Psalm 100:1-5
“The Forgotten Holiday”
If we were to mark our calendars according to television commercials, mall decorations, and movies we might figure that some “high official” somewhere, who makes the decisions about things, has decided that we are to just skip Thanksgiving altogether.
Rebecca, our secretary, was telling me that before Halloween she was in Dollar General and heard Bing Crosby singing “White Christmas.”
I mean, back in September or even late August, we all started noticing that everything was being Christma-fied…
…that is, minus a few store isles that were reserved for Halloween candy and costumes.
Before our very eyes: out came the holiday cups, Christmas trees, singing Santa’s, the overly large sweaters hanging in stores, lay away ads and of course, as I said Christmas music!!!
Many folks complain that Christmas has been hijacked and exploited…
…which it has…
…but more about that next month.
So what has happened to Thanksgiving?
There may be some good reasons why Thanksgiving gets the short end of the Holiday stick.
For one, there are no gifts.
For another, Thanksgiving promotes socially acceptable behavior.
I mean, we are not dressing up like ghouls and knocking on people’s doors expecting to be rewarded!!!
We are not putting a large piece of foliage in the middle of our living space.
We are not sticking our heads in overhead lamps and under couches looking for plastic eggs.
We are sitting around a table…eating…like just about every other night.
Even the 4th of July has fireworks!!!
So, we have Halloween, Christmas, Easter, Summer…
…and sandwiched in there is Thanksgiving: that awkward in-between stage.
Could it be, that, in our culture we aren’t so interested in giving thanks?
Or perhaps, we don’t think we have much to give thanks for.
Our Scripture Lesson for this morning is the 100th Psalm which was originally written for the people of Israel.
God had basically said to them, “When you come into the promised land, and settle down in your warm homes, and you have plenty to eat…
…don’t forget Me…
…I led you out of the wilderness and I brought you into a land flowing with milk and honey.”
But Israel needed a lot of reminders, and so do we.
I believe God had us in mind, as well, when this Psalm was written.
Notice to whom it is addressed.
The first verse says that it’s addressed to “all the earth,” and the last says that it includes “all generations.”
It is so important for us, physically, psychologically and spiritually to “give thanks” and therefore this Psalm applies to every person of every generation who has ever lived!!!
Webster’s New World Dictionary defines the word Thanksgiving as “a formal public expression of thanks to God.”
And there is something about giving thanks together to God which breaks down barriers between people.
Thanksgiving is something we need!!!
As a matter of fact, a growing body of research has tied an attitude of gratitude with a number of positive emotional and health benefits.
An article in The Wall Street Journal summarized the research like this:
“Adults who frequently feel grateful have more energy, more optimism, more social connections and more happiness than those who do not…
…they are also less likely to be depressed, envious, greedy or alcoholics.
They earn more money, sleep more soundly, exercise more regularly, and have greater resistance to viral infections.”
The article ends with, “The key [to benefiting from an attitude of gratitude] is not to leave it on the Thanksgiving table.”
Psalm 100 is a hymn that was sung while entering the Temple, and it probably was done in connection with a thanksgiving ceremony.
Just look at what Psalm 100 emphasizes…
…let’s just scan the Psalm…
In verse 1 we find the name of the Lord…
In verse 2 we find the name of the Lord…
In verse 3 we find the name of the Lord…
In verse 4 it says, “Enter his gates with thanksgiving…”
In verse 5 we are told “For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”
The basis for our Thanksgiving is “The Lord”!!!
Alex Haley, the author of Roots, had an unusual picture hanging on his office wall.
It was a picture of a turtle on top of a fence post.
When asked, “Why is that there?,” Haley answered, “Every time I write something significant, every time I read my words and think that they are wonderful…
…and I begin to feel proud of myself…
…I look at the turtle on top of the fence post and remember that he didn’t get there on his own.
He had help!”
Verse 3 reminds us, “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.”
Giving thanks to God puts everything else into perspective.
When we give thanks to God for everything we receive…
…whether it be good or bad…
…other things fall into place.
Possessions lose their luster.
Problems don’t seem so big.
In order to live life to the fullest we must be intentional about giving thanks to God in all things.
But sometimes it’s hard to be thankful, especially if we have gotten in the habit of complaining.
A popular comedian did a routine that starts with the line, “Everything’s amazing right now, but nobody’s happy.”
It obviously struck a chord with people—as of this month the clip has had over 4 million views on YOUTUBE.
Here’s what he said to poke fun at our ingratitude and impatience:
“In my lifetime the changes in the world have been incredible.
When I was a kid, we had a rotary phone.
We had a phone you had to stand next to, and you had to dial it.
Do you realize how primitive that was?
Then, if you called somebody and they weren’t home, the phone would just ring lonely by itself.
And then if you wanted money you had to go to the bank—and it was open for like 3 hours, and you’d stand in line and write a check.
And then if you ran out of money, you’d just say: ‘Well, I just can’t do any more things right now.’
Now we live in this amazing, amazing world, and it’s wasted on a generation of spoiled people.”
He goes on, “I was on an airplane, and there was high-speed internet…
…and I’m sitting on the plane, and they say, ‘Open up your laptop, you can go on the internet.’
It’s fast…it’s amazing…
…and then the thing breaks down.
They apologize saying, ‘The internet’s not working.’
And the guy next to me says, ‘O Great! This stinks!’
Like how quickly the world owes him something he knew existed only ten seconds ago!!!”
His mantra continues, “People come back from flights, and they tell you their story, and it’s a horror story…
They say, ‘It was the worst day of my life.
First of all, we didn’t board for twenty minutes.
And then we get on the plane, and they made us sit there on the runway for forty minutes.’”
Then the comedian goes, “And I say, ‘O, really, and what happened next?
Did you fly in the air, incredibly, like a bird?
Did you partake in the miracle of human flight?
Everybody on every plane should be constantly screaming, ‘Wow! We’re flying. We’re sitting in a chair in the sky!!!”
The Hebrew people grumbled constantly during their forty-year wilderness sojourn after Moses led them out of slavery in Egypt.
And their constant complaining is one of the main reasons they had such an awful time getting to the Promised Land.
As a matter of fact, the complainers never did make it at all!!!
And there were plenty of complainers within the crowds of people who followed Jesus around as well.
In John Chapter 6, just a few hours after Jesus feeds the 5,000 people they come back for more.
And instead of expressing humble gratitude for yesterday’s gift of bread and fish, they confront Jesus with an attitude of entitlement with words to this effect: “Moses gave manna to our ancestors. The least you can do is give us another meal.”
Have you ever found yourself busy complaining and demanding?
Does complaining and demanding bring you joy and peace or does it disrupt your walk with God?
The biblical antidote for complaining is giving thanks!!!
And to continually give thanks to God—brings us joy!!!
In a few days many of us will stuff ourselves with turkey…
…nothing wrong with that…
…but we will soon after be hungry again.
Jesus is the Bread of Life, sent from heaven to satisfy the longings of the human soul.
So how about we start stuffing ourselves with the Bread of Life as well as turkey and dressing?
And we do this by reading God’s Word daily and applying it to our lives.
We do this by living what Jesus teaches us.
We do this by putting into practice our love for God and neighbor.
We do this by coming together as a community of faith and worshipping God with other flawed Christians such as ourselves.
We do this by coming to Bible study, Sunday school and the host of other activities offered.
And as we participate in these things the changes and transformation that God makes in our lives and in the lives of those around us provide us with the basis of our thanksgiving!!!
And instead of Thanksgiving just being one forgotten holiday out of the year, it can be everyday!!!
Let us pray.
