Victor Frankl, survivor of the unspeakable horrors of the Holocaust, learned a profound truth there: Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances. This episode is about a specific attitude that is so simple to understand that most of us have never given it much thought—yet its practice has enormous power to draw our hearts continually towards Jesus. And that is what this new series is about: “A Closer Walk with Jesus.”
Why begin a series A Closer Walk with Jesus? Because that is the most foundational part of the mission assigned to us by our Lord—and I don’t know any Christian man who wants to fail in the mission assigned to him by Jesus. This podcast seeks to clarify this mission by summarizing the various passages of Scripture that identify our mission both as CREATED image-bearers of God—our creation-calling as men, and as REDEEMED image bearers of God—our discipleship-calling as Christ-following men. These various passages fall into the three categories: We are called TO Christ. We are called TO BE LIKE Christ. We are called to EXERCISE DOMINION FOR Christ over every sphere of our lives. The series we begin today, A Closer Walk with Jesus returns us to the first and foundational calling—TO Christ, to enjoy a love relationship with him. This component of our calling is expressed:
- You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. (Mt 22:37).
- Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart (Ps 37:4).
- God….has called you into fellowship with his son… (1 Cor 1:19).
- Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing (John 15:4-5).
The reason our call TO Christ is foundational for the other two thirds of our mission, called TO BE LIKE Christ, and called TO EXERCCISE DOMINION FOR Christ is explained by Jesus in this text. Accomplishing the rest of our mission can only happen by staying connected to him; apart from me you can do nothing. Real spiritual fruit in becoming Christ-like men, husbands, fathers, employees, and neighbors only comes through the branch connecting to the vine!
So, what is the one, simple practice that our episode today examines--that has tremendous power to turn our hearts towards Jesus? The practice of radical gratitude. Ellen Vaughn, who often co-authored articles with Chuck Colson, observes the power of this seemingly insignificant pattern of behavior when it is a way of life:
It's incredible: The small, compliant human action of saying “thank you” constantly links us to the awesome Creator of the universe. In the practice of perceiving every day as a gift from Him, we stay connected to Christ. We can’t wander away from Christ as our hearts are so prone to do: as we thank God for his presents, we remain in His presence. He says, “You are welcome.” And more. We begin to see things from his point of view. The conversations of a continually grateful heart become a way of life, a fountain flowing in us, the means by which we acknowledge our dependence on Christ, enjoy Him lavishly, and run to do whatever He wants (Radical Gratitude).
Paul teaches that the practice of radical gratitude is at the core of life as a Christ-follower: Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, GIVE THANKS IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you (1 Thes 5:16-18). In Col 3:15, Paul simply commands, BE THANKFUL. The writer to the Hebrews says, Therefore, LET US BE GRATEFUL for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe.
One of the reasons that radical gratitude so powerfully keeps us connected to Christ is that it attacks one of the two roots of sin—refusing to give thanks to God: Paul explains this root sin in Romans 1.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God OR GIVE THANKS TO HIM, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened (Rom 1:18-21).
The failure to give thanks to God is identified here not as a mere peccadillo—a trivial oversight; Paul says this failure is at the core of evil. In fact, says Paul, ungratefulness for God’s revealed character and supremacy opens the door to a slippery slope to all kinds of evil. The surprising truth revealed by God about the evil of ungratefulness tells us something significant about what pleases God. Cultivating a grateful heart is not just an add-on nicety, a civil (polite) tip of the hat to God as we steamroll through our day. A posture of purposeful, perpetual thanks to God is absolutely essential to Christian character. It gives glory to Him. It is the key defense against Satan’s temptation to despair, distrust, dysfunction. It protects us from sin and self. It is the hallmark of heaven. It does not exist in hell (Ibid).
Jonathan Edwards makes a helpful distinction between two categories of thankfulness: Natural gratitude is thankfulness for the blessings we have received from God and others. Life, health, family, freedom, a warm bed, a roof over our heads—it is a mindset of active appreciation for all good gifts, large, small, physical, emotional, spiritual. It is a virtuous kind of thankfulness to God—the kind that caused Thanksgiving Day to become part of American life. It was understood that our thankfulness was directed TO SOMEONE, because so many influencers in our culture then believed the biblical teaching in James that Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning (James 1:17).
Edwards further wrote of a higher level of gratitude, which he called, gracious gratitude. It gives thanks for who God is. It gives thanks for his character, for his goodness, love, grace, majesty, his excellencies. It is a mark of the work of the Holy Spirit in one’s life. It is confident gratefulness for who God has proven himself to be when the circumstances he ordains for us are painful. We see gratefulness for who God is in the life of the Psalmist, who longs to know God more deeply even as his enemies surround him. We see it in Job’s words, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust him.” We see it in Paul whose secret to contentment is revealed in his grateful attitude for the privilege of knowing Jesus. I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord (Phil 3:8). Vaughn points to the fruit of radical gratitude in Paul’s passion.
He was unquenchable, unstoppable, full of thanks and peace and joy, not because of what he had, but Who he knew….This kind of gratitude grows throughout the lifetime of the believer, irrespective of circumstances. As we become more and more aware—through the Scripture’s truth and the Spirit’s power—how desperately sinful we really are, we also become more and more astounded by how righteous God really is. We see more and more clearly that God is God, wholly Other, not some manageable deity that we have made up in our small minds. We realize the impossible gap between our sinfulness and his holiness. It is insurmountable—but for the cross, which bridges that chasm. We look to the cross and are overwhelmed by the love of Christ, his blood poured out to make us right with God (Ibid.)
Practicing radical gratefulness seems to be a core strategy in facing the over-powering emotions that accompany difficulty and trials. Paul’s command in I Thes 5:16-18 seems to follow a natural progression. Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks. Rejoicing is linked to giving thanks. Paul says the secret to facing hardship is the practice of finding ways to thank God for who he is and other blessings when you are not FEELING thankful. This practice can buttresses us with a measure of joy in this midst of pain by remembering who God has proven himself to be.” We see the same link between joy and thankfulness in Phil 4:4-6, Rejoice in the Lord always…do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication WITH THANKSGIVING let your requests be made known to God. Radical gratitude for who God is—thanksgiving always mingled with our prayer--provides the power to face our daily frustrations.
A mom was struggling over the reality that her once-close relationship with her teenage daughter had devolved into a briar patch of stinging barbs and angry outbursts. The mom couldn’t say anything without igniting a verbal explosion. The worst part was that the mother couldn’t seem to stop herself from losing it during these conversations. But, she read the verse, “In everything give thanks,” and made the decision to head into the fray with a commitment to radical gratitude. Her prayers were nothing very spiritual. “Thank you that you are with me.” “Thank you for giving me this girl.” “Thank you for her health--that she is even able to speak.” “Thank you that her mind works so quickly!” “Thank you that what you are going to do in her life is not yet over.” “Thank YOU, God, for your patience with ME.” Looking back on this effort to give God thanks no matter what, she noticed:
- Finding ways to be thankful to God freed her from the emotion of the moment so she didn’t respond to her daughter out frustration or anger.
- That distance allowed her to see humor in some situations, a healthy way, sometimes, to diffuse emotions.
- The more she thanked God for her daughter, the more she was able to perceive her as HIS daughter.
- She found that developing the habit of giving thanks gave her more resiliency, and flexibility, instead of always being ready to snap.
- Oddly enough her emotions changed, and she couldn’t wait for her daughter to come home from school so she could lavish love on her. Healthy EMOTIONS in us so often seem to materialize following the act of giving thanks, no matter what.
Four Benefits of Radical Gratitude
1. The practice of simply looking back at past blessings from God over the past week and verbalizing your gratefulness to him by thanking him is like reaching out and turning up the thermostat in your house to warm it up. Even when we are tired, or running on sheer discipline to talk to God, the act of our will to thank him warms our hearts, turning them towards him. Perhaps that is why the Psalmist wrotes, Enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise.
2. As we saw last week, perhaps Satan’s most dependable strategy to lead us into sin and consequent destruction is to cause us to doubt God’s goodness. Courageous, gratefulness heads right into that attack! I have seen that lion-hearted courage and wisdom in the lives of two men I am honored to call my friends, when the one’s twenty-one-year-old son, (and the other’s grandson) was suddenly killed. God is full of compassion for us; he never wants us to suppress our pain but, rather, take our grief, sorrow and frustration to him. That is why he gave us the Psalms. Yet, God tells us, “In everything give thanks,” and “Count it all joy when you meet trials of various kinds,” for good reason. The choice of radical gratitude by choosing to find ways to give God thanks insulates our hearts against the deep-rooted sin of ungratefulness, from which come complaining, anger, hardening our heart towards God and bitterness. Giving thanks to God in the midst of difficulty presents us with the opportunity to prove our allegiance to God. To complain, to murmur as the Children of Israel were famous for doing in the wilderness, is personal disloyalty to God, publicly slandering the name of God for not taking better care of those who have trusted him. Refusing to complain about the trials God takes us through is about personal loyalty to him, and a decision to trust him. Trusting God is so precious to God that he likens it to pure gold.
3. A grateful heart is closely linked to humility, which is the most foundational attitude required for God to work in us. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God (Matt 5:3) God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). The concepts of gratefulness and humility derive from recognizing our dependency. Radical gratitude causes thankfulness—making known to God and others in what ways they have benefitted our lives, which is the flip side of humility—recognizing how much God and others are responsible for the achievements in my life.
4. Radical gratitude brings a life of joy. All the days of the afflicted are evil, but the cheerful of heart has a continual feast (Prov 15:15). Not only do we all long for joyfulness, but we also recognize that our joy makes us contagious Christians. We all want to see others come to Christ because of our lives. One more time, we return to the link between thankfulness, joy, and gratefulness for who God is. Notice these three in Psalm 100:
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.
Jesus’ Challenge: Be in the Top Ten Percent
Jesus was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well” (Luke 17:13-17).
Leprosy is a hideous nerve disease that can cause a man’s nose, fingers, or toes to rot away. OT law held that a person with such a contagious skin disease must wear torn clothes, let his hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of his face and cry out, “Unclean, Unclean!” He must live alone, outside the camp. To be admitted back into society he had to have his healing verified by the priests. Jesus’ heart is moved with compassion for the ten. He tells them to go show themselves to the priest. Ellen Vaugh imagines the scene:
The ten stumble along the road, robes flapping. Bystanders scurry away from them. As the men hurry, the dirty rags fall away from their faces…
“Hiram!” shouts one. “Your nose!”
“What do you mean, my nose?” says Hiram, bustling along.
“You’ve got one!”
Piling to a stop, slamming into one another like clowns at a circus, they stare at each other’s faces, mouths wide open. They unwind the rags from their hands, shouting because they have fingers again. They leap into the air; they land sure- footed. They strip off their bonds and clap their arms around each other’s shoulders, laughing with joy. They can’t wait to find their families. They sprint towards town.
But one whirls and turns in the other direction, back towards Jesus. He runs fast with his new feet. Weeping he falls and kisses Jesus’ perfect ones.
“Thank You!” he sobs. Thank you. Thank you.
Ten were rescued, cleansed, given a brand-new beginning. Yet nine ran the wrong way. (Radical Gratitude).
May you and I be the one in ten who relentlessly runs towards Jesus, to tell him, “Thank You.” May we show the world the truth that Victor Frankl discovered, The one freedom humans always have is the freedom to choose our attitude. When it hurts and we are frustrated, when our lips are sorely tempted to complain, may God’s grace empower our hearts, instead, to choose loyalty to our Lord—in everything to give thanks.
