What Will It Take?
What Will It Take For Me To Sincerely Give God Thanks?
Scriptures: James 2:19; Ephesians 5:20; 1 Thess. 5:18; Daniel 3:16-18
Introduction
We have just celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday. This holiday is about taking time to reflect on the blessings that we have received and for remembering things that we are truly thankful for. It is not a religious holiday per se, but received as a day for everyone regardless of their culture, and/or religious backgrounds can celebrate. However, for us, it has a special meaning as we have a whole lot to be thankful for as Christians.
This morning I am starting a short series to close out 2011. This series is titled “What Will It Take….?” and I will add different actions each week to conclude the question. As we are closing out this year, I want to speak to us as it relates to our personal relationship with God. For this reason, I will be making several assumptions. The first assumption is that we believe in God and have some type of relationship with Him. The second assumption is that we know and trust God. Now you may be wondering if the first and second assumptions are the same and the short answer is no. You can believe in God without knowing and trusting Him. James speaks to this when he said in James 2:19 “You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.” The demons believe in God and the relationship that they have with Him is not a very good one to say the least. So believing in God and having a relationship with Him is one thing, but knowing and trusting Him is something else altogether because it implies an intimacy within the relationship. With these two assumptions made, I want you to consider this morning “What it will take for us to give God thanks with a sincere and grateful heart?”
Our Scriptural references this morning will come from Ephesians 5:20 and 1 Thessalonians 5:18. Ephesians 5:20 states “Always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father.” I want you to focus on two words, “always” and “all”. The Greek word for always in this verse means “all the time and for evermore.” The word “all” is very inclusive to include everything and every situation. From this the idea is presented that we should always be in a state of mind of thanksgiving, especially as it relates to our giving thanks to God in every situation and/or circumstance.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 states “In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Paul essentially says the same thing he said to the Church at Ephesus but he adds an additional statement. He says that it is God's will that we should always be in a mindset of giving thanks in Christ Jesus. This mindset should be constant, but is it often not that way in our Christian walk. What will it take for all of us to give God thanks with a sincere heart?
I. False Thanksgiving
Before I go further, I want to clarify what I believe is sincere thanks versus the false thanks that we sometimes give to God. To do this I want to take you back down memory lane (which for some of us could be just yesterday.) When I was younger I had two older brothers and two younger sisters living in our house. As you would expect, there were times when we would get on each others’ nerves, especially me and my brother Delrick. My father once told me that every time he turned around Delrick and I were fighting (I do not remember it but I will assume that I was victorious even though he was older! Delrick as you read this I know you will have a different opinion and/or memory.) Anyway, there were times when I would have to apologize for doing something to one of my siblings. Now notice I said that I would have to apologize. These apologies were not given because I was sorry, hurt and ashamed of what I did; they were given because I had to and I did not want to experience the results of not giving it after I was told to apologize. In a perfect world I would have recognized my fault and came to the realization that I needed to apologize without being told to, but I did not live in a perfect world and I needed help. So as you would expect, I said the words as I was directed with no sincerity, feeling or love behind them. As a matter of fact, even as I was apologizing I was probably planning my next attack which would probably land me on the corporal punishment side of an apology. The way I would give those apologies is the same way we oftentimes give God thanks. We give thanks because someone told us to. Some one tells us to stand up and give God praise and we do it because we do not want to be that person still sitting while everyone else is up and praising God. We also give God thanks because we have been taught to give it at certain times. We give it because that is what is supposed to happen in certain situations. This is not the thanks giving that Paul wrote about or what God expects from us. The giving of thanks that God expects from us is one that comes from a sincere heart and is consistent.
II. Situational Christians
In this series I will focus on similar themes in some aspect of the messages. For example, in every message of this series the issue of our being situational Christians will be consistent. So what is a “situational Christian?” This is the term I will be using for how we choose to respond to or decide “What Will It Take” for us to do something. A situational Christian is one who responds to God according to the situation. Whatever the situations warrants, that is how they respond to God. Let me see try and clarify this for you.
When I asked the question, “What will it take for us to sincerely give God thanks?” my mind goes to situations. When I sit down to a meal, I bless the food and give God thanks for it – regardless of how minor the meal is or where I am at when I sit down to it. It does not matter who is around me I will always give God thanks for my meal. Now here is where it becomes situational. Am I really giving God thanks because I am consciously thankful for the meal that He has provided? Do I think about the fact that I was hungry and now I have something to eat and I thank Him for providing it? Or do I do it because I have been trained to do it and I feel obligated to do it at every meal? Finally, is this something that I do because I give God thanks for everything everyday in every situation? I wish I could say it was the latter, but in actuality it is more like because I feel obligated to do it and I do want to give Him thanks. My desire is to have the mindset of giving thanks at all times and for everything, regardless of whether it is something big or small.
Here is what I want you to consider as you think about being a situational Christian. In my original question, I asked what it will take for you and me to sincerely give God thanks. This is the thanks that come from deep within. To determine if you’re operating as a situational Christian, consider the following:
1. Do you give God thanks when you’re going through something or when you are coming out of it? There is a difference. If you’re giving God thanks along the way before the outcome is seen, you’re operating from a place where God wants us to be. If you’re giving God thanks only when the outcome is known (and it is good to give Him thanks then too) your thanks will tend to be more aligned with the outcome. A situational Christian responds to God with thanks based on the situation and it outcome.
2. Do you give God thanks when the sun is shining only or can you give Him thanks in your darkest hour? Another situation that test Christians. We have been taught to thank God for the blessings and the good things and to be quiet when we are struggling. This places us in the position where we are always waiting for the good or the desirable outcome before we can begin to give Him thanks.
In each of these situations the question of “when” the thanks are given determines if you’re operating as a situational Christian as it relates to giving God thanks. What will it take for us to give God true, sincere thanks on a constant basis as Paul references?
III. Choosing To Always Be Thankful
As you have heard me say many times before, giving thanks to God with a sincere heart is a choice. In making this choice, my focus in this message is the “when”. There is a difference between always being thankful and giving God thanks in “certain” situations. Let me give you two examples.
When I was a teenager I would sometimes visit the sick with my father. When we would enter the hospital room or visit the person at their home, most of these people would smile and give God praise. They praised and thanked God despite their circumstances. They praised and thanked God during the illness even when they did not recover. They chose not to miss the opportunity to be thankful and to give God the recognition He deserved. We have been trained to give God thanks when the outcome is known. We are taught to give a testimony at the end of a situation, not while we are going through it. Yes it is a powerful testimony when we can stand up and speak to what God “has done” in our life and give the specifics of how He has brought us through. But I would place before you that it is an even more powerful testimony when we can be thankful and give the testimony while we are yet going through. Our thanks at this point are based on our faith in what God is doing versus waiting for Him to do it. This is a concern for some because if it does not work out as they expect then their testimony would be null and void. This is what we have been taught. I want you to unlearn this thinking. Our being thankful should not be based on the outcome, but on knowing that regardless of the outcome we still serve a mighty God. We can always give God thanks but it requires us making the choice.
Do you remember the story of the three Hebrew boys from the book of Daniel? Do you recall what they told the king when he threatened to throw them into the furnace that was blazing with fire? In the story these boys were singled out by their enemies in an attempt to have them killed “legally” because they were jealous of the position that the boys held with King Nebuchadnezzar. When they were brought before the king, he asked them to bow before the golden image that he had created. He threatened them with death in the furnace if they did not worship the image that he created. Let’s pick up their response in Daniel 3:16-18. “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. If it be so, our God who we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
Their testimony was different from what we are accustomed to seeing. They confessed that God was able to save them from the king but even if God did not do it, they would still stand for Him and worship Him and not the gods of the king. They took a stance that was based on their belief in God even when threatened with death. The king was so mad that he had the fire heated up seven times hotter than normal and had them cast into the furnace. You know how the story ended. The three Hebrew boys were thrown into the fire where I believe Jesus joined them and then they walked out. There was a force field placed around them to the point that the fire did not touch them nor did they smell like they had been in a furnace. When they stood before the king they did not know what the outcome would be, but they knew what their response had to be as they were servants of the Most High God. They made a choice to stand for God in every situation. Just like these boys, we too should make the choice to stand for God and always be thankful regardless of what we are dealing with because we know we serve a mighty God. If we take the stance that we will be thankful only after we see the results we are missing a lot of opportunities to worship our Father. When the results do come and they are not what we want, do we still praise God and give Him thanks? Not according to what we have been taught. I want to share one more story with you as I close out this message. Turn to Luke 17:11-19.
IV. Are You The One Or The Nine?
“While He was on the way to Jerusalem He was passing between Samaria and Galilee. As He entered a village, ten leprous men who stood at a distance met Him; and they raised their voices, saying, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!’ When He saw them, He said to them, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priest.’ And as they were going, they were cleansed. Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered and said, ‘Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine, where are they? Was no one found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?’ And He said to him, ‘Stand up and go; your faith has made you well.” (Luke 17:11-10)
Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem when ten lepers saw Him and cried out to Him for mercy. Jesus heard their cry and responded to them. He told them to go and show themselves to the priests who had the authority to announce them as being cured and thus allowed to re-enter society. As they were on their way, they were all healed. One of the lepers, a Samaritan, turned around and came back to Jesus to give thanks. He fell on his face at Jesus’ feet thanking Him for his healing. He was the only one to stop, turn around and goes back to give thanks after realizing he was healed. The other nine did not come back. What is interesting in this story is who decided to come back. The Samaritan, the one who would have been an outcast to the Jews even if he did not have leprosy, was the one to come back and give thanks. He would have been someone who might have questioned if Jesus would have healed him since he was a Samaritan and Jesus was a Jew. The others, who were possibly Jews, did not come back to say thanks as if it was expected that Jesus would heal them because they were Jews (this is my supposition only). If this is truly the case, it paints a vivid picture of how we respond to God. We are so used to God blessing us that we do not thank Him for the small things, but focus on the big things that He does in our life. Those big things in our mind are more worthy of the thanks we give God. If this is our mindset, we are the nine and not the one. This morning when you got up, ate breakfast, dressed yourself, came to Church and are sitting here right now – are you the one or part of the nine?
Something to Think About
When we choose to give God thanks is as important in my mind as the thanks we give Him. If we come to the knowledge that we should give God thanks for everything and in every situation, then we can begin to appreciate Him for everything He is doing on our behalf, but more so because of whom He is. We sincerely thank one another more often than we sincerely thank God. What will it take for us to sincerely begin to thank God for everything and not just the big things? Do you have to be healed for a severe sickness? Do you have to have a great job? Does it have to be “testimonial material” before you can sincerely thank Him? What is your requirement? I will leave you where I started, “What it will take for you to give God thanks from a sincere and grateful heart?”
“Always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father.” (Ephesians 5:20)
“In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18)
Next week I will focus on what it will take for us to go to God in prayer. Have a very blessed week!
