Message from Rev. Bray
The Growing Power of a Grateful Heart
It’s been about four years now since I had surgery to replace my aortic heart valve. You know, there’s nothing like critical surgery to give you a new perspective on life. Before that operation, I was having trouble making it up one flight of stairs. Since the surgery, I haven’t experienced any physical limitations. Of course, the mechanical valve that I received is a little noisy at times. Sometimes people ask me if that’s my watch they hear ticking. But for me, the sound of that valve pumping away is a constant reminder that life is a precious gift, that every moment lived in God’s presence, literally every beat of my heart, is a reason to offer thanks and praise.
The psalmist captures this overwhelming sense of gratitude to God in the opening words to Psalm 9. Listen to his words as paraphrased from Eugene Peterson’s The Message: “I’m thanking you, God, from a full heart; I’m writing the book on your wonders. I’m whistling, laughing, and jumping for joy; I’m singing your song, High God.” A grateful heart is the foundation of faith in God. It is an acknowledgement that all that we have, all that we are, and all that we hope to be are gifts from a loving and gracious God who wants only good for us. A grateful heart is a prerequisite to faithful living. The goodness of life lived in God’s presence is not based on what’s happening to us at the moment, but rather on the realization that God is ultimately in control. A grateful heart recognizes God’s presence. As the psalmist goes on to say: “God holds the high center, he sees and sets the world’s mess right. He decides what is right for us earthlings, gives people their just desserts.” And if at times we feel battered and overwhelmed by what is happening to us, “God’s a safe-house for the battered, a sanctuary during bad times. The moment you arrive, you relax; you’re never sorry you knocked.”
Our stewardship campaign this fall is about having a grateful heart, and about the desire to give to resource God’s work through this church in our community and around the world. You know, anxious people are not generous people. They’re so busy worrying about themselves and what they have that they don’t have the energy or the inclination to think about God and the needs of others. Faithful people, on the other hand, know that they can always afford to be generous. They don’t know how not to give. Through all the ups and downs of life, they know that the God of love and grace is with them always, bearing them up and leading them on. Therefore, they can focus, not on themselves, but on God and the needs of others. Giving to God’s work out of a full heart becomes a privilege, not a duty, and offering God our prayers, our presence, our gifts, and our service is a source of joy.
My prayer for each of us during this stewardship season is that we may discover the Growing Power of a Grateful Heart.
Yours in Christ,
Steve