October 9, 2005

Thanksgiving Sunday

The proud young college grad had just passed the C.P.A. Exams and was now a full-fledged Certified Public Accountant. His father had been an immigrant to the U.S., & now owned his own little business. Filled with self-importance, the young man began to criticize his father’s way of keeping books. He said, “Dad, you don’t even know how much profit you’ve made. In one drawer are your accounts receivable. In another are your receipts, & you keep all your money in the cash register. You don’t have any idea how much you’ve made.”

The father answered, “Son, when I came to this country the only thing I owned was a pair of pants. Now, your brother is a doctor, your sister is an art teacher, & you are a C.P.A. Your mother & I own our home, a car, and this little business. Now add that up, subtract the pants, & all the rest is profit!” Add it up, folks. That’s what we need to do at Thanksgiving. Add it all up. We came into this world with nothing but the eternal soul God gave us. Everything else is profit.

The story is told of a poor man who was given a loaf of bread. He thanked the baker, but the baker said, “Don’t thank me. Thank the miller who made the flour.” So he thanked the miller, but the miller said, “Don’t thank me. Thank the farmer who planted the wheat.” So he thanked the farmer. But the farmer said, “Don’t thank me. Thank the Lord. He gave the sunshine & rain & fertility to the soil, & that’s why you have bread to eat.”

You see, regardless of how advanced we may be scientifically, we still can’t make a kernel of corn or wheat. That has to come from God. God gives us what we need to live on this planet. That is why Thanksgiving is so important each year. We need this reminder because it forces us to add it all up & recognize where all these things we enjoy actually come from.

The sad thing is that some people have a confused attitude about their blessings. One day a man discovered that a friend had betrayed him. Greatly hurt, he went to the man & said, “Don’t you remember who picked you up when you were in the gutter? Don’t you remember who bailed you out of jail & loaned you money when you needed it? Don’t you remember who gave you your first job?” The man replied, “Yes, you did. But what have you done for me lately?”

Sometimes we are that way with God, aren’t we? We receive so much, but if things happen to be a bit hard at the moment we say to God, “What have You done for me lately? True, you’ve given me life & health & all the things I enjoy. But what have you done for me lately?”

A sailor once rescued a drowning boy. He pulled the boy out of the water, administered CPR, revived him & sent him on his way. That afternoon the boy & his mother were walking down the street & they met the sailor. The boy told his mother, “That’s the man who saved me!” The mother immediately turned to the sailor & asked, “Is it true? Did you pull my boy out of the water this morning?” The sailor proudly replied, “Yes, ma’am, I did.” But to his surprise, instead of thanking him, she shook her finger in his face & demanded, “Well, where is his cap?” God provides us with so much, & yet we demand, “Where is the rest? God, we want more.”

Leslie Weatherhead told about eating with a couple in England right after WW2. Food was still scarce, but the wife managed to prepare a fine meal of fresh trout from a nearby stream & some fresh vegetables cooked in a delightful way. He enjoyed the meal greatly, & thanked his hostess for it. She blushed & said, “Oh sir, my husband never thanks me when I prepare a meal for him.” The unembarrassed husband said, “Hey Love, I would have told you if I didn’t like it.”

God gives us life filled with so many blessings that we can’t name them all. But too many people, instead of thanking God, are complaining, “What have You done for me lately, God?” “Well, where is the cap?” “Hey, God, I would have told you if I didn’t like it.” Too often, we do not thank God for all His blessings, or live as if we are thankful.

Like Simon the Pharisee. When the sinful woman comes to the dinner at his house. As Max Lucado points out, “Could two people be more different? He is looked up to. She is looked down on. He is a church leader. She is a streetwalker. He makes a living promoting standards. She’s made a living breaking them. He’s hosting the party. She’s crashing it.”

Anyone in Capernaum but Jesus would have thought that Simon was the better person of the two. He’s the Bible student, the theology teacher, the man of the cloth. But all Simon can think is How did this whore get into my house? He doesn’t know who to yell at first, the woman or the servant who let her in. After all, this dinner is a formal affair. Invitation only. Who let the riffraff in? Simon was angry: Just look at her – groveling at Jesus’ feet. Kissing them, no less! Why, if Jesus were who He says He is, He would have nothing to do with this woman!

Now, Simon had invited Jesus but treated Him like an unwanted guest. No kiss of greeting. No washing his feet. No oil for his head. Today, it would be like no one opened the door for Him, took his coat, or shook his hand. Simon does nothing to make Jesus feel welcome.

The woman, however, did everything that Simon didn’t. We aren’t told her name. Just her reputation – a sinner. Probably a prostitute. She has no invitation to the party and no standing in the community. Imagine a hooker showing up at the church Christmas party! Ugh!

But people’s opinions didn’t stop her from coming. She didn’t come for them. She came for Him. Each of her actions were meaningful and extravagant. She puts her cheek to his feet, still dusty from the path. She has no water, but she has tears. She has no towel, but she has her hair. She uses both to bathe the feet of Jesus. She opens a bottle of perfume, a precious treasure, and rubs it into his skin, the aroma filling the room.

Now, you would think Simon, of all people, would show that kind of love. After all, isn’t he the reverend of the church, the student of Scripture? Yet, he remains harsh and distant. You would think that the woman would be the one avoiding Jesus. Isn’t she the woman of the night? The town tramp? But yet she can’t resist Him! Simon’s love is measured and stingy. Her love, on the other hand, is extravagant and risky! How do we explain the difference between them? Training? Education? Money? No, Simon has more of all of that.

So what does she have that moves her to such love and thankfulness? Think about it. What discovery has she made that Simon hasn’t? What one treasure does she cherish that Simon doesn’t? Simple. God’s love. She had come to the realization that she had failed God terribly but that He had given her forgiveness through Jesus. She came thirsty for forgiveness. Thirsty from guilt. Thirsty from regret. And when Jesus handed her the cup of grace, she drinks. Not in small sips. In huge gulps! She drinks until God’s mercy flows down her chin, and every inch of her soul is moist and refreshed. Until she is convinced God’s love and forgiveness is for her!

Simon, on the other hand, didn’t even know he was thirsty. He didn’t think he needed grace. And so he never knew about God’s love and forgiveness. And that’s why he had no love to offer. No thanks to give. No Thanksgiving to celebrate. Jesus pointed out, “A person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” In other words, we can’t give what we’ve never received. If we’ve never received love, how can we love others? How can we give thanks?

That is what we must ponder today. Of all the blessings we have to be thankful for, of all the things we can ADD UP as amazing blessings in our lives, nothing adds up, nothing piles up like the pile of sins for which we have been forgiven by an amazing, loving God. And our loving God & people back, our thanks-giving, our thanks-living, begins when we believe we need and have received that forgiveness from our gracious Savior. You have much love to give!

So if you are struggling with having a thankful spirit, or struggling with how to love others, could it be that you are missing a step? Could it be that the first step of love is not toward them but toward Him? Could it be that the secret to loving is receiving? You give love by first receiving it. “We love, because He first loved us.” Want to be more loving? Begin by knowing you are a dearly loved child of God! Want to learn to forgive? Then consider how you’ve been forgiven! Finding it hard to put others first? Think of the way Christ put you first!

Telling people to be thankful and to love without telling them they are loved is like telling them to write a cheque without making a deposit in their accounts. But Jesus made an enormous deposit before He told us to write a cheque! He came into this world and sacrificed his life for us. He filled our accounts with his righteousness. His forgiveness. And then, having made this outrageous deposit of love in our accounts, He calls on us to pull out the checkbook: Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love one another, & give thanks!

Your account has been filled up to overflowing. You have failed God much. But you have been forgiven much. More than you could ever add up! Therefore, YOU have much thanks to give! Why? Because God loves you. Others have promised and failed. But God has promised and succeeded. He loves you with an unfailing love. And his love – if you will let it – can fill you and leave you with a love worth giving. A thanks worth living! A thanks-giving! Add it up! You have been loved much! You have much love to give! Much thanks to live! Let God’s love fuel your Thanksgiving! Adding it up will guarantee it does. Amen.

 

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