Gratitude as a Form of Honesty

a sermon by Rev. Michael Gladish

Dawson Creek, BC, October 7^th, 2007 

We often think of gratitude as a way of expressing humility, not to mention courtesy and respect for those who help us and provide for us. And of course today especially we think of these things with regard to the Lord who gives us the harvest -- not only of our natural food but even more especially of our spiritual food, clothing and shelter.

But there is another aspect of gratitude or thanksgiving that we may not consider very often, and that is the fact that it is a form of honesty -- intellectual and emotional honesty.

Why?-- the simple answer is that in feeling and showing gratitude we give expression to the reality -- the truth -- that we do not have any life in or of ourselves; that we do not succeed or fail purely on our own efforts; that there is no such thing as a "self-made man." We all depend on the Lord, and we depend on other people, too, even just to survive.

Sure, good decisions help, personal skills matter, and hard work (or at the very least a clear focus) is necessary to get ahead. But whether we have a product or service to offer, whether we are nominally in charge or just ordinary workers, whether we are entrepreneurs or stay-at-home moms, we all depend on others to respond in some way to our needs: -- to buy our products, to accept our services, to follow our directions, to give us directions, to make the rules, explain the rules, or just plain give us what we require -- and that includes at least a little love and respect.

In short, if we are honest we will admit that we cannot live without the constant support of those who provide for us, whether it is in the form of a caring relationship, a safe environment in which to work, or a paycheck for the groceries. And we will be grateful for that support!

Most importantly, of course, we will be grateful for what the Lord Himself provides -- and how can we begin to list these things?!

Perhaps you have a special reason to be thankful to the Lord this year. It might be a gift of healing from some illness or tragic event. It might be some beautiful new insight about your use in life or your relationship with the Lord or some other person. It might be the realization of a significant achievement or milestone in your life. Or, surprisingly, it might be the benefit you have gained from some very difficult or adverse events in your life which have caused you to re-examine some assumptions and make some positive changes. Think about it! We all have our personal reasons to be grateful for the influence of others in our lives, and most of all for the infinite wisdom of the Lord's Divine Providence, no matter how difficult things may seem.

In fact the gifts of the natural harvest are all perfectly representative of the Lord's spiritual gifts, as we just showed in the children's talk, viz: -  

One of the uses of an annual day of thanksgiving, especially in the church, is that it gives us an opportunity to shift our focus from material things to spiritual things. For we know that the Lord in His providence always looks to our eternal welfare, and only to our natural welfare to the extent that it contributes to our eternal life. Bluntly, this means that He may allow us to go through a great deal of suffering, if necessary, until we get the point -- not that the Lord wishes this on anybody, but it may be like a day at the dentist, or surgery for cancer or a knee replacement: short-term pain, long term gain when the obstacle to good health is removed.

So we may start the day counting our natural blessings -- health, wealth, family and a big turkey dinner, but if we're wise and we know what's really good for us we will end up focusing on our spiritual blessings.

Let's just take one for example. There is a wonderful story in the Gospels about a man who was blind from his birth, who was healed of his blindness by the Lord. It's a fascinating story in many ways, taking up a whole chapter - chapter 9 - in John. At first the blind man is simply used as a sort of prop to introduce a discussion about guilt and blame, the assumption being that his blindness was a punishment for some sin. But the Lord responded to these assumptions in a surprising way, saying that he had been born blind "that the works of God should be revealed in Him." Strange.... Then He healed him. But that is only the first third of the story. All the rest is about how the Pharisees badgered the man about the Lord and about His miracle until, step by step, the man was brought to the full realization of the Lord's Divinity so that at last he could see the truth through the eyes of his understanding, and have faith in Him. Along the way, as his eyes were opened more and more he actually developed the courage to mock the Pharisees, that is, to challenge the falsities they represented.

So in the end it is a story not so much about sight, as about insight, that is, an understanding and appreciation of the Lord and His work. And if the opening of his natural eyes caused as much joy and gratitude as we may imagine -- after all, the miracle would have completely freed him of his former life as a pathetic beggar -- how much greater must have been his joy and gratitude at being freed of the falsities that had made him a spiritual beggar!  Remember, he had grown up being taught that his blindness was the punishment for some sin! What a terrible burden! And what a relief to discover the truth, namely the pure love and mercy of God.

Can you see the application to your own life? If you haven't grown up being taught any terrible falsities, or if you're not aware of the falsities you have been taught, maybe the meaning will not be so obvious. But if you're a person who has experienced the lies and heartbreak of our culture, especially the religious culture that speaks of God as cruel and judgmental, condemning all who do not know or believe in the blood sacrifice of His only Son, then maybe you will see what we're talking about. Of course it's a great thing to be able to see naturally, to appreciate light and colours and the beauty of our world, not to mention possible dangers. But how much greater is the relief of knowing the truth about God and how the miracle of His love and wisdom can provide for the salvation of every soul on the planet through a simple process of shunning evils as sins against Him and living according to His Word as each of us understands it.

Or if you've grown up blindly accepting the theory of evolution that says everything happens by a process of "natural selection" without any sort of intelligent design, thus without any providence or purpose outside of this material world, how wonderful and amazing would it be to see for the first time that there is a God, that He has created everything for a purpose, and that His Divine Providence looks in all things to our eternal life as angels in a realistic, joyful and fulfilling heaven of mutual love and service -- no matter where you're coming from.

In any case, the final words of the story in John carry quite a punch for all of us as the Lord says, "If you were blind you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.' Therefore your sin remains." Suppose we do see the truth about God and our own spiritual life, and we understand the implications; suppose we've grown up with it and simply take it for granted. If we don't act on that truth by taking care to live according to it then we also will be guilty of sins from which the Lord cannot save us.

Here in this church we have a tremendous opportunity and a tremendous responsibility. Our opportunity, knowing how blind and lame and spiritually sick we really are, is to be healed of all those things simply by going to His Word and getting the truth, and getting it not just in its literal sense but in its deeper, spiritual sense as well so that we can really understand what it means for us and do it, and feel its impact in our lives. Our responsibility is to take this seriously, not only for our own sakes but for the sake of all those who are affected by our lives.

So now, getting back to the theme of honesty, or what we might call integrity, just think for a moment how different is the sphere of one who takes all the credit for his own work, as if no one else had anything to do with it, and the sphere of someone who acknowledges the others who make this work possible. These might be parents, teachers, married partners, children who were left at home, employers, unions, business partners, clients, customers, investors, anyone who trusts you and believes in what you can do... the list may grow even to include the war veterans or honest legislators who have passed laws that make your freedom to do what you do possible. If you don't appreciate these people your life becomes a giant vacuum that sucks everything into itself and creates nothing but tension all around you. In effect, it creates a sphere of need and want and defensiveness, even a threat of scarcity as all the recognition and rewards seem to be moving in just one direction. This leads to all kinds of waste and redundancy and ultimately, in international affairs, outright war.

By contrast, the person who genuinely feels and expresses gratitude for those who have contributed to his or her success creates a sphere of abundance and freedom and contentment and peace. There is no threat of scarcity as everyone is moved to share, knowing that others will share, too, and so in fact everyone is looked after -- as we noted in our third lesson (HH #399). Indeed, someone once speculated that in the Lord's miracle of feeding 5,000 with only five loaves of bread He did not need to create this bread out of thin air, rather He may have so motivated people with His powerful sphere of love that they all simply shared what they had brought for themselves. We cannot discount the miracle, either way, but it is food for thought.

Speaking of which, here's a powerful quotation from the Arcana Caelestia #549: -

Notice the idea here that "each one is as it were the center of all." This is not referring to self-centredness, but rather to the fact that every angel is the focus of the care and attention of others, so no one is ever left out. Personal integrity leads to social integrity, that is, a total integration within the community, and all is well.

In fact, this is what the Ten Commandments, or the Two Great Commandments are all about -- not just our integration with others but our honest relationship with the Lord who gives us everything that makes our natural and spiritual life possible. If we acknowledge Him and thank Him daily for all that we have -- including the challenges and hardships that we face -- we will be well integrated into the sphere of His love and, actually, conjoined with Him who alone, ultimately, can assure us of all that we will ever truly need.

Amen.

Lessons: Psalm 100, with a children's talk on "Daily Bread."

John 6:22-40;   Heaven & Hell #399.