Thankful for Life

Message Transcription

Well, we are in a season of thanks as we think about all that God is doing in and through us in our community, blessing us and helping us to be a blessing to other people, we have much to be thankful for. One of the things that I'm especially thankful for and Kaylee alluded to this in her announcement this morning, that we've hired a new campus minister to come alongside our Atlas Campus Fellowship. His name is Jeremy Smith. Some of you may know Jeremy, you may recognize him. He's been in ministry for about 15 years. Next generation ministry serving. Mostly youth and families in that way. But he is stepping out of youth ministry and into campus ministry to to partner with us as we move into some new opportunities, engaging with our campus in some new ways. We're really excited about he and Leah joining us. He's an LCU grad. Some of you may know him from LCU. He went and did his master's and did a doctorate at ACU. So he's got all kinds of learning and wisdom. But maybe the best thing he brings to the table is. His heart for Jesus, his heart for. Those who are far from God. And so we're excited to partner with He and Leah. Leah is getting her PhD working on it right now at Texas Tech and Fine Arts. So we're excited to get to join them for them to join us. He'll start officially January 1st. And so I want to add my invitation to the one that Caleb. Offered earlier in a couple of weeks for the Carol of. Lights. That evening, Friday. Evening at 530. Jeremy and Leah will be there and ready to welcome and greet you and get a chance for you to get to know them a little bit. And then we can go enjoy the lights on campus. So keep that in mind. Be sure you. Save that date. We have a whole lot to be thankful for again, as we consider what God is doing in and through us. You know, Jesus was very serious about our. Hearts and about becoming the kind of people who truly love and serve him.

And gratitude was a. Huge part of this. In fact, he spent. A lot of time working and talking and teaching and modeling to his disciples what it means to. Have a heart that. Is faithful to God. In fact, Jesus talked a lot about thanks. He thanked God a lot. You just read through the Gospels. You'll see all the time whenever he had a meal, shared a meal with others. You may remember the feeding of the 5000. It says he took the bread, he broke it, and he gave thanks. Often he would do that when he was healing someone. He would give thanks for God's power at work in and through him in the world. And he would heal. He would thank God that God listened to him and remember the prayer in John 11, where Jesus starts by saying, God, thank you, that you listen, thank you, that that. You hear us, that you care. About us listening to us. Thanks was a huge part of the Ministry of Jesus. And if we're going to be his followers, then we're going to have to take that very seriously. In fact, one of his earliest. Followers, the Apostle Paul, he would say this way to. The church. And Thessalonica give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Paul said, This is the God's will for you. In fact, it's. Such a part. Of the will that it was a part of Jesus life. And so if we're going to be his people, we want. To reflect. That same type of love and joy and gratitude. Jesus understood. Gratitude is a heart issue. We've been thinking some together about that, this orientation of the heart. And if you were listening just a moment ago to. The words that Spencer read from Matthew chapter six, I invite you to turn. There. If you haven't done so already, that's going to be the time, the place where we spend the bulk of our time this morning. It's here in chapter six that Jesus has been. Talking with those who were. Listening there.

On the side of that hill. As he was. Preaching that day about the. Temptation to put our security in a lot of different. Places and a lot of different things to to put it in maybe the the type of name that we can develop in the wealth of the world, the wealth that we can accumulate, maybe in some other. Area. Jesus said, you're going to be tempted. To put your security and your. Hope and the things of this world, but that's not where true hope lies. In fact, he would say, Do not store up for yourselves. Treasures. On earth where moths and vermin destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures. In heaven where moths and vermin do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal For. Where your treasure is There your heart. Will be also. For where your treasure is, that's where your heart. Is going to be. Let's dive into that for just a couple of minutes. If you have a highlighter or a pen or pencil in your Bible that you can mark in, just invite you to underline verse 21 there. That's going to be a. Pivotal verse as we. Think about our discipleship and developing a heart of gratitude. That our treasures are simply. Those things that we keep. Or we protect, we watch over. They have a special. Place and value to us. Now. Sometimes they don't even have value to other people, but they do to us. In fact, when others look at them, they may see. That as trash or. Junk. But to us, to you, who value that object, that thing, it's. It's a treasure. It's why they they say we treasure those things. I was thinking this week about some of my. Treasures. When I was a kid. This was one of my treasures. I, I. Got a remote control army jeep, and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. It was the first time I. Had an actual remote control. Car that you could steer. This way and that it could go forward and backwards.

And I kept it, as most kids did. For about. You know, six weeks. And then I lost it. I was heartbroken. My treasure. Has disappeared. I was thinking some about my own children and some. Of the treasures. That they had when they were little. And certainly they've outgrown these now. But. But when they were little, Especially. When they were really little, they treasured. A bunny and a bear. And this bear, actually, I think this is the bear that that Halley treasured The bunny is kind of like the one that Gabe treasured, although I couldn't find an exact copy of it. But it was neat about these items, these this bunny and this bear. They went with us everywhere. They were a part of our life. They were carried. To Grandma's house and to Grandpa's house and and to all the vacations. These these two animals went all over the United States of America with us. And we'd never left them. Except for a couple of times, and we had to turn around and go back and get them because you don't leave Bear and Bunny behind or you will pay the consequences. And I remember that time on I-35, and we pulled over to. The side of the road because Gabe would not stop howling because Bunny had been left behind. Never leave a bunny behind, I think is the phrase. They loved those animals. They loved them so much that by the time they had grown to a place where they didn't need Bear. And Bunny to travel. With them all the time, you could barely recognize it was a bear and a bunny that they had been so loved. That they had become real. Reminds me of the story of The Velveteen Rabbit. And the story of this rabbit that was given to a young boy in an inn and amongst a. Lot of other toys at Christmas, he kind of set the rabbit aside. Didn't think a whole lot about it until one day his main toy that he would sleep with was lost. And so the nanny just. Haphazardly grabbed the. Velveteen Rabbit and gives it to the boy.

And that. Sparks a. Relationship that would last for a long time until the young boy developed scarlet fever. And that bunny stays by the boy's side until. Until the boy is healed. Now, in the midst of that story, one day the bunny is in the play room talking to some of the other toys. He'd been taken outside by his his friend, his boy, and left out there and some real bunnies came up to him. And they said, you're not real. We're real. You're not real. And so it invokes. This conversation about. What does it mean to be real? So the little bunny goes back inside, he gets taken back inside, and he has a conversation with the skin horse. And and. The conversation takes. Place like this. Real isn't how you are made, said the skin horse. It's a thing that happens to you when a child loves you for a long time. Long time. Not just to play with, but really loves you. Then you become real. Does it hurt? Ask the rabbit. Sometimes said the skin horse. For he was always truthful. When you are. Real, you don't mind being hurt. Does it happen all at once, Like being wound up? He asked. Or bit by bit. It doesn't happen all at once, said the skin horse. You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily or have sharp edges or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are real, most of your hair has been loved off and your eyes drop and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all because once you are real, you can't be ugly except to people who don't understand. This beautiful story of what does it mean to be real, to be treasured by someone? It. Isn't that the thing about treasures? We love them and that's what gives them their value. That's what makes them special. You see, for God so loved his world. He so loves you. That you have incredible, immeasurable value.

You're valued because you are God's treasure. Jesus says what matters most church is that we treasure treasures, he says. What matters. Most is that we. Treasure. God with all of our. Heart and our soul and. Our mind and our strength that we would love to orient our hearts. To be tuned to God's praise as we sang. What matters most is loving God. And then what follows on the heels of that. As we get our hearts oriented around treasuring. God, that we begin. To treasure the. Things that. He treasures. And more specifically, the people that he treasures. You see, this idea of loving. And treasuring. Is. At the heart of who we are as. God's people. In fact, everyone has treasures. Dallas Willard, one of my. Favorite authors who. Has influenced me significantly, argues. That treasuring. Is an essential part of what it means to be human, that we all do it. And we reveal. What we treasure by what we try to secure or protect or take care. Of. Maybe that's what's been so troubling to me in the last few years as I've seen some of the conflict and animosity come out in. Our culture, in our. World, and too often. Sadly, in our church. Is. What we really treasure got. Revealed when it was threatened. My rights. I really what I treasure most. My political party and being in power because they're coming to get us is what I most treasure. My ability. To take care of. Myself, to be financially and economically. Secure is my. Treasure. You see what we value. What we try to protect kind of points to the things that we treasure. Jesus says to be sure, we treasure heavenly things. Make sure your treasure is something worth treasuring, because that's where your heart's. Going to reside. It's not the other way around. As much as we would like to say. My heart then leads to treasure. He says, No, no, no, no. Your treasure is actually. Where you find your heart. The treasure things of the world is in a smart investment, he will say.

Thieves can break in and steal it. Moths and vermin can destroy it. To treasure things of this world is a losing investment that only leads to disappointment and disillusionment. Instead, he invites us to invest. Our. Hearts. And the forces of the kingdom. Where nature. And where human evil can't touch. Direct. Our actions toward making a difference in the heavenly realm. That's what we're told. I don't know about you, but sometimes. I hear these verses. And it seems like this kind of pie in the sky. How do I not treasure the things of this world? How do I not care. For and care. About some of these things? I don't know that that's exactly what Jesus is saying we can't do. He's saying, What. Are we treasure. Most? What's at the heart? See, I think this invitation of Jesus is to invest our lives and what God's doing in the world. Invest in your relationship with Jesus. Invest in your relationship with the people that Jesus loves and doing good. For their what matter most invest in caring for the world that's around us. The world that God created that he cares so deeply about, that He is redeeming and reconciling back to himself. Paul would say it to the church in Galatians like this Do not be deceived Church God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows. To please. Their flesh from the flesh will reap destruction. Whoever sows to please the spirit from the spirit will reap eternal life. Let's not become weary in doing good. For at the proper time. We. Will reap a harvest. If we do not give up. Therefore, as we have. Opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. See, one of the ways that we live out this idea. Of treasuring what God treasures. Is by doing good, by seeking the good of the world and of the people that God so loves, committing ourselves to doing good and not becoming weary at doing it. Recognizing that that work.

That I try to do, it's not a work's righteousness. This is an idea of living out embodying all that God is doing in us, recognizing that the work that I do is not lost. It always counts. That even if it's not accepted or or not believed, that doesn't change the kingdom economic output. That's the amazing thing about life in the kingdom is has got somehow brings all of that together to extend his kingdom a little further. All that we do counts in the kingdom of God. Because what we treasure, it focuses our hearts. Dallas Willard says it like this. Remember that our heart is our will or our spirit, the center of our. Being from which our lives flow. It is what gives us. Excuse me. It's what gives orientation to everything we do. A heart rightly. Directed, therefore brings health and wholeness to the. Entire. Personality. So to bring this idea into focus, Jesus is going to take and compare. What Willard calls our heart site. With our eyesight. He compares, How does our heart. Engage and see compared to what our eyes see? The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your. Whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness? Jesus reminds us if our. Eyes are healthy. If they're working well, then. Our whole body is able to navigate the environment. We see how things truly are. Our lives will be full of light. See the person who treasures the kingdom. Who treasures treasure. They see everything in its true worth and value. All right. We begin to see the reality that a, that a life has value and dignity and. Is worthy of respect. Because God loves and he's called us to love. And therefore everyone that we lock eyes with is worthy of our love and respect. It helps us to see the reality of of the world around us and how often. We're. Tried and tempted to believe that things matter more than people.

Those who have a heart rightly ordered, they are able to see as Jesus. Brother James would say, every. Good and perfect. Gift is from above. Coming down from the father of the heavenly lights who does not change like shifting shadows. So we give thanks. We learn to be people. Who are. Thankful for the encounters and the opportunities and the things that we have that we don't hold on to them so tightly that we cease to be generous and instead we learn to pour them out to be. Sacrificial in. Just the way that Jesus was for us, like the Velveteen Rabbit. We become real not by powering up on people or forcing them to acknowledge our reality. But rather in humble service. Remembering that we are loved by God and therefore we don't have to. Prove our. Existence. We can simply live out who God's called us and created us to be. Now, to the untrained eye, that may seem simplistic and stupid. In a. World like ours, how could you. Possibly live that way? They don't see the value. In fact, Jesus said they won't. Oh, but to the eyes, who can see. And to the ears who can hear. They see the immeasurable value and worth and dignity. See, Jesus would warn his. Followers in. Luke 24. What good is it? What good is it to get everything that you want and lose the real you? We'll get it at be to to gain the whole world and yet give up the one thing that matters most. The treasure that you. Have within you. What can you give in exchange for that? Jesus asks. You see a heart that is rightly ordered that treasures our God. It's full of light and therefore it can see. It can see the. True. Value of people and things in the world and set them in their right place. It's a generous heart willing to give sacrificially. Who is? Paul reminded the church in Corinth, where you know the grace of our Lord Jesus. Christ, that though he was rich. Yet for your sake.

He became poor, so that you. Through his poverty. Might become rich. See, Jesus understood that his wealth, his power, it was not something to be used to his own advantage. Instead, it was something to be used toward the advantage of others to be poured out and given that others might have the same opportunity. See the poverty in the world. We're told the worst thing we can be is poor. To be financially insecure, you need to be able. To take care of. Yourself. Jesus says, No, no, no. That's that's not the worst. Version of. Being poor. Being poor of spirit. Not understanding the truth about our world and about who God has called us to be. The one who struggles. To treasure treasures. Is truly lost. Right. Jesus says their eyes are darkened. They don't know where they are. They can't see where they're going. He says. And if that's your darkness, then you may be living in the world, but you have no idea where you're going or what you're doing. You see, that's the definition of lost. Jesus said, I came to seek and to save those who were lost, to shine a light, that they might. See the truth. And find a new way. And he invites us to be a part of that. So you're having a. Rightly ordered heart, especially when it. Comes to the reality of being gracious people, being thankful people. Just as eventually what happens in our lives, it happens to every single one of us. Is what we treasure. Is brought into the light and we have to make this distinction, he says. No one can serve two masters. Either You will hate the one and love the other, or you'll be devoted to the one and despise the other. You can't serve both. You can't serve both. Because the requirements of one will conflict with the other. What you'll have to do to stay in control, to to. Keep treasuring the. Things of this world. It's going to cost you. It's going to cost you in your relational world in order to achieve and to stay one step ahead and to earn that that almighty dollar, you're going to have to sacrifice some things.

And along the way, what too many times we find is we sacrifice the wrong things. We sacrifice time with people who matter. We sacrifice opportunities to give. Sacrificially. Because we think, well, I'll just one day, if I could just get if I could just get there, then then I'll be generous. If I could just take care of this issue, then then I'll I'll take care of it. Jesus says, No, no, no. You can't serve both. You have to decide what will be first. What will I treasure most? You see a heart of gratefulness. That's that's a heart that gives. Us an insight into what we. Are treasuring. These days. And so some of you like me, I've been I've been trying to be intentional thinking, God, what am I grateful for? Because if I'm not intentional, if I don't stop and think about it, I'm going to waste a lot of time. I'm going to waste a lot of energy, and I've wasted too many years struggling after the very same things Jesus says, People who don't know God chase after. Instead, I want to seek first the kingdom. I want to have a rightly ordered. Heart where. I recognize the good gifts that come from you. And I learn how to see people as they are, gifts that I treat them and I engage with them in the ways that you would. That I don't hold so tightly to my resources, whatever those resources may be. Instead, I'm willing to share to give to others, because you can't serve both. And knowing that in a kingdom economy. The work that we do, the striving that we take to help. Care. For, to to provide, to give. That it is welled up and this amazing service to our world. So church this week as we enter into Thanksgiving. As you head out to gather around a table with some people. And some of you maybe like me, gather at a table where there's a space missing. Hey, remember who we are? Maybe we remember that God loves us. In fact, it takes a lifetime. To truly. Understand that.

I think one of my. Favorite parts about. This Velveteen Rabbit quote. I went to the doctor this week, had my annual checkup. Marjorie Williams wrote these. Words. Generally, by the. Time you are real. Most of your hair has. Been loved off and your eyes droop and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. I think that was the description my doctor gave me of my physical that I'm loose in the joints and shabby. I think his. Specific words was. I look a little overstuffed. It's an amazing thing. When you left. That you actually become real. And even though the world around looks and sees this broken down shabby. Loose jointed preacher. They may not understand. And so it's my desire. To try to live. Out in such a way that they would see it. That they would experience it. Churches you gather this week with friends and family. May be reminded that your loved. And because of that love, you're real. And you. You don't have to pretend. You don't have to try to be something that you're not. You don't have to try to solve every problem. Just be a servant. Just give sacrificially. And we're talking this time of. Year about. Budget and thinking about next year. And how do we help pay all the bills and all the things that you're talking about around your tables? Like, what might we do if we had a heart of gratitude and we thought about what can we give? How can we bless others? How can you take our resources. The things you've so freely poured out in our lives and turn them around and give them to others? God help us to see the reality that every person is real, no matter what shape, size, color. That everyone was created by God and loved by God. How can we be thankful for the very life that we share together, knowing that where we live, how we live now? It's not just lost those service opportunities that maybe go unrecognized or unappreciated. They're not lost. They're all counted up.

As the kingdom breaks through more and more each day. Father, do pray for. Us this week as we head into a Thanksgiving holiday, a chance to gather around the table and be thankful. And I pray that this gratitude would take root in a deep place in our heart and in our soul. That we be reminded once again of the incredible love that you have for us. Because you love us. You sent your only son. To give his life as a sacrifice. He poured it all out. And what we found in that was new life to be reconciled. Back to you. So, God, that's. Why it's our heart here at. Broadway to be a people who partner with you. And seeing that reconciliation happen in our world and specifically in our city and maybe even more specifically in our family. And maybe more specifically in our in our marriages. And our parenting relationships and our friendships and our schools and our workplaces. God, we want to be the kind of people who treasure treasures. So help us, Lord. To be reminded to encounter your amazing love for us this week, the grace that we have so freely been given. And may it change the way that we see others around us. You got to know it's going to be challenging for us. Some of us are facing. Tables where we're down a person or. Two. Some of us are facing tables that there are folks across it that we have struggled. To get in relationship with. Yeah. We're going to need your spirit. We're going to need you to love on us again. To fill us up, to give us eyes to see in the years, to hear that we might be yours more fully. God. Thank you for this church. Thank you for the heart of these men and women who longed to be more like you to walk in your way as God did. You bless them as they walk this week. In Jesus name, Amen.