Saint James UCC of Hamburg, NY

Psalms 105:1-8; II Corinthians 9:6-15

Preached by Rev. Robert Matlack
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"Give thanks to the Lord..Sing praise to the Lord...Be glad that we belong to God...Go to the Lord for help". These words from the 105th Psalm remind us of the importance of gratitude. The psalmist very simply and directly reminds us that God has done many wondrous things for us and that we belong to God. The response that the psalmist feels and tries to call forth from the Israelite people is a response of gratitude. God has done wondrous things for us, so let us be thankful together.

The psalmists response is a basic attitude of gratitude, an attitude which not everyone has. Think about the people you know, and perhaps about yourself. How do they, how do you go through life? That question is somewhat like the basic difference between an optimist and a pessimist. The optimist looks at a glass and says that it is half-full, while the pessimist looks at the same glass and says that it is half empty. In terms of gratitude, one focuses on what they have received, while the other looks at what has been lost or is missing. One is grateful, while the other is fearful. What is your attitude toward life?

The psalmist very clearly is focusing on the gifts that God has given. That doesn't mean that the psalmist has never known difficult and painful times. In fact, if we were to read on through the whole of the psalm we would find some of those difficult and painful memories described. But what the psalmist clearly sees is that God was with the Israelite people through those difficult times. They were not abandoned by God. They were not left alone. Rather God walked with them. God cared for them, and it was God's power and love that brought them to a better place, to a better time. In response, they have good reason to remember and to be grateful for those gifts that they have received.

Now the psalmist isn't talking about just one point in time, about a piece of ancient history that is only a distant memory. The psalmist is using examples out of the past to say to the Israelite people and to say to us, that God has blessed us in many ways, God cares for us and claims us, and in response we need to be grateful. There's a world of difference between those who are grateful and those who are not.

That difference is described by Paul in our text from II Corinthians. In fact he begins by saying, "Remember that the person who plants few seeds will have a small crop; the one who plants many seeds will have a large crop." That's a basic truth of farming that we've discovered in planting our gardens. After you plant the seeds you need the right conditions for them to grow their best, but if you don't plant the seeds, you won't get a crop. It's that simple.

Now Paul was talking about planting seeds of gratitude, seeds which lead to an outpouring of gratitude towards God. When we plant seeds of gratitude, when we are thankful, and demonstrate that thanks in small ways, that gratitude will grow and become a mighty crop. It will bear fruit in our lives and the lives of those around us. On the other hand, when we aren't grateful, when we don't plant seeds of gratitude, but seeds of a different kind, perhaps seeds of bitterness or greed, then those seeds will grow and bear fruit in our lives and the lives of those around us as well. We all know that the fruit of bitterness is not nearly as sweet as the fruit of gratitude.

You see, gratitude is a gift. It's a gift that we give in that our gratitude has a positive impact on the people and the world around us, but it's also a gift that we receive. For when we are grateful, the person whose spirit is most profoundly effected by that gratitude is our own. Gratitude is at it's very heart a spiritual gift. When we feel grateful for what we have received, it is because we have grown spiritually to a place where we realize that our greatest treasure is not counted in dollars, that what we have received is far more important than what we still want, and that God loves us and blesses us each and everyday. True gratitude is a special gift - a gift that comes to us from God - a gift which challenges us to grow and to follow in the footsteps of Christ.

Paul is coming to the Corinthians from Macedonia where he has found an outpouring of gratitude. Now you have to understand that Macedonia was a poor impoverished area of Asia Minor. The economy in Corinth was much better than the economy in Macedonia. The people in Corinth were much better off, were far wealthier than the people in Macedonia. Yet Paul knows that the people of Macedonia have much to teach the Corinthians about gratitude.

Poor as they were, the people of Macedonia were extremely grateful for God's blessings. Back in chapter 8 Paul says this about the Macedonians, "they have been severely tested by the troubles they went through; but there joy was so great that they were extremely generous in their giving, even though they are very poor." That verse says volumes. These are a people who have suffered deeply. Life has not been easy for them, and yet they are overflowing with gratitude.

Gratitude is not a gift that is only received by those who have been given the most. In fact, the opposite often seems to be the case. Many times those who have received the most are the least grateful. They are the ones who still want more, who focus on what they don't have, who fail to give thanks.

That was essentially the problem with the Corinthians. They had received much. They were blessed by God in many ways, and yet they were stingy with their gratitude. The Macedonians on the other hand had gone through one difficult time after another. They never had much, but they were always willing to share what they had. They were always grateful for what they had received, even though by Corinthian standards what they had was nothing! Somehow they knew and understood that all that we have comes from God, and they were grateful to God for what they had received.

James King wrote this reflection on life: "During one particularly long freeway traffic tie-up, while my mind was racing, clicking off all of the places I would rather be at that moment, I noticed a car in front of me had a bumper sticker with just the message I needed: "Bloom Where You Are Planted." That message not only got me home with a positive attitude but also it provided a good thought. No matter what season of life we might be in, no matter what type of work we might be doing, or where we might be planted, we can bloom. We can use our efforts to make a difference and spend the time of our life in a way that can bring deep personal satisfaction.

He continues, "Some lines from a song by Stevie Wonder spoke to me: 'We all know sometimes life's hates and troubles can make you wish you were born in another time and space. But you can bet your life times...that and twice its double that God knew exactly where he wanted you to be planted.'"

Bloom where you are planted. That sounds to me like planting those seeds of gratitude that Paul talks about, planting those seeds and then allowing them to grow and flourish in our lives. Whatever circumstances we face, whatever issues we might be struggling with in our life, we have the opportunity to bloom where we are planted, to allow our spirit of gratitude to reflect the light of God's love into the world around us.

Can you imagine a better way to live? I can't. Of all the things that I can do with my life today, I can't imagine even one that's better than that. So let's go forth planting seeds of gratitude in the world around us.

Amen.