Extravagant Thanks
Text: Ezra 3:11-13
Introduction
1. Illustration: Philip Yancey in Leadership states, "Like a victorious locker room, church is a place to exult, to give thanks, to celebrate the great news that all is forgiven, that God is love, that victory is certain."
2. As we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving, and we have plenty to be thankful for, we need to consider what kind of thanks God deserves.
3. Should we...
a. Just say, "Gee, thanks God, good job!"
b. Should we send him a Hallmark card with something sentimental on it?
c. Or does God deserve more than that?
d. Like Philip Yancey states, church should be like a victorious locker room.
e. Ever seen a victorious locker room?
4. God deserves thanksgiving that is...
a. Active Thanks
b. Exuberant Thanks
c. Reasons For Thanks
5. Let's stand as we read together Ezra 3:10-13
Proposition: Let us give God what He deserves; extravagant thanks!
Transition: Our God deserves...
I. Active Thanks (10-11a).
A. With Praise and Thanks
1. So often in church we want to worship the Lord in a way that is comfortable for us. In a way that is safely inside our comfort zone.
2. That means different things for different people.
a. For some that means I'll sing, move my lips and follow the words on the screen, but that's it.
b. For others, they won't even go that far. Singing makes them uncomfortable and they don't like the sound of their voice, and therefore, nobody else wants to hear it either. Thus, for them singing is out of the question.
c. For others, this means moving anything from the neck up, but don't ask them to move anything else.
d. However, in all of this we are asking the wrong question, aren't we? Should the question be what I am comfortable with, or should it be what does God deserve?
e. As with all things we must look for the answers to these questions in the Word of God.
3. The background of our text this morning is the Israelites return after the exile.
a. For them the first order of business is to reconstruct the temple.
b. Worship for them was a top priority, as it should be for us.
c. In this text they are celebrating the completion not of the temple, but merely the completion of the foundation.
d. They was plenty of work yet to do, but for them even the beginning of the completion was a reason to celebrate and give thanks.
4. In verse 10 we read, "When the builders completed the foundation of the LORD’s Temple, the priests put on their robes and took their places to blow their trumpets. And the Levites, descendants of Asaph, clashed their cymbals to praise the LORD, just as King David had prescribed."
a. Now the first thing that we should notice is that they went out of their way to give thanks to God.
b. The priests didn't just come in with their everyday clothes on, but rather they put on special robes whose sole purpose was to be used in worship. They got out of their comfort zone.
c. The next thing that we notice was that they used musical instruments to worship the Lord.
d. However, I want us to play special attention to what kind of instruments they used - trumpets and cymbals.
e. They were loud instruments!!
f. When I used to play in a band we used to say, "If it's too loud, you're too old!"
g. We should also notice that all of this was "just as Kind David had prescribed."
h. It was written down that this is how you should give thanks to the Lord.
5. Now let's take a look at what they did next, "With praise and thanks, they sang this song to the LORD..."
a. They are two interesting words that are used in this verse to describe their worship.
b. praise: to shine; hence to make a show, to boast; and thus to be (clamorously) foolish (Strong's Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary).
c. Now I don't know about you, but that does not sound to me like they sat there with long looks on their faces and folded their hands!
d. They got out of their comfort zones and were willing to look foolish if necessary in order to give thanks to God.
e. thanks: literal to use (i.e. hold out) the hand (Strong's Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary).
f. The basic difference between this verb and its synonym, hālal, is that the latter term tends to stress "acclaim of," "boasting of," or "glorying in" an object, while yādâ emphasizes "recognition" and "declaration" of a fact (Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament).
g. Illustration: One of my classmates in Bible college once told me, "You can raise your hands to praise the Lord, but I'm never going to do it!" My response to him was, "But that's what the Bible tells us to do!" He said, "I don't care." I thought to myself, how sad!
h. The phrase, "they sang this song to the Lord," is literally "they sang responsively to the Lord."
i. In order to do anything responsively requires doing something. You have to respond; you must do something!
B. Heart, Soul, Mind
1. Illustration: Ben Merold said this about worship: "In most churches we have the preacher performing, with God as the prompter, and the people as the audience. In truth, worship should be the people performing, with the preacher as the prompter, and God as the audience."
2. We must give thanks to God with our whole being.
a. Deuteronomy 6:5 (NLT)
And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.
b. We cannot just thank him from the neck up.
c. We must worship him with our lips and our voices.
d. We must also worship Him with our hands.
e. We must also worship Him with our feet.
f. We must worship Him with our minds and our emotions.
g. We can leave nothing out and we can hold nothing back!
3. We must give thanks to God by lifting our hands.
a. Psalm 63:4 (NLT)
I will praise you as long as I live, lifting up my hands to you in prayer.
b. Lifting our hands to Him is an act of adoration.
c. Lifting our hands to Him is an act of surrender.
d. Lifting our hands to Him is an act of dependence.
e. Lifting our hands to Him is an act of obedience to the Word of God.
f. Lift your hands and worship the Lord!
4. We must give thanks to God by clapping our hands.
a. Psalm 47:1 (NLT)
Come, everyone! Clap your hands! Shout to God with joyful praise!
b. We clap our hands when someone scores a touchdown.
c. We clap our hands when someone sings or plays a good song.
d. We clap our hands when we agree with something someone has said.
e. So why don't we clap our hands in church?
f. If those things are worthy of clapping then surely the King of Kings and Lord of Lord's, the Creator of the Universe, our Savior and Redeemer is worthy for us to clap our hands!
5. We must give thanks to God with our feet!
a. 2 Samuel 6:14 (NLT)
And David danced before the LORD with all his might, wearing a priestly garment.
b. We used to sing a song that said, "When the Spirit of the Lord moves in my heart I will dance as David danced."
c. Now I know some of you are saying, "Wait a minuet preacher, I don't dance!"
d. No one said it had to be pretty!
e. No one said you had to be a candidate for Dancing with the Stars!
f. It's not the quality of the dance that is important; it's the quality of your heart that matters!
Transition: Our God deserves...
II. Exuberant Thanks (11c-13).
A. A Great Shout
1. Another aspect of giving thanks has to do with exuberance.
2. We get exuberant about lots of things in life.
a. Ever watched The Price Is Right? Those people are beyond exuberant; they are down right ridiculous!
b. Ever seen what people do to a city when their team wins the Super Bowl? They throw parties, have parades, and make a big mess.
c. Joe Jerevicious, former player for the Browns and a native of Cleveland, said that if the Browns ever do win the Super Bowl they will burn down the city!
3. Now, if we are willing to get exuberant about things that are here today and gone tomorrow, why is it too much to ask for us to get exuberant about the One who saved, healed us, and filled us with the Holy Spirit?
4. The end of verse 11 says, "Then all the people gave a great shout, praising the LORD because the foundation of the LORD’s Temple had been laid."
a. The Hebrew says, "they shouted with a great shout."
b. If you think that this is just a figure of speech, let me reassure that it is not. The means "to split the ears with sound (Strong's Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary).
c. Now I see no indication in the text that says, "and they were quiet and reserved!"
d. No, because they were thankful for what the Lord had done.
e. He had not only allowed them to return to their homeland through miraculous means, but He had given them the ability to once again have the foundation of the temple in place.
f. They expressed this thanks through exuberant means.
5. However, there is another reason that we can be certain that the "shout with a great shout" was not a figure of speech. It says, "But many of the older priests, Levites, and other leaders who had seen the first Temple wept aloud when they saw the new Temple’s foundation. The others, however, were shouting for joy.
The joyful shouting and weeping mingled together in a loud noise that could be heard far in the distance."
a. Verse 12 tells us that the older people in the assembly were greatly disappointed to see the foundation of the temple laid.
b. We are not told exactly why they were disappointed, but more than likely they were disappointed that they couldn't possibly match the splendor or beauty of the first temple.
c. They stones they had to work with couldn't even compare with the massive ones that Solomon had used.
d. They were limited as to the gold, silver, and precious stones that they could used in comparison to what was available to Solomon's temple.
e. However, we should notice that the joyful shouting of those who were praising and thanking God overwhelmed the cries of disappointment.
f. So much so that people that heard in in the distance couldn't distinguish between the two.
g. Furthermore, the sound that they made could be heard from far away (Fensham, 65).
h. Wouldn't it be great, if when we worship the Lord with praise and thanksgiving, that people could hear it from miles away?
B. Joyful Praise
1. Illustration: It’s the only type of cooking a "real man" will do. When a man volunteers to do the ’BBQ’ the following chain of events is put into motion:
a. The woman goes to the store.
b. The woman fixes the salad, vegetables, and dessert.
c. The woman prepares the meat for cooking, places it on a tray along with the necessary cooking utensils, and takes it to the man, who is lounging beside the grill.
d. The man places the meat on the grill.
e. The woman goes inside to set the table and check the vegetables.
f. The woman comes out to tell the man that the meat is burning.
g. The man takes the meat off the grill and hands it to the woman.
h. The woman prepares the plates and brings them to the table.
i. After eating, the woman clears the table and does the dishes.
j. Everyone praises the man and thanks him for his cooking efforts.
k. The man asks the woman how she enjoyed "her night off." And, upon seeing her annoyed reaction, concludes that there’s just no pleasing some women.
l. You ever wonder if that is how God feels sometimes? He gives us so much and we offer so little in return.
2. We should joyfully thank the Lord.
a. Psalm 95:1-3 (NLT)
1 Come, let us sing to the LORD! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come to him with thanksgiving. Let us sing psalms of praise to him.
3 For the LORD is a great God, a great King above all gods.
b. God has given us every reason to shout joyfully to Him.
c. He meets all our needs.
d. He fills our life with goodness.
e. He protects and defends us.
f. Let us shout joyfully to the Lord!
3. We should joyfully thank the Lord because He has made us His own.
a. Psalm 100:1-3 (NLT)
1 Shout with joy to the LORD, all the earth!
2 Worship the LORD with gladness. Come before him, singing with joy.
3 Acknowledge that the LORD is God! He made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
b. We should joyfully thank Him that He has accepted us as His people.
c. We should joyfully thank Him because He has forgives us of our sins.
d. We should joyfully thank Him because He has given us new life.
e. We should joyfully thank Him because He graciously accepts us in spite of our sins, short comings, and failures.
Transition: Now let talk about why we should thank Him.
III. Reasons For Thanks (11b).
A. For He Is Good
1. There are so many reasons to be thankful to God. The list is endless!
2. However, our text today gives two very specific reasons to be thankful.
3. First it says, “He is so good!"
a. The first reason that they give for praising and thanking God is His goodness.
b. Yahweh's goodness can be expressed in a number of different ways.
c. First, He is good based on His character.
d. This express that His goodness is simply a part of who He is, and the Bible tells us that there is nothing in Him that is bad.
e. Contrary to us, who are prone to jealousy, hatred, envy, lust, and coveting, God has no such quality in Him.
f. He plainly doesn't know how to be anything but good because He is inherently good.
g. God cannot lie, cheat, or be unfair.
h. However, there is another aspect to God's goodness. He is not only good in character, but also good in action.
i. Everything that He does is good! Furthermore, because He is good and does good, He gives us everything that is good.
j. God blesses us with abilities and talents that enable us to earn a living.
k. Therefore, everything that we have, and everything that we are, we owe to God's goodness.
l. Moreover, because He is good and gives us everything that is good, we know that we can depend on Him to take care of us and meet our needs.
4. The second reason we are given to be thankful is "His faithful love for Israel endures forever!”
a. The idea being expressed here has to do with God's covenant with Israel.
b. It is a love based not on feelings, but on commitment.
c. God made a covenant with Israel and He remained faithful to that covenant even when they didn't.
d. Notice also that God's goodness doesn't have an expiration date.
e. His endures forever...a time from without an end.
f. He doesn't stop loving us because He doesn't feel like it.
g. He doesn't stop loving us because we hurt His feelings.
h. He doesn't stop loving us because we didn't do something.
i. He loves us no matter what!
j. The reason for this has to do with the fact that it is His faithfulness that matters.
B. Blessings of God
1. Illustration: One of the great hymns of the church says, "Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father; There is no shadow of turning with Thee; Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not; As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be. Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed Thy hand hath provided; Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!
2. We should thank the Lord for His faithfulness.
a. Psalm 100:4-5 (NLT)
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the LORD is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation.
b. Faithful is God's middle name.
c. He doesn't know how to be unfaithful because it is a part of His character.
d. He is faithful in good times and in bad.
e. He is faithful in winter and in summer.
f. He is faithful even when we are not.
3. We should thank the Lord for His goodness.
a. Psalm 103:1-2 (NLT)
1 Let all that I am praise the LORD; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.
2 Let all that I am praise the LORD; may I never forget the good things he does for me.
b. He provides for us.
c. He protects us.
d. He saves us.
e. He heals us.
f. He has mercy on us.
g. He loves us.
Transition: Thank you Lord Jesus because your faithful love endures throughout every generation.
Conclusion
1. God deserves thanksgiving that is...
a. Active Thanks
b. Exuberant Thanks
c. Reasons For Thanks
2. How thankful are you today?
3. What are you willing to do to show your thankfulness?
4. Proposition: Let us give God what He deserves; extravagant thanks!
