received Jesus Christ as personal Saviour, we begin at no beginning and work toward no conclusion in developing our lives. A young preacher, mature beyond his years, was riding on a train with a group of military men during WW2. The conversation developed around religious themes, and a very ‘liberated’ preacher expounded some ideas that even unbelievers, if they had any biblical background at all, recognized were untenable. This young man, who was still a ministerial student, replied with several passages of Scripture. One of the soldiers came to the young preacher, who was also in the military, and asked him a word of advice about his spiritual matters. Very wisely, the young man said, “Now before we discuss the matter, let me ask you, am I talking to a saved person or not? In other words, if you have not settled the problem of your personal relationship to Jesus Christ as Saviour, the only advice I can give you as the ultimate answer to your need is that you repent of sin and trust Christ as Saviour.” This young student was wise. Trusting Christ as Saviour and becoming a Christina does not mean that we will automatically have all of the answers to life’s questions immediately, but it dos mean that we will have a working basis whereby we, with the help of our Saviour, can resolve the problems. Until people do become Christians, however, they simply do not have the inner working of the Holy Spirit to give them strength for the difficulties of life.
Sometimes we see a preacher or a lay witness trying to scare people into becoming Christians. Paul taught a different message:
Ro.2.4- it is the ‘goodness of God’ that leads to repentance.
People who can be scared into religion don’t usually last long in their commitment unless they learn soon in that Christian life to live by love and faith. When one of our greatest scientists, who as noted for his new approaches and creative thinking, was on his deathbed, someone said, “What are your speculations now?” He replied, “Speculations? I have no speculations.” He contended, “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” (2 Tim.1.12).
2. I will pay my vows unto the Lord- v.14.
The psalmist does not go into detail concerning the vows he had made. Perhaps he had prayed in his crisis and promised that if God would deliver him he would change his way of life in certain areas. In all probability, he had agreed with God that he was deficient in his bringing of sacrifices to the altar. A seminary president, who had been a successful pastor, told the seminarians in a chapel service of a professional man who was at the point of suicide because he had lost most of his investments. The preacher sensed the man’s need and said, “There’s only one hope for you. You have majored on the material and, now that the material is gone, you have nothing left personally by way of resources. If you want deliverance, get down on your knees with me and promise that if God will give you strength for a comeback, you will dedicate a tithe to him of all that he gives to you.” The man did it. His entire life was changed. His family life straightened up and his medical practice was as good as or better than ever. The president closed with a strong statement: “Since assuming the presidency of this seminary, I have handed one of his sons two theological degrees from this institution.” When we get right with God on the matter of our finances, amazing miracles can take place in other areas of life. But we’d better be careful! When we make vows, we must keep them or we will be worse off than ever before. Jacob vowed a vow at Bethel (Gen.28.20-22), but, as far as we know, he stayed twenty years in Haran working for Laban and seemingly ignored those vows. Steward ship is an important part of living. In fact, for the Christian, next to accepting Jesus Christ as personal Saviour, it is probably the most important element of our live.
3. I will be your servant forever- v.16-19.
As the psalmist thought about his great deliverance, he probably realized that his life had been lengthened in order that he might fulfill God’s purposes for him. Someone said years ago that God keeps us here on earth until one of two things happens. Either we realize the purpose fro which he placed us here or we show him one final time that we have no intention of fulfilling his plans for our lives. Perhaps a thought such as this may have been in the background of Paul’s’ statement, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil.1.21).
Throughout the psalm, the writer recognizes a relationship between himself and God. Because of this, he has been given certain benefits by God and is, therefore, obligated to render certain services to God. This relationship is so important that God is not yet ready for him to pass on to the other world. He has, therefore, rescued him from the very jaws of death and thus has a claim on his life. The psalmist has become Gods servant, but he is also God’s friend. God walks with him and, therefore, he must not relax his service to God. The highest concept of servant is not that of a hireling who toils for wages and not even as a slave who is completely owned by God, although the latter is true. Rather, the relationship of friend to friend is the highest motivation for effective service. This is the basis on which the psalmist said, “I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving” (V.17). The psalmist also believed that if a friend is worth having, he is worth serving in the presence of others. This paves the way for Jesus’ statement in:
Matt.10.32. When one accepts all that is involved in being a servant of the Lord, all other matters fit into place.
Conclusion
The underlying theme of this psalm is that gratitude should characterize our life before God. A preacher of another century, Jeremy Taylor, said, “The private and personal blessings we enjoy, the blessings of immunity, safeguard, liberty, and integrity, deserve the thanksgiving of a whole live.” Gratitude is, as Theodore Parker said, “a touch of beauty added to the countenance giving an angelic loveliness to the character.” The constantly recurring theme of the book of Deuteronomy, “Beware that you forget not the Lord your God…which brought you forth” (Deut.8.11,14), may have been in the mind of the psalmist as he wrote this hymn. Charles Jefferson once wrote, “Gratitude is born in hearts that take time to count up past mercies.” Such a spirit leads one to give one’s best to God in all areas of living, and is the spirit for us to cultivate in Thanksgiving Weekend, and beyond.
