One of the things that we love doing here at the United Church of Rowayton is giving “Kudos” to our church members for all the good work you do in service of our church and community.
We often share photos on our church’s social media pages of our church members doing nice things like planting mums out in front of the church or delivering backpacks and school supplies to the Department of Children & Families to volunteering in the kitchen at Open Doors Shelter in Norwalk.
But you know, sometimes when we share a photo or acknowledge someone doing an act of kindness and service, they’ll say to me, “Pastor Sal, you do not give me kudos for this.”
And I understand that. I know you’re not doing it because you want credit for it.
But I also want you to know that what we’re doing with giving you kudos is actually giving you a blessing.
That’s what a Kudos is.
The word kudos comes from an ancient Greek word, which means blessing.
And I have to tell you, it brings me so much joy to bestow blessings on all of you who are such a blessing to all of us.
The 13th century Christian mystic who was known as Meister Eckhart, said, “If the only prayer you ever said in your life was Thank you, that would be enough.”
“Thank you” is the greatest of all prayers.
Jesus, of course, understood this better than most. If you read the gospels, you see that Jesus is consistently practicing gratitude.
For example, you may remember the story of the “Loaves and the Fish.” The apostles come to Jesus bemoaning the fact that they only have 5 loaves and to fish, and that it wouldn’t be enough to feed everyone.
They were kind of cursing the fact that was all they had. They were focusing on the lack.
But what did Jesus do? He took the five loaves and the two fish and (it said) “He gave thanks for it.” He gave thanks for what they had. And what happened because of that? Abundance. The food multiplied!
Gratitude leads to abundance.And we see the same thing at the Last Supper. Jesus, before he passed the bread around the table, it said, “He gave thanks to God for it.” He expressed gratitude. That gratitude blessed the apostles, and it’s continued to feed us today 2,000 years later.
We hear about gratitude once again in the gospel reading from today’s lectionary. As we just heard, ten people came to Jesus for healing, but only one of them came back to say ‘thank you.’
And that person happened to be a Samaritan. You may remember when I spoke with you earlier this year about the “Parable of the Good Samaritan” that Samaritans were looked down upon by society.
A good, upstanding person would never associate with a Samaritan. They were considered “untouchables”… unclean foreigners.
Yet, it was a Samaritan who helped the man in need in Jesus’s parable, and it was a Samaritan who was the only person who came back to say thank you to Jesus in today’s gospel reading.
10 people were healed, but only one said thank you. And you know, I think that’s so true today. Most people (the majority) don’t count their blessings. They focus on lack, instead of gratitude.
But then there’s 10 percent of people who really seem to know and understand the spiritual law – the spiritual principle — of gratitude.
Now, I know when I speak about spiritual laws and principles, some of you may roll their eyes, and think I’m talking New Age mumbo jumbo.
But spiritual laws and principles are just as real as all of the other laws and principles that govern the workings of the Universe.
You don’t question the law of gravity, do you? So why are you questioning this Law of Gratitude?
This spiritual law was well explained in our Words of Integration & Guidance this morning, which John read for us.
When you concentrate on what you have, you get more, and when you concentrate on what you don’t have, there will never be enough.
This is Biblical. Jesus said this in Matthew 13:12, when he said, “To a man who has, there will always be more and he will have abundance. But to those who do not have, even that will be taken away.”
What Jesus meant by that was: those who appreciate what they have, will have more. They’ll have an abundant life. Those who focus on what they don’t have will not.
That’s the spiritual practice — the spirit of The Law of Gratitude. It all has to do with what we focus on. It has to do with our thoughts.
The National Science Foundation says that we all have 65,000 thoughts a day. Isn’t that amazing? But guess what? They also say that 90 percent of those thoughts are negative ones. And 80 percent of those are repetitive ones. They’re ones we repeat to ourselves.
So most of our thoughts are negative. And most of those are repeats we keep telling ourselves.
Why do we do that? Wouldn’t it be amazing if we could control our thoughts? Well, guess what? We can!
You know, that’s a big Aha! for most people. Most people don’t realize that they can control their thoughts. Many people think they ARE their thoughts.
But, you are not your thoughts. You are the observer of your thoughts.
Jesus called us to be masters of our thoughts, not servants to them.
Many people are servants of their thoughts and their feelings and their emotions. They’re not in control of them.
I know because I used to be one of those people. Until I woke up. And one of the things that helped me wake up was my spiritual practices of affirmative prayer, and mindfulness, and meditation.
It wasn’t easy. It was work. It’s a discipline. I’ve told you before that the word discipline comes from the same word as the word disciple. If you want to be a disciple, it takes discipline, it takes work.
But I guarantee you, I’ve been freed. And one of the things that freed me was what we heard about in our Words of Integration and Guidance: the use of a Gratitude Journal.
In fact, Val and I gave Gratitude Journals to the 11 teenagers who are currently in our Confirmation Class. And, they’ve been using them!
I started a Gratitude Journal more than 15 years ago. It’s something I practice each and every day to this day, and it has rewired my brain.
What you do – it’s a very simple practice – you just take a blank journal, you put it on your nightstand. And before you go to bed each night, you put that day’s date, and you write “thank you.”
And then you write down five things that happen that day that you’re thankful for. It’s so simple, but you won’t believe the results that will happen in your life.
Because most people when they go to bed, they’re focused on negativity, they’re thinking, or they’re worried about what they have to do tomorrow, or they’re holding on to something from the day that they can’t let go of.
But when you focus on gratitude before your head hits the pillow, then you’re focused on the blessings. And as we heard from Jesus, you get more things to be grateful for.
In other words, what you appreciate, appreciates. It multiplies! You get more of it. That’s how the Law works.
So that’s our homework for the week. Stop focusing on what you don’t have and to start counting your blessings each day.
In the Bible (in Romans 12) it says, “Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.
When you start changing your thinking, you will start changing your life. This is something I know for sure.
So, let us go forth today with an attitude of gratitude.
For it will help us to see things more clearly. To love more dearly, and to follow in the way of Jesus more nearly.
May it be so. Amen.
Questions for Reflection:
-
The sermon teaches that “what you appreciate, appreciates.” How might intentionally focusing on gratitude — rather than on what’s lacking — change the way you see your daily life and relationships?
-
Pastor Sal said that Jesus called us to be masters of our thoughts, not servants to them. In what areas of your life do negative or repetitive thoughts hold power over you, and what spiritual practices could help you reclaim that control?
-
The sermon invites us to “go forth today with an attitude of gratitude.” What are five things you’re thankful for right now, and how might expressing that gratitude—through words, service, or prayer—bless others as well as yourself?