11/10/2023
"Facing Uncertainty with a Grateful Heart"
Psalm 107:107; 33-37
I know it’s rarely a good idea to talk politics; however, this morning, I want to talk briefly about the second and the third United States Presidents - Thomas Jefferson and John Adams.
Jefferson and Adams first met at the Continental Congress in 1775. They worked closely on drafting the Declaration of Independence, and a deep mutual respect and friendship blossomed.
Their friendship was further solidified when they were both sent to Europe as diplomats. They and their families shared personal and professional experiences, strengthening their bond.
Despite their friendship, Adams and Jefferson began to show differences in their political philosophies. Adams leaned towards Federalism, supporting a stronger central government, while Jefferson favored states’ rights and was wary of a strong central authority, aligning more with the Democratic-Republicans.
Election of 1796: Adams and Jefferson ran against each other in the presidential election of 1796. Adams won, becoming the second President of the United States, and Jefferson became his Vice President, as was the custom at the time. The political differences started causing strains in their friendship during this period.
In the 1800 election, the political battles were fierce, with strong personal attacks. Jefferson emerged victoriously, and this further strained the relationship as the competition had become quite personal and bitter.
Following the contentious election, Adams and Jefferson were estranged for several years. They had minimal communication, and the warmth that had characterized their early relationship seemed lost.
The relationship between Adams and Jefferson is a powerful illustration of how strong friendships can be tested and strained for one or more reasons.
Their story symbolizes the impermanence of human relationships. We can contrast this with God's unwavering, enduring love, which remains steadfast despite challenges and differences.
Personal disagreements are only one of the many things that might cause two people to experience a change in their relationship. Children of divorce become aware, to some extent, of the impermanence of human relationships at an early age - and from no cause of their own. Anyone who has experienced a death in their family - and few if any will ever avoid this, have come to the same resolution. We have no assurance that those people in our lives will continue to be there with us - for us - as time passes.
Today's passage begins with “1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.” As Christians, we should live lives filled with and reflecting our gratitude for God and the grace that redeems us. We can learn much about gratitude from today’s passage. I want us to see at least four observations from this scripture I believe we can make. The first pertains to the frequency of our experiences of gratitude.
1. We should Welcome Gratitude in Every Circumstance (Verses 1-2):
When is it appropriate to feel and express our gratitude for and to God? Although it isn’t always easy, the answer is always and in all circumstances. The Apostle Paul, when writing to the church in Thessalonica, said, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18)
I’ve heard different takes on this passage. Does this mean we thank God for everything? When we experience separation or the loss of a friend or family member, are we to be thankful for that circumstance?
When we get bad news from a doctor, are we to thank God for that illness or disease that is going to cut our lives short? I’ve heard people who have taken this very position in an attempt to reconcile what was going on in their lives with what they understood the Bible to be saying to them.
The passage does not say, “Be thankful for all circumstances.” It says to “give thanks in all circumstances. There is a difference.
No – we do not thank God for the death of a loved one. (Not typically – of course, there may be exceptions if our loved one was suffering, in pain, or, in our own human assessment, would be better off transitioned than languishing in their current state.). No, we are not commanded to thank God for illness or disease that may come our way.
However, we can and should still be grateful to our God. Grateful for God’s enduring love and presence and promises – thankful for God’s goodness.
Verse 2 declares, “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy.” Regardless of your translation, the message here is clear. God has saved us by grace and offers us new life here and now as transformed people dedicated to the Kingdom of God in which we now reside.
This should be enough to get our gratitude into gear if for no other reason. And in the midst of our thankfulness for God’s grace, we should find it second nature to share this good news with others. And as we have talked about over the past few weeks, sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ is not always done using words. Christian acts of service should come easier and from the right motivation as we think on our gratitude.
2. God's Guidance in Uncertain Paths (Verses 3-7)
I mentioned earlier that it isn’t always easy to feel or express gratitude due to our current situation and its effect on us, given our human condition. Our condition is one of being emotional beings. Some of us more than others. The journey of life is often riddled with uncertainties, much like the exiles wandering uncharted terrains. Psalm 107:3-7 speaks to the heart of the wanderer, the lost, the seeker. It reassures us of God's active presence in leading God’s children through life's maze to a haven of rest and security.
Depression, anxiety, and addiction are all very real conditions that can have the effect of robbing us of the gratitude that we should be feeling. God loves those walking down the path of any of these conditions with a never-ending love. It is the condition that blinds us from seeing this fact. The condition stops our ears, preventing us from hearing the Good Shepherd calling us back into the fold.
When we read about the exile – Moses leading his people out of Egypt – have you ever considered the condition of the wanderers? Even though they had been subject to harsh treatment and forced labor, this had been the only life most would have known anything about. It was familiar, and because it was familiar, it offered some sense of security. Addiction can be like that.
Anxiety and depression are joy killers - they have the potential to do more than take away a person's joy - they can steal the very life from a person, leaving them alive and hating the fact that they are, or worse.
Three and a half years ago, the only world I knew had my dad in it. When he went home to be with the Lord in 2020, my sense of security, peace, and happiness was gone. I was lost and without direction. This was going to be a vast and, in my mind, insurmountable transition for me – to learn to live, maintaining my joy – in a world without my father.
The natural human response to distress should be to call out for help. In today’s passage, the Psalmist captures a universal experience, the instinctual cry to God in times of trouble.
4 Some wandered in the wilderness,
lost and homeless.
5 Hungry and thirsty,
they nearly died.
6 “LORD, help!” they cried in their trouble,
and he rescued them from their distress.
7 He led them straight to safety,
to a city where they could live.
We should never be afraid or ashamed to cry out for help when that help is needed to restore our Joy in the Lord. If the issue is one that requires professional medical intervention, then that is what must be done. People in this country have had a very dangerous and unhealthy attitude about mental health. In my lifetime, it appears that this attitude is changing for the better. Help is out there - God would have us seek and obtain that help.
Secondly, although there are medical approaches to alleviating addiction, they are not always successful. Again, there are too many people with the mistaken attitude that addiction is a sign of a weak person. Some say that it reflects a lack of character.
Addiction is just as much a physical problem as any other disease. Some people are predisposed to addictions, and it has nothing to do with the state of their character.
Regardless of how bad it is, how low we have gotten, and how many people we have left in the wake of our addiction, we are never outside the compass of God’s loving guidance.
Several decades ago, I had a very serious drug addiction. For two years, I allowed that addiction to become the most important thing in my life. It had a lasting negative effect on relationships, my career, and my relationship with God. I can tell you, notwithstanding my general optimism, rarely did I feel the gratitude consistent with being a follower of Christ.
My relationship with God had come to look like that between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson - at least on my end. I stopped talking to God, I quit reading God’s letters to me. Not one time during those two years did God stop pursuing me, reaching out to me through the service of other Christians, nor did God stop loving me.
I have already told you about my experience following Dad’s passing. Still a slave to alcohol addiction, while on medication for my depression and anxiety, I had a seizure, a traumatic fall, and died. Died. I’m here today because of God’s love. I’m here today because of my Christian brother-in-law, Rick Nolan, who God had in the right place at the right time. I’m here talking about Jesus today because of my love for Christ! The Psalmist captures my heart when he writes: "I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the LORD."
My personal testimony is not the Gospel. The life, ministry, teachings, death, and resurrection of Christ - that is the Gospel. New life found in Him. That is the Gospel.
3. Transformation Through Faithful Service (Verses 33-37)
This Gospel I’m talking about is something that brings forth true transformation. This transformation is at the heart of the Christian narrative. Psalm 107:33-37 speaks to God’s power to bring about drastic change, turning desolation into abundance, which symbolizes spiritual renewal and societal restoration. These verses also call upon us as believers to a life filled with faithful service.
This is my last opportunity to give you my favorite Martin Luther quote: “God doesn’t need your good works, but your neighbor does.”
"8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."
God is at work; God is always working. As Christians, we are to join in God’s work to reconcile people with God and facilitate peace and love for all people. This is what it means to be good citizens in the Kingdom of God.
Our being grateful and our properly motivated service to and for others in the name of Jesus is not possible without this transformation I’m talking about. Renewed minds, and transformed hearts, are necessary to perform acts of Christian service. Not to be saved, but because God has saved us.
I invite each and every one of you to become agents of transformation within your own context.
4. Warning: Transformation works in both directions.
33 He changes rivers into deserts,
and springs of water into dry, thirsty land.
34 He turns the fruitful land into salty wastelands,
because of the wickedness of those who live there.
35 But he also turns deserts into pools of water,
the dry land into springs of water.
36 He brings the hungry to settle there
and to build their cities.
37 They sow their fields, plant their vineyards,
and harvest their bumper crops.
These five verses provide a waning and a message of hope. Verses 33 and 34 do address transformation; however, it is a transformation from something useful and good into something that could be considered waste. The shifting from rivers to deserts can represent how our lives, once filled with direction and purpose (rivers), can suddenly feel barren and aimless (deserts). The fertile land becoming salty wasteland symbolizes how areas of our lives that were once thriving can become desolate through sin, the challenges we face, or even inattention. A failure to practice simple spiritual disciplines.
As human beings, we have a propensity towards actions and attitudes that can lead to spiritual barrenness. Just as the land's fruitfulness can be compromised, so can our spiritual vitality be drained. In this condition, we are not motivated to be grateful – there is no gratitude. I truly thing that if we believe this will never happen to us, we are fooling ourselves. This negative transformation does not take us from a healthy relationship with God to a spiritual wasteland in one swift move. It comes upon us by degrees. One situation at a time.
But the psalmist did not end it there. Remember, nothing can separate us from the Love of God! The remainder of our passage offers a hopeful message that just as God can turn deserts into pools of water, the Holy Spirit has the power to transform our parched souls into springs of living water (John 4:14). God brings life to the dead spaces within us, enables us to build new 'cities'—strengthens our inner beings, and allows us to bear fruit again.
Christians are not left in their desolation. The Spirit leads us into seasons of growth and harvest, just as the hungry are settled by God to cultivate and harvest their crops. No matter how desolate or barren their spiritual 'land' seems, the Holy Spirit is always at work to bring life, restoration, and abundance.
God is like that with us! Uncertainty, depression, anxiety, addiction, and broken relationships – whatever it is that has put the wet blanket over your gratitude, pray God remove that from you. It may require some significant action you your part as well – you are not alone. This hope is real and is given to us by the God that wants to restore us. This is reason to be grateful! You may not feel like jumping up and down, but God knows the condition of our hearts – may our hearts be filled with gratitude for the God who loves us.
Conclusion:
As we consider our text for today, let us also be open and receptive to what God may be calling us to do. Calling you to do. If you have not fully and completely given your heart and mind to Jesus as Lord and Savior, that is the first order of business that needs to be taken care of.
Secondly, “[a]s we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” (John F. Kennedy). We do this by Christian service and love. Not only to those who look or think like us, but to all as we have all been created in God’s image.
I thank God for my salvation. I am grateful for God’s love. I would be remiss if I didn’t share with you that I am grateful beyond words to have been a part of the Heartland Church family.
Although we all face some uncertainty in the days to come, we face them with the knowledge that we have much to be grateful for. I thank God for all of you and wish God’s blessing on each of you and this Church.
Amen and Amen.
