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Written by Sparky Pritchard Friday, 18 June 2010 13:13

If you or I were asked to compose a list of “deplorable sins,” few of us would have any problem putting it together.  Certainly, the “biggies” would come to mind immediately – murder, adultery, lying, stealing, pride, anger, drunkenness, idolatry, etc.  Justification for any and all of those is grounded in the reading of the Ten Commandments (in Exodus 20), the seven things God hates (from Proverbs 6), and the list of the works of the flesh (in Galatians 5).  And we tend to be quick in condemning these and other “deplorable sins” while rarely acknowledging subtler sins that we ourselves tolerate or excuse.

Not long ago, Jerry Bridges forced us to open our eyes to our own blind spots with his book, Respectable Sins.  The subtitle was convicting in itself – “Confronting the Sins We Tolerate.”

Let me highlight one of our lowlights that Bridges talks about – the sin of UNTHANKFULNESS.

Consider the story of the ten lepers (Luke 17:11-19) that Jesus met one day while traveling to Jerusalem.  Graciously, all were cleansed of this “horrible sin” of uncleanness, restored to health, and given a fresh start in life.  Yet, only one returned to give thanks for what Jesus had done.  You can hear the pain and disappointment in Jesus’ voice as He asked the one man, “Were not ten cleansed?  Where are the nine?” (Luke 17:17).

God desires that we be grateful (full of grace) in every experience of life.  To one group of Christians, Paul wrote, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).  To another he explained that a Spirit-filled Christian is evidenced by “giving thanks always for everything to God the Father” (Ephesians 5:20).  Paul even includes a thankless heart in his list of “big sins” in Romans 1 as well as indicating that ingratitude would be one of the “cancers” of the last days (cf. 2 Timothy 3:1-2).

Furthermore, the Scriptures shows us that a truly thankful heart and grateful spirit will appreciate those whom God uses to serve us in relatively simple ways.  As I read Paul’s letters, I find him constantly expressing his thanks to those who have touched his life in various ways.  Can that be said of me … can that be said of all of us at Immanuel?

Think back to last Sunday night.  We experienced one of the best Churchwide Fellowships ever.  (And I want to thank you for coming and participating so joyfully.)  Of course, we applauded the efforts of people like Jim Bennett, John Luck, Mike Henry, Chris Lucas, Caren Cummings, and Jon Petersen for planning and organizing the event.  They deserved our thanks.  But that night would not have been the success it was without the “quiet heroes” who had worked all afternoon and through the evening to make it all happen.  What about those who served your food … or hustled back and forth from the kitchen … or made those banana splits … or … well, you get the picture.  Did you say “thank you”?  Were you gracious and kind to each of them?  (I’m confident that was true for the vast majority.)  But were some of us impatient, irritable, or thoughtless in our words?  (Would we even admit that?)  These were your brothers and sisters in Christ … providing you with an excellent meal and good service so that you could enjoy a wonderful evening.  And it was a fantastic evening.

Let’s never take anything or anyone for granted.  Let’s never allow our hearts to become ungrateful for the many blessings we enjoy.

-- Sparky