Thanks+giving

Early last week in my Bible readings I came to Psalm 50.

Psalm 50:8 begins "I have no complaint about your sacrifices or the burnt offerings you constantly offer."

Then the next verse begins with that scary word:

BUT

But what?

I'll paraphrase the next verse this way:

"But I really don't need them because they are already mine."

God seems to be saying that it's great that the people were offering sacrifices but he didn't really need them.  Which seems a bit confusing, and that's where verse 14 adds some clarification:

Make thankfulness you sacrifice to God and keep the vows you made to the most high. (Psalm 50:14 NLT)

The Psalmist is trying to tell us that there is a wrong way to give.

If we think that everything we have belongs to us, and that WE are giving to God out of OUR stuff that we earned, be might have a bit of a bad attitude when we give it.  Paul alludes to this in 2 Corinthians 9:7 where he writes that we are to give cheerfully, not grudgingly.  When we give, it is out of recognition that everything we have is God's.  We then return a portion to God out of thanks for what He has given to us.

Offering and Thanksgiving are inextricably linked:

Thanks=Giving

(Maybe I'm getting a couple of holidays mixed up here.)

The Psalmist alludes to another kind of bad giving attitudes in verse 14: "keep the vows you made".

Some people make vows to God.  A vow goes something like this:

"You do this for me, I'll do this for You."

So if God comes through on His end of the deal, we then offer whatever it is we said we would offer.  It's a simple transaction.  But sometimes we might have an attitude problem.  We might be handing over payment with a bit of reluctance--not wanting to part with our hard earned stuff for what we have received, like maybe we resent having to pay so much for something.

"Bad attitude", the Psalmist writes.  What should our attitude be?

Make gratitude your attitude.

Give--and give thanks.

Many years ago I was working for an organization and one of the employees was helping me load my truck with supplies.  When we were done, I thanked him.

He then began to exclaim, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" over and over again.

I told him I was confused, he had helped me load my truck, so why was he thanking me?  He replied, "Because you said, 'thank you.'"

I drove away in tears.  This man had worked many years for this Christian organization, but when it was time to get paid, it was just a transaction.  Payment for services rendered.  No sign of gratitude (at least not in a way that was meaningful to him).

I had to ask myself, "What is my attitude?  Do I have an attitude of gratitude?"

Let our giving be thanks and our thanks be giving.  It's easy to mouth the words, "Happy Thanksgiving."  It takes a bit more effort to show we are truly thankful.

Worn Pretty

In a recent post, I wrote about being worn out.

Lots of things are subject to wear and tear.  But wear and tear can have different affects on things.
Even things of the same nature can be differently affected by wear and tear.

The other day I was noticing some seashells.  Some seashells as they get old look just plain old.  Broken. Worn. Chipped.




On the other hand, aging and wearing down seems to enhance or bring out beauty hidden some shells.




About 30 years ago I made the observation that when people get old they seem to go one of two ways.  Some people get better with age.  Others just get bitter.

I determined that I would rather be one of those who gets better than bitter.  But I'm not totally sure I know how to do that.

Now, a few decades on, I can see how one can easily slip from the path to being better to the path of being bitter.

So how do I do it?  How do I become like one of those sea shells that gets more beautiful with time?

One one of the key ingredients that seemed apparent to me even back then is forgiveness.  If we don't learn to forgive, we will get bitter sooner rather than later.

Another characteristic of non-bitter people seems to be gratefulness.  They don't think the world owes them anything and they are grateful for what they have.  They don't compare what they have with what others have.

Another thing I notice about non-bitter people is that they are good listeners.  They are truly  interested in others and listen not with the intent of one-upping them but to really hear what they have to say.

There may be other things and perhaps some of those who are older than me could add to the list.

Jesus said: "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men." (Matthew 5:13 NIV)

We who believe in Jesus are supposed to be like salt to the earth-enhancing the quality of it.  If we get better as we age, we can continue to do so.  But if we get bitter, we become like salt without saltiness-just plain grit that scratches things and roughs things up.

Lord, help me to get better with age.  Help me to forgive those who have offended me.  Help me to be grateful and appreciative for what I have. Help me to really be interested in others.  Help me to hang onto my saltiness.

Gratitude

Today in Kids Club, we told the story of the ten lepers who Jesus healed.

¹¹ It happened that as he made his way toward Jerusalem, he crossed over the border between Samaria and Galilee. ¹²As he entered a village, ten men, all lepers, met him. They kept their distance ¹³ but raised their voices, calling out, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!"

¹⁴ Taking a good look at them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." 

They went, and while still on their way, became clean.  ¹⁵One of them, when he realized that he was healed, turned around and came back, shouting his gratitude, glorifying God.  ¹⁶ He kneeled at Jesus' feet, so grateful. He couldn't thank him enough—and he was a Samaritan.

¹⁷Jesus said, "Were not ten healed? Where are the nine?  ¹⁸Can none be found to come back and give glory to God except this outsider?"  ¹⁹Then he said to him, "Get up. On your way. Your faith has healed and saved you."  Luke 17:11-19 (MSG)


In telling this story, we were able to teach the children many new words, but the most important one was not actually in the text.

Gratitude.

ความกตัญญู


In this story, Jesus essentially commends the one out of the ten lepers who shows gratitude.

So after telling the story, we gave the children the opportunity to show gratitude.

Mother's day in Thailand coincides with the Queen's birthday in August.  But in many places around the world, tomorrow is Mother's Day.  So we had the children make Mother's Day cards with a note of thanks for their mothers.  Since we're teaching English, we had them use English as much as possible, but for some it was easier to use their native Thai.  We just wanted to make sure that the mothers felt appreciated for what they pour into the lives of their children.

We gave them ideas as to the types of things they could thank their moms for.  Some came up with their own ideas.  Some used all of our suggestions.  Some struggled to write anything.  One of my favorites: "Thank you for loving me."




Thank you to all of the mothers out there who work hard at loving your children.  We appreciate your hard work.

Being Grateful

It’s not a good sign when you have aquatic plants as your front lawn.  But such is the case for many poor people living on this back road in Ang Sila.

The rainy season is supposed to end by Loy Krathong (a festival which fell on November 28 this year), an old fellow told me.  And it couldn’t be soon enough for some of these people.

I took the picture above several days before Loy Krathong.  Several days before some of the heaviest rains we’ve had.

This was the neighborhood where we held VBS a couple of weeks ago.  The VBS program was held at the home pictured below.  The gray-haired lady was our host.  An MB Mission team had helped fix up her flood prone home.  They raised it a little bit and gave it a concrete floor—although I don’t think they raised it enough to be above the current water level.  The woman and several others have since come to Christ, though they don’t get to church much because they have no transportation to get them there.



Ingrid and I had come back to the neighbor hood to inquire about a girl we met during VBS. This girl had a chronic leg infection and Ingrid had treated it some and we wanted to see how it was doing.  We did not know exactly where she lived and so we were traveling with Upa—another woman from the church who lives close by.  But when we came to the flooded area Upa said we shouldn’t go into the neighborhood.  She told us we’ll get a rash on our leg—and she should know—she lives on the back side of the same swamp in a house that is also prone to flooding.



It is hard to know what to do with situations like this.  One wants to help, but how?  This neighborhood is built on a depression—a low spot where all the rainwater collects.  Upa said it would be a least a week until it dried up—and that was before several more days of rain.  The original houses in the area were built on the few high spots in the area.  If it were in America, no one would be allowed to put up a community in a swamp without doing something to get rid of the water (However frail it might be as we learned in the case of New Orleans).  But here in Thailand, the poor have to live somewhere and the options are few.  So they settle where they can, even if it is a swamp.

On the night of Loy Krathong, we watched the fireworks and flying lanterns that mark the holiday from the dry safety of our 6th floor apartment.  (The orange star-like things in the photo are actually balloon-like lanterns the are set afloat in the sky.)  We are grateful for such housing.



But we and the Thai believers from Ang Sila church still think about the plight of those living in the swampland neighborhood.  Not only are they physically poor, they are also spiritually poor as well.  During VBS, many children indicated a desire to follow Jesus.  The Ang Sila church now grapples with how to follow up on this VBS.  How do we bring the gospel of Jesus to this neighborhood?  How do we not just tell them about the love of God but also show them the love of God?

The bigger question is, how do we not grow calloused after seeing this kind of situation again and again throughout Thailand?  It is too easy to just throw our hands in the hair and say, “well, this is too big for me to deal with,” and so do absolutely nothing.  We pray that we might find ways to show our gratefulness to God by doing things that others can be grateful to Him for.

As James writes:
¹⁴ What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone?
¹⁵ Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing,
¹⁶ and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?
James 2:14-16 (NLT)