Sermon: “Gratitude is the language of the heart.

“Thanks is but a poor word,” sang a Danish singer with great pathos. Tak er kun et fattigt ord…..

Thanks is not a poor or a small word, but the song ponders on the fact that the two short words THANK YOU hardly cover and contain all the gratitude, joy, grandeur, or love that you want to express. Thank you are far but poor small short words. Thank you are some of the richest words in our language: thank you, tak, danke, merci, tack, gracias, obregado….

Thank you are among the richest and most beautiful words. They contains a wealth of honesty, love, gratitude and joy. Thank you are words of grandeur. Words that truly creates and builds and conquers. Thank you are words of beauty. Short and precise and yet filled with meaning, fullness and power.

There were 10 lepers. There were 10 lepers that were healed and given life back. There were 10 ill persons, but only one came back to thank God. Do we sometimes forget to give thanks? To turn back and give thanks to God for that amazing grace? I think we all sometimes forget to turn back or turn around to say thank you. Let us do something about that right now.

All of you: look up at the altar to Christ welcoming you to come back and give thanks – and then for a moment think about what you are grateful for: family, home, friends, Villa, dog and Volvo. And then say THANK YOU.

It is nice to give thanks and it is nice to be thanked for a work well done or for a nice bucket of flowers you brought to the hostess. Thank you are rich words, that truly builds relations stronger and more resilient. Thank you for being my friend, my mom, my dad, my sister, my brother, my husband, my wife, my son, my daughter, my girlfriend, min boyfriend, by everything. Thank you for being you… and being in my life. Thank you for seeing me, understanding me, loving me. Thank you for giving me life, joy and faith.

The Gospel tells us the story about the importance and the significance of gratitude. Last week I saw an amazing encounter in a courtroom. Many of you probably also saw the moving moment of forgiveness and grandeur in a tragical murder trial – where a young female police officer came home from work late at night, and mistakenly went into a wrong apartment; and when she saw a young man sitting in the couch watching TV, she shot him believing he was an intruder. I will not even begin to comment on the fact that she shot and killed him, why she entered the wrong apartment, that she was white and he was black, - but I want to focus on the unexpected moment, when the brother of the murdered took the stand. After some very direct words about forgiveness and healing, he asked permission to hug his brothers murderer. And he did…. And as they were both crying, and I am sure she was whispering thank you, thank you, thank you. For forgiving me, for giving me a way to heal and redeem my wrongdoings, by embracing me with faith. I am sure she will keep on going back to that moment for the next 10 years in prison…. A saving grace.

To give thanks – to express your gratitude does not have to be as dramatic as a murder trial, or a miraculous healing from leprosy. But to give thanks or be thanked has the power to heal, to save, to redeem, to build and rebuild, to build relations – and basically to show gratitude instead of indifference.  Thank you are fundamental words for us as humans and for us as Christians.

What happens if we forget to give thanks?

Then life and all our wonderful blessings become dull, insignificant, indifferent and simply taken for granted or even as a well-deserved privilege. It is not given to have a family, to be in good health, to have friends and homes. It is not given that someone sees you, forgives you and loves you. It is a gift – a blessing to count. Words have power. Words can change and create. The words thank you do bring joy.

The Danish fairytale writer H.C. Andersen said that gratitude is the memory of the heart. Gratitude is to focus on the good, the lovely, the rich even when life is bad or hard. For a moment again: think about something that you forget to give thanks for this past week. Something that you simply took for granted.

Every Sunday we meet in church for service. And we pray and we give thanks. Again, and again. Today we sing all the beautiful old danish harvest hymns that all are based on gratitude as the memory of the heart and the faith. Gratitude and the language of gratitude is a fundamental part og being made in the image of God. Maybe we need to practice in between or be reminded that life is indeed a morning gift.

The Danish poet Halfdan Rasmussen wrote about life as a morning gift;

Life is a morning gift; the soul is a pilgrimage choir.

There are flowers in my garden and beer on my table.

Life is a wonderful gift. Earth is a lovely place.

This church is also a wonderful gift and a lovely place. Built on gratitude, faith and joy. We cannot be seated here without the heart’s grateful memory of all those who made this church possible. We cannot listen to the beautiful organ without thanking Roy Bork. We can read all the names on the pews and on the gratitude wall in the hall and be grateful.

Recently I found an old budget from 1925. An annual budget for the Danish church before it was planted and relocated to YL. The annual budget was $ 5200 with $1400 for the pastors pay and utilities $ 120. Pastor Kildegaard wrote a small encouragement to the congregation – and even if many things have changed since 1925, we can still listen to his words:

“When we look at this budget, let it be with gratitude for every help that was bestowed upon us through the year. Are we many and work together, we become stronger? Many small streams make a big river. The congregation needs to have more members, so if every present member could bring one friend to church, then we would all benefit. People decorate more in church than any flowers.”

We do have many more decorating members today than in 1925, but still we need to bring more new friends to the pews.

Remember to say thank you for grace, generosity, life and blessings – and remember that gratitude is the memory of the heart. Amen.