LET THE ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE ELEVATE YOUR ALTITUDE
Philippians 4:4-13
1. The cartoon by Mike Baldwin on the cover of your bulletin this morning (cartoon shows a long line of people at the "Complaints" window and none at the "Gratitude" window)is an apt description of and sad commentary on the vast majority of us who live in a land, a culture, a society that is more blessed economically, materially, educationally, agriculturally, scientifically, politically, medically, technologically, spiritually than any other nation or generation that has ever lived on the face of this planet.
• And yet in spite of all the benefits we have come to enjoy, we also have the largest number of gripers and complainers and moaners and discontented, dissatisfied people than anywhere else on earth.
• It is quite obvious that having more stuff does not automatically translate into greater happiness, peace, joy, and contentment.
• I’ll let you decide how you would respond to the person who said to me once, “While money certainly doesn’t buy happiness, it definitely makes misery more tolerable.”
2. Last Sunday we reflected on Paul’s words in Ephesians 2 about how God has “raised us up together with Christ and made us sit with Him in heavenly realms”. We noted that it makes all the difference in the world where you are seated and from where you choose to look out on life – whether from a heavenly perspective or from a purely earthly point of view.
• And as those who have been forgiven and cleansed of our sin, raised up with Christ and united with Him, we do have that choice. Thanks be to God.
• And the more we choose the heavenly over the earthly perspective, the more of God’s peace and joy becomes a regular and consistent part of our experience.
3. Today I want us to reflect on another choice we all have that impacts how we engage, respond and relate to the world around us. That choice we all have is whether or not to be a grateful people.
• The dictionary defines Gratitude as “a feeling of thankfulness and appreciation at a benefit received.”
• Now I am sure that most of us have had moments of feeling appreciative and thankful to others for things they have done to benefit us, but I want us to consider developing gratitude not just as an occasional response to some of the more obvious benefits that come our way, but rather as an ongoing way of life – that it becomes the overriding attitude with which we choose to respond to each and every incident that occurs – no matter how outwardly positive or negative it may at first appear. That is something very different.
• In other words that the attitude of gratitude becomes our deliberate and chosen response to a far greater incident or action than any of the other lesser incidents and occurrences – positive or negative - that cross our path on a daily basis.
4. Medical science has started studying the healthful effects of gratitude. Starting in 1997, Dr. Michael McCullough, an associate professor of psychology and religious studies at the University of Miami, conducted a series of studies over the next three years, involving 2,000 people and found the most grateful people tended to be the happiest. BIG SURPRISE! He discovered that there are almost no downsides to living with an attitude of gratitude, rather ``Most grateful people have high self-esteem and low rates of depression and negative moods.’’
• Here are some of the other results of his research:
• "Having gratitude over time loosens the hold of wealth and status and comparisons to what others have.”
• He found that people can learn over time to be grateful, even if they just started out by daily noting four or five things for which they were grateful – even if one of them was just that it was a sunny day.
• "In just two to three weeks they reported being happier," he said. "People close to them could see the difference too."
• In another study, Dr. Andrew Wenger, a psychologist in Pinecrest, Florida, discovered that thankful people became more adept at handling life’s challenges. He wrote, "Grateful people are more likely to be resilient, and they seem to have an easier time overcoming obstacles."
• “Grateful people”, wrote Dr. McCullough, “have a sense of wonder and appreciation”
5. Many philosophers, authors, and religious leaders throughout the ages have sought to encourage the attitude of gratitude within their hearers or readers.
• Buddha is reported to have said: “Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so, let us all be thankful.”
• Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama wrote: "Our enemies provide us with a precious opportunity to practice patience and love. We should have gratitude toward them.”
• G. K. Chesterton is quoted in Different Seasons by Dale Turner as saying: “You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, and swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing, and grace before I dip the pen in ink.”
6. The letter of the Apostle Paul to the church in Philippi was presumably written from Rome during his two year imprisonment because of the Gospel of Christ. And the one overriding attitude expressed throughout this letter, is that of gratitude.
• He thanks God with much joy, in every prayer, for the partnership of the Philippian believers with him in the Gospel
• He is grateful for his captivity in prison because it has helped advance the spread of God’s Good News throughout the entire palace guard.
• Even though there were some who were preaching Christ out of envy and rivalry with him and using the opportunity to stir up further trouble for him, he is grateful that one way or another Christ is being proclaimed.
• Even if his life is to end there in prison, he is grateful for what his ministry has already accomplished in their lives.
• He is grateful that God had mercy on Epaphroditus, healing him from a critical illness and sparing him from the grief of losing a faithful companion and fellow worker.
• He rejoices over the way they have shown concern for his needs – not so much for the benefit he received, but for what that sacrificial act of giving has accomplished and developed in them.
• And as he has shown by his own example, so he urges, indeed he commands the Philippians – as a strong imperative he repeats twice, to rejoice in the Lord always.
7. So how did Paul and how do we come to have this consistent attitude of gratitude?
• Well, I already gave the dictionary definition of gratitude as being “a feeling of thankfulness and appreciation at a benefit received.” And the degree of gratitude we feel appears to be directly proportional to the perceived value of that which has been received as well as the perceived genuineness and generosity in the heart of the giver or benefactor.
• Receiving a generous gift from someone who is either a complete stranger or with whom we have had an adversarial relationship, may leave us feeling embarrassed, manipulated, and perhaps seriously questioning the motives of the donor. We may end up refusing to accept it or examining it thoroughly for the “fine print”.
• A gift I will never forget and that filled my heart to overflowing with joy and gratitude was given to me by our middle daughter, Gabrielle, when she was just over two years old. It was the head of her favorite yellow rubber ducky wrapped and taped as best as a 2 year old could manage without any assistance. The look of love in her eyes and the hug that followed as she handed it to me saying “For you, daddy”, I tell you made that a gift worth way more than 10 million dollars!
8. Let me just make sure we understand what I am NOT saying:
• I am not saying that a grateful person is a perpetually happy person. I am not advocating a “Don’t worry, be happy!” philosophy of life here. Grateful believers still experience all the various moods and emotions that are part and parcel of being a normal and spiritually and psychologically healthy human being. We laugh, we cry. We experience joy, as well as sorrow and sadness. We enjoy times of delight and endure times of pain. Times of clarity along with times of uncertainty.
• But you note that Paul’s admonition is to “Rejoice in the Lord!” – there may not be much in our circumstances that looks like cause for rejoicing – we may be going through the darkest night of pain or loss or sorrow we have ever known. We may be surrounded by news of our own or a loved one’s health that fills us with anxiety and dread – but the response of the believer in such situations is to Rejoice in the Lord because He is our salvation and He has promised that He will never leave us or forsake us.
9. And such are the affirmations – the declarations of God’s salvation and mercy and worth and power and love and faithfulness that we are to rejoice in and declare our gratitude for even and particularly in the midst of our trials and tribulations.
• And it is as we do that – through our non-anxious prayers and petitions, confidently and thankfully affirming our faith that God has got everything under control – though the ground under our feet may shake and roll – as we do that, Paul promises that “the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus”.
10. And the way in which we build this kind of resilience into our system is by first of all thinking right and then by doing right.
• What you and I spend our time thinking on – the thoughts that we dwell on play a very major role in shaping our behavior.
• Negative and destructive behavior is primarily the outworking of negative and destructive patterns of thinking.
• So Paul writes: “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”
• Martin Luther once said, “You cannot stop the birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from making nests in your hair.”
• Because of the nature of this world in which we live, we may not have much control over negative, impure, unholy, immoral, destructive, fearful and anxious thoughts coming our way, but we do have a choice as to whether we will give them landing and occupation rights in our minds.
11. As you make your decision to give space in your mind to those thoughts that elevate God and deliberately start doing so by
• verbalizing your gratitude to God for His grace and mercy in your life
• declaring your delight in His goodness and love
• acknowledging His faithfulness and favor
• celebrating His kindness and compassion
• so there will come upon you an overwhelming sense of God’s presence and peace.
12. In just a moment, as you come to share in Holy Communion, and receive the bread and the cup – as you come for prayer for healing for yourself or on behalf of someone else
• Express your gratitude for Christ’s body that was broken for you and His blood that was shed for you
• Be refreshed in your experience of your conscience being washed and cleansed and whisper words of love and blessing in God’s ear
• Declare your thankfulness that it is by His stripes that you are healed and welcome that healing into every area of your body
• Rejoice that God has given you a new frame of reference – a new way of looking at and relating to the world around you and dedicate yourself and your resources to sharing with others what you have come to know and experience of Him.
AMEN
