What I Have Is Not Who I Am!
2 Corinthians 9:6-8 and Philippians 4:4-13
by Jim Westmoreland
I may have a nice house and a refrigerator and a freezer full of food. I may have a good job or a great retirement income. I may have abundance and plenty and still not be a thankful person. If I am a grateful, thankful person, then, whether I have a lot or only a little, I’ll still be a thankful person, because What I have is not who I am.
In Philippians 4 Paul knew the secret of being filled and going hungry, of having abundance and suffering need. He had learned and encouraged the church at Philippi to let their requests to God be made known with thanksgiving. But, that is not always easy.
Some of you might remember the old, old movie serial, Ma and Pa Kettle. You might say that they lived where the Beverly Hillbillies came from. In a classic scene from many episodes, Ma Kettle would go to bangin’ and a’ clangin’ the triangle on the porch. Suddenly, from every crevice and corner around the yard came at least a dozen screaming and yelling children. They rushed into the house fighting for a place at the table. Then Ma, in her loudest, commanding voice, would holler, "Hold it!" Everyone would freeze in silence, like you had pushed the pause button on the VCR. Pa Kettle would roll his eyes heavenward, tip his hat, and say, "Much obliged." Immediately, chaos, noise and rough-housing resumed just as abruptly as it had stopped.
And I think to myself . . . God calls us to much better than a tip of the hat.
Thanksgiving is not a feast for the flesh but rather a feast for our spiritual nature. It is true that our physical bodies receive nutrients from the food we consume, but our spiritual bodies receive something far more nourishing as a result of our thankful hearts. However, being thankful does not mean that one simply bows his head and voices a prayer of thanksgiving--it runs much deeper than that and is a little more complex.(1) Being thankful does not have much to do with what I have, but it has a lot to do with who I am.
One evening on the way home from his office, Matthew Henry, the writer of the now famous commentaries that bear his name, was robbed. Before going to bed that night, he wrote in his diary, "Let me be thankful: first, because I was never robbed before; second, because although they took my purse, they did not take my life; third, because although they took my all, it was not much; and fourth, because it was I who was robbed, not I who robbed."
Thanksgiving is not a holiday or an event as much as it is the shadow of salvation. Thanksgiving is not merely a reaction or realization of blessings. It is not just looking at all the good things we have and then bowing our heads and saying Thank you. Rather, it is the reflection of who we are in Christ. When God’s blessings are poured upon us like sunshine, the image of who we are is cast onto the ground--and although we do not control the blessings, we are fully capable of controlling our shadow.(2) As we relate to people every day, does our shadow tell them more about what we have or who we are?
Francis Schaeffer once said, "The beginning of men’s rebellion against God was, and is, the lack of a thankful heart." I think C. S. Lewis said it best when he wrote: "We ought to give thanks for all fortune: if it is ’good,’ because it is good, if ’bad’ because it works in us patience, humility and the contempt for this world and the hope of our eternal country."
In the dark days of the Depression in 1929 a group of ministers gathered to discuss how they should conduct their Community Thanksgiving service that year. Things were really bad with no sign of relief. The bread lines were depressingly long. It seemed that the heart of the economy was just barely beating. Some thought that they should be sensitive to the misery all around them and that there should be little mention given to the subject of Thanksgiving. But, one pastor rose to say the opposite. He said that this was a time for the nation to get matters into perspective and to thank God for blessings that were always present but often overlooked.
I believe He was right. At times, especially the good times, we often take things for granted. The most intense moments of thankfulness are not found in times of plenty, but when difficulties abound.
Some friends were missionaries to Kenya. Much of their work was in the city of Nairobi, but they would also travel to join some other missionaries that worked out in the bush country. They came back to the states and showed slides and told their stories. I’ll never forget the story with one slide which showed a circle of about thirty Kenyan natives. They were obviously under-nourished, with their frail bodies and distended stomachs. They had gathered to worship with the missionaries. They stood in a circle to sing and pray. Over and over, they gave thanks to God. Their poverty and their needs for life’s necessities were so great. Yet, there poverty did not drown out their gratitude. There prayers were heartfelt expressions of praise and gratitude to their loving and caring God. Though they don’t speak English, they knew the meaning of What I have is not who I am.
In the book, The Screwtape Letters, by C. S. Lewis, a devil briefs his demon nephew, Wormwood, in the subtleties and techniques of tempting people. Through the letters the devil says that the objective is not to make people wicked but to make them indifferent. Satan cautions Wormwood that he must keep the patient comfortable at all costs. If he should start thinking about anything of importance, encourage him to think about his luncheon plans and not to worry so much because it could cause indigestion. And then the devil gives this instruction to his nephew: "I, the devil, will always see to it that there are bad people. Your job, my dear Wormwood, is to provide me with people who do not care."
When we look around us, we can clearly see many who are committed only to being comfortable. One of the clearest messages we hear in countless imaginative ways is that we will be happier if we have more. It is subtle but consistent. If some is good, then more is better. And so, we have become an acquiring, consuming nation. Sometimes, it seems that we fill our lives with things only to find out that there is no filling. But, it’s not just things that we accumulate. We may need to gather accomplishments or attractive relationships - other indications of our identity. Suddenly, it is tempting to think that we are more, because we have more.(3) I want to clearly say that there is nothing bad about having things or achievements and the recognition and praise that goes with them. But, with them one also can see a broad path that can seductively lead to pride, arrogance, and independence from God.
How is it that our very abundance can sometimes drown out our sincere Thanksgiving? When everything is a gift of God, I can no longer measure myself by what I’ve accumulated. When I confuse what I have with what I am, then I’ve confused externals with internals. I’ve focused on the outside, not the inside. Genuine Thanksgiving doesn’t have to do with the outside; it has to do with the inside, because What I have is not who I am.
Many years ago a group of farmers decided to eat their best potatoes and to only plant the small ones. They kept up this practice for many years, even though they noticed the potatoes were getting smaller and smaller. They blamed the weather and the beetles and the blight. They kept it up until all of their potatoes were down to the size of large marbles.
The farmers learned through bitter experience that they could not keep the best things of life for themselves and use the leftovers for seed. Paul wrote in 2 Cor. 9:6, "he who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly; and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully.
What I have is not who I am, but what I give and do is a lot closer to who I am. I believe that giving to others is connected to our genuine gratitude and thanksgiving in much the same way that forgiving others is the outward sign of our forgiveness. Giving is the outward sign of our genuine gratitude.
I hope this morning that I have sounded a call, a challenge, to each of us to rejoice and be thankful and to remember, What I have is not who I am, and What I give reveals a lot about my gratitude. Amen.
Century Christian Church, November 20, 2005 - Sermon by Jim Westmoreland
www.centurychristian.org
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1. Mike Collins, syndicated religious columnist.
2. Ibid.
3. Jesuit Online Retreat "Two Ways of Desiring," at Creighton Univ. web site.
