24K Gratitude

I want to follow up on some points made in my sermon on October 14th for all of us to consider and, perhaps, get some comments posted. The sermon title was “Altitude from Gratitude,” meaning that gratitude or thanksgiving can be a refined type of faith that lifts the faithful into higher levels of Christian Discipleship. For a little background on the topic, we are a congregation with the mission of making Disciples of Jesus Christ, which requires a commitment of our members to be Disciples first. I believe that only Disciples can make Disciples. Furthermore, Discipleship requires a person to hear a calling from God to “Follow me;” an acceptance of that calling; and a commitment to actively living a life characterized by Jesus when he said, “… deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me.” (The commitment is proven by action.) All of this is made possible only when empowered by the Holy Spirit to practice a life transforming type of Faith. Now back to this week’s sermon.

Last Sunday, I reminisced about learning the key to this type of Faith from my late grandmother, Frances Ball. I told how I eulogized her by describing how if you had ever met her, you had to have heard the phrase, “Thank you, Jesus.” She was a African American woman of the early twentieth century who lived through the Great Depression and hardships that modern African American women of the same age can hardly imagine. Yet, after surviving all the challenges of her life, she was able to greet the blessings of her later years with a powerful sense of thanksgiving. Consequently, she constantly thanked God, even when counseling me about the molehills that I had made into mountains in my life. She coached, me while celebrating my successes, to give thanks to God. “Just say, 'Thank you, Jesus,'” she’d say.

Life is full of hardships and difficulties, but it is in these times that the opportunity to practice one’s faith is most obvious. When times are less strenuous and stressful, it is harder to practice faith, until you embrace the concept of continually giving thanks. You see, the blessings that come from answered prayers and practiced faith inevitably result in gratitude. It is not unlike how precious metals are released from a chunk of rock (sometimes called ore) only when enough heat is applied. What melts out of our “faith ore” when the heat of life’s circumstances gets hot enough is the “precious metal” of gratitude. I would like us to shine and polish that gratitude and wear it, just as one would wear fine jewelry. Imagine those hip hop recording artist who wear so many gold chains, bracelets and rings (on fingers, in ears, noses, tongues, etc.). Now imagine that all that jewlery is gratitude and put your face on the head underneath that backward baseball cap.

Then, I made a distinction between 10 karat gratitude and 24 karat gratitude. 10K gratitude is the type that looks at the pain and misfortunes of others and finds us feeling grateful that we are not suffering as they are suffering. “Thank God, that’s not me.” The problem with that type of gratitude is that it is mixed with feelings of selfishness and superiority. Often there is little consideration of helping the “poor soul” upon whose back your gratitude is built. However, 24K gratitude is, “built on nothing less than Jesus love and righteousness,” to quote a favorite hymn. 24K gratitude is pure, not an “alloy.” It comes from the genuine thanks that come from being the recipient of rewarded faith, or even the unearned Grace of God. 24K gratitude also drives the Disciple to mortgage all personal possessions (like time, talent, resources and influence) to the Kingdom of God in order to have it. Then all the Disciple becomes a steward of God's blessing which she, then, uses to help those who need it.

Is your gratitude a dazzling ornament that identifies your Christian Discipleship to everyone you meet? Posting your comments might help us, at SMUMC, to make Disciples of ourselves and others.