A Thankful Heart - Dan Weaver

I want to greet each one in Christ's name this morning.

So I have been accused of being of not being

a traditionalist, and I think as I get older, I'm

becoming more and more traditional and HARKing back to the

old ways a little bit. And when I moved to

Oregon and started attending the Tangent Midnight Church, this is

something I don't know if it's ever been a practice

in the Hallisey Midnight Church, but there was a we

had a Thanksgiving service, and when it was on the

Wednesday evening. We we didn't have a Thanksgiving service on Thursday,

but on Wednesday evening we had a Thanksgiving service. We

often had a guest message, guests speaker come in and

give a message, not always, but often. And it doesn't

look like there's any guests I can call up here

today for that. So and I think, and we often

had a time of sharing, but the time sharing was

before the message. Usually, as I recall long enough ago,

I can't even I could easily be corrected on that.

And I have some, I maybe some rambling thoughts on Thanksgiving.

I'm being thankful and I know Earl and Jason both

shared some last Sunday and that would probably be sufficient.

So I my goal is to have at least twenty,

if not twenty five minutes of sharing. I'd like to

start in Romans one with four words in Romans won no,

actually two words. And this is a very familiar passage,

and this isn't probably normally the reason we turn to

this passage that it talks about those that when they

knew God, they glorified him, not as God. This isn't

neither were they thankful, And so I think if we

unpack that, I'm starting a bit on a maybe a

negative note, but I think if we unpack that and

back up like Gerald just did, we could also say

that those that know God and glorify Him as God

are thankful. And that is for those that know God

and glorify Him as God, that is a natural out

Thankfulness is a natural outworking. And it's not a day

in November set aside by a president I didn't look,

which went up as the fourth Thursday in November. I

think we were as late as we can go this year,

and which probably means will be about as early as

we can go next year with it. It's not a

day necessarily, but I think it's appropriate that we take

a day of thanksgiving. It's not necessarily a a word

we learn from very young that is plight to say

thank you. We teach our children say thank you, teach

them to say when they leave the table, thank you

for the meal, thank you for the good meal. And

maybe sometimes they're not so thankful. Those are good exercises,

but that doesn't produce a thankful heart. Knowing God produces

a thankful heart. And as we go down through here,

we could also say that knowing God and glorifying him

as God also helps us to have a clear mind

and has a heart that is lightened instead of darkened,

and that profess God as wise rather than ourselves as wise,

which says simply that we become fools or unwise. So

I would like to look at twelve characters this morning,

and I'm not planning to take a minute apiece. First

turned to Luke eight teen, verse nine, and some of

you will know that this is one of my favorite passages.

But this time we're going to talk about the other guy.

I'm going to read verses nine to fourteen Luke eighteen,

verse nine, and he's make this parable unto certain which

trusted in themselves, that they were righteous and despised others.

Two men went up into the temple to pray, the

one a Pharisee, and the other republican. And the Pharisee

stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank THEE.

But here's a thankful man. God. I thank THEE. God.

I thank THEE that I am not as other men

are extortioners, unjust adulters. He even as this publican I

fast twice in a week, I give ties all that

I possess. And the publicans, sending afar off, would not

lift up so much as his eyes unto Heaven, but

smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me

a sinner. I tell you this man went down to

his house justified rather than the other. For everyone that

exalteth himself shall be at base, and he that humbleth

himself shall be exalted. This Pharisee, he says, he stood

and he prayed with himself. And how Jesus tells this

parable that he doesn't He doesn't say he was praying

to God. He makes it very clear he was standing

there praying with himself. And no doubt as Jesus was

talking to these given this parable, they could all picture

go up to the temple to pray. They knew that activity,

it was a common activity. But Jesus said when he

went up to prayed, he prayed with himself, and maybe said,

I'm guessing that Jesus get attributed to this Pharisee prayers

that he had heard Pharisee say, But it was I

thank you that I'm not like these people and that

I'm good. But it was a self focus. I thank

you that I'm not like other men. I'm not homeless,

I'm not an alcoholic, I'm not addicted to tobacco or

drugs or broken, or Catholic or Muslim, or list could

go on. So is it wrong? Is it wrong to

be thankful to be to have a good home, for health,

for a good church, for stability. So my title is

a thankful heart. I think I missed that earlier. And

the first point was a thankful heart will know God

and glorify him. In a second is a think A

thankful heart will focus on others and not just myself,

and will focus on what God has done for me.

A thankful heart gives sincere gratitude for what we have

for spiritual, emotional, and physical blessings, for those things that

that we we count our many blessings and name them

one by one. But with this non selfish focus, or

if it's not focus on self, it has empathy for

those that lack. Instead of looking at disdain for the homeless,

there's an empathy for the homeless. How can I help?

How can I make their life better? And maybe even

the empathy for those that lack, even if it's their

own fault. And when we see those that are that

are unfortunate that lack, can we say, except by the

grace of God, there go I and be thankful for

God's grace, for God's mercy that He's given to us.

So those are or two men. You know, I think

both of these men had good prayers. One said I

thank THEE, the other said God be merciful. In words,

they were good prayers. But we see Jesus said that

the one was justified rather than the other. Now just

go back one chapter. We'll find our next ten and

we're not going to spend very much time at all.

And nine of them Luke seventeen and again I think

I'm just going to read that passage Luke seventeen, verse

eleven to nineteen. And it came to pass as we

went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of

Samaria and Galilee, and as he entered into a certain village,

there met him ten men. There met him ten men

that were levers, which stood far off, and they lifted

up their voice and said, Jesus Master, have mercy on us.

And when he saw them, he said, unto them, go

show yourselves, unto the priest. And it came to pass

that as they went they were cleansed. And one of them,

when he saw that he was healed, turned back and

with a loud voice, glorified God and fell down his

face at his feet, giving him thanks. And he was

a Samaritan. And Jesus answer said, were there not ten cleansed?

But where are the nine? They are not found that

returned to give glory to God? Save this stranger. And

he said, unto him, unto him, arise go thy way.

Thy faith hath made thee whole. So here's ten men.

And there was a great equalizer with these ten men,

and that was that they had leprosy. And they were

out side of the city gate. And it says, when

Jesus was afar off, you go back to the lot,

he called and said, Jesus, Nazrus have mercy on us.

And apparently they heard he was coming and knew about him.

And apparently Jesus wasn't even close enough to see him,

yet he heard the racket before he saw him, it says.

And when he came close and saw them, he said,

go show yourself to the priests. These men were their

own tribe without the city, and Jesus had mercy on

all of them. And one of them woke up the

next morning and he was still a Samaritan. And I

just it doesn't say I recognize, but I would just

assume that the rest weren't Samaritans, because it specifically says

he was. But let's just say I'm correct in my

projection for a bit here. So nine went back to

their farms and shops and businesses and families, or ten

probably did. But nine went back to that's normal. They

were showed themselves to the priests. They were cleansed. But

the last one he's a Samaritan, and he wakes up

the next morning, and the ten he was with the

other yesterday, he's not welcome with but we're thinking about

a thankful heart here, and now I wanted to go

there before we go into his response. And it was

him that I just don't necessarily believe that this Samaritan's

mom did a better job of telling him to say

thank you. I believe that it was in his heart.

He was so full of joy he could not help

but turn and go back and run back and follow

at Jesus' feet and say thank you, giving thanks, And

he was a Samaritan. And Jesus asked, well, where are

the nine? Weren't there ten? I'm sure all ten of

those men would have said the next morning, as they

were sitting with their family that they were so happy

to be back. They're so thankful to be here. But one,

you know, nine of them might have even written a

good review or given good referrals. I know where you

can go to get healed. But one turned around and

gave Jesus thanks. Who do you identify with this morning?

Who do I identify with? And I am I was

thinking about this. You know, one thing that these men

all had experience, all ten of them, was pain, the

pain of being a leopard. It was a deep thing.

It was not an easy thing to go through. And

you know, we were sang about it this morning. We

talked about it. There's psalms and songs and poems written

about how the beauty that comes out of pain, the

beauty that comes out of trials. And I was I

actually went out to the shop this morning, picked out

a couple of pieces of wood to bring and then

left them home. So but when a woodworker wants to

go make something beautiful, you can make it strong with

straight grained wood. But to get the figure, the tree

had to be stressed and heal and maybe stressed again

and heal, you know, falling seven times and rising again,

and that's being You know, pain doesn't do us any

good without a thankful heart. I had two pieces of

two pieces of wood. The one is beautiful piece of maple,

and you know there's a piece of walnut that is

absolutely worth us because it's rotten. They didn't heal again,

They didn't heal again. And that is I believe what

God wants to do, and each one of us is

is heal that pain and make a beautiful weed that

can be used in his tapestry. It's not just a

good song or a good poem, it's what God wants

to work in us. But it comes from a thankful heart.

And some one O seven verse eight says, Oh, give

thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, and his

mercy endures forever. And then it goes through and talks

about let's just read those eight verses. I believe some

one O seven verses one three eight, Oh, give thanks

unto the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy

endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.

When he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy

and gathered them out of the land from the east

and from the west, and from the north in the south,

they wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way, and

found no city to dwell in. They were hungry and thirsty,

and they're so fainted in them. And they cried unto

the Lord in their trouble, And he delivered them out

of their distrustes, and he led them forth by the

right way, that they might go to a city of habitation. Oh,

that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and

his wonderful works to the children of men. Then if

you go to some one O seven and look at

and look at the rest of that. It is that

chorus all that men would praise the Lord for his

goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men.

It's mentioned in there multiple times as it goes through

the different verses original verses of this Hebrew poetry, but

it talks about the homeless. They were homeless, they were hungry,

and they're so fainted in them, but yet they cried

out to the Lord. They found their source. And it says, oh,

give thanks them to the Lord, for he is good.

And so we think of thankfulness as a heart condition

and this idea of pain and h m hmmm for

various reasons. I knew this is gonna be it hard

for me this morning, but I apologize that I am.

I've been thinking about this this year. This year has

been a bit painful for me in various aspects. Now

I don't even want you to start stop and think

about why. Okay, let's stop right there. Probably only my

closest friends knew that. And what I want you to

think about. And this is something my wife helps me

with a lot. When someone does something crazy on the road,

she say, you don't know what they're going through. You

don't know what they're going through. You didn't. I mean,

some of those things are so deep I haven't figured

them out myself yet and I can't talk about it. Sorry,

It's okay, though, But I'm just assuming that's that way

with other people, and we should be thinking about what

are others going through instead of being critical, be thankful

for others. But the thing that I've thought about this year,

and I've been trying to reconcile, is how how can

a person be thankful in the midst of pain? And

I would love some help with that, and maybe you can,

you can help help. But Hebrews does say no chasing

for the present is joyous, but afterwards yield as a

peaceable fruit of righteousness. So I just rest in that verse.

And I also as I was as I was coming

home from the hospital yesterday, and some of you may

know this, but my wife came home, since Cheryl came home,

since church started here, so we're thankful for that. I

was listening, I was thinking about this, and I was

listening to some music and the song the Old Rugged

Cross came on and there's phrase, there's phrases in there,

talks about the old rugged cross, the emblem of suffering

and shame. And then it's I love that old cross,

so I'll cherish the cross. I will, I will cling

to the cross. It has a wondrous attraction to me,

a wondrous beauty, I see, I will be true. And

then it's shame and reproach gladly bear. Now the question

that was I had to think about is we can

put that on that hill far away, that old rugged cross.

We can love it, we can cherish it. But that

was Jesus cross. Do you think Jesus liked that cross?

Do you think Jesus loved that cross? I'm not sure.

I am actually not sure what to do with that,

but I do know that is probably more important for

me to love my cross. And certainly that song was

taking poetic rights to the redemption on that cross, and

we should certainly love that and cling to it as

it brings out. So I'm not faulting the song, but

it's just something I had to think about. I think

I will stop there and just open it up, because

I promised I would, and I went about as long

as I could so, and the idea was to have

to open it up. It can be a verse, or

anything you're thankful for, or any other testimony. The time

is yours.