The Choice To Give Thanks
Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18; Philippians 3:7-14; James 3:8-12
Introduction:
We have completed our Thanksgiving celebration and are preparing for Christmas. Although Thanksgiving is a national holiday, not everyone in the United States celebrate it. Those who choose to celebrate it do so by choice and that brings me to the title of my message this morning: “The Choice To Give Thanks.” We all recognize that this is the season for being thankful and this morning I want to focus our attention on our choice to give thanks to God.
This season of giving thanks is a time when we come together with family and friends to reflect on and give thanks for the blessings that God has given us. Even though some of us choose to give thanks during this season there are others who may choose not to for whatever reason. For some this season does not bring about thanksgiving, but a sense of depression and a sense of loss. They have everything that they could want but they are not happy. There are also those who do not celebrate this time of year because for them it is not special, just another day to survive. There are people who have much more material things than we do and yet they do not see the need to give thanks. This morning I hope we walk away understanding that when we give thanks it is because we have made the choice to do it. Please turn with me to 1 Thessalonians 5:18.
I. Giving Thanks With A Grateful Heart
During our praise and worship time we sometime sing a song that says “Give thanks with a grateful heart…” This song talks about a grateful heart and the thanks that come forth through a heart that is grateful. These are the hearts that are appreciative for what was done for them. You see, we give thanks a lot without being grateful for the act that was bestowed upon us. Let me give you an example. Someone does something for you and then they have to ask you to say “thank you”. Now the person repeats the “thank you” because they forgot to tell you. The fact that they originally forgot to say thank you can give you some insight into their gratefulness. I am not saying this is an absolute, but the next time you do it or it happens to you think about what you have heard here today. There are many times when during our praise and worship you are asked to either raise or clap your hands as you give praise. Although we all understand this request, in truth the request should never have to be made. When you’re doing what you feel and with an attitude of appreciation, you do it on your own. You’re not worrying about who else is doing it; you are totally focused on your own praise. So you will not have to wait to be told to clap or raise your hands, you do so as you feel the Spirit swell up within you.
We often give thanks with a lot of things other than with a heart of gratefulness. We will give thanks with regret when someone does something for us and we are forced to accept it. We will give thanks with hatred as we praise God with our mouths for the blessings someone else received that we actually hate that they got. We will give thanks with jealousy as others testify of what is happening in their lives and to be a part of the crowd we clap and celebrate with them. These are examples of when we give thanks for what is happening in other people lives, but what about our own personal thanks? Have you ever given thanks by obligations? This is when we give thanks because we have to – like giving thanks for your food after you started eating because someone asked if you blessed your food. Have you ever given thanks with tiredness? For example, you get ready to go to bed and you want to say a prayer and you give thanks for the day through the tiredness because it is what is expected of a good Christian? For all the thanks that we give, it is the thanks given with a grateful heart that makes the difference and which is very pleasing to God.
Giving thanks with a grateful heart is like jumping up and down when you get the present you always wanted. You are so grateful that sometimes tears of joy begin to flow freely. You were not planning to cry, but you could not stop it once it started. Giving thanks with a grateful heart is a choice – you choose the way and manner in which you give thanks. So consider 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. It states “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything, give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
We have the misunderstanding that we should rejoice only when something good happens to us. We have the misunderstanding that we should pray when we need God to do something for us or for someone else. We have the misunderstanding that we should only give thanks for the blessing and not for the hardships. But I want you to know this morning that we should rejoice and give thanks for everything because through everything God is still God! When my bills need paying, God is still God so I can give thanks! When all my bills are paid, God is still God and I can give thanks! When my friends leave me; God is still God and I can give thanks! When I get new friends that stick closer than a brother God is still God and I can give thanks! I can rejoice in everything because God is still God in my good times; bad time; happy times; and sad times. In my best circumstances I can rejoice and give thanks. In my worst circumstances I can rejoice and give thanks. I can do this because God is God and my security rests with Him and He does not change. With this understanding I can choose to give thanks or I can choose to not give thanks and just be in the midst of what I am dealing with. My willingness to give thanks is a testimony of what I believe about God and His relationship with me. This understanding came through trials and a lot of errors. I am not perfect in my thanksgiving, but I have learned that it is not about God and what He is doing; it is about me and the choice that I make.
Our ability to give thanks with a grateful heart is hindered sometimes by the blessings that God has already given us. When we expect to receive and then we get it we are not as grateful as we shift from the position of gratefulness to the position of entitlement. Our willingness to choose to give thanks is related to our attitudes about what is happening with us. It is amazing what happens when we receive something on a regular basis; when it is new, we appreciate it, then we begin to expect it and finally we begin to believe that we are entitled to it. If you look at the process that we go through, in the first stage when it is new, we can give thanks. But as we transition from it being new to us to receiving it on a regular basis, we begin to take it for granted – as far as giving thanks. Finally we stop giving thanks altogether because now we are entitled to it and therefore we do not “have” to give thanks for it. The feeling of entitlement shuts down our ability to give praise. I am guilty of this. There have been many times that I have failed to thank someone for something they did for me because it was normal for them to do it. To that end, all of us have failed at some point to thank God for His blessings. We pray often, but most of the time we are asking for something and not just praising or thanking Him for what He has already done. We expect God to take care of us and sometimes in that process we fail to appreciate it or thank Him for it. Being entitled to something shuts down our ability to be thankful for it. Turn to Philippians 3:7-14 as I want to read something to you that I think will help our understanding. As I read this, I want you to listen closely.
II. Why We Can Give Thanks With A Grateful Heart
“But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and I count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in God on the basis of faith.” (Vs. 7-9) Think of the things you count as important. What rises to the top? Your possessions or Christ; your family and friends or Christ; your jobs or Christ? What holds the most important position in your life? Paul states that he lost everything to serve Christ and I think it would be good for us to understand this. He was a man of influence; someone who had the respect of the government and the religious leaders. He was a learned man of the Scriptures (a Pharisee) who had permission to persecute the Christians. When he accepted Christ all of his prestige, his influence; and even some of his possessions were all lost. He became a traitor. Those who had depended on him now sought to kill him. So when he says that he had lost it all, he really had lost it all and he did so willingly for Christ. Look at verse 10-11.
“That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” (Vss. 10-11) Paul said he gave it all up so that he could know Christ and the power of His resurrection. He also stated that he wanted to be in fellowship with Christ’s suffering or being willing to suffer for Christ just as Christ had suffered for him. The final goal was so that he might attain the goal of being resurrected from the dead with Christ. Now let me ask you this; have you given up anything in order to know Christ? Have you stepped outside of your comfort zone? Have you suffered anything because of your belief in Him? Paul rejoiced through all of this because his eye stayed focused on the goal and the goal was the final resurrection. This is why he could rejoice and give thanks in every situation that he found himself in. Now list to what he said in verses twelve through fourteen.
“Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead. I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Vss. 12-14) In these verses Paul makes a comment that I want to point out as a reference for us. It is extremely difficult to give thanks with a grateful heart when our minds are focused on what we have left behind or have given up. It is difficult to give thanks when we are so occupied with the negative things that are happening around us. Paul said he forgot what was behind him as he pressed forward towards the goal which was what he considered to be a prize. That prize was the call of God in Jesus Christ which he cherished. We have sometime looked at the call of God on our lives as a burden to be carried and a weight that we must carry throughout the world. I am not talking about the specific calling God has on your life, but the calling to walk as a Christian. It is this calling that we must choose to walk in before we can open ourselves up for the other things that God has planned for our lives. If we see this as a burden because the world does not accept us, we will find it difficult to give praise in every circumstance. If we see it as a prize that we have won, it becomes much more easy to give thanks in difficult times and to understand that our walk with Christ on this earth leads to some much greater when we leave here.
Conclusion
I have had the opportunity to be around a lot of people during the last month. I have heard praise reports and the giving of thanks only to be followed by words that were either negative or condemning. I have listened to myself and have wondered how I could go from speaking praise to talking about someone based on something they have done. What I am discovering is that what rests on the inside of us will eventually find its way out through our actions and our mouth. If we do not deal with what is on our inside we will continue to speak forth praise to God and curses to our fellow man. Let me read a final Scripture to you from the book of James. James 3:9-12 says the following about our dangerous tongues: “With we bless our Lord and Father and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way. Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water? Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh.”
What James is saying is that we cannot do both. The praise we give God should be formed from what is on our inside. If our inside is infested with bitterness and hate of our fellow man, even though there are times when out mouth gives forth praise to God, God hears the praise but it is drowned out by the hatred and bitterness that dwells in your heart. We will not be defined in God’s eyes as both, we must choose. As I close this message I want you to consider your hearts this morning. Are you struggling to give God true praise? Are you struggling to give Him thanks because of something that has happened in your life? Are you struggling to have a grateful heart with everything that God has placed before you? Do you likewise find it easy to find fault in someone else? Do you find it easy and more comfortable to be negative? Does bitterness and hurt rests so prominent in your heart that it drowns out the praise and thanks that comes from your mouth? If you have answered “yes” to any of these questions then you are in a place right now where God can help you. We have all been there and some of us are still there, but we do not have to remain there. Just as we make the choice to give praise and thanks from our hearts, we make the choice to allow what is not of God to remain in our hearts. We can choose which person we will be before God. It is our choice.
As we enter into this special season think about the true meaning. What are you truly thankful for? The things that God has done for you and is doing for you are you thankful for them or do you feel entitled to them? When you are grateful there is no entitlement. You appreciate any and every little thing that is done for you. This is the spirit which will generate a grateful heart and true thanks and praise of God. Give thanks with a grateful heart – a heart that recognizes and acknowledges that without Christ we are nothing!
May God bless and keep you is my prayer.
