Sermon: Saying "thank you" before "gimme" (Aug 2, 2015)

Pentecost 10B
August 2, 2015
Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15

John 6:24-35

            Maybe it’s because it is summer, which is the most glorious time to live in Rochester… or maybe it’s because I just enjoyed a wonderful visit from both my mom and my mother-in-law… or maybe it’s because as my due date draws nearer (3 weeks!) I can feel the movements in my belly more strongly and frequently… Whatever the case, I have been thinking a lot lately about gratitude. I’ve been thinking about how good gratitude feels, how readily it brings smiles to faces. I’ve been thinking about how much gratitude I have in my life right now.

            But I have also been thinking about how elusive gratitude can be. What I mean is that, as nice and feel-good as gratitude can be, it is often much easier and much more our natural tendency to slip into a state not of gratitude for what we already have, but into a state of dwelling on what we don’t

have. This may happen in our prayer life (more on that later), or it may happen just in regular conversations with friends or co-workers – offering up our needs and our complaints before we take the time to recognize what it is that we already have for which we are grateful. The consequence of this is that it puts us in a position only to know want, and never to know and appreciate all the wonderful gifts we have.

            This tendency is not a new phenomenon. We see this condition in two of our readings today. First, in our reading from Exodus: the Israelites have just been freed from Egypt, where they have been slaves for many grueling years. And now, having been freed in dramatic fashion, they are wandering in the wilderness with Moses, and they are hungry. Do you think they are still buzzing away with gratitude over God’s strong arm freeing them from slavery? Not likely. They are complaining about food, and their lack of it. Granted, a reasonable concern. But they don’t just complain about hunger. They go so far as to say, “We wish we had died back in Egypt, where at least we had plenty to eat!” Their current need doesn’t only make them forget God’s previous miraculous act (one might have hoped that such an act would cause them to trust God to satisfy their needs once again). It actually pushes them so far as to wish that miraculous act had never happened, that they had died instead. Pretty extreme! It makes me think of a quote I saw this week on a Facebook meme. It’s a quote from the Greek philosopher, Epicurus. He writes: “Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once

among the things you only hoped for.” And here are the Israelites, free after years of longing for that freedom, but spoiling it because they are longing for what they used to have. Ain’t that the way of it.

            We also see this lack of gratitude in our Gospel lesson. Last week, remember, we heard the story of the feeding of the 5000, in which Jesus miraculously provides food for multitudes with only five loaves and two fishes, and there was even some left over. A sign of God’s abundance to be grateful for, certainly! And yet, what do we see from the disciples? Well first, their curiosity perks. They follow Jesus and start asking questions about eternal life and whatnot. Jesus tells them all they have to do is believe in him. And what do they ask? “Well, what sign are you going to do to prove to us that you really are who you say you are, that you’re really worth following, that you will really provide for all our needs?” Uh, hello guys?! Do you remember what just happened? That whole bit with the miraculous feeding of 5000 people? How quickly we forget our blessings! How quickly we turn to look for more, more, more!

            And I think the constant desire for more is one of our biggest barriers to genuine gratitude. Or said another way, gratitude is one of the best ways to overcome our desire for more. I’m struck by the disciples’ plea, following Jesus declaring himself as the bread of life, which gives life to the world. They say, “Lord, give us this bread always.” Gimme, gimme, gimme. Their whole exchange with Jesus is about what they do not have, what they still need, what Jesus needs to provide for them. And while knowing your needs and trusting Jesus enough to be able to ask him is a good thing, I can’t help but notice what an utter lack of gratitude there is in this whole exchange.

            I find this tendency often creeps into our prayer lives, at least mine. Sometimes I am good and follow a pattern of first offering praise and thanksgiving, then confessions, and then finally my petitions, or needs. This is a good order for prayer. But I admit that my more spontaneous prayers, the ones that pop into my head while I’m driving, for instance, are almost always prayers in which I tell God something that I need from Him. “Help me get through this.” “Give strength to my friend who’s going through a tough time.” “Be with my family member in need.” All demands. It is much easier to be occupied, like the disciples, with what is needed, instead of what has already been graciously given.

This summer, our prayer group at Bethlehem has been doing a service of Morning Prayer out in the garden on Wednesdays. The liturgy is based on the Morning Prayer liturgy in our hymnal. The way the time of open prayer is set up is that the first thing we do is offer up our gratitude. We give thanks for several specific things, and then leave space for people to offer their own particular thanksgivings. Only after we have done this do we move to our prayers of concerns, our prayers in which we reflect with God about what we still need. I love this order! I find that if I spend a good amount of time on recognizing my blessings and the many things I have to be thankful for, I get on a

roll, and then even when we get to the part where we name things we need, I find things within them to be thankful for. “Bring healing to my friend… and also thank you for the doctors who are helping her to find it!” Even a silly prayer like the weather: “Please let it be sunny for this important event… but also, thank you that we don’t have the drought here that so many are suffering from around the country!” If I’ve gotten myself in the right frame of mind by giving intentional thanks, I can almost always find a thanksgiving in the midst of need.

Last week I had the chance to bring communion to someone on hospice, someone in her last days. Before I left, I asked her what prayers she had this day. Her answer still stuns me. She said, “I’m just glad for all the prayers God has answered for me so far for health.” Here she was, knowing her life was near the end, and she didn’t offer one last ditch prayer effort for recovery, she didn’t pray for just a little more time… she was thankful for the abundance of gifts she has received throughout her long life. Oh that this would be our prayer!

            One of the easiest places, I find, to be thankful is when we are talking about food. So it’s no wonder that this whole conversation about gratitude – both the Israelites in the wilderness and Jesus with the disciples – is happening in the context of a conversation about bread. This is true also for us and for the Church: when we are in the midst of a conversation about bread – in our case, Holy Communion – gratitude becomes absolutely central. For it is here at this table is where we remember

the most profound gifts God through Christ has given us: forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. It is here where we hear those words, “given for you.” (To which we respond, “Thanks be to God!”) It is here where we are reminded the length to which God has gone for us, to show us these gifts, so that we would be able to live lives not of need and lack, but of gratitude and abundance. Here, in the body and blood of Christ, given for you. Let us live into that gratitude, thankful for the life and salvation we are offered again and again by our loving God, our bread of life, who continues to provide for us and for all our needs so that we might live not in want, but in gratefulness.

            Let us pray… Gracious God, you have given us much – so much that we could never offer enough gratitude in return! Help us to recognize those things we are grateful for before we notice our lack, so that we would always know, in whatever situation we face, that you are a God of grace. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.