Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Download MP3 (right click to save)
Okay. So they won't deliver mail on Thanksgiving. But it still might be a good day for someone you love to get mail. Possibly hand-delivered by you!
Now, in our world, you know rare means something is valuable: antiques, baseball cards, all kinds of collectibles. The less there is of something, the more valuable it is.
Like "thank you" for example. When Jesus healed ten lepers of their deadly, defacing disease, only one came back to say thanks. That seems to be how it always is with thank you's. Maybe one thanks for every ten things you should be grateful for to God; to each other.
That's why you can really light up someone's life this Thanksgiving by giving them some thanks in writing, where it can really sink in; where they can go back to it on a dark day.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "You Got Mail - For Thanksgiving."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Ephesians 4:29. It's a favorite of mine. Many years ago we had our family memorize it, and we wanted everybody to kind of program their heart, and their mind, and their relationships—including me—with this verse. It simply says, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth, but only what is useful for building others up." Now, the Bible encourages us to use our words to build other people up. We should be in the construction business. And nothing can be more powerful in building people up than words of encouragement, words of gratitude, words that say "thank you," and this is a great time to be doing that.
Now, here's the kind of letter you might write. It might be to someone very close to you, or someone you used to be close to until something happened; or someone you pray for but you can't seem to break through to. In any case, it's just hard to be hard when someone is thanking you for who you are.
Now, we're pretty good at thinking of things we don't like about someone. But something good happens in your heart when you make yourself sit down and you start writing about that person's strengths, and their contributions to your life, to others' lives. And something good happens in their life when they get your gratitude in a letter. You are indeed building them up.
Now, I've seen hard hearts begin to thaw. I've seen closed hearts begin to open when someone who loved them dared to write a letter that, well, went something like this - I'll give you the parts of the letter:
First of all, "I love you..." Just expressing your affection; your love for them. Now, you've got to fill in the blanks. I can start it for you. "I love you..." You take it from there. Second part of the letter is, "Thank you for..." You've got to do the rest. Think about specific qualities that you appreciate about them, or experiences or actions, maybe just small things. Maybe they were recent; maybe they were years ago, but something and some things you are thankful for. The third part of the letter goes, "I'm sorry for..." What are some things you wished you'd done differently? "I'm sorry for..."
And then, "I wish we could..." (how you'd like your relationship to be in the future). However it's been recently, however it has been in the past, how would you like your relationship to be in the future? "I wish we could..." See, if you will open your heart like this, there's a chance they might open theirs. And honestly, there's no better time than Thanksgiving to reach out with this gift that... well, only you can give. Because no one can hear all those nice things people say about them at their funeral.
Why don't you give them their bouquets while they can still smell the flowers, and don't wait for the funeral?