Forward with Faith: Grounded in Gratitude (Part 2 of a 4 Part Series)

Psalm 118

John 12: 1 – 8

There is a favorite song I learned in Girl Scout camp as a kid…one of those songs that builds a new line with each verse and the challenge is to remember the whole list of lines in order.  It’s not entirely unlike the runaway hit Baby Shark… It was a silly song, but it told a story.  It goes like this:

When I first came to this land, I was not a wealthy man. 

So I got myself a farm, and I did what I could.

And I called my farm muscle in the arm.

But the land was sweet and good, and I did what I could.

And the song goes on adding to the household of the farm – I got myself a wife that I called run for your life, a son I called son of a gun, a pig I called not so big, a chicken I called finger lickin’, a horse called dead of course..  And the song had hand motions and you would sing it faster and faster with each additional verse…breathless and giggling.

And on and on it went.  Such silliness.  But with land that was sweet and good, the immigrant was able to keep adding to the household, expanding the farm, doing what he could.  At some level, even as a kid, I imagined this song as told a story of gratitude for a new life, for a restart, for escape from hardships and joy in the inevitable hard things of farming.

Our Psalm for today is a song of thanksgiving, an acknowledgement of all the hard places the Israelites have been, all of the places God has brought them through the time of trial.  These folks have spent generations moving from place to place, sometimes waiting patiently on God, sometimes rebelling.  But God just keeps showing up.

You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
    you are my God, I will extol you.

Even when you’ve dealt harshly with me:

The Lord has punished me severely,
    but he did not give me over to death.

That’s the thing about the Psalms, there is always amidst a Psalm of thanksgiving a moment of giving thanks for hardship or trial.

Albert Einstein is credited with saying, “There are only two ways to live your life.  One is as though nothing is a miracle.  The other is as though everything is a miracle.”

Last week, we were reminded that we have been created by a generous God who offers us abundance – abundant grace, abundant life, abundant relationships IF we will receive them…more easily received, I think, if we remember that everything is a miracle.

This week we’re focusing on being grounded in GRATITUDE.  I remind you that this rhymes with NATITUDE.  And those things are not unrelated, but we’ll get to that later.

Gratitude can be defined as the quality of being thankful OR readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness – where kindness is understood as generosity in any form.  So to be grateful is to be ready to show appreciation for the generous ways we have received.

There is a lot of research out there these days about the benefits of practicing gratitude.  Here are a few taken from a 2014 article in Forbes magazine:

1) Gratitude opens the door to new relationships – when we stop and actually acknowledge someone, there is a greater chance of beginning an exchange that leads to real relationship.

2) People who express gratitude also report fewer aches and pains and report feeling healthier

3) Gratitude helps us to actually be happier and there is evidence it actually reduces incidence of depression.

4) Grateful people sleep better.

5) Gratitude reduces feelings of resentment toward those we perceive have more than we do. It causes us to feel better about ourselves and our situation.

6) I think this one is related then – gratitude reduces aggressive behaviors and increases empathy (and I would guess compassion and mercy)

7) Gratitude increases resilience – that is our ability to deal with hard things, something we all have to do at times. If we have an attitude of gratitude we weather trauma differently.

There is much to be grateful for buried within the practice of being grateful, you might say.

When we recognize that we have abundantly received, and that in turn we are created for abundant gratitude, our world is no less than transformed.

Can we find it in ourselves to see all that we have received and to regularly express gratitude? 

To the person collecting the grocery carts in the parking lot at Giant?

To the Barista making my non-fat Latte?

To the co-worker who is creative and dedicated?

To the people willing to share the hard edges of their life story with us?

For the rain and the changing trees?

For the company of a beloved pet?

For the kids who were on our last nerve all day but also tried to fold laundry or feed the dog or water the plants?

To the partner who picked up carryout because a leak rendered the kitchen non-functional for a couple of days?

To the person who let us in as we tried to merge onto 270?

I am pretty confident that I’ve shared this before…but you’ll hear it again and again because it has shaped me so….

About 10 years ago, I began a practice of naming daily gratitudes.  Mostly it was a way to redeem the chaos of Facebook, to establish a positive presence, to hold myself accountable to putting light out into the world instead of devolving into portraying my life as something out of a Martha Stewart magazine or wrestling incessantly with those I couldn’t agree.

There are rules in my practice.  No fair being grateful at someone else’s expense.  No fair using gratitude to paint an unrealistic picture of my own brokenness and need for grace.

10 years in, here’s what I know.  This practice has changed me.  It is not an overstatement to say that this little practice of gratitude (some of which I share privately with my journal instead of FB these days) has transformed my view of the world. I see the world from a place of deep appreciation for what is showing up.

And so, it is not surprising to me that when I have read the account in John’s gospel about Mary of Bethany anointing Jesus’s feet, I read it from a place of gratitude.  This has become a central text for my understanding of what it means to express gratitude.

If you’ve studied this text, perhaps you know that biblical scholars like to go on and on about how significant this anointing is as it points to Jesus’ ultimate betrayal and crucifixion.  It points toward his preparation for the tomb which will not hold him. We will likely read it again during Lent and possibly even holy week.   That is a vital and appropriate reading of this text.

But….when I bring the lens of my experience to this text, I see something else.

I love the lavishness of this story.  It is a sensual story.  It is a story of abundance. 

Jesus is dining, and while we don’t know exactly where, we are given clues that it might be in the home of Lazarus, Mary and Martha.  Martha is serving (like she does). But Mary is up to something else.

Mary brings a full pound of costly perfume and lavishes is upon Jesus’ feet, and the room is FILLED with its fragrance.  All foreshadowing aside. Mary has brought something of great value to Jesus’ feet…and let’s remember that in that time, feet were dusty and calloused and walked through unimaginable filthy things.  She brought this pound of costly perfume and the ROOM WAS FILLED WITH ITS fragrance.

Just a chapter earlier in John’s gospel, Jesus has raised Lazarus, Mary’s brother from death.  Not from sickness – this man was already wrapped up in the tomb and Jesus said, Come out…and he did.

Imagine the all the feelings that family had. I have to imagine that Mary could not find enough ways to express wonder and joy and appreciation for Jesus and his miracle. I read Mary’s gratitude for Jesus into this text.

When life is a gift, when everything we have is a gift, it sure is easier to give it away. Mary’s action demonstrates that truth very well.

As I said last week, we are in the middle of a season where we consider what we have and what we give in return.  Specifically, two weeks from today, we’ll all be asked to complete a commitment card – to name what it is, both from our personal treasure and from our time and talent – that we are going to give back in gratitude.  Those gifts will support the church and her witness in this community. Our goal is to increase our commitment so that we can double our mission and outreach budget in 2020.  Because we are so very blessed to be a blessing here in Rockville, Maryland.

Two weeks ago, Scott Roby preached on a text from Luke in which 10 lepers were cured and ONE came back to fall at Jesus’ feet with praise and thanksgiving for the miracle that had been performed in his life. 

As the church, we claim to be on a journey with Jesus.  We claim to be disciples who seek in our daily choices and actions to be devoted and true to Jesus’ teaching and example.

One of the things I am enormously grateful for this week is Natitude.  In a divisive world, what a joy it is to share excitement, anticipation, teamwork and sportsmanship.  What a joy it is to have that earworm Baby Shark stuck in my head.  What fun to find myself agreeing with folks I don’t always agree with…it feels like a gift of unity and common hope in a season of great division.  I give thanks that our sign has been making folks smile all week long.  I give thanks for Jan Spencer’s passion and creativity to make it happen.  And I cannot wait for the next one (because it is coming).

This week, I pray that you will find ways to practice gratitude.

Write a thank you note to someone who has touched your life. (no not an email…write a note! with a pen and paper and a stamp!!)

Look the person at the cash register in the eye and say thank you…and mean it. 

Count your blessings – literally.  Write them down.  Marvel at them.

Take a deep breath of life-giving air and recognize the miracle of your own body and the environment that generates the very air you breathe.

Think about the person who just always seems to rub you the wrong way and find a way to express appreciation for their presence in the world.

And watch the Nats win – because miracles happen and Natitude might be more about gratitude then attitude.

May it be so.

Amen.

Sources: The Generosity Challenge, by Scott McKenzie & Kristine Miller; Forbes (https://www.forbes.com/sites/amymorin/2014/11/23/7-scientifically-proven-benefits-of-gratitude-that-will-motivate-you-to-give-thanks-year-round/#155133c7183c); The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol !X: Luke John.