A Bird In The Hand

Are we really thankful for all the things we have? Or are we like the man in this parable… always chasing a dream… even to loose what we already have? Really, when you get down to it… it is a parable about greed… about wanting more and more… and brothers and sisters… I think that if you really examine what happens during Thanksgiving… you will see a marketing machine in motion trying to tempt us to buy more… to get more… to want… more. It is quite funny… in my research for this sermon, I came across this Thanksgiving add:

NECKLACE SALE - ONLY $180

Whoever said ‘A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush’ was far too complacent. We’ve always known that you can have your cake, eat it too, and sweat it off at the gym later on. So it’s delicious irony that your Bird In Hand necklace has gotten you so far. A bold way to glam up jeans and a vest, an original addition to your black cocktail dress, the classic coin, inscribed with the parable, is proof that old fashioned adages are made to be broken by a modern girl.

That is the message we will get over and over again this Thanksgiving… now compare that to the messages from scripture about thanksgiving:

1 Chronicles 16:8-12

Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always. Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,

1 Chronicles 29:11-14

Praise be to you, O Lord, God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.

Psalm 100

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. for the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

All three of these… were songs written by the great king David… teaching us to put a right perspective in our minds. You see… we need to remember who gives all that we have… we need to remember how lucky we are to have all that we have… we need to stop and give thanks… and this makes all the difference between the attitude “I want it all.. and I want it now” and the attitude of being grateful for what God has already given us.

You see… it is like this: As a child, I had one or two toys… ok ok… lets be honest… I had enough toys to fill up several rooms. Cars, stuffed animals, board games, legos, transformers, john deere tractors, cultivators, planters, bailers, a Nintendo video game system with 50 games. Toys that beeped, toys that bopped… toys that wizzled, skidizzled, and plopped.