mayfield church of christ

Being Thankful

Posted by George Taggart on 16 November 2008 | 1 Comments

Tags: Gratitude, Thanksgiving

Reading Luke 17: 11 - 19   Healing of ten lepers. ...... I was wondering this morning how many in this church still say grace before their meals at home?

And then I was wondering if you do say grace. WHY?

Do you say it because you always have, as long as you can remember?

Does it mean anything anymore. Can I ask you if you go out to a restaurant do you give thanks before you eat?

Or is saying grace  an opportunity to express to God your gratitude for the food that He has provided. And you feel that saying thanks is important.

Do you feel awkward sometimes as you sit down to eat at a friends place or when you are visiting, the meal is prepared and served and the first served starts eating you were waiting for grace but it didn't happen.

We have always taken each others hand around the table just like in this next picture it seems to mean to me that we are saying thank you as one family.

Grace such a simple thing yet it may in reality be the only time during the day when you actually say thank you to God for anything.

Then again I have had meals in my early Christian life at homes where by the time grace is finished the meal has gone cold. And we have thanked God for everything from creation to Salvation to the second coming.

But GRACE shouldn't be the entire conversation with God for the day. Nor should it be just food that we are grateful for.

Being GRATEFUL  MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE  to your Christian walk.

Our reading this morning is an interesting one and revolves around a accidental meeting between Jesus and ten lepers.

You know leprosy is a terrible disease, it is contagious, it is feared, we are fortunate that it is a tropical disease and you will never come across it in our climate area. Leprosy has been known for a long time, so long that God gave instructions in the Old Testament on how they were to handle Lepers. The main way was by segregation if the leprosy disappeared then there were rules covering the presentation to the priest who would determine if he was clean. No one was to touch them or eat with them. They lived and died by themselves. They were pushed outside of the cites and towns. It was a horrible disfiguring disease. So in our reading this morning we read the story of the encounter between Jesus and this group of 10 lepers. You notice a couple of things about these lepers 1. They stayed together they lived in a diseased group separate from everyone else. Probably lived on the city garbage tip the other thing I noticed in the reading was that when they met Jesus they stayed their distance and they shouted at him so they could be heard.

The story continues and Jesus sends them off to the High Priest and as they went they looked at their hands and feet and discovered that their leprosy had disappeared they were clean. You would think they would be bursting with joy and gratitude after years of living a living death suddenly they were clean they could return to their families walk the streets without being shunned.

But what happens out of the ten lepers only one took the time to turn around and come back to Jesus and say thanks. In surprise Jesus asked wasn't their ten of you where are the other nine?

Mary keeps reminding me, and I know it is getting worse, that I am becoming forgetful. My memory is not what it used to be I am currently trying to get into the habit of when I remember that there is something that I need to do, then I try and do it while I am thinking about it for sure enough if I don't then give me a few minutes and it is completely forgotten. Bad memory is not just my private and personal problem we all suffer from it give it enough time and we will all forget things that happened away back. God knew this and He gave Moses instructions that when the children of Israel where in the promised land living off milk and honey they were to be reminded and they were to be careful not to forget who gave them all these things. Don't forget your God. They even had a thing called a THANK OFFERING  they were not allowed to forget.  One of the startling things about the history of God's people was the number of times that they completely forgot their God sometimes for generations.

They became an UNGRATEFUL, SELF SATISFIED, race of people.

They completely forgot their history, they forgot that it was God who brought them into this promised land, It was God who fought for them against the tribes who occupied the land before them. Everything that they owned, all the land that they lived on their crops their cattle their fields was all theirs as a gift from God.

Yet they filled themselves with pride for what they had achieved. AND THEY FORGOT THEIR GOD. AND NO LONGER SAID GRACE.  They completely forgot who made them.

In the New Testament we are prompted to be GRATEFUL and the early church when they met there  were some important things that they did as they met. In Acts 2:47 it says that they met with sincere and glad hearts, praising God.

They were just bubbling over with gratitude for their salvation. 

 Ephesians 5:20  Says, and it is important that we take note of what Paul is saying here. Always give thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Thessalonians says: Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances.

There's an old Chorus that we don't sing anymore and I said to Mary we will make a trio this morning with Darrell and Graeme and myself we'll sing this old song to you . But Mary said noway you are not doing that.

But you will remember the words of this beautiful hymn that goes

When upon life's billows
You are tempest tossed
When you are discouraged,
Thinking all is lost
Count your many blessings,
Name them one by one
And it will surprise you
What the Lord has done.

Chorus:
Count your blessings,
Name them one by one
Count your blessings,
See what God has done
Count your blessings,
Name them one by one
Count your many blessings,
See what God has done.

Do you remember it?

COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS!

I'm finding lately as I move into the later part of my life and look back over all those years  that even though we are  not rich Mary and I live in a comfortable but modest home there is always food on our table and our health for our ages is pretty good.  WE HAVE A LOT TO GIVE THANKS TO GOD FOR.  We are just so grateful.  After Mary's recent heart attack and her recovery WE ARE JUST VERY GRATEFUL..

But you say George that's OK for you but what about the people who are really struggling  with life

Sometimes giving thanks doesn't come naturally!  In Philippians 4:6 It says do not be anxious about anything.

I can remember many times in my life and I am sure you have experienced the same when things where not going right. Life had become difficult and maybe just unfair.   These are times when gratitude and saying thanks to God just doesn't come easy. What we are giving thanks for in these circumstances is the comfort that comes from knowing that God cares. He loves us. Like the Psalmist said back in the 23rd Psalm THO I  WALK THROUGH THE

VALLEY OF THE SHADDOW OF DEATH  -YOU ARE WITH ME  and as one minister used to put it valleys don't last for ever.

SO WHAT AM I GRATEFUL FOR ?

The Leper was obviously  thankful that he had been healed, but what about you and me.

Just what am I thankful for - Well here's my list, you will have yours. One thing I thought about as Bec and Luke had their baby Holly last week, did she have five fingers and five toes was everything OK.  Let's be grateful to God for our Children and grandchildren's health. 

Thank God for our life. Ours and those close to us.

Thank God for His patience with us, we sin and He still loves and forgives us.

Thank God for our home our food  our bed at night

For our church I say thank you for every one of you. You are my church family

AND SO THE LIST GOES ON

But one thing we should say thank you to God for everyday is for Jesus and our Salvation.

SO HOW DO WE EXPRESS OUR THANKS TO GOD?

Well just saying grace before each meal is only a small part of it. Grace to me is saying thank you for the food that we have set before us.

What about a bit of prayer time. You know that conversation that you have with God. I have been reading about prayer this week and the difference it makes Men of God who were busy busy because they were so busy gave

extra time out of their day to pray. Can't fit prayer time in. I remember one of our ministers wives who made a habit of getting up to pray well before the house began to stir. This was her quiet time, her time between her and God.

I WAS WONDERING IS THERE OTHER WAYS TO SAY THANKS.

We have just finished communion this morning and I believe this is an important way of showing gratitude to God for our salvation through the death of His son Jesus. Another part of our service has been the offering.

Surely we express our gratitude and can we measure our love this morning by how much you gave.

In the Old Testament and in the early church giving was an important part of church life. They gave as they saw the need.

SERVICE IS AN OBVIOUS WAY OF SAYING THANK YOU Are you ministering to someone are you sharing your gifts and using them for the blessing of people around you.

ANOTHER IMPORTANT way is to recognize God's authority and to obey Him. A life committed to Christ is a marvelous way of saying thank you.

Yes say saying grace and just saying thank you is just part of the whole story

Jesus said to these men ‘Come follow me!" and remember they left their fishing boats their trade their families and followed Him.

Yes saying Thanks and showing your gratitude is much more than 30 seconds before you eat.

LET'S BE GRATEFUL.