Sunday's Message - Thankful People Are...Compassionate

As we approach Thanksgiving, we’re going to look at some of the characteristics of thankful people. During four of our November worship services, we’ll focus on the following topics:

• Sunday, October 31 – Thankful People Are...Humble
• Sunday, November 6 – Thankful People Are...Open
• Sunday, November 13 – Thankful People Are...Relaxed
• Sunday, November 20 – Thankful People Are...Compassionate

During the fourth message, we focused on the statement: Thankful people are compassionate.

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Now, as I how most of y’all remember, we started a new sermon series about four Sundays ago entitled Thankful People Are....  And what we were looking to do was to use these Sundays before Thanksgiving, which is now four days away, we were going to take that time and talk about four qualities that I believe thankful people tend to have. And we started by looking at how thankful people are humble. I mean, as opposed to men and women who are really arrogant, those who are humble tend to have a greater appreciation for what they receive. And with that in mind, we looked at how we might work a little more humility in our character, something that’s possible as soon as we decide to reject the arrogant message that comes from our society and by recognizing both our strengths and our weaknesses and by realizing that we really do need one another. Now that was week one. And the next week, we looked at openness, and in particular, at why thankful people generally have a pretty broad perspective and at how we might become more open ourselves, you know, by broadening our vision and our expectations and our experiences. And then last week we talked about how thankful people are relaxed. In other words, they’re not worried, instead they’re really patient, something that I believe we can pull off when we remember that worry is an unnecessary distraction and that our destiny is in God’s hands and that we can only do our best. Now that’s been our discussion over the last three weeks.

And this morning, we’re going to tie things up by looking at another characteristic that I believe thankful people have, and now I’m talking about compassion. In other words, in my opinion, thankful people are compassionate. And you know, it’s interesting, during this last week as I was thinking about what I was going to say, I tried to come up with an example of compassion that would sort of resonate with y’all. And then, yesterday, as I was getting ready to come over to the church, it hit me.What I was looking for was right here. You see, I’m not sure I could find any better examples of compassion than some of things I’ve seen happening in this church over the last couple of months. For example, at every funeral luncheon, and we’ve had a few, I’ve seen all these ladies offering both their time and their talents to a grieving family and doing it without expecting anything in return. And then, last Sunday morning, when the angel trees were put out, I’ll tell you, they were attacked like locust, but in a good way. In fact, on Monday, when Debbie was looking at the tags left, she took one for a 5-year-old girl who wanted a puzzle, but had to leave the other two that were left, because they were for boy’s 3-year-old pants, and frankly, I don’t think I have any pants that new. The trees were cleared by people who wanted to give. And as sort of the cherry on top of the sundae, last Sunday afternoon, some of our youth went out to buy food for the Thanksgiving bags we’ve been filling. Now, for me, these are three great examples of the sort of thing we’ll be talking about today.

And with that in mind, for the next ten minutes or so, on this last Sunday before Thanksgiving, we’re going to look at the relationship between being thankful and showing compassion. And as we’ve done during the first three messages, we’ll do that by answering two questions. First, why are thankful people compassionate? And then second, how might we become a little more compassionate ourselves?

Of course, when thinking about why thankful people are also compassionate, well, I believe it’s really helpful to consider folks on the extremes. I mean, on one hand, I think we all know men and women who are what you could call fiscally conservative, frugal, thrifty. Of course, they also go by some other names, you know, like tightwads or skinflints, misers or, in keeping with the season, Scrooges. Take it to the bank, these guys are stingy. And since they’re so stupid cheap, they’re terrified of  losing any of what they already have. And so they hold onto whatever they’ve got. As my mom used to say, they can “pinch a penny till it screams.” And as a result, even if somewhere deep down they feel thankfulness, man, no one will ever see it. As a matter of fact, they’re a lot like those people the writer of the Proverbs warned us about:

Do not eat the bread of the stingy;

    do not desire their delicacies;

for like a hair in the throat, so are they. 

    “Eat and drink!” they say to you;

    but they do not mean it.

You will vomit up the little you have eaten,

    and you will waste your pleasant words. [Proverbs 23:6-8, NRSV] 

Words to remember, especially since Thanksgiving is only four days away. Let’s just say, on one hand, it’s hard to see much thanks coming from a stingy person.

On the other hand, though, I want you to think about folks who are really generous. I mean, instead of feeling fear about losing, they feel gratitude about having. In other words, they’re grateful for some of those very basic things in life. In fact, often they see these necessities as gifts; therefore, instead of holding on to them with white knuckles and bloody fingernails, they’re ready to share some of what they’ve been given with others. And generally, they do this based on need and not return. In other words, they’re offering a gift, not making an investment. And so, they’re thankfulness is always on display. And I’ll tell you, in that way, they really put into action this command from the Book of Deuteronomy:

After the Lord your God gives land to each of you, there may be poor Israelites in the town where you live. If there are, then don’t be mean and selfish with your money. Instead, be kind and lend them what they need. Be careful! Don’t say to yourself, “Soon it will be the seventh year, and then I won’t be able to get my money back.” It would be horrible for you to think that way and to be so selfish that you refuse to help the poor. They are your relatives, and if you don’t help them, they may ask the Lord to decide whether you have done wrong. And he will say that you are guilty. You should be happy to give the poor what they need, because then the Lord will make you successful in everything you do.

There will always be some Israelites who are poor and needy. That’s why I am commanding you to be generous with them. [Deuteronomy 15:7-11, CEV]

I guess you could say that generosity bears fruits that are a lot different than those coming from a Scrooge and that’s why thankful people are compassionate.

And so how can we follow their example? How can we become less stingy and more generous? In other words, how can we work a little more compassion into our lives? Well, I think that’s possible when we make the decision to open three aspects of who we are.

For example, first, we can decide to open our eyes so that we can really see what we actually have. Now I understand that what I’m about to say just isn’t true in most of the world. And there are people in our own country, probably even in our community for which it doesn’t apply. But for us, man, we really have more than we need, don’t we? And I think this is something important for us to see, because when we do, not only will we have a greater appreciation for what we have, we’ll also be able to recognize that there’s a reason we have it. It’s like Paul wrote to the Romans:

God has also given each of us different gifts to use. If we can prophesy, we should do it according to the amount of faith we have. If we can serve others, we should serve. If we can teach, we should teach. If we can encourage others, we should encourage them. If we can give, we should be generous. If we are leaders, we should do our best. If we are good to others, we should do it cheerfully.

Take care of God’s needy people and welcome strangers into your home. [Romans 12:6-8, 13, CEV]

You see, if we want to be more compassionate, we can open our eyes so that we can see what we actually have. And I’ll tell you, that’s one thing we can do.

And second, we can also open our hearts so that we can feel the pain and sadness of those who don’t have enough. In other words, we can really try to identify with men and women who may come from backgrounds very different from our own and who each and every day must overcome challenges that we may never have to face. And we can do this without a lot of assumptions or prejudices much less judgement and condemnation. You see, I think it’s really easy to use assumptions and prejudices to justify feeling nothing at all. But that should never be the case with us. Instead, we need to consider the needs that surround us and then to allow that consideration to shape how we feel. It’s like the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews said:

Keep being concerned about each other as the Lord’s followers should.

Be sure to welcome strangers into your home. By doing this, some people have welcomed angels as guests, without even knowing it.

Remember the Lord’s people who are in jail and be concerned for them. Don’t forget those who are suffering, but imagine that you are there with them. [Hebrews 13:1-3, CEV]

Or like Paul wrote to the Romans:

Welcome all the Lord’s followers, even those whose faith is weak. Don’t criticize them for having beliefs that are different from yours. Some think it is all right to eat anything, while those whose faith is weak will eat only vegetables. But you should not criticize others for eating or for not eating. After all, God welcomes everyone. What right do you have to criticize someone else’s servants? Only their Lord can decide if they are doing right, and the Lord will make sure that they do right. [Romans 14:1-4, CEV]

You see, to become more compassionate, we really need to open our hearts so that we might feel the pain and sadness of others. And that’s something else we can do.

And third, we can open our hands so that we can share what we have with others. And I’ll tell you, for me, that’s really where the rubber hits the road, because we can open our eyes so that we can see what we have and open our hearts for that we can feel what others experience, but if it stops there, I mean, if it never leads to action, man, it ain’t worth a bucket of spit. In other words, somewhere down the line we’re going to need to take some of the stuff that we have and use it to address some of the concerns that we’ve felt. But I’m not saying anything we don’t already know. I mean, let’s get real; that’s why all those women volunteered to help with the funeral dinners and all those tickets were taken from the trees and all those kids took some their time to buy food for people they didn’t even know. You see, they all decided to act, and it’s in the action there’s meaning. And you know, I think this is exactly what James was getting at when he wrote this:

My friends, what good is it to say you have faith, when you don’t do anything to show that you really do have faith? Can that kind of faith save you? If you know someone who doesn’t have any clothes or food, you shouldn’t just say, “I hope all goes well for you. I hope you will be warm and have plenty to eat.” What good is it to say this, unless you do something to help? Faith that doesn’t lead us to do good deeds is all alone and dead!

Suppose someone disagrees and says, “It is possible to have faith without doing kind deeds.”

I would answer, “Prove that you have faith without doing kind deeds, and I will prove that I have faith by doing them.” You surely believe there is only one God. That’s fine. Even demons believe this, and it makes them shake with fear. [James 2:14-19, CEV]

I think that says it all, “Faith that doesn’t lead us to do good deeds is all alone and dead!” [James 2:17, CEV] To become more compassionate, we really need to open our hands and to share. And that’s the third thing we can do.

Now in four days, we’ll be celebrating Thanksgiving, something that’s particularly meaningful for Debbie, Maggie and I because it’ll be our first Thanksgiving with y’all, right here in our new home. And unless something really dramatic happens tomorrow and Tuesday, in that new home, we’ll have more than just two chairs and an air mattress. Man, the Rudigers are ready for some thanksgiving. But you know, this year, we might all want to do more than just to give thanks. You see, we can also decide to be more thankful, something that we’re able to do, because we know that thankful people are humble. And they’re open. And they’re relaxed. And finally we know that thankful people are certainly compassionate.