A LIFE-CHANGING APPROACH TO “THANKSGIVING”
Are you one of those people who get stumped when the group leader asks everyone to share what they are thankful for? There are always the obvious things to be thankful for – food, a warm home, family. But you don’t want to sound simple-minded so you continue to ponder. I am one of those people.
While we are combing our brains looking for the outstanding item to be thankful for some of us tend to overlook the everyday goodness we experience. If we take it for granted we can slip into the attitude of ingratitude, thinking “nothing good ever happens.”
With the attitude of ingratitude comes a slippery slope that can lead to depression. A counselor recently told me that if an individual kept a journal and wrote down five things you are thankful for at the end of each day you can effectively defeat negative thinking and possibly depression. It seemed too simple. “Isn’t depression a chemical problem?” I asked this counselor. Does depression bring on negative thoughts or do negative thoughts bring on depression? You know what she told me? Yes! It is a combination of the two. But psychologists believe that developing a positive outlook on life and learning to be thankful for who you are and what you have can improve your mental health.
Is that enough?
An atheist walked out her door one day and observed how beautiful the world looked to her. Filled with incredible joy over her world she exclaimed, “Thank you!” Her friend was startled and wisely replied, “Who are you thanking?”
It is not enough to be thankful. We need to thank the Author of all good things. As we celebrate Thanksgiving this weekend, we need to be conscious of our Heavenly Father who blesses us every day. Thanksgiving is not a one-day-a year event when you are a follower of Jesus. It is a daily approach to life. Allow me to show you this life-changing approach as the Apostle Paul explains it.
1. Develop your relationships with Peace
Paul was describing the new life in Christ to the Colossians in this letter and slipped in this new worldview. Believing in Jesus involves change and reformation of the way we think. He wrote, “…since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator” (Col 3:9), indicating that the mind of the renewed person thinks of God.
What does he or she think? How does that work itself out in the life of the believer?
This is where Paul calls us to change our approach to life and its circumstances. It begins with relationships. “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful” (3:15).
The word “rule” may conjure up thoughts of kings or officials. Interestingly it has more to do with “acting as an umpire.” If you like baseball you know that the man in the black suit who stands behind the catcher rules on plays and decides whether it is a strike, a ball or if the player is safe. There is no changing his mind no matter what happens. People may curse him and kick dirt at him, fans may throw bottles at him, and yet he remains unmoved.
This is what Paul is commanding us to do in our relationships. Let the calmness of Christ rule your thoughts and actions. Think of how Jesus interacted with people in the Gospels. He was in control of himself, totally poised, didn’t get upset by others and remained calm when everyone else panicked.
Peace has at least three aspects to it. There can be inner peace such as that which God gives to believers about their relationship with him. There is peace between brothers and sisters in the Lord. And then there is social peace which Christians are to bring to the world. Here Paul is asking for peace that rules relationships in the Church. With the inner peace God gives we can be at peace with our own selves. That peace ought to translate naturally into a Body peace. Yet Paul still has to command that we consciously work at Body peace, Church peace, peace between Christians.
Oddly, Paul adds, “And be thankful.” Maybe not so oddly. An amazing thing happens when you think of the things you are thankful for concerning the person you least like. That person you can’t get along with in church, or have a grudge against, or haven’t spoken to for whatever reason, think of them now. Take the counselor’s advice and think of five things that you are thankful for concerning them. It doesn’t have to be about you and them. Just think of five things that are positive and thank God for those things.
A thankful attitude and the rule of peace can remake your relationships within the Church. When the peace of Christ controls you it will not be ruled by your emotions or self-interest when you have a disagreement. Christ’s peace and an attitude of thanksgiving will decide how you and I will respond to the events and people in our lives.
2. Devote yourself to knowing Christ’s Word
In the battle with negative thoughts we have a powerful weapon. There is nothing more life-changing than knowing the Word of Christ. It reveals to us God’s thoughts, what he thinks of us and what he thinks of our world. This is incredibly important when you consider the things that may get you down.
So Paul says, “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God” (3:16).
I believe there is nothing more important than having small groups get together and study the Word. Now I want to say this gently and with respect to the various small groups we have in our church, but I believe we neglect the study of the Word in favor of books written by popular authors. And I know why. We find the Bible difficult to read and understand. It is easier to read what Swindoll said about Isaiah than to read what Isaiah actually wrote. Yet if we lose our knowledge of the Word itself then we can get lost, adrift in a world full of different philosophies and obscure morality. The word of Christ is the authority of the Church and we cannot lose hold of the truth as God has revealed it.
Pastor Pete shared with me a little ritual he tried with the Youth at their retreat recently and I have adopted it. When I read the Bible I read a chapter a day. Then I read it again. Then I read it one more time. Sometimes I even go back again. Do you know what that does? It reinforces in my mind what the author is trying to say. Pete said that before you do this you pray that God would show you one thing to meditate on. I have seen things and understood verses I have never grasped before, just by reading it over and over again.
Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly…Amazing changes take place in your life when you do this. The other day Sharon shared her feelings with me (what they were is between me, her and God). Later when I got to the office my mind recalled a verse that I thought would help, so I emailed her the verse. What is more encouraging than receiving a passage of light from a loved one?
Iris did the same for me when I burdened our administrative assistant some time ago with my feelings of weariness. She passed on to me a passage from the Message: “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it” (Mt. 11:28ff). What an encouragement those words were at that dark time.
When the Word of Christ, the Bible, is so engrained in your life you begin to see it in your world. Jesus said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life” (Jn 8:12). This is not dead, lifeless truth! It is alive, vital, refreshing and illuminating! It dispels doubts, fears and difficulties. We are to center our lives around the Word of God.
Then we can sing to each other with true gratitude in our hearts to God because we know that we have been blessed way beyond what we deserve.
Henry Van Dyke took Beethoven’s 9th symphony and put amazing words of adoration to it. He must have been filled with a sense of awe for God as he wrote these lyrics:
Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee,
God of glory, Lord of love;
Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee,
Praising Thee their sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness,
Drive the dark of doubt away;
Giver of immortal gladness,
Fill us with the light of day!
All Thy works with joy surround Thee,
Earth and heaven reflect Thy rays,
Stars and angels sing around Thee,
Center of unbroken praise;
Field and forest, vale and mountain,
Blooming meadow, flashing sea,
Chanting bird and flowing fountain,
Call us to rejoice in Thee.
Let the Word of Christ dwell in you…Let it visit you? No! Let it be a guest in the house of your heart? No? Let it dwell in you and be a member of the family, part of your conversation, your life, your thoughts, and your relationships. It will teach you all the blessings you have received so that you can be truly thankful to our generous God.
3. Do your work in Jesus’ name
If anything in your life has been left out in this challenge to approach Thanksgiving differently, Paul encapsulates everything neatly in this: “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (3:17).
This means that our whole life is to be related to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Every activity can become an act of worship. Even routine things can be offered to Jesus as worship
Ruth Graham had a sign over her kitchen sink that said, “Divine services held here three times a day.” Washing the dishes can be an act of worship if you do it in the name of the Lord. If there are activities in your life that you cannot do in the name of the Lord then I leave it to you to evaluate whether those things even have a place in your life. But doing dishes? Do it in the name of the Lord? And then to give thanks to God for the opportunity to do the dishes? This is craziness!
Not really! There are some things we will do only for money. We have seen that on Fear Factor; we have seen it in our own homes. I had my kids picking rocks off the grass for a dollar a bucket. Then I realized the buckets were too small and I didn’t have that much cash. They didn’t care for the work otherwise. I had to pay them to do grunt labor. And they sure grunted. However, if money is a motivator to do menial chores, how much more willing are we to do things for love?
Love motivates us to do things with a different attitude. It is not what I can get out of it but what I can do for you. If we do or say anything in the name of Jesus we will do it with a different purpose than we do anything else. We will do it for his glory. Do your homework with this mind. Pay your taxes with this in mind. Burn leaves in your backyard with this in mind. And be thankful.
Consider these things and how you might transform your attitude concerning the stuff in your life:
I am Thankful for.........
....the taxes I pay
....because it means I’m employed.
....the clothes that fit a little too snug
....because it means I have enough to eat.
....my shadow who watches me work
....because it means I am out in the sunshine.
....a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning and
gutters that need fixing
....because it means I have a home.
....the spot I find at the far end of the parking lot
....because it means I am capable of walking.
....my huge heating bill
....because it means I am warm.
....all the complaining I hear about our government
....because it means we have freedom of speech.
....the lady behind me in church who sings off key.
....because it means that I can hear.
....the piles of laundry and ironing
....because it means my loved ones are nearby.
....the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours
....because it means that I’m alive.
....weariness and aching muscles at the end of the day
....because it means I have been productive.
The art of thanksgiving; It is gratitude in action.
It is thanking God for the gift of life by living it triumphantly.
It is thanking God for your talents and abilities by accepting them as obligations to be invested for the common good.
It is thanking God for all that men and women have done for you by doing things for others.
It is thanking God for happiness by striving to make others happy.
It is thanking God for beauty by helping to make the world more beautiful.
It is thanking God for inspiration by trying to be an inspiration to others. (Troy Mason )
AMEN
