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Psalm 116:17-19 I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the LORD.  I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people, in the courts of the house of the LORD, in your midst, O Jerusalem.  Praise the LORD!.

As many people today become obsessed with the idea that individual benefits and privileges are paramount inalienable rights that cannot be surrendered, sold, transferred, or taken away by any government or mortal power, so our age becomes known as the ‘entitled generation’, and more and more disgruntled with the vicissitudes of life.  Such thinking can never instil happiness, joy and  contentment in the human soul.

I studied a bit of Shakespeare in my school days (but not a lot at my ‘Sydney Technical High School’!), and, for some reason the line spoken by Duke Senior in Act II Scene VII of ‘As You Like It’ (the ‘All the world’s a stage and all the men and women are merely players’ scene) has stuck in my mind: “Blow, blow thoui winter wind, thou art not so unkind as Man’s ingratitude”.  Both being continually grateful, and openly expressing gratitude for blessings received from others, is the most effective antidote for the mindset that flows from the presumption of ‘entitlement’.

The Apostle Paul in his letters slips in phrases like ‘and be thankful’ (Colossians 3:15) and “give thanks in each and everycircumstance; for this [circumstance] is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18) and he talks about the importance of contentment in coping with whatever life might throw at us (cf Philippians 4:10-13).

It seems to me that the way our culture is heading, a very effective way for the followers of Jesus to be ‘salt’ and ‘light’ as he commanded us in Matthew 5:14-16, is to follow the lead of the Psalmist and constantly to ‘vow’ to offer to the Lord ‘the sacrifice of thanksgiving’, and to do this by publicly expressing our heartfelt gratitude to one another whenever we come together for fellowship.  This will be such a contrast to the prevailing demands of ‘entitlement’ that people will not help but notice it.  This is especially true for young people entrusted to our care and who are so harmfully influenced by the culture through social media.

Luke makes the significant point that on an occasion when Jesus healed ten lepers of their leprosy, only “one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks.  Now he was a [despised] Samaritan.”  (Luke 17:15-16).  The ‘sacrifice’ of thanksgiving can often be a ‘sacrifice’ because it costs us our pride and sense of ‘entitlement’!

– Bruce Christian