November 23, 2003
There are a couple of phrases in Francis Havergal’s old hymn, I Gave
My Life for Thee, that have always been troubling to me. The lines put
these words in the mouth of Christ:
I gave, I gave my life for thee, what hast thou given me?
I bring,
I bring rich gifts to thee, what hast thou given to me?
The thinking behind those lines is very commonly put forth as a motivation
for Christian obedience. The thinking is this:
God has done great things for us-
We feel gratitude for what He has done-
Therefore we seek to pay Him back with obedience.
In fact, that motivation for obedience is so often put forward that we never
question whether it has a strong biblical basis. But does it?
Let me be clear. I’m not questioning whether we should feel gratitude to
God. We should. And we do.
But I wondered if gratitude is to be a motivation for obedience.
Here are the thoughts that trouble me the most about a “payback mentality.”
The very reason I am thankful for what Christ has done for me is because
He did something I could not do, and no one else could do. He did it freely
because He loves me, not because He wanted to be paid back.
Jesus instructed us with these words in Luke 6:32-36: “If you love those
who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love
them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that
to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect
repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ lend to ‘sinners’,
expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and
lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will
be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the
ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful just as your father is merciful.”
If Jesus gave Himself freely for me because He loves me, and if He instructed
me to show love and concern for those who cannot return the favor, is Jesus
now saying to me, “I gave, I gave, my life for you, what have your given to
me?” Somehow this seems to be an affront to God’s love and greatness.
Another troubling thought is the size of the debt. It would be like telling
someone who was making $25,000 a year, that he now owed the bank $100 billion.
That does not seem very motivating. More discouraging than motivating.
And finally, if we think about repaying God in the same way as we repay
creditors, then grace is no longer grace.
“Does the Bible really teach us that gratitude is the motive for obedience?”
By obedience I am talking about loving people, acting with integrity,
and taking risks.
Does the Bible tell us that these things are to be done “out of gratitude”
or “in the power of thankfulness” or “because we owe Jesus so much?”
As near as I can tell, the Bible rarely, if ever, makes gratitude a motive
for obedience.
In the Old Testament, the people of Israel would often disobey God despite
the good things He had done for them. But the reason given for this is not
their ingratitude, but their lack of faith.
Numbers 14:11: “How long will they not believe in me despite all the
signs which I have performed in their midst?”
The ethical problem troubling Moses was not ingratitude. What upset Moses
was not that the Israelites were unthankful for God’s past grace, but that
God’s past grace did not move the people to trust in God’s future grace.
Later Moses would rebuke the people with these words: (Deut. 1:31-32ff)
“You saw how the Lord your God carried you just as a man carries his son...but
for all this you did not trust the Lord your God.”
The psalmist gives the same reason for why God’s people sinned in spite
of all His blessings, although God (Psalm 78:15,17,22) “split the rocks
in the wilderness, and gave them abundant drink...yet still they continued
to sin against Him...because they did not believe in God, and did not trust
in His salvation.”
Nowhere are we told that the people lacked gratitude. They may have in some
cases. They may not have. But the Old Testament repeatedly cites a lack of
faith in God’s grace in the future for their failure, not their lack of gratitude
for the past.
What about the New Testament?
It points us to the same conclusion even more clearly.
Let me give you a sampling of scriptures that speak to the motivating power
for obedience:
I Thess. 1:3 “We continually remember before our God and Father your
work produced by faith...”
II Thess. 1:11 “With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our
God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill
every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by faith.”
II Cor. 5:7 “We live by faith, not by sight.”
All through the NT we find expressions such as, “live by faith” and “walk
by faith.” Never do we find “live by gratitude.”
We find expressions such as “faith working through love” but not “gratitude
working through love.”
We read that sanctification is by “faith in the truth.” (II Thess.
2:13)
And when Jesus is addressing the disciples’ anxieties, and He urges them
to not be worried about food or clothing, but to seek the kingdom first, He
called them, “O men of little faith,” not men of “little gratitude.”
Faith in God’s goodness and grace in the future, not gratitude, is the source
of radical, risk-taking, kingdom seeking obedience.
Now the point of this is not to denigrate gratitude. Gratitude is a beautiful
thing. Where there is real Christianity, there is deep, heart-felt gratitude.
It is at the heart of worship. It should fill the heart of every believer.
But gratitude does not empower our Christian lives. It is not a strong enough
motivation. It does not have the power to do that task.
The power of obedience does not come from the backward gaze of gratitude,
but from the forward gaze of faith.
Andrew Murray, a Dutch Reformed pastor who ministered in South Africa until
his death in 1917, wrote many helpful books. One little volume, entitled Abiding
in Christ, shows that he understood that gratitude is not the power by
which we can live for Christ. He wrote:
The idea (many Christians) have of grace is this: that their conversion
and pardon are God’s work, but that now, in gratitude to God, IT IS THEIR
WORK TO LIVE AS CHRISTIANS AND FOLLOW JESUS...No, wandering one, as it was
Jesus who drew thee when He spake “Come”, so it is Jesus who keeps thee when
He says, “Abide”. The grace to come and the grace to abide are alike from
Him alone. By faith you became partakers of the initial grace; by that same
faith you can enjoy the continuous grace of abiding in Him.
Gratitude is important but it does not empower us for the future. Only faith
does.
We do not live in the past. None of our potential obedience can happen in
the past. All of our lives will be lived in the future.
The power we need for our future does not come from gratitude, but from
grace. And grace is what we receive from God freely in the future. It has nothing to do with paying God back. Rather,
it is energized by thinking, “God has been gracious to me in the past, now
I will trust Him for even better things and more things and greater things
in the future.”
Grace does not create debt. Grace pays debt.
As the song says,
O be ye glad, be ye glad
Ev’ry debt that you ever had
Has been paid in full by the grace of the Lord
Be ye glad, be ye glad, be ye glad.
Let me give you a familiar example of how faith empowers our lives.
The Pilgrims from Plymouth Rock set aside three days back in 1621 for thanksgiving
and celebration of God’s goodness. I have used this example myself as an example
of profound gratitude.
It is profound because these same Pilgrims had experienced the death of
over half their number in the 13 months that had preceded their days of thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving alone could never have empowered these people. They still knew
that they faced many severe hardships.
Why did these people set aside a time to thank God? Not because of gratitude
but because of faith.
You will never understand the real nature of these people unless you understand
that their actions, even their coming to this country, were animated by
faith in God. This is exactly why they were not disillusioned by the heartache
and the loss of their loved ones. You see, this was not a complete shock to
them. They came because they believed God had something good for them, something
important for His kingdom, and they came fully realizing that there would
be a price to pay for what God had called them to.
Their giving of thanks did not establish their faith. Their faith established
their giving of thanks.
They looked confidently into the future because they trusted in God’s goodness
and grace to be there for them. This is why they brought glory to God. They
trusted God. They had confidence in God. They believed God’s promises. They
were confident that God knew what He was doing and had good plans for them
in spite of the hardships and losses they had suffered.
Gratitude alone could never have empowered them to feast and play games
and rejoice and be generous to their Indian friends for three days. Only
faith in God for the future can give people that strength.
It is the same for you and me.
You might look back on the last year with tremendous gratitude. Or it might
have been a very difficult year, maybe one you would not like to live over.
But what will determine whether your heart can sing is not gratitude for
the past but faith for the future. Do you believe that Jesus Christ can bring
you grace and strength for what lies ahead?
Gratitude and faith, then, are woven together in our lives.
As gratitude joyfully exalts in the benefits of past grace, faith joyfully
relies on the benefits of future grace.
Gratitude strengthens the workhorse of faith.
When gratitude for God’s past grace is strong, the message is sent that
God is supremely trustworthy in the future. In this way faith is strengthened.
On the other hand, faith in God’s promises in the future sends the message
that this kind of God makes no mistakes and that everything He did in the
past is part of a good plan that can be remembered with gratitude.
Gratitude says to faith, “Be strong, and do not doubt that God will be as
gracious in the future as He has in the past.”
Faith says to gratitude, “There is more grace to come, and all our obedience
is to be done in reliance on that future grace. Relax
and exalt in your appointed feast. Trust in God for the strength needed for
tomorrow’s obedience.”
This is not only what scripture teaches, but it is the way we are hardwired
to live as human beings. Let me give you a couple of examples.
Think of children. Picture a 10-year-old boy who is reasonably well-adjusted
and happy.
He has a pretty good relationship with his parents.
He is responsible appropriate to his age.
He is reasonably secure and interacts confidently with others.
What is the basis for the good things in his life that he possesses?
Is it gratitude? He no doubt has much to be thankful for. His parents have
done a lot of kind things for him over the years. He might be quite thankful,
or he might hardly ever think about such things./But his gratitide or lack
of gratitude is not what drives his life.
What makes him able to live, to have joy and peace, to interact with others
in a constructive way, to be reasonably happy is the confidence he has for
his future. And that confidence is based primarily on his confidence in his
parents. What really drives his life, what supplies it with fuel and motivation,
is the faith he has in his future based on the care and commitment of his
parents.
Another very different example: Patrick Henry, the famous patriot who is
most well known for saying, “Give me liberty or give me death!"
That is primarily a statement about his confidence in the future. Many people
are not aware that Henry was a very strong, vocal and committed Christian.
I am sure that Patrick Henry was a man who felt gratitude. But this is not
what made him able to make such a radical statement about the future. “Give
me liberty or give me death!”
It was faith that enabled him. Patrick Henry was saying, “I believe I serve
a good God. I trust that God with my life. Because of that, I am free to be
committed to the liberty of my people. I am committed to the point that if
I have to give my life for it, that is a good thing, a God-honoring thing,
and I will not regret giving my life for such a cause. I believe that my future
will be good if I have to lay down my life for that cause.
Pat was telling me about meeting an Army officer on her fight back from
San Antonio, who was coming back for leave from Iraq, where he commands
350 men. He talked of the courage of his men. He talked of crying with soldiers
who killed their first enemy soldier. But the most moving thing to me was
that when their plane was landing in St. Louis, he looked out the window
at the houses and stores and people below, and tears filled his eyes and
he said, “It’s worth it!”
What is the basis for his motivation and courage and work?
Gratitude cannot do that. I am sure he is thankful for many things. He is
thankful for good soldiers. But he is probably not thankful for his immediate
circumstances. He is not saying, "Thank you, God, that I live in this continual
danger and am leading men every day into that same danger."
But what is it that he needs to actually motivate him and give him the courage
he needs? It’s confidence about the future. When he said, “It’s worth it,“
I think what he meant was, “We are laying down our lives everyday so that
our people, our country, can go about their lives in peace and security and
safety, and that is worth it. That is worth dying for.”
And so as we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving and the Christmas holidays,
we should ask ourselves not only, “Am I thankful?” but “Am I trusting God
for the future for all that I need?”
We see that anxiety is the enemy of both gratitude and faith.
We combat anxiety by the word of God. With that in mind, let me read to
you some of the promises by which we can fight the battle of faith.
As you look ahead to the future, what is your greatest anxiety? Fix that in your mind, and as I read these scriptures,
see if there is not one that you can look to God in faith.
When you are anxious about some difficult or risky endeavor ahead, remember
Isaiah 41:10: “Fear not for I am with you, be not dismayed for I am your
God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you, with My victorious
right hand.” (RSV)
When you are anxious about your ministry to others being useless or in vain,
faith embraces Isaiah 55:10: “So shall My Word be which goes forth from
my mouth; it shall not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire,
and without succeeding in the mater for which I sent it.”
When you are anxious about being too weak or you feel inadequate for doing
what God has called you to do, faith battles anxiety with the promise of Christ
in II Corinthians 12:9: “My grace is sufficient for you; for my power
is made perfect in weakness.”
When you are anxious about decisions you have to make, fight that anxiety
with these promises from God’s Word:
James 1:5: “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives
generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him."
or
Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on
your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make
your paths straight.”
When you are facing human opponents or enemies, turn to Psalm 27:1-2: “The
Lord is my light and my salvation-whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold
of my life-of whom shall I be afraid?”
Maybe you are yet anxious about the welfare of loved ones whom you have
committed to the Lord. Fight that anxiety with confidence in God like the
apostle Paul, who said in II Tim 2:12: “...I know whom I have believed,
and am persuaded that he is able, to keep that which I’ve committed, unto
him against that day.”
Perhaps you are anxious about getting old. Claim by faith the promise of
Isaiah 46:4: “Even to your old age, I shall be the same, and even to your
graying years I shall bear you! I have done it, and I shall carry you; and
I shall bear you, and I shall deliver you.”
Perhaps you are afraid of death. Trust in the promise of God in I Corinthians
15:53ff: “For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable,
and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with
the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is
written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O
death is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’ The sting of death
is sin, ad the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us
the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Maybe you are afraid that temptations are too strong, that you will fall
away and make a shipwreck of your faith. Look to the sustaining power of God
by claiming the promises of Philippians 1:6: “He who began a good work
in you will perfect it until the day of Christ,” and Hebrews 7:25: “He
is able to save forever those who draw near to God through him, since he
always lives to make intercession for them.”
And finally maybe you’re are anxious about being anxious. Philippians 4:6
is the antidote we take by faith: “Do not be anxious about anything, but
in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests
to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard
your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”