I want my listeners to accept the challenge to write a thank you note every day of November.
We continue this week on a series celebrating our 130th anniversary as a people called Methodists here in West Grove. This is a week that there is so much that could be said. And perhaps, even so much that should be said. Because I retain our commitment to our 130th anniversary series, Rooted in Gratitude, growing in Christ, I want to pause to share with you that I have heard the hearts of those who have asked me about the election and the challenge of being in the world, but not of the world as a Christian voter. I want to point you to two items inserted in your bulletin. The first of which is an announcement of prayer services on Election Day, November 8th at 7am, 1 pm, and 5:30 pm. These are designed to be structured prayer services at approximately 20 minutes that you can attend before you go to vote. There will be no proclamations about candidates; however, there will be the invitation of the Holy Spirit to guide each of us as we prepare to vote. And because we continue November 9th, we will be holding a short communion service as we walk together forward as brothers and sisters in Christ. The second item is a Bible Study reflection tool. It uses scriptures and prayers to step you through preparing your heart to vote. Please take it home and use. Please share with friends and neighbors as we lead together as people of faith.
As people of faith, who seek to live out the lives to which we have been called, we give thanks for who God is and how God has already been active in our lives. We look to the roots of our faith. Let us look at what we know about roots briefly. At Cornell University, researchers proved that “the mass of a plant’s leaves and stems is proportionally scaled to that of its roots in a mathematically predictable way, regardless of species or habitat. In other words, biologists can now reasonably estimate how much biomass is underground just by looking at the stems and leaves above ground.”[1] Plants need root systems to grow and expand to allow for growth in the trunk, branches and leaves. The rich soil, essential water, and critical sunlight are all secondary to a foundation of roots to receive it.
Just like, our faith roots are a necessary part of us growing in our faith. The roots we cultivate in gratitude are necessary to support the trunks we develop and the fruit we hope to showcase. Our roots come from the foundations we receive and we cultivate in living out our faith. We may receive the faith of our parents in childhood, but it is stunted unless we cultivate that faith and make it out own. Jesus was always calling people to live out their faith and take leaps in their faith to being more like him.
In our gospel lesson, Jesus and Zacchaeus connect. You get the sense that both had heard of the other. Zacchaeus heard tell of this Jesus who changed lives and wanted to get a look at him firsthand. The passage gives us the detail the Zacchaeus was of short stature and climbed the tree to see what he could not see from the ground. Scholars also believe that Zacchaeus climbed the tree to be away from the very same people who detested his role as tax collected and sometimes got that confused with detesting him. Jesus changed his life. He changed from a tax collector who need to climb up in the tree for safety to one who could freely walk around the people and offer them retribution for previous shady practices. His life was changed by gratitude for Jesus in his life.
Gratitude changes lives. In the early part of this millennium, Dr. Robert Emmons, eminent researcher and professor of psychology, began researching gratitude and its effect on humanity. He has filled the years since with experiments and books. However, it is his first experiment that often gets the most attention. To get a sense of the effect of gratitude on individuals, Dr. Emmons divided his research subjects into three groups, all required to write some at the end of each day. The first of which were instructed to offering thanks for specific items of their days. The second of which were instructed to record challenges of the day. The third of which were merely instructed to record the day (neither positive or negative). After 30 days, the effects were staggering. Group one had significant physical and psychological effects. Trips to the doctor were down as well as improved sleep and increased energy. They were kinder and less judgmental; the list goes on and on. Dr. Emmons, a man of faith, has also found that our faith grows in gratitude. We turn to God more and seek God more often. As we lay down the roots of our faith, the trunk grows proportionally.
On the strength of that: I challenge each of you to write one thank you note a day for thirty days. You will each find a thank you note in your bulletin. There are more in the Lobby. This is for you to get started on this challenge. Why write a thank you note? You are changed by the act of writing. This is why my father always made me write out my spelling words, because he knew as teachers and parents before him knew, that writing changes the writer. Handwritten notes also impact the receiver. Our brains process the handwritten note as more sincere than the typed note, also as having taken more time.
Not sure who to thank? Each day of November in the Meditations (found in your bulletin), I will include an action item -someone to give thanks to God for. This can be the spring board from which you can use the idea offered or allow God to lay upon you, someone else.
Paul writes a second letter to the church at Thessaloniki: “We must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.” This is my prayer for you as you accept this gratitude challenge. May your faith grow abundantly in depth and in width. May your faith impact those around you, both little ones, like Bradley Dunn, who we baptize today, and established friends and neighbors. May God move through you as you cultivate practices of gratitude.
This is the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, Thanks be to God, Amen.
[1] https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/02/020222073630.htm
New Testament Lesson: 2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12
Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
We must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. Therefore we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith during all your persecutions and the afflictions that you are enduring.
To this end we always pray for you, asking that our God will make you worthy of his call and will fulfill by his power every good resolve and work of faith, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Gospel Lesson: Luke 19:1-10
He entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way.
When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, “He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.” Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.” Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.”
Meditations For Your Week
Sunday, October 30 ~ Saturday, November 6
This week’s meditations begin a month of gratitude notes. Each meditation invites you from prayer and reflection in action.
Sunday: “We must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.” 2 Thessalonians 1:3. Give thanks to God and write a note today to thank someone who has helped your faith to grow.
Monday: “Therefore we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith during all your persecutions and the afflictions that you are enduring.” 2 Thessalonians 1:4. Pray for and write a note today to someone experiencing afflictions.
Tuesday: “To this end we always pray for you, asking that our God will make you worthy of his call and will fulfill by his power every good resolve and work of faith,” 2 Thessalonians 1:11. Pray for and write a note today to someone who is answering the call to serve God as clergy or laity.
Wednesday: “So that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Thessalonians 1:12. Give thanks to God for God’s grace and write a note of gratitude to someone today who needs to know God’s grace.
Thursday: “When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” Luke 19:5. Zacchaeus was not well regarded as a tax collector and visually different. Write a note today to thank someone who makes you a bit uncomfortable.
Friday: “Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.” Luke 19:8. Pray for and write a note to someone whom you have not treated as well as you should have.
Saturday: “Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.” Luke 19:9-10. Ask God to lay on your heart someone who is lost. Pray for them and write a note of gratitude.