Putting the Thanks in Thanksgiving
2 Corinthians 9:1-15
Sermon by Rick Crandall
McClendon Baptist Church - Nov. 30, 2008
*Well, we made it through Thanksgiving -- and the day after. But are you really thankful? Are you as thankful today as you want to be -- as you ought to be?
-I have a wonderful truth to share with you from God’s Word: We can put the thanks in Thanksgiving. Here’s how:
1. First, depend on God’s super-abundant supply.
*In vs. 8-11 Paul gives a glowing testimony about God’s infinite ability to supply all of our needs:
8. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, have an abundance for every good work.
9. As it is written: "He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor; His righteousness remains forever.’’
10. Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness,
11. while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God.
*We really can depend on God’s super-abundant supply! If anybody in the world should know this -- we should know this, because God has been so good to us. I know we are going through an economic downturn, but King Duncan reminds us that we have so much. We have so much!
*A visitor from a very poor country came to the United States. As he was riding through a subdivision, he noticed a car backing out of the garage and he said with amazement, “You even have houses for your cars!” (1)
*We have so much! Dr. Samuel Zumwalt tells about one of his friends who was a recovering alcoholic. When this friend went on a mission trip to Honduras, her whole view of the world shifted. She told Dr. Zumwalt, “I’ve always felt poor since I lost my big four bedroom house in a divorce. Then I came to Honduras and saw how the victims of Hurricane Mitch were thrilled to have these two-room houses that we were building there.” She said, “I came back to my 600 square foot condo and saw that I live in a palace compared to them. I’m rich, and I never knew it until I went to Honduras.” (2)
*We have so much -- and all of it came from God’s super-abundant supply. We should know that we can depend on God. And knowing that makes us thankful for the good things He gives to us. Ron Stone says: “Giving thanks is an expression of faith in a God who supplies our needs. If you are not inclined to give thanks for something, it is an indication that you do not recognize God as the supplier of that thing.
*If you are looking for something to give thanks for, begin by realizing that everything you own and everything you enjoy, and everything you use including your own body and mind . . . it all belongs to the Lord and He is letting you enjoy it. There is nothing we can name that does not belong to the Lord, because God created everything, He owns everything. As Psalm 24:1 in the NIV says: ‘The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it’” (3)
*James 1:17 tells us that, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights. . .” The more we realize that we can depend on God, and that we must depend on God -- the more thankful we will be to God for being so good to us.
2. We can put the thanks in Thanksgiving by depending on God’s supply, and by demonstrating the work of the gospel in our lives.
*God wants us to demonstrate the work of the gospel in our lives.
-He wants us to let people see the new life we have in Jesus Christ.
-God wants us to let people see Jesus living in us, and one of the ways we can do this is by being generous in giving to other people.
*One of the great results of our giving is that thanksgiving to God will be greatly multiplied. This is the point Paul makes to believers in vs. 11-13. Listen to these verses adapted from the New Living Translation:
11. Yes, you will be enriched so that you can give even more generously. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will break out in thanksgiving to God.
12. So two good things will happen -- the needs of the Christians in Jerusalem will be met, and they will joyfully express their thanksgiving to God.
13. (They) will be glorifying God through your generous gifts, for your generosity to them will prove that you are obedient to the Good News of Christ.
*One of the ways we can demonstrate the work of the good news in our lives is by being generous givers. And when we give, people will break out in thanksgiving to God! God wants His people to be generous, cheerful, givers. Think of the opportunities:
*Today is the one year anniversary of our “Giving to Grow” campaign for our new children’s building. -- Almost $650,000 has been added to the $250,000 we already had set aside for this project. Right now it’s little more than a big mess in the parking lot. But, Lord willing, next year it will be a beautiful building for reaching hundreds, even thousands of children.
*If you are giving, thank-you, and keep giving faithfully. If you are not giving, start now. There are special envelopes out in the hall for “Giving to Grow.” And remember: It’s not about a building. It’s about building the Kingdom of God. It’s about reaching children when they are tender to the things of God. It’s about 10,000 acorns growing into mighty oak trees for the Lord! As we read in Isaiah 61:3, “They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.”
*“Giving to Grow” is about teaching children the ways of the Lord:
-That they will learn to trust in Him.
-That they will grow to be faithful and true.
-That they will overflow with goodness and gratitude.
-That they will learn to honor their fathers and mothers.
*The National Center for Fathering conducts “Father of the Year” Essay Contests in local schools. In 2005, eight contests were held and altogether, over 100,000 school children submitted essays on the topic, “What my Father Means to Me.”
*Here is a small sample from past essays:
-A first grader wrote, “My dad is the best dad ever. I would kiss a pig for him.”
-A third grader wrote, “The dad in my life isn’t really my dad. He’s my Grandpa. But he’s been like a dad to me since before I was born . . . I hope that as I get older Grandpa will teach me all the stuff he knows about wood, and first-aid, and everything else he knows about. My Grandpa isn’t my father, but I wouldn’t trade him for all the dads in the world.”
-A sixth grader wrote, “One time I had an assembly and I was a soloist and my dad was in the first row and after my song I smiled at my dad and my dad smiled back and started crying. That was the best thing I ever saw.” (4)
*“Giving to Grow” is about helping children have that kind of wisdom: Knowing the Lord and growing into all He wants them to be, but it’s also about helping dads and moms to be the parents God wants them to be. “Giving to Grow” is about making an eternal difference in people’s lives. And thanksgiving will be multiplied to God!
*Another great opportunity for giving is the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions. One of the ways we give is through our “Time to Remember” Service, which will be on Dec. 14th this year. Stop at the table out by Fellowship Hall to get a form. You can fill it in right there, or take it to fill out later, and put it in the offering plate, as you give in memory or honor of someone. Lives will be changed forever! Listen to these amazing examples: In 2006, 609,968 new Christians were baptized overseas! 25,497 new churches were started, and thanksgiving was multiplied to God! (5)
*Here’s something else: This year we are going to give special Christmas gifts to people in need, widows, retired ministers, and worthy organizations. And thanksgiving will be multiplied to God! Listen to one of the thank-you notes we received last year:
Dear Bro. Rick and McClendon Baptist Church,
-Just a note to thank you for the Christmas gift you gave my sister. She just told me she was behind in bills for the same amount McClendon sent her, with no way to catch up. She was overwhelmed with emotion and so grateful for this gift. God is good!! We are truly blessed and proud to be a part of such a loving church family. Our family is truly grateful for this gift.
-Yours in Christ, K. P.
*You never know how much gratefulness can come from your generous giving. Last month one of our Sunday Scholl classes gave me some gift cards to Cracker Barrel and Chili’s. Here’s what I wrote to thank them:
-I am writing to thank you for the gift cards you gave me last month to Cracker Barrel and Chile’s. They turned out to be much more special than I ever would have thought. I took the cards with me on my trip to see my brother during the first week of November. Both restaurants are just a few miles away from his home, and we used the cards for take-out meals that week. The last meal I ever shared with my brother in this world was bought with one of those gift cards. I will never forget that. Thank you for your love and generosity.
*You never know how much gratitude can come from your generous giving. But thanksgiving to God will be multiplied when we let people see the work of the gospel in our lives.
3. But we can also put the thanks in Thanksgiving through the devotion that grows in the people you bless.
*In vs. 14 Paul talked about another blessing that comes from our generous giving. Paul is now thinking about the people who receive the gifts, and in the NIV he says, “In their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you.” The New Living Translation says that the people who received the gifts “will pray for you with deep affection because of the wonderful grace of God shown through you.”
*The wonderful truth is that you will often be blessed by the people you bless. There is a wonderful, upward spiral of mutual love, joy, giving and thanksgiving. Jesus promised this to us in Luke 6:38, when He said, “Give and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure -- pressed down, shaken together, and running over. . .” (Luke 6:38 NASB)
*Ten years ago, the Good Shepherd Hispanic Baptist Church in Metairie showed compassion to fellow believers in Honduras who were suffering from Hurricane Mitch. The people at Good Shepherd sent 12 containers of food and clothing to an evangelical church and a Baptist church in Honduras to meet the needs left by the storm. Then 3 years ago, Good Shepherd Baptist was hit hard by Hurricane Katrina. And they were surprised when both Honduran churches helped them.
*Those Honduran Christians were very poor people, but one church sent a love offering of $1,000 to help their American friends. The other Honduran church sent their pastor and five workers along with a gift of $17,000 to help Good Shepherd. The men helped in cleanup efforts, and they cooked a chicken dinner for a celebration service attended by more than 450 people. The Pastor and people of Good Shepherd Baptist Church were blown away by the generosity of the Honduran churches. (6)
*That upward spiral of joy and thanksgiving will be repeated over and over again as God’s people give. There will be growing devotion in many of the people we bless.
4. But we can also put the thanks in Thanksgiving by delighting in God’s greatest gift.
*At the end of this discussion on giving Paul’s mind turned to the greatest gift of all. And in vs. 15 he overflowed with these words of grateful praise, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!”
*This reminds me of some of the Scripture the preacher read at Evelyn Neal’s funeral yesterday -- words that Paul wrote in Romans 8.
31. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
32. He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?
33. Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
34. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
“Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” -- God the Father giving His own Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for our sins. Jesus Christ rising from the dead to give everlasting life and everything we need to those who will receive Him as Savior and Lord.
“Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” We have all we need in Jesus. We have so much else. But suppose you didn’t have anything but Jesus.
*I often think back to our good family friend, Mary Parker. She had been greatly blessed in life. Mary and her husband Jimmy met during World War II. He was in the Army and she was a Navy WAVE. I am not sure how they met. Maybe it was at the USO. But they were married on the last day of the war in 1945. When Jimmy passed away, they had been happily married for 52 years.
*Mary taught school for over 20 years. She had two daughters and five grandchildren. Mary also had some wonderful friends, including my Mom and Dad. The Parkers lived in a nice house with a pool in back. They spent many wonderful summer vacations at the beach or with friends on Lake Blackshear. But in the last months of her life, most of those things were gone, as Mary battled lung cancer.
*I will always remember something she told me a few months before she died. She was living in an assisted-living complex, and that day she was sitting in one of those lift-recliners. Mary had a big TV tray in front of her. And while I was there, she moved her hands around the outside edge of that TV tray and said, “This is my world.”
*Mary had lost everything this world has to offer. But she still had everything she needed, because she had Jesus. Mary assured me that she was trusting in the Lord, and that she was ready to go to Heaven. She said, “I’m looking forward to it.”
*And over and over again, every time I talk to her, she has talked about how good God had been to her. Mary overflowed with gratitude for God’s greatest gift.
*A week later an aid went into Mrs. Parker’s room to wake her, and Mrs. Parker said, “Why did you wake me up? -- I was already there.” Now she is there, and she will be there forever, because of God’s indescribable gift! Thank God!
*Thanksgiving Day may be behind us, but I hope your heart is overflowing with thanksgiving right now. -- And it can be.
-Depend on God’s super-abundant supply.
-Demonstrate the work of the gospel in your life.
-Give so devotion will grow in the people around you.
-And keep delighting in God’s greatest gift -- Jesus Christ.
*First, you have to receive God’s greatest gift. And you can do that right now as we go to God in prayer.
1. christianglobe.com sermon “For Those Who Have Received Much (Father’s Day” by King Duncan - Matt 9:35-10:8
2. http://www.predigten.uni goettingen.de/archiv 6/040801 4 e.html - found in christianglobe.com sermon “For Those Who Have Received Much (Father’s Day” by King Duncan - Matt 9:35-10:8
3. Adapted from www.parkdalegrace.ca/sermons - Thanksgiving 2008 - Ron Stone - Parkdale Grace Fellowship - 10-12-08
4. http://www.fathers.com/research/essays.html - Cited in PreachingNow - found in christianglobe.com sermon “For Those Who Have Received Much (Father’s Day” by King Duncan - Matt 9:35-10:8
5. www.imb.org/main/page.asp?StoryID=4452&LanguageID=1709
6. www.freshministry.org - “Supersize me!” by Dr. James L. Wilson - Luke 6:38
