THE DANGER OF INGRATITUDE

Read Romans 1: 18-25

Introduction

This may seem like an odd passage to read the Sunday before Thanksgiving. It’s not exactly a passage that makes you feel warm and fuzzy.

 It is more like the anti-Thanksgiving passage. Not too many people will read this verse before carving their turkey and sharing a big meal together. But it has an important verse tucked inside that we need to examine.

Paul is talking about all of us, the whole human race, not just some “pagan” part of it that never goes to church and doesn’t read the Bible.  He makes that pretty clear by saying, “Yes, they knew God.” That has to include all the Baptists and Methodists and Catholics and Lutherans and Pentecostals and Presbyterians and every believer. It certainly includes me. He’s definitely including all the religious types in his list.

1) God’s wrath is revealed against the whole human race because we are all born with an innate knowledge of God which we willfully suppress (v. 18).

2) God has made himself plain to all men so that they are without excuse (vv. 19-20).

3) By turning away from God, we turned to idolatry (vv. 21-23).

4) Result: Moral Impurity (vv. 24-25).

Paul paints his portrait in the blackest terms possible because he later wishes to show the glories of the gospel of Christ set against the backdrop of human sin. If you were to continue on in Romans, you would see this. Paul paints a clear picture of how to follow Jesus; many call this the Roman Road. The road to Salvation through Jesus. 

A Closer Look at Verse 21

But tucked in there is a verse that explains a key stage in humanity’s turn from the true God to idolatry. Let me read it again: 

Verse 21, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

They knew God.

They did not honor God.

They did not give thanks to God.

So…

Their thinking became futile, and their hearts were darkened.

That means the problem with the human race is not a lack of knowledge. The deeper problem is ignoring the knowledge we already have. Truth always demands a response. No one can be neutral in the spiritual arena.  (Man has always created deities to answer the unknown)

Paul goes on to spell out what happens when we become indifferent to spiritual truth:

1. We refuse to glorify God.

2. We refuse to give thanks to God.

Truth demands a response, and the truth about God demands that we the creatures glorify him as the great Creator. When we don’t, we fail in the great purpose for which we were created.

It didn’t start with us. It started in the earliest days of the human race when Adam and Eve willfully rebelled against God. They should have glorified God by obeying him, but they didn’t. That was and is the chief sin of the human race. From Eden to our town, a bent toward disobedience has entered our spiritual genetic code.

The Unthankful Man

But it was this one little phrase that burned into my mind. “They did not give thanks.” In preparing for today’s service, I wanted to deviate from our walk through Acts for Thanksgiving.  I wrestled with what to preach seeking God’s heart. I didn’t want any platitudes for the season. 

I read a sermon by Charles Spurgeon, and in it he offered this comment:

I cannot say anything much worse of a man than that he is not thankful to those who have been his benefactors; and when you say that he is not thankful to God, you have said about the worst thing you can say of him.

He goes on to show how God is treated by unthankful creatures:

He is despised.

His Sabbath day is ignored.

His book is neglected.

His Son is refused.

His deliverances are forgotten.

Then warming to his topic, he remarks on how we tend to ignore God’s providences:

Why, look at some of you! You never missed a meal in your lives. When you went to the table, there was always something on it. You never had to lose a night’s rest for want of a bed. Some of you, from your childhood, have had all that heart could wish. If God has treated you so, while many are crushed with poverty, should he not have some gratitude from you? You had a good mother; you had a tender father; you have gone from one form of relationship to another with increasing comfort. You are spared, and your mother is spared; your wife and children are spared.

Indeed, God has made your path very smooth. Some of you are getting on in business, while other men are failing; some of you have every comfort at home, while others have been widowed, and their children have fallen, one after the other. Will you never be grateful? Hard, hard heart, wilt thou never break? Will any mercy bend thee? I do appeal to some here, whose path has been so full of mercies, that they ought to think of God, and turn to him with sincere repentance and faith.

Then he says even more than this:

But one says, “I have had good luck.” What can be worse than that? Here is unthankfulness to God indeed, when you ascribe his good gifts to “good luck.” “Well, you know, but I have been a very hard-working man.” I know you have, but who gave you this strength for your work? “I have a good supply of brains while others do not.” Did you make your own brains? Do you not feel that any man who talks about his own wisdom, and his own wit, writes “FOOL” across his forehead in capital letters? We owe everything to God; shall we not give God nothing? Shall we have no gratitude to him from whom all our blessings have come?

I wonder how many of us this Thanksgiving season should have the word “FOOL” tattooed on our own forehead for taking God’s blessings for granted?

Two Signs of an Ungrateful Heart

We express this ungratefulness in at least two distinct ways:

 1) First, we receive from God’s hand daily blessings without ever giving thought as to where they come from. 

God’s mercies are new every morning—life and breath and health and friends and food and clothing and the kindness of others and a job to go to and money enough to meet our needs—all of it comes every day. We receive all that God has given, but we don’t acknowledge the Giver.

2) Second, we grumble about what we don’t have.

 If it is manna, we wish we had quail. If it is cereal, we complain because we want eggs. If our black suit is not ready or our blue dress is in the wash, we complain because we have to wear brown. If we have $500, we complain because we do not have $1000. If we have $1000, we grumble that it is not $5000.

 If we do not have cancer, we complain about our arthritis. If we have a car, we wish we had another one. We dream of a better job because we could be doing so much better than we are now. Complaining, one supposes, goes back to Adam who told Eve that the fig leaves made him itch.

God’s provision comes down from heaven just when it was most needed. Never too much but always just enough, and always in the nick of time. Do we acknowledge all He does for us?

It’s easy to be grateful when the coffers are overflowing, but what about when the cupboards are nearly empty. Do we thank Him then?

An Ungrateful Heart

If I asked you, “Are you a grateful person?” I suppose we would all say that we are about as grateful as the next person. 

And from the standpoint of our text, that would be a true statement. We are all unthankful by nature because we all take for granted the goodness of the Lord. We think God owes us something when in fact he owes us nothing at all.

Every good gift comes down from the Father above.

What do you have that you did not receive?

God showed me that in my own heart, I am sometimes guilty of the sin that lies at the heart of all other sins—ingratitude. When we are not thankful for what we have received, we open the door to every other sin imaginable. It shows up in complaints.

Gratitude is first and foremost a matter of the heart. It’s not about what we do or don’t do. It is the heart that must be changed. After all, we may do many good deeds and yet do them grudgingly, out of a sense of duty, or in order to win God’s favor, as if mercy is earned and not given.

It flows down to us, dropping like the gentle rain from heaven. In fact, mercy and gratitude always go together. What starts as mercy in heaven ends as gratitude on earth.

And so on Thanksgiving Day 2024 and every other day of the year, I wish to give thanks to God for showing me the true state of my own heart. I pray to become more grateful for all his gifts at all times. And I humbly ask the Lord to give me a grateful heart for all his blessings—seen and unseen, that I might take nothing for granted, and to open the eyes of my heart to appreciate all things big or small.

When Spurgeon came to the end of his sermon, he finished with these words. I find them comforting to my own soul, and they made me happy as I read them.

And then, next, let us begin to be very thankful, if we have not been so before. Let us praise God for common mercies, for they prove to be uncommonly precious when they are once taken away. Bless God that you were able to walk here, and are able to walk home again. Bless God for your reason: bless him for your existence. Bless God for the means of grace, for an open Bible, for the throne of grace, for the preaching of the Word. You that are saved must lead the song. “Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.”

Bless him for his Son. Bless him for his Spirit. Bless him for his Fatherhood. Bless him that you are his child. Bless him for what you have received. Bless him for what he has promised to give. Bless him for the past, the present, and the future. Bless him in every way, for everything, at all times, and in all places. Let all that is within you bless his holy name. Go your way rejoicing. May his Spirit help you so to do!

Closing

On that note I want to put some practical application into your spirits.

Building your capacity for gratitude isn’t difficult. It just takes practice. The more you can bring your attention to that which you feel grateful for, the more you’ll notice to feel grateful for!

Here are simple ways to become more grateful:

1. Keep a Gratitude Journal. Establish a daily practice in which you remind yourself of the gifts, grace, benefits, and good things you enjoy. 

2. Remember the Bad. To be grateful in your current state, it is helpful to remember the hard times that you once experienced. When you remember how difficult life used to be and how far you have come, you set up an explicit contrast in your mind, and this contrast is fertile ground for gratefulness.

3. Ask Yourself Serious Questions. Meditate on your relationship with God. Ask yourself: “What have I received from God?”, “What have I given to God?

4. Share Your Gratitude with Others. Remember that just as you like to hear it, God does too. It’s a form of worship.

5. Come to Your Senses. Through our senses—the ability to touch, see, smell, taste, and hear—we gain an appreciation of what it means to be human and of what an incredible miracle it is to be alive.That’s the meaning of stopping to smell the roses.

6. Use Visual Reminders. Because the two primary obstacles to gratefulness are forgetfulness and a lack of mindful awareness, visual reminders can serve as cues to trigger thoughts of gratitude. 

7. Watch Your Language. Focus on the inherently good things that God has done on your behalf.

8. Think Outside the Box. If you want to make the most out of opportunities to flex your gratitude muscles, you must look creatively for new situations and circumstances in which to feel grateful.  For instance, yesterday we ran out of gas on our way to the Royal Rangers Derby. We were having an intense conversation and drove right on by the gas station. Rather than getting upset that we were going to be late, I instead practiced gratitude that there were people close by behind us that could lend a hand and save the day. We have to look at things differently.

Communion Table

At this time I would like to figuratively sit at the Thanksgiving table with you. Jesus said to do this often as we remember Him and the sacrifice He made on the cross for us. As we think about gratitude, may we be forever grateful for this. 

1 Corinthians 11: 23 - 26   For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

Jesus, this is your body; you are the bread that came down from heaven.  Lord, bless this bread with life, because you Jesus are the bread of life, bless it with resurrection power, bless it with healing, and bless it with life.

 25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”

Lord, this is the new covenant in your blood representing the life that is in the blood of Jesus Christ. I give thanks for this cup, a cup of blessing and love poured out on us. Today we thank you for the blood that never loses its power.

26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.

We thank you, our Father, for that life which you've made known to us by Jesus, your Son, by whom you made all things, and take care of the whole world. You sent Him to become a man for our salvation. You allowed Him to suffer and to die. You raised Him up, glorified Him, and have set Him at your right hand, and in Him, you've promised us the resurrection of the dead. 

By your Holy Spirit, help us to use this gift: to confess and forsake our sins, to confidently believe that we're forgiven through Christ, and to grow in faith and love day by day, until we come at last to the joy of eternal salvation through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. Amen.