Gratitude, Thankfulness, and Indifference

Well, Thanksgiving Day is coming quickly, it seems to me. It is soon upon us. Of course, Thanksgiving Day is observed last week of November in the United States. It's not observed everywhere. I think it is still one of America's favorite holidays. It is one of mine. The origin of Thanksgiving Day takes us back to the year 1621. 1621 was one year after the 102 passengers on the Mayflower had arrived on the coast of Massachusetts. It was on a bleak December day.

Their supplies were meager. The winter had already arrived. And the Pilgrims, as they came to be called, would lose nearly half of their company that winter season to sickness and malnutrition. I think the number 102 original passengers, I think there's like 56, 57 survivors. In November 1621, those survivors then celebrated their first small harvest in the New World, and they gave thanks to God. And so then began our national tradition. But three days later, excuse me, three years later, three years later in 1623, William Bradford, who was then the governor of the colony, penned something that's now called the first Thanksgiving proclamation.

In the proclamation, he made clear that that was going to be a day, a religious day, a religious day of Thanksgiving. And here's what Bradford wrote in his proclamation. And what's interesting, he followed the example from Scripture, as you'll see in the Psalms, in the Thanksgiving Psalms, when you give thanks to God, you give specific reasons why you're giving thanks to God. And that's what Bradford did in this proclamation. And I'll read it to you.

It's just two rather short paragraphs. And I'll try to translate the YEs, and sometimes it's you, and sometimes it's thee, and I'll see if I can get it right. He wrote, And the ravages of the savages, Has spared us from pestilence and disease, Has granted us freedom to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience. Now I, your magistrate, Do proclaim that all you pilgrims, And your wives, and your little ones, Do gather at the meeting house on the hill, Between the hours of nine and twelve in the daytime, On Thursday, November 29th, of the year of our Lord, 1623, And the third year since the pilgrims landed on Pilgrim Rock, There to listen to your pastor, And render thanksgiving to the Almighty God for all his blessings.

What the pilgrim fathers, and I'll hasten to add the pilgrim mothers as well, What they did, they had a right response to God. They did have a correct and right response to God. They knew their Bibles. They knew that 1 Corinthians 5, 18, Commands that in everything give thanks.

For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. They also would have been aware of Psalm 50, 14, That declares, Offer to God thanksgiving. It reads as a command, Offer to God thanksgiving, And pay your vows to the Most High.

And so they did. Despite their losses, despite their intense suffering, And their fears, and their worries, Maybe we can just barely understand today, Despite all that, they were filled with profound and reverent gratitude toward God. And so they worshipped Him. They offered Him their sincere thanksgiving, Their expression of their faithful and loving devotion to God. From that religious beginning, Thanksgiving Day has now become a day for most people, A day that is much less than a religious holiday. I think we are now aware of that. For most people today in America, Thanksgiving Day has become all about enjoying the bountiful food. We Americans love that tradition. It's a great day for food.

It's a great day for relaxing with families. I hope we all are able to do that, families and friends. It's a wonderful thing to do. It's also becoming known as a day for football games and Black Friday bargain shopping. I think just about every retailer online has some kind of Black Friday deal.

And of course, for retailers, Thanksgiving Day is primarily a quick breathing space before the full onslaught of Christmas shopping season takes place. But how many Americans are truly grateful? How many really think about being grateful and having that sense of gratitude, of giving thanks to God, and especially on Thanksgiving Day? Of course, only God knows the answer to that. Unfortunately, most Americans seem to be coming and maybe that's unfair to say most. It seems many Americans are becoming more indifferent about the day's origin and about its religious meaning.

But for those who truly seek God, for those who truly seek God, it's important that they and we understand what gratitude means. It's also important that we understand how and why to express thankfulness to God. You see, the Pilgrims set a good example. They did set a good example of giving their heartfelt thanks to God, who was their creator, their provider, and their deliverer.

And so, with thanksgiving so upon us, it's appropriate that we consider what gratitude and thankfulness mean, and especially what they mean or should mean for those who comprise God's Church, the Body of Christ. And so, in this message, we will consider the importance of gratitude and thankfulness, and we're also going to consider an enemy, an enemy of gratitude called indifference. And so, the title of today's message is gratitude, thankfulness, and indifference. Gratitude, thankfulness, and indifference.

To begin, let's differentiate what gratitude and thankfulness mean. There is distinction. They are distinctly different things. Now, most English speakers, including many of us, and certainly including me, I really ought to study this because I typically equate gratitude and thankfulness as being the exact same thing. I don't think that was a sign I just made. I wasn't trying to. But that's my hands getting in the way. Yeah, I'm sorry. Oh, it's this? It's this? No, never mind. No problem. Ignore the man behind the curtain. No, that's all right.

Most Americans, many of us here, we tend to equate gratitude and thankfulness as being the exact same thing. No two words have the exact same meaning. They have synonyms, they have similar meaning, but they are not the exact same. They are not interchangeably the same. And so, it is with gratitude and thankfulness. So let's talk about gratitude. Gratitude. And I'm going to quote from a number of different sources. Believe it or not, there is a science about gratitude now. Gratitude is a mindset. I don't know if you thought of it that way. Gratitude is a mindset. Holly Rossi, writing in an article entitled, Gratitude vs.

Thankfulness, she explains, she says, Gratitude is an attitude. It's an overall mentality. It's a mindset, a mindset that prioritizes appreciation for the gifts and opportunities life offers, she says. So gratitude is about appreciating the things that have come to you, the things that people do for you, and maybe just appreciating something as beautiful as a day like today. And of course, ultimately, we know who to appreciate for that. We appreciate a creator for such a beautiful day like today. And then in her article entitled, The Science of Gratitude, Misty Pratt explains that gratitude isn't just a pleasant feeling.

It's much more than a feeling. Gratitude, she states, helps people realize that they wouldn't be where they are without the help of others. Now, how many of you have ever thought about that? We wouldn't be where we are today if we did not have the help of others. It's a fact, but do we appreciate that fact? Do we appreciate people who have helped us get here, whether it was a teacher or parents, a stranger along the road, giving us a ride just at the right time, whatever it may be.

Another scholar, Dr. Robert Emmons, who is known as the world's leading scientific expert on gratitude. That's interesting. I wonder if I might meet him one day. But he's the leading scientific expert on gratitude. Frankly, we should all become experts on gratitude. We really should. But he states, quote, practicing gratitude magnifies positive feelings more than it reduces negative feelings.

In other words, negative feelings exist. What we might call negative things, sad things happen. They exist, and they should not be ignored. But what we want to do with the right mindset of attitude is choose to focus on the positive, to choose to be appreciative, no matter what is going on around us. Sounds easy, doesn't it? Easy to say, maybe harder to do. But that's the idea. So gratitude is sometimes, people may try to tell us, gratitude is not a Pollyanna-type approach to life, where you just ignore the bad things and just be cheerful all the time. No. Gratitude is to help you. Let's see this as Misty Pradad says, gratitude, she says, helps you see the bigger picture, the bigger picture of being appreciative for the good things, despite the bad, and to become, then, more resilient in the face of adversity.

And so, no matter what troubles we go through in life, we can choose how to respond to it. What was it your grandmother or maybe your mother told you that we can make our own weather? We can make our own weather, how we're going to respond to life. There's another article entitled, The Difference Between Gratitude and Thankfulness, and I never knew all these articles were out there until I wanted to find out, is there a difference? There really is. The difference between gratitude and thankfulness states that gratitude is a chosen state of being. That's interesting to think about. Gratitude is not an automatic mindset. Our mindset is not set on the default of, is that a default setting?

A default setting of gratitude. That is not the way human beings are. But we can choose to be. We can choose to be. It is a choice we make. Continuing on, the article states, gratitude is an attitude of appreciation under any circumstance. And that's going to take us to a scripture in a bit. Gratitude continuing on, gratitude involves being thankful, but it is much more than being thankful.

Gratitude means expressing thankfulness and being appreciative of life daily, even when nothing exciting happens, when nothing happy happens. We can still have gratitude. And then I want to include an example from what they're talking about. And this example paints a picture that I think it's happened to me, almost to me, maybe to you. Here's an example of how we can still choose to be grateful to have that attitude of gratitude.

And so the article states, here's an example of gratitude. When you are late for work, your coffee spills in the car, and you realize your socks are two different colors. And I'm sure for me it's not always black or blue. It's something more garish than that. And so your socks are two different colors. Gratitude, though, is a smile on your face as you reach your destination.

You go ahead and smile, wipe the coffee out of your car, and go on to your work or appointment, whatever it might be. And so gratitude is your decision that the day is a good day, even when evidence points to the opposite. I think that is a good illustration. Get your hands on. You do not need something good to happen to have gratitude. When bad things happen, your gratitude does not falter. You know that sad things are just a part of life, and you are happy with the life you lead.

And so a right attitude, that mindset of gratitude, is realistic. It does not ignore the troubles in this world. But it seeks a mindset, and of course, when we have the help of God, it is something we can do. We can choose to have a mindset that is still hopeful, still positive, despite the negativity, the terrible things going on around us and in our lives. And so even should we undergo times of great sadness and suffering, we can choose to have the mindset of gratitude. And with the mindset of gratitude, we can then look for a positive in our life. And for us, that positive in life should be God.

It should be our calling. It should be our hope of salvation. It should be our desire to help our brother, to help our sister, to do some good in this world with the ability God has given us as we are able, as we can. And at the very least, we've talked about this many times, at the very least, if we could do nothing else, the most important, most powerful thing we can do is pray.

Just pray. And of course, we always have the opportunity to give thanks to God. And so let's talk about thankfulness now. Let's talk about thankfulness. That was gratitude, the mindset. Let's talk about thankfulness. Going back to that article by Holly Rossi, she explains that while gratitude is a general appreciation of life, thankfulness is a response to a particular event or experience. So, gratitude is the mindset, but thankfulness is our response to what happens to us in life. Maybe a response to something good or some courtesy given to us.

Some gift given to us. Thankfulness is a response to a particular event or experience. She continues, practicing gratitude means accepting things as they are, while also holding on to our appreciation of things that we value and have access to. But thankfulness grows out of that gratitude mindset, and it positions us to be able to notice and express thanks when things do go right. So we can say thankful things. Thank you when someone opens the door for us, or writing a thank-you note, receiving one, when we could really use it. The article, The Difference Between Gratitude and Thankfulness, adds that when something good or exciting happens, it is easy to be thankful.

And isn't it? When we have a good day, it's great to be thankful. It's easy to be thankful. We appreciate the warm feelings that she continues, and we appreciate the warm feelings that come with gifts or happy news. And thankfulness involves how we feel in the moment. And like all feelings, eventually it fades away. Thankfulness eventually fades away. If you think about it, I think you understand why. There are times in my life we'd get gifts, toys. We are very thankful for the toy. And I speak as a parent as well as a child.

An hour or two later, we're unhappy. We're fighting over the toys. Or, well, I'm bored with that already. The thankfulness can easily go away rather quickly. But that's thankfulness. It will fade away. Continuing on, quote, setbacks and things that we're almost... Excuse me. Setbacks and things that we are most certainly not thankful for will always interfere with our thankfulness. And because of this, we must rely on other ways to maintain a positive attitude.

And that positive attitude, of course, is gratitude. Gratitude, what they're trying to tell us, is gratitude is that place, that mindset from which thankfulness can come. And so these definitions can help us to understand the difference between gratitude and thankfulness. We spent a little more time with gratitude because that's the one that we really need to focus on as a source of all many good things we can be doing. And thankfulness essentially stems from a mindset of gratitude. And so with that understanding, we should also make sure we don't forget that gratitude is a choice we make, and so is thankfulness.

Thankfulness is also a choice we make. And then I came across more information from the science of gratitude. I thought I'd share like there's something more that's good to understand. Having a mindset of gratitude and practicing thankfulness has a positive impact on one's health and well-being. Did you know that?

Having gratitude and thankfulness also helps us in our relationships with people. Some of these things I think we probably know from our own life experiences, but maybe have not quite put it in those terms. Now there is scientific evidence for the benefits of gratitude. And I'm going to read some of these to you. Wouldn't you like to know what they are? Yeah, this is another way that we could feel better without having to go to the doctor.

That's great. We need to do this. We need to know these things. So scientific evidence reveals that gratitude's greatest benefits include—here's the list— gratitude's greatest benefits include a lower risk of heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers, and other lifestyle diseases. Gratitude allows us to have a stronger immune system, a sharper memory, and less mental decline with aging.

Isn't that interesting? Having that gratitude can— it sounds like it says it can push away some of those aspects of aging. Gratitude can give us a higher quality sleep and less insomnia, and reduce perception of chronic pain. Another benefit is less inflammation in the body. All this gratitude can do.

Benefit of better mood and less incidence of depression and anxiety. And that makes sense, doesn't it? If you're choosing to be positive, it's going to become easier to stave off, to keep push back that black dog of depression. That's what Churchill called it, the black dog of depression that pestered him.

Another benefit of gratitude is higher self-confidence and fewer feelings of anger, jealousy, and envy.

Some scholars point out that anger, jealousy, and envy are enemies of gratitude. They are among the enemies of gratitude—anger, jealousy, and envy. Another benefit of gratitude—the greater ability to forgive yourself and others.

So you're taking that positive attitude. You're taking the high ground up where God's at. It makes it easier to forgive. In the last one this year here, gratitude gives us a better ability to prioritize and manage time.

That's what I'm working on. I'm grateful that I can, but I'm working on it. Now, if we just pause here a second, isn't it amazing how modern science continues to prove what? It continues to prove that God's way of life—his mentality of blessing, of outgoing concern, of love, thinking for others, focusing in on yourself, getting rid of anger and envy and jealousy—these bring about positive, that gratitude attitude. Science is verifying what Scripture tells us. Scripture, instead of calling these benefits, might call it what? Blessings. Right. I call it blessings. Of course, these blessings that science seems now to be discovering God has told us about for millennia. Let's look at the book of Proverbs. Let's start tying in the Scripture. We've heard what human reasoning tells us. Let's look at what Scripture tells us. Let's look at the book of truth that we heard about in today's sermon. Let's look at God's truth. The book of Proverbs—many of these Proverbs are thousands of years old. We know they are published or written down probably about 3,000 years ago. But let's look at some of this ancient wisdom that is timeless. It is still true. And it does tie in with this attitude of gratitude. Look at Proverbs 12.25, for example. In Proverbs 12.25, in our day and age, we talk about the mind. In ancient times, the word is often the heart, the heart and mind. Sometimes we say the heart and mind. We mean the very being of a person, the mentality, the outlook, the approach. Proverbs 12.25 reads, Anxiety and the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad. It's talking about the attitudes we have. That gratitude and thankfulness, the good word, is giving somebody our thanks. Proverbs 15.15, next door to it. Proverbs 15.15. There we read, He who is of a merry heart has the attitude of gratitude, we might say, has a continual feast. It's quite possibly, even if it's just cheese and crackers, if you have the right attitude, it's going to seem like a feast.

Well, maybe not as big as Thanksgiving turkey, but it's going to be, it's what your attitude is sometimes, not necessarily what's happening around you. Proverbs 17.22, these are just wonderful little bits of God's wisdom and truth. Proverbs 17.22, I like this one too. A merry heart does good. A right attitude does good. That's just what I was reading. These benefits of a right attitude, gratitude. A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones and just makes you feel all shriveled up, achy and miserable. A right attitude. And again, what these scientists of gratitude tell us that we can choose to be grateful to have that attitude. And so these ancient proverbs inspired of God tell us that yes, a positive mindset or heart, gratitude and gladness, it is a blessing to that person. But as these scriptures also tell us, they're a blessing to others when we share those good things. But to understand these spiritual aspects of God's desire, remember his desire again is what? That we be thankful, that we be grateful. To learn more about that, we need to turn to further instruction. Let's turn to Psalm 92. Scripture makes clear that expressing our gratitude through praises and thanks to God is a very good thing and is very pleasing to God. Let's turn to Psalm 92. Psalm 92. Of course, we're going through this this week. We should always be cheerful and grateful, but especially as we focus on Thanksgiving, on that holiday. Of course, every day, in one sense, should be Thanksgiving. Psalm 92. Here, the psalmist expresses his sincere gratitude toward God. He says, verse 1, He's praising God in this song as we read it. To declare your loving kindness in the morning, in your faithfulness every night. His praise goes on morning, noon, and night, it seems, all day long, or waking hours, on an instrument of ten strings, on the lute, and on the harp with harmonious sound. And why? For you, Lord, have made me glad through your work. I will triumph in the works of your hands. And so, verse 4, much as we saw William Bradford do, here, the writer of the psalm gives us reason why he's giving thanks to God, because God has made him glad. And obviously, God makes us glad, too. We also have reason to praise our God. Let's look at Psalm 100. Psalm 100 also expresses with exuberance, because this psalm is identified in their Bibles as a psalm of thanksgiving. A psalm of thanksgiving was meant to be very enthusiastic. It was meant to be very much filled with praise for God and great gratitude. And so here's what the psalmist writes about his profound and reverent gratitude, his worship for God, his Maker. He says, That's quite unlike what we're hearing nowadays. People are making themselves male and female according to their desire. No, God made us. God made us, not we ourselves. Continuing, we are his people in the sheep of his pasture. You get the sense that all of us, even our pastures, even where we live, where we work, you get the sense he's saying everything is God's. None of it is ours, really. And since, we have everything on loan from God for a little while. Enter into the gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise. Be thankful to him and bless his name. For the Lord is good, his mercy is everlasting, and his truth endures to all generations. It is eternal. It's not going away. It's not going anywhere. It's not going anywhere. We have to hold to it. We have to hold to the truth.

And of course, it's here, Psalm 50, verse 14. This is where I was reading the beginning of the sermon. Psalm 50, verse 14. One of the verses, the pilgrim's new, of course, and God's people tend to find, rather quickly, soon in time. Psalm 50, verse 14, where it states, it reads as a command, as an exhortation, something to do. Psalm 50, verse 14, Offer to God thanksgiving and pay your vows to the Most High. Give God thanks and keep your commitment to God. When that commitment was baptism, when the commitment was to your spouse and marriage, we keep our commitment, because God is a part of those so important.

Let's look at 1 Thessalonians 5.18. 1 Thessalonians 5.18. I read this in the introduction. Let's look at this and read it together. I also want to read it to you in another translation. In 1 Thessalonians 5.18, the Apostle Paul was inspired of God to reiterate this similar instruction that we just read in Psalm 50, verse 14.

And of course, it reads, I read it earlier, 1 Thessalonians 5.18, In everything give thanks. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. It does not mean thank God for everything. That's not what it means. In everything give thanks. In other words, as the Revised Standard Version reads, give thanks in all circumstances. That's really, the New King James comes close, but I think the Revised Standard does a little more specific, or a little more understanding meaning here.

Give thanks in all circumstances. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you, for you to do. That's what we're to be doing. And so again, God's will is that we have that mindset of gratitude that endures through sad times, bad times, bad circumstances, bad situations. It's a choice we make, and that's why we're exhorted to do this.

It's a command. It's something we have to choose to do. And so God's will is that we give Him thanks and praise. And that thanks and praise, again, is born of our appreciation. It comes from our gratitude, our appreciation.

We've come to understand God. We've come to believe that God is, that God exists. We've come to believe His Word is truth. His law is the way that guides us in our existence. We believe that God is our only hope of salvation, our only hope of salvation through Christ His Son, Jesus Christ His Son. And during these very difficult times we sometimes go through, we can know that God does not forsake us. He will not forsake us. He may stand back to watch us and see how we handle the situation, handle a trial. But God does not forsake us. Christ said, I will never leave you orphan.

He's not going to abandon us. Sometimes He wants to see, let's see what Joey does when I let him go through this little trial. You ever do that with your children? I'm going to leave...you shouldn't do this. You shouldn't tempt your kids. But you ever notice, you ever look to see if they got into the cookie jar while you were gone? Do you have cookie jars anymore? That's probably old-fashioned. Did you look to see if they got into the Skittles package? Does that work? Skittles? Okay, that works. You want to know how are they going to handle that temptation?

So you step back. But you never forsake them. You don't abandon them. God is with us. He's given us opportunities to trust Him, to deepen our faith. He's given us opportunities to understand how gratitude works and why we should be so grateful to Him.

That attitude of gratitude, this desire to worship God, it's founded in part with this...no, I don't know if I made sense just then, did I? Gratitude is an aspect of the mindset of Christ. Gratitude is just an aspect, a facet of reverence we should have for God, along with gratitude, along with humility. Along with the praise and thankfulness. It's all part of this much larger package. We're just looking at the gratitude aspect today and thankfulness. Always, we, like the pilgrims and those we read throughout Scripture, we must never forget that God is our Maker.

He's our provider, our sustainer. We must never forget that it's only because of God's mercy and grace that we have the assurance of salvation, that we have a reason for getting up every day with gratitude and with hope. Now, along with God's instruction, it's very important that we pay attention to Jesus Christ's example. You probably recall Ephesians 5 verse 1. Ephesians 5 verse 1 tells us it says, When we look to Christ's example, we see that there are many times—I'm sure much more than was recorded in Scripture—there are many times that Christ gave thanks.

He said thank you to God. He expressed gratitude. Remember, thanks comes out of the attitude of gratitude. Let's look at John 6 verse 11. A little example here and some further instruction. John 6 verse 11. Here we find just one example of many of how Jesus thanked God for the food that they are about to eat.

Something in the land of plenty, food can seem like an abundant thing, a little thing. It's not so little when you're very hungry and starving. But some people might say, well, this is a little thing. Why do you have to thank God for your food? Well, Jesus did. John 6 verse 11. And Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples then to those sitting down, and likewise of the fish as much as they wanted. And of course, we can find other examples when they're having a meal. He would break the bread, take it up in pieces, and he was sure to thank God for it. When we humbly thank God for his gift of food before eating, yes, we are following Christ's example. And it's important to be mindful that every bite we consume is a gift from God.

And you know when you fast, and we all fast on atonement, very quickly we realize how much we enjoy food. In fact, our whole conversation on atonement, not all of it, but much of it seems to somehow trickle back to food, whether it's talking about idiom or whatever, figure of speech. It gets back to food. Our need for food is here all the time. Maybe we just don't realize it, but do we thank God for that? My point is we shouldn't treat this brief prayer of thanks to God as something inconsequential, because when you think about it with the attitude of gratitude, that bite of food is very important to us. And it's something we should be thanking our Father for. And we may be blessed on Thursday to be eating lots of food, and even more reasons to thank God that day. And remember, when we give thanks to God, we are addressing our Heavenly Father. As James 1.17 says, our Heavenly Father who gives us every good gift and every perfect gift. Prayers for food are not inconsequential. Matthew 11.25. Let's look there. Another example of Christ praying. We read here how Jesus gave thanks to God the Father, not just for His disciples.

He is giving God thanks for opening the understanding of His disciples, that they could comprehend His gospel message. Matthew 11.25-26. Matthew 11.25-26. At that time, Jesus answered and said, He said, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and have revealed them to babes. The babes referring to these fishermen, these simple laborers, the so-called insignificant people of the world, at least in the eyes of the so-called high and mighty. He thanked them, even so, verse 26, even so, Father, for so it seemed good in your sight. God's will, His Father's will, is to be done. Jesus was thanking Him for all this. He is thankful to God that His disciples had received the capability to understand God's truth, those words of life, that they can understand that true bread. And, of course, we are thankful and grateful for God for opening our hearts and minds to Him. But are we also grateful when we see God opening up the hearts and minds of other people, perhaps people we haven't met yet, people that we'll meet days, weeks, months from now? Are we grateful when we see God doing things in other people's lives? We should. Jesus was. He was very grateful for that. Let's look at John 11, verse 41. Back to John, John 11, 41.

It's a very powerful scene. This takes us to the event when Lazarus was resurrected to a physical resurrection from the grave. He'd been dead four days. John 11, 41. But here Jesus thanked the Father for hearing His prayer. His prayer for Lazarus. That's who's being referred to here. John 11, 41. And then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man, that's Lazarus, was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, Father, I thank You that You have heard me. When we pray with a sincere and repentant heart, in Jesus' name, we too can be assured that the Father also hears us. Are we grateful for that? Do we think about that at the time? We should be. As Christ sacrificed in our place through sin that we're grateful for, and it's because of Him that we can approach the very throne of God through our prayer and boldly approach Him. And give Him our thanks or ask Him for His help. Share with Him a problem, a need we have. And God hears us. He hears us. Are we truly grateful for such ready access to our merciful Father? Any time, anywhere we can go to our Father in prayer. Of course, these are only a few examples of Christ's expressions of thankfulness to God, but we can be confident, I believe, in knowing that Jesus must have been extremely generous in giving thanks to His Father. More times than recorded here in Scripture, I'm sure. Jesus always had that mindset that we must have, that mindset of gratitude. Of course, that mindset, Christ's mindset, is much more than the gratitude, it's the reverence, it's the thankfulness, it's the humility, it's the service, the servant-mindedness, all of that. It's the very mind of God. Imagine all that we can and should be grateful for, ultimately finds its source or cause back where? It all traces back to God the Father. Everything we have or hope to have, hope to be, is because of our Father. God is truly that source of all that is good and pure and perfect and truly worth having. Now, the apostles also gave thanks to God. And it's interesting to note, let's be turning to Romans 1, verses 8-9. They give many thanks to God in different situations, but it's interesting to note what Paul does a number of times here in his epistles. Romans 1, verses 8-9. Paul is addressing this to the brethren in Rome.

Of course, all the churches were having challenges, wherever they were in the early church. And here, Paul is addressing this letter to the brethren in Rome. And look what he says in Romans 1, verses 8. He says, First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all. Now, if we stop there, we could say, oh, he's just thanking God for the brethren. But you've got to keep reading on, because there's something much more specific and much more wonderful that Paul is grateful to God for. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all. Why? That your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers. God says he thanks God for their faithfulness. Faithfulness means that they're remaining submissive to God, obedient to God. They're remaining faithful to the gospel message as Paul taught it to them. They weren't leaving God. They weren't not turning away from him. They were holding. They were holding with God. Can you imagine how the brethren in Rome felt when they read that epistle the first time? How encouraging that would be to know that Paul was thanking God for them and specifically that they're being faithful. They're hanging in there. Let's look at 1 Thessalonians, because Paul also did this in 1 Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians 1, 2-3. Again, his thanks comes from that mindset of gratitude. Because he's so grateful for God, he's grateful for the brethren who are being faithful, he expresses that thanks to God. Of course, God's responsible for all that, too. 1 Thessalonians 1, 2-3. He writes, We give thanks. Now he's writing to the Thessalonians. They, too, had their challenges. We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of faith, your labor of love, your patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father. Again, he's praising them not because he likes their potlucks. He's praising them because of their faithfulness, their loyalty, their love for God and one another. He does it again in 2 Thessalonians 1, 3. 2 Thessalonians 1, 3. I'm trying to give us a sense of what gratitude and thankfulness in that profound spiritual sense is all about. 2 Thessalonians 1, 3. Here Paul writes, We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting. It's appropriate. Because your faith grows exceedingly, you're on the right track. And the love of every one of you all abounds towards each other. You're living the life God and Christ have been teaching us to live. Again, this must have been powerfully encouraging to them, knowing that Paul thanked God for their thankfulness.

And so Paul is setting for us a powerful example of that mindset of gratitude, even of the gratitude for the faithfulness of the brethren.

And he thanked God for their example. And it was a very wonderful and powerful example.

So far, we have reviewed and hopefully come to have a better understanding that gratitude is a choice to appreciate what others, and especially what God has done and is doing and will be doing for us and for all people. And thankfulness is born of gratitude. Thankfulness is also a choice which we must be practicing as Scripture makes clear.

But now we turn to another attitude. And this attitude is troubling. This attitude can afflict anyone, even any one of us. There's another attitude that we can embrace and that we can foster.

It's that attitude of indifference. That was part of the title. The attitude of indifference. See, among the enemies of gratitude, anger, envy, pride, I think we can throw in there materialism, all these things. Those are enemies of gratitude. But so is the attitude of indifference. Indifference is an attitude. It's an overall mentality and mindset that can come to rest more naturally, it seems, in the human heart and mind. It's as if indifference can pop up in us almost automatically. In some ways, compared to gratitude, we don't really need to choose to be indifferent. It's as if it happens. You were talking about people having a resting face. That's my resting face. I look grumpy. Sorry. Sometimes it's as if our resting attitude is indifference, or perhaps something even worse. Other words for indifference include apathy and complacency. According to Merriam-Webster, the attitude of indifference is, quote, marked by a lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern for something. Indifference suggests something having no importance or value one way or the other. Sometimes we hear that expression, meh, meh, meh, whatever. No value, nothing big.

But indifference is a mindset. It's dangerous because it can undermine and eradicate gratitude, because indifference lacks that quality of appreciation. Indifference lacks the quality of appreciating the gifts and opportunities life offers. And unlike gratitude, indifference doesn't allow people to realize that they wouldn't be where they are without the help of others. You don't care if you're indifferent. You don't care that somebody did you a favor. You don't care if they said you did a good job today, keep it up.

Certainly indifference seems to be linked to the negative mindset and attitude called ingratitude. And it can be linked, well, ingratitude, what comes from ingratitude.

Thanklessness. It's the opposite.

Now, if we go back to that introduction I shared with you from the Pilgrim Proclamation, William Bradford's Proclamation of Thanksgiving in 1623. All they suffered through, in 1623 they come around, they only had a few small harvests. In 1623, William Bradford says, we need to give thanks and praise to God. We need to give him thanksgiving for all the blessings he has given us, protecting us, keeping us well, giving us fish and clams. That was one of the things he thanked them for. But, in the number of years, it wasn't very long, and if you read the history, I recommend you do sometimes, there is a book called Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick. I've read enough times I should know, I tend to read it every few years around this time of the year. A number of years after 1623, when you read the account, the interests of the following generations in the religion of their forefathers, those original families that came to Massachusetts on the Mayflower, as the generations went by, the children and the children's children became more interested in other things. They became interested in making wealth. They became interested in buying land, clearing the forest, raising cattle. They became interested in making money, in prosperity. We could see that, to a degree, as perhaps a result of a creeping indifference in their minds, indifference for the efforts of their fathers and mothers, their families, who came over to this country, this new colony, this new land, so that they might worship God according to what they believed God was showing them to do. It seems through the years, those succeeding generations had an increasing lack of gratitude and devotion to God the same way their forefathers had, and ultimately it would lead to the demise of Plymouth Colony. William Bradford was governor of the colony, and he wrote, in his journal of Plymouth Plantation, at 1637, he wrote of what he foresaw the outcome would be. In succeeding years, as Plymouth Colony grew and New England took form, he saw that each generation was becoming less interested, less invested in the faith that he had. It was his recognition that prosperity, materialism, weakened the colony's unity and religious vigor. In 1637, he wrote this in his journal. He wrote, in this search for prosperity, in this I fear, he said, will be the ruin of New England, at least of the churches of God there, and provoke the Lord's displeasure against them.

And so again, time passed, generations became less interested, increasingly indifferent to the pilgrim's original devotion to God.

It's a historical example. Indifference can take us over our mindset. It's rather subtle. It's sneaky. It's in our way of thinking and behaving before we may be fully aware of it. John 14, 15. Let's turn there. Just a few examples. Illustrations. I think we are here in the sermonette. John 14, 15. Jesus made a very clear statement. Well, what's clear nowadays to some people, I don't know. John 14, 15 says, Jesus said, if you love me, do what? Keep my commandments. If you love me, keep my commandments. 1 John 5. Let's go back now. Years later, John, the Apostle John, 1 John 5, 2 through 3, John wrote, 1 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. 2 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome. Yet what does indifference say?

What does indifference say? Yes, I'm going to personify indifference as if it were a person. Perhaps it's a voice in our head sometimes. Indifference says, God knows I love Him. Do I really need to keep all those commandments? Do I need to keep them like the church says I should? Of course the church is citing Scripture. Do I really need to keep those commandments? God knows I love Him. God knows I love my neighbor.

Does God really care if I work a little bit or play football on the Sabbath? Does He really mind? I think I'm good with God. God won't mind.

That might be that attitude of indifference sneaking in. We're here in 1 John. Let's look at 1 John 3, 4-6.

John writes, whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. We're breaking God's commandments. And you know that Christ was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. So what he's talking about, of course we all sin, but what John's talking about, we're not to be practicing sin as our way of life. It's not to be our lifestyle. And when we catch ourselves breaking God's law, the solution is repent, confess our sin to God, ask for His forgiveness for sincere, and then believe He forgives us through our faith, and Christ's sacrifice has shed blood for our sins.

But yet what might indifference say? And difference might say, as we are hearing more about in the world today, sin doesn't really matter. Sin isn't a big deal. What's a big deal about sin? Nobody talks about sin anymore. It's an old-fashioned idea. God is love. He's merciful. He's kind. He's good. I'm good. I'm good with God. The difference pushes away what Scripture specifically says. Colossians 4, verse 2. Colossians 4, verse 2. Colossians 4, verse 2. Colossians 4, verse 2. Colossians 4, verse 2. Colossians 4, verse 2. It means you really mean it! Your prayer. So you're praying from, again, that attitude of gratitude and thanking God and asking for prayer, for help for yourself or for others. But indifference would say, God knows what's going on in my head. I'm busy. Yeah, I know I should have prayed last week. I didn't. I'll do it on the Sabbath. I'll catch up with prayer. It's hard for me to imagine that, but believe it or not, that's what you hear sometimes. God knows I love Him. I don't need to talk to God every day. He knows I'm a good person. I'm okay with God.

That's indifference speaking. It doesn't really matter. Hebrews 13. One last example. Hebrews 13. Again, these examples are pointing us to what we should be doing. Are we doing it, or is indifference that attitude, that deadly attitude seeping in? Is it starting to settle into our hearts and minds? Perhaps without us fully recognizing it. Hebrews 13, 15 through 16. Here we find God's instruction to practice gratitude and thankfulness. And it's rather clear we're not supposed to be practicing gratitude and thankfulness just by our words, just by saying the right thing, but also by good deeds. Those are both sacrifices. Those are both ways we lay down our lives for others. So, Hebrews 13, 15 reads, Therefore by him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise by God. That is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name. But do not forget to do good and to share. Those are actions. For with such sacrifices, God is well pleased. Again, we have to be doing, practicing what is good and right and service, sacrifice for others. But indifference will say, indifference might say, there's no need for me to pitch in and help them. They always have plenty of people. They won't mind if I don't show up. God understands. I'm okay with God. You ever notice indifference sometimes keeps saying, it's already made the judgment that God is okay with our behavior? We're standing in, stepping in front of God, saying, God, I know I'm okay. Maybe we should pray to God and ask God if we're okay, and if we're not, show us how to get better. That would be that attitude of gratitude, humbly seeking God's intervention to help us become more like Him.

Well, I think we get the point. We can't allow ourselves to have that mindset of, it doesn't matter. That God's way, His commandments, how we worship Him, how we honor Him, how we treat one another, we shouldn't be careful of thinking, well, it doesn't really matter. God understands our carnal nature, our natural man. Do we understand that? And do we understand where we need to be with God? And remember, I go back to those introduction, those thankful things that Paul gave to God about the brethren. Paul did not thank God for His brethren, again, simply because I made a joke about their potlucks, right? But neither did he just thank them that they were knowledgeable, that they knew His Bible, or that they were friendly, or that they were nice, or that they were generous. But because they were faithful to God and to His Word.

In other words, they were not indifferent in keeping God's Word. They were doing their part in making their salvation sure.

It's vital that an indifference toward God and His way never find rest in our hearts and minds.

And so today we've reviewed, perhaps, we're going to be elbowing one another in our ribs about being grateful and having a good attitude. And that's okay. My wife and I were already doing that. We were already doing that underway down here. I'm trying to be grateful. I said, I know. I'm trying to be thankful. It's something we have to work on because it doesn't always come to us naturally, does it? But the fact is, the more we understand about what gratitude is and our need, Scripture tells us to be thankful. As we're aware of it, we can make better choices to make sure we are doing that. Awareness gives us the ability to make choices, to work on ourselves with God's help. So, brethren, true gratitude and thankfulness for God will keep us worthy of the greatest benefit of all. Not the health benefits, which are nice, but the greatest benefit of gratitude is to be found worthy of receiving salvation, receiving everlasting life in the kingdom of God. And so this week and every week, let's have that mindset of gratitude and let's be thankful. And may every day be a day of thanksgiving.