Give Thanks Series

Ephesians 5:20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, (ESV)

People may have one of three possible attitudes about thanksgiving.

1) The first is that it is Unnecessary.

Some people are not thankful simply because they think they deserve every good thing they have—and more. The rich firmer of Jesus’ parable in Luke 12, who was presumptuous about his future prosperity was also ungrateful for his past prosperity. As he looked around and realized his land was so productive that he did not have enough room to store all his crops, he decided to build bigger and better barns. After that he would say “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry” (Luke 12:19). He did not take God into consideration. Because he gave God no credit for his blessings, he saw no reason to give Him thanks. And because of his thankless presumption, God said to him, in verse 20: “You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?”. Within that judgment lay the truth that the farmer could no more protect his possessions by his own power than he had produced them by his own power. The Lord gave, and the Lord took away. Shakespeare wrote in King Lear, “How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a thankless child!” True! Ingratitude in children wounds and sometimes kills. But how much more unnatural and repugnant is ingratitude in those who have become sons and daughters of the living God. It is so unnatural that a person may wonder if such a one has actually become a Christian in the first place. (Boice, J. M. (1988). Ephesians: an expositional commentary (p. 189). Grand Rapids, MI: Ministry Resources Library.)

• Not feeling the need to thank God is much worse than ingratitude; it is rank unbelief. This attitude is a form of practical atheism that fails to acknowledge God.

2) A second attitude about thanksgiving is that of the Hypocrite.

In another parable Jesus told of a self–righteous Pharisee in Luke 18 who stood in the Temple and “was praying to himself, ‘God, I thank Thee that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax–gatherer. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get’ ” (Luke 18:11–12). As Jesus made clear in the words “praying to himself,” although the man used God’s name, his thankfulness was to himself and for himself. The Pharisee used God’s name only to call further attention to his false piety. And because God had no part in that prayer it was totally worthless. The humble, penitent tax–collector “went down to his house justified,” whereas the proud, self–righteous Pharisee did not (v. 14) Like the rest of his life, the Pharisee’s prayer of thanksgiving was hypocritical sham and pretense.

3) The third attitude about thanksgiving is that of the Truly Thankful Person.

Of the ten lepers Jesus healed on His way to Jerusalem in Luke 17, the only one who returned to thank Him was a Samaritan. But his thankfulness was genuine, and Jesus said to him, “Rise, and go your way; your faith has made you well” (Luke 17:19). The other nine lepers had sought Jesus’ healing only for their own benefit. The Samaritan also sought it for God’s glory (v. 18). His thankfulness was an expression of his trust in Jesus, his recognition that he was helpless in Himself and that his healing was undeserved and entirely by the Lord’s grace. As a result, he received salvation. That is the thankfulness, the only thankfulness, that pleases God and that the Spirit–filled saint will offer. The perpetual accompaniment of all these outlets of the Spirit in the Christian life is thanksgiving. (Wood, A. S. (1981). Ephesians. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Ephesians through Philemon (Vol. 11, p. 73). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.)

In Ephesians 5:20 the Apostle Paul tells 1) When (Ephesians 5:20a), 2) For what (Ephesians 5:20b), 4) To whom (Ephesians 5:20c), and finally 3) How the Spirit–filled believer is to be thankful (Ephesians 5:20d).

1)When are we to be thankful?—always.

Ephesians 5:20a giving thanks always (and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ) (ESV)

To be thankful always is to recognize God’s control of our lives in every detail as He seeks to conform us to the image of His Son. To be thankless is to disregard God’s control, Christ’s lordship, and the Holy Spirit’s filling. Nothing must grieve the Holy Spirit so much as the believer who does not give thanks. Just as there are three attitudes toward thanksgiving there are also three levels of thankfulness. The first is to be thankful when we are blessed. When things are going well or God grants an especially welcome benefit, we are happy and grateful. When getting a job, being delivered from sickness, being reconciled with our spouse, or experiencing other such pleasant things, it is easy to be grateful to the Lord. The fullness of the Spirit rules out a grumbling, complaining, negative, sour spirit. No one can be Spirit-filled and traffic in these things. In (North) America we, as a people, have so much. Yet we characteristically mourn what we do not have: another’s house, car, job, vacation, even family! Such thanklessness indicates a life missing the fullness of the Holy Spirit. (Hughes, R. K. (1990). Ephesians: the mystery of the body of Christ (p. 176). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.)