Gratitude is a powerful thing!

I thank my God every time I remember you. - Phil. 1:3 

I was speaking to a group of leaders the other night and referenced St. Paul’s grateful remarks from Philippians Chapter 1. A friend came up afterwards to say how much he appreciated my comments. He said he’d been told that gratitude is first among the virtues and asked what I thought. In light of Paul’s statement from 1 Corinthians 13 that 3 things remain: faith, hope, and love…with the greatest being love, I wasn’t quite ready to move gratitude to the top of the “virtue hierarchy.” But, I certainly understood his point.

Because gratitude is a powerful thing.

It changes a person…

…so much so, it’s almost visible.

You can see gratitude on someone…like a contagious smile or kind eyes. It’s difficult to hide. Thankful people simply see things that others don’t. They look at life differently, because they see everything through the lens of gratitude.

 True gratitude has two powerful components, both of which are essential.

 The first is a clear view of all the good things we possess. Gratitude looks around and sees people we love, gifts we enjoy, opportunities we’ve been given and recognizes them all as gifts rather than as rights or entitlements. So many of the good things in life were not earned, but were just given. Grateful people know this well and, consequently, are far more focused on what they have than what they don’t.

 Gratitude also recognizes that these gifts have a giver. It’s not just luck or good fortune. We are grateful to someone. Paul said it this way: “I thank my God.” Gratitude looks and sees that all these gifts come from the hand of a Father who loves us. I’ve said many times that I feel sorry for atheists who have no one to thank in those moments when they are overcome with gratitude! Without an object, gratitude just seems like hollow self-congratulations.

 True gratitude sees God’s goodness all around! Consequently, it feeds our faith, fills us with hope, and gives expression to the love that we have in our Father!

 Hey, wait a minute…Now that I think about it, maybe my friend was on to something…

Gratitude really is a powerful thing!

 (One day, when I was in a particularly grateful state of mind, I wrote a song called “Simple Things.” Check it out here!) 

The Comfort of Lamentation.

Restore us to yourself, Lord, that we may return; renew our days as of old22 unless you have utterly rejected us and are angry with us beyond measure. -- Lamentations 5:21-22

In our congregational Bible reading plan, we just finished the book of Lamentations, which records the prophet, Jeremiah, grieving over the fate of the nation, Israel. Jeremiah had watched in horror as they turned their back on God and experienced the inevitable consequence of their sin. I must confess, reading Lamentations, this time, was a bit different than previous times. I found myself relating at a new and different level.

Our nation is in trouble.

In the last few weeks, radical Islamic terrorists have carried out horrific attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California. In the past, our grief and indignation over this kind of thing would have unified our nation…at least for a time. But that’s not what’s happening. Not only can we not even agree on what is evil or good, public figures who issued messages of prayer and support were told to keep their prayers to themselves unless they adopted the political solution of their critics. The political animosity is so thick, it seems to trump even our sense of decency and humanity. As a nation we are losing our mind, which is really just a symptom of a far more serious condition.

We are losing our soul.

As a Christian and a pastor, I am deeply saddened and grieved by what I see. It is at this point that I feel some of Jeremiah’s pain. Watching your nation run from God and witnessing the resulting chaos is not fun. In fact, it’s heartbreaking.

However, just like Jeremiah, we know that the story is not over. We know that God is at work even in difficult times…maybe particularly in difficult times. Eugene Peterson astutely observed in Jeremiah's message that even judgment is “in the service of salvation.”* The last thing the church needs to do is despair. Rather, we need to recognize that the light of God’s hope burns even more brightly in a darkening world.

A few suggestions…

•   Remember, God does some of His best work when things are at their worst. His kingdom and His church always seem to thrive in dark times.

•   No matter what, follow Jesus…and expect to be moving against the cultural flow! But remember, the most powerful gospel message is the life of Jesus lived out in His people.

•   Never discount the power of prayer! Prayer has been shown to change the course of nations. So pray!

Oh…and one more thing:

•   Remember, the people who disagree with you are not the enemy. The gospel is never served by our vilifying those who disagree with us. Even worse is when we verbally attack other believers over the politics of the day. Jesus said that the proof that we are His followers would be our love for one another. The quality of our love for each other will either be our great strength or our greatest weakness.

This Christmas season, I find myself wondering if Jeremiah might have prayed something like this…

O come, O come, Emmanuel,

And ransom captive Israel,

That mourns in lonely exile here

Until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice! Rejoice!

Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

*Eugene Peterson, Run with the Horses, InterVarsity Press, 1983, Pg 185

Why Real Life?

In our ministry, we talk a lot about real life. Our church, River City Community Church, is called “A Church for Real Life.” Our school, River City Believers Academy is…you guessed it, “A School for Real Life.” What is it about real life that we find so compelling? Actually...let me rephrase that. What is it about real life that people find so compelling?

I can’t tell you how many people have shared with me that they came to our fellowship simply because they heard, or saw, that little tag line; almost like weary travelers tired of the artificial, the empty…done with the pretending and posturing…fed up with the show.

Simply looking for something.

Something real.

Real life.

I remember that feeling. I was a youth pastor in a church at the time. It wasn’t a bad church, but it felt like, much of the time, we were just going through the motions. The power and life that I read from the pages of scripture, or that I’d heard shared from so many of the great saints of the past, was simply not what I saw and experienced. And frankly, I wanted that. I wanted the real deal!

One day I was reading in John 10, and when I came to verse 10 it struck me in a different way than it had before. Jesus was speaking and He said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (ESV) That word translated “abundantly” means full, extravagant, more than normal, and it resonated with my hunger for “the real deal!” I felt like Jesus was speaking directly to my desire. It was as though He was saying, “Yep, I want you to experience full, real, abundant life, as well. In fact, I gave my life so you could find yours…what are you waiting for?”

That little encounter changed my life.

And that was God’s plan the whole time. Real life.

Jesus came, lived, and sacrificed His life on a cross so that you and I could experience the vibrant, full, real life that God designed us for. When you think about it, to settle for anything less would be to dishonor and squander the sacrifice He made on our behalf!

A word of encouragement…

That hunger and desire you have for something real is from our Heavenly Father. Stop ignoring it! If you ask Him, He will begin to show you the path to real life. It will always be the path of following Jesus and the only question is will you say “yes.”

Real life is not just a church thing; it’s a life thing.