GOD’S GUIDELINES FOR THANKSGIVING
Deuteronomy 16:9-12
Intro: One day Bill was hunting in the woods. It had been a slow day and he had yet to shoot any game. Suddenly, he heard a noise behind him. He whirled around and saw a ferocious mountain lion only 20 yards away. Bill quickly raised his rifle to his shoulder, took aim and pulled the trigger. Click. The rifle didn’t fire. Click… click… click. Again, nothing - the gun was malfunctioning. By this time, the mountain lion had started toward Bill. In desperation, he threw down his rifle and ran.
Faster and faster he ran, with the mountain lion chasing him. The faster Bill ran, the more the mountain lion gained on him Finally Bill came to the edge of a cliff. There was nowhere to go, so he dropped to his knees and began to pray. “O Lord, I pray that this mountain lion is a Christian.”
As Bill looked up, he was surprised to see the mountain lion kneeling just a few feet away, praying, “Dear Lord, I pray that you’ll bless this food that I’m about to partake to the nourishment of my body…”
. We all give thanks in different ways don’t we.
.The holiday season is upon us and it starts this week with thanksgiving.
. Thanksgiving is different from all the other holidays that we celebrate. It doesn’t commemorate a battle or anyone’s birthday. It is simply a day set aside to express our thanks to God. Did you know that in 1789, George Washington made a public proclamation saying that, “it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor?” He recommended and assigned Thursday, the 26th day of November 1789 to be a day of Thanksgiving.
. The first American Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621, to commemorate the harvest reaped by the Plymouth Colony after a harsh winter. In that year Governor William Bradford proclaimed a day of thanksgiving. The colonists celebrated it as a traditional English harvest feast, to which they invited the local Wampanoag Indians.
. By the mid–1800s, many states observed a Thanksgiving holiday. Meanwhile, the poet and editor Sarah J. Hale had begun lobbying for a national Thanksgiving holiday. During the Civil War , President Abraham Lincoln, looking for ways to unite the nation, discussed the subject with Hale. In 1863 he gave his Thanksgiving Proclamation, declaring the last Thursday in November a day of thanksgiving.
. We like to think of a day of thanksgiving as an American tradition. It is not. Many many years before our country was founded, in the deserts of the Middle East, God introduced days of thanksgiving to the children of Israel.
. God called them feasts. These feasts were set aside for the purpose of acknowledging God and giving thanks for what He had done for His people.
. In our scripture this morning, God gives instructions to the children of Israel on how they are to celebrate these days of Thanksgiving.
. Deut. 16:9-12, 9“Count off seven weeks from when you first begin to cut the grain at the time of harvest.10Then celebrate the kFestival of Harvest to honor the LORD your God. Bring him a voluntary offering in proportion to the blessings you have received from him.11This is a time to celebrate before the LORD your God at the designated place of worship he will choose for his name to be honored. Celebrate with your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, the Levites from your towns, and the foreigners, orphans, and widows who live among you.12Remember that you were once slaves in Egypt, so be careful to obey all these decrees.
. Notice that this time of year was a time of celebration for the Jewish people.
. The crops have been harvested and stored up and it was time to give thanks to God.
. We see the word celebrate in the four verse three times.
. When God says something three times, it means that we are to pay close attention to what He is saying.
. God say’s that you have worked hard, you have followed me and I have blessed you, now it is time to celebrate.
. Then God goes on to tell us just how we are to celebrate or observe this time of thanksgiving.
. The fist thing that God tells us to do is WORSHIP
. vs 11 says; 11This is a time to celebrate before the LORD your God at the designated place of worship he will choose for his name to be honored.
. The designated place for the children of Israel was at the tabernacle.
. They would bring their offerings to the priests to be sacrificed to God. This was their mode of worship.
. In our thanksgiving celebration, we are to worship the God who has provided for us.
. We are gathered here this morning to do just that.
. I hope that you are here this morning to worship God and thank Him for what He has done for you.
. That is truly what thanksgiving is for.
. Let me read again what George Washington said in his proclamation: “it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor?
.We are here this morning because it is our usual time of worship and we call this our thanksgiving service. Sadly, this Thursday, the day set aside for this celebration many will never give thought to why our nation is so blessed. Why we individually are so blessed by God.
. Our worship on this day turns to sports and recreation and shopping.
. I challenge you this thanksgiving folks. On Thursday, the day set aside for our celebration of thanks to God, spend some time with Him that day.
. I know we all get busy and all kinds of things are going on but don’t be like Martha the sister of Lazarus was when there was an opportunity to sit at the feet of Jesus and worship Him.
. Let me share that story with you. Luke 10:38-42;
. As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home.39Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught.40But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.”
41But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details!42There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.
. Sound familiar, we get so busy in meals and all the hubub that goes on that we forget that we need to worship the one who is truly the provider and worthy of our thanks.
. In our thanksgiving celebration we are to worship God.
. Next we see that in our thanksgiving celebration that we are to celebrate with Family.
. The second part of verse 11 says: Celebrate with your sons and daughters.
. Thanksgiving is a time of celebration with Family.
. God said to gather your family together and celebrate what I have done for you.
. Enjoy each other. Share with each other.
. Family was very important to the Jewish people. Family held their society together.
. The deterioration of our society today can be linked to the deterioration of the family.
. We have single parents doing the job of what two parents are supposed to be doing.
. God says that family is important, so much so that I command you to spend time with them.
. You know many of us take family for granted don’t we.
. God says take time to spend with your family. Take this time to grow closer .
. Be thankful that you can see and hug each other.
. A 12 year old boy named David was born without an immune system. He underwent a bone marrow transplant in order to correct the deficiency. Up to that point he had spent his entire life in a plastic bubble in order to prevent exposure to common germs, bacteria, and viruses that could kill him. He lived without ever knowing human contact.
When asked what he’d like to do if and when released from his protective bubble, he replied, "I want to walk barefoot on grass, and touch my mother’s hand." [we take so much for granted!]
. Folks God says celebrate with your family. Enjoy each other this thanksgiving season.
. Not only are we to celebrate thanksgiving through worship and time with family we are to spend time with the community.
. The last part of verse 11 say’s:
Celebrate with your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, the Levites from your towns, and the foreigners, orphans, and widows who live among you.
. Not only are we to celebrate with family but we are to celebrate with our fellow man.
. Let the community know what God has done for you.
. What a wonderful time to share with others why we are thankful today.
. With all the economic woes that surround us today, people are looking for a good word .
. Some Good News. Folks we have the best news in the world to share.
. People are looking for hope, sadly they are looking in the wrong places.
. “In September of 2006, following a desperately sad childhood that saw both drug-addicted parents murdered and the care of her younger siblings left in her hands, 16-year-old Sacia Flowers decided to write to J. K. Rowling. In her heartfelt letter, she spoke of her love for the Harry Potter series and the empathy she felt for Harry given their upbringings; mentioned the bullying she experienced throughout school and her inability to make friends due to her insecurities; and then thanked the author for 'lending me your hero and his world' during such a tough time.
. If a make believe hero like Harry Potter can give people hope, think of what Jesus Christ can do for them.
. We need to share the good news about the reason for our thanksgiving with the community.
. We need to have a burden to share our good news with others.
. Shortly after coming to Christ, Sadhu Sundar a Hindu convert to Christ felt called to become a missionary to India. Late one afternoon Sadhu was traveling on foot through the Himalayas with a Buddhist monk. It was bitterly cold and the wind felt like sharp blades slicing into Sadhu’s skin. Night was approaching fast when the monk warned Sadhu that they were in danger of freezing to death if they did not reach the monastery before darkness fell.
Just as they were traversing a narrow path above a steep cliff, they heard a cry for help. Down the cliff lay a man, fallen and badly hurt. The monk looked at Sadhu and said, “Do not stop. God has brought this man to his fate. He must work it out for himself.” The he quickly added while walking on, “Let us hurry on before we , too, perish.”
But Sadhu replied, “God has sent me here to help my brother. I cannot abandon him.”
The monk continued trudging off through the whirling snow, while the missionary clambered down the steep embankment. The man’s leg was broken and he could not walk. So Sadhu took his blanket, made a sling of it. And tied the man on his back. Then, bending under his burden, he began a body-torturing climb. By the time he reached the narrow path again, he was drenched in perspiration.
Doggedly, he made his way through the deepening snow and darkness. It was all he could do to follow the path. But he persevered, though faint with fatigue and overheated form exertion. Finally he saw ahead the lights of the monastery.
Then, for the first time, Sadhu stumbled and nearly fell. But not from weakness. He had stumbled over an object lying in ht e snow-covered road. Slowly he bent down on one knee and brushed the snow off the object. It was the body of the monk, frozen to death.
Years later a disciple of Sadhu’s asked him, “What is life’s most difficult task?”
Without hesitation Sadhu replied: “To have no burden to carry.”
. Sadu’s burden was to share the faith hope and love of Jesus Christ to his community.
. God says that in this time of celebration, share this faith and hope and love with the community.
. We are commanded to worship, spend time with Family, Share with the community and finally we are commanded to:
. REMEMBER what God has done for us.
. vs 12 says: 12Remember that you were once slaves in Egypt, so be careful to obey all these decrees.
. God was telling the children of Israel to remember what I have done for you.
. I delivered you out of the land of Egypt. I have chosen you to be my people and I have promised you that I will give you a new land. A land that that will be perfect for you.
. Remember what I promised to you through your forefathers.
. Remember what I have done for you.
. Today, if you are here and are a Christian, God says remember what I have done for you.
. I made myself man, giving up my right to be God so that I could come and give myself over to take your punishment for sin.
. I made a way for you to be reconciled to me through my own blood on the cross.
. Eliminating the shedding of blood for the forgiveness of sin.
. My shed blood takes care of that once and for all.
. Remember
. I have a question for you this morning. Do you remember telling Jesus that you accept that sacrifice for the forgiveness of your sins.
. If not, all you can possibly do this thanksgiving is spend time with family
. In order to worship, share and remember what Jesus has done for us we must accept Him as our savior and give our lives to Him.
. Have you done that today?
*** To my Christian brothers and sisters, thank you for taking the time to read this sermon. I ask that you take another second and score this for me. I am always open to feedback so that I can continue to grow in the proclamation of God’s word.
May God Bless You This Holiday Season
. Sources
The Holy Bible, NLT
Tom Shepard
Andrew Chan
Jerry Shirley
