“The Building Blocks of Eternal Life:

Gratitude”

Deuteronomy 26:1-11

Rev. Rhonda A. Blevins

I’ve got a news flash for you this morning: scientists have recently discovered that gratitude is an indispensable component of health, wholeness, and well-being [1]. Of course preachers and religious thinkers have known this for a long time! Why didn’t they just ask us?

These researchers have discovered that:

Those who kept gratitude journals reported fewer physical symptoms, felt better about their lives as a whole, and were more optimistic. They reported lower levels of depression and stress.

Grateful people were rated as more empathetic, more generous, and more helpful to others.

Here’s some good news for you this morning: research shows that those who regularly attend religious services are more likely to be grateful!

So in light of the fact that gratitude is good for health, and church attendance increases one’s sense of gratitude, we’ve come up with a new church slogan . . . what do you think . . . “Come to Tellico Village Community Church! It’s good for your health!”

For the past few Sundays, Marty has had us thinking about the building blocks or basic elements of the eternal, abundant life that Christ promised. Today I want to add gratitude as a key ingredient in the recipe for the abundant life Christ promised to us.

It’s the central expression from our text today. Picture with me Moses standing on the banks of the Jordan River addressing the people in his final sermon before he hands the reigns over to Joshua. He’s telling them how to act . . . what kind of people they are to be once they cross the river and assume the land promised to them. He tells them that once they’ve settled, they are to bring an offering, and as each one brings his offering before the priest he is to recite a litany prescribed by Moses paraphrased like this, “I have arrived. I have come into the land promised to my forefathers. But I haven’t always been so blessed. You see, my father was a wandering Aramean . . .” Then Moses instructs them to tell the story of how they came out of a nomadic lifestyle into slavery in Egypt through forty years in the desert to bring them to the present in the land flowing with milk and honey. “I have arrived, but let me tell you how I got here,” Moses instructs them to say as they bring their offerings.

Why would Moses demand such a litany from the Israelites?

Because it is important to REMEMBER!

At WednesdayChurch! last week, I led folks through a prayer experience, prompting them to give thanks as they walked back through time remembering the different stages of their lives and all of the people that supported them along the way. I want to offer you the same opportunity.

· So in a spirit of prayer, I invite to recall your very first days on earth. Who was there to feed you and clothe you and nurture you in those fragile first years? REMEMBER, and give thanks.

· As you grew older, your world expanded. You started school. Maybe you went to Sunday school. Recall those teachers, those neighbors, those family members, those friends and mentors who taught you and loved you and supported you through the carefree days of childhood into adolescence. REMEMBER, and give thanks.

· You became a young adult. Maybe you met someone special and got married. Maybe you were blessed with children. Maybe someone helped you get started in a meaningful career. Maybe you were proud to serve your country or perhaps you had the privilege of going to college. REMEMBER, and give thanks.

· You grew up and moved to East Tennessee. What sustains you now? Who are the meaningful people? A job, investments, or a 401k? REMEMBER, and give thanks.

The first step towards becoming a person of gratitude is to REMEMBER. Chances are, you weren’t always as good-looking, as charming, as powerful, as wealthy, as respected as you are today! Once, you were a tiny baby completely dependent on another person for your very life. REMEMBERING brings with it certain humility, doesn’t it? REMEMBERING is prerequisite for gratitude.

Last week I took my vibrant two-and-a-half-year-old son to the pediatrician. She calculated that he will grow to be about 5’10”. I’m 5’2”. Eventually, my son will tower over me. Should he ever get cocky and try to intimidate his sweet mama, I’ll pull out the pictures from his premature arrival on earth. His frail, four-pound body with tubes and wires all over the place. Tender skin hanging on tiny little bones. I’ll show him those sad pictures and cause him to REMEMBER. I’ll say, “You may have arrived, son, but let me remind you how you got here!”

When we REMEMBER, we are humbled, because it is only by the grace of God that any of us are here now! It evokes humility, gratitude rises up in us and causes us to REJOICE!

Last week I attended a celebration dinner with the leaders and volunteers with the Good Neighbors Shoppe. Do you know they’ve recently marked the milestone of giving $500,000 to important causes in our community? What a remarkable story of how foreigners to East Tennessee like Gene and Roberta Burwell and many of you can come into a new land and REJOICE with your neighbors by becoming “Good Neighbors.” With every dollar the Good Neighbors Shoppe gives away it’s like every person who has ever volunteered there is saying, “God has been so good to me, and now I’m doing what I can to be a Good Neighbor!” 500,000 thanks be to God!

When we REMEMBER, it causes us to REJOICE.

When we REJOICE, it causes us to RETURN.

A life marked by gratitude has the natural by-product of generosity. Moses knew it in his sermon to the Israelites. He was no dummy. In his stewardship sermon he didn’t use guilt. He didn’t preach duty or obligation. He preached GRATITUDE.

REMEMBER . . . REJOICE . . . RETURN.

We RETURN thanks. We RETURN time and talents. We RETURN offerings of material goods that are not our own, for we would have nothing but for the grace of God. We don’t really give, we RETURN. We reciprocate. We repay. Why? Because we REMEMBER!

This week our church begins our annual stewardship drive called “Trails Through Tellico” in which each member is asked to prayerfully consider what financial contribution God is leading us to give to the church during the next year. Like many of you, my husband and I will seek God’s leadership in this important decision, and we’ll make our pledge. Can I be honest with you about this? It’s hard for me to get excited about pledging to a budget. It’s hard for me to pledge to an institution just so it can pay its bills. The good Lord knows I have a hard enough time paying my own bills!

But here’s what I can get excited about . . . I can get excited about lives being transformed in the name of Jesus Christ! I hear about these transformations nearly every day! Join me on a little journey to see how this church is transforming lives every day . . .

· Let’s go see Jennifer and young Sean now living in the Habitat Home we built alongside them.

· Let’s visit each of our scholarship recipients and find out what kind of transformation a college education is making in their lives.

· Let’s join our parish nurse as she goes in the middle of the night to administer morphine to someone dying of cancer.

· Let’s travel with our Kindred Spirits as they have a blast soaking up all the wonderful sights of East Tennessee.

· Let’s slip inside an AA meeting one Monday night in our CLC, and see how people are being freed from the power of addiction.

· Sit inside a pastor’s office as we council those dealing with difficult issues of life and faith.

· Join the missions team as they tally the thousands upon thousands of dollars given to local causes like the Good Samaritan Center and Good Shepherd Center, providing relief to people struggling with their very survival.

· Visit with one of our 25 active Stephen Ministers as they offer hugs and hope to someone who needs a healing touch.

There are so many important, life-changing ministries that flow out of our church there’s no way I could name them all in a manner that would allow you to beat the Baptists to lunch! What we do here makes a real difference in the world around us! That’s something that I can get excited about!

So as we get ready to launch our stewardship drive, I’m going to REMEMBER all that this church has done and is doing, and I’m going to give thanks and REJOICE! Then I’m going to RETURN some of the blessings God has given me to this church, and I’m going to take three steps to put my money where my mouth is:

1. I’m going to call our business office, and see how much more I need to give to meet my pledge for this year.

2. While I’m on the phone, I’m going to get set up on automatic withdrawal, because there’s absolutely nothing less spiritual about it, and it will cause my inconsistent giving to become consistent.

3. And when the pledge cards come around, my husband and I will increase our pledge by $200, which means I might have to give up one café mocha per week.

If every household would join my husband and me in adding $200 to our 2010 pledge, we’ll have an extra $127,000 to support the transformational ministries of this church. Our missions budget alone will have an additional $14,000! I wonder what they’ll do? Will they offer MORE scholarships? Will they sponsor ANOTHER Habitat House? Will they launch a new, transformational missions initiative? I can’t wait to find out!

It’s exciting to think about the possibilities when we REMEMBER God’s grace, when we REJOICE in grateful celebration, and when we RETURN just a small portion of the bounty God has given.

In the words of Winston Churchill, “We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.”

Now go and make a life for yourself! Amen.

[1] Robert Emmons & Richard McCullough, “Highlights from the Research Project on Gratitude and Thankfulness,” http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/labs/emmons/