THANKSLIVING
INTRODUCTION: Thanksgiving; the day we set aside to give thanks for all we have...that is before we head off to the Black Friday sales! Although I'm glad we have a national holiday dedicated to being thankful, spending only one day recognizing all the reasons we have to be thankful is not enough. God's intention is that we would be in a continual mindset of giving thanks. Therefore, we need to be people who are thanksliving.
1) Instead of thanksgiving it's thanks...give me!
Greed, discontent, having an entitlement attitude, having a spirit of demandingness; all this is not a spirit of thanksgiving. When we have this negative spirit the word, "thanks" doesn't cross our mind.
"A man was visiting some friends and he had taken along his young daughter. The man's friend brought out a couple of little fun-size candy bars for the young lass. When she didn't say anything the embarrassed father said, "Honey, what do you say?" With sincerity, she looked at the man and said, "You got any more?"
That might sound like some of us. We accept something from someone without a 'thank you'. We receive something and we think, 'is that it?' For some, their relationship with people is predominately in what they can get from them. And their relationship with God is no different.
Rom. 1:21, "For although they knew God they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened."
When I know who God is but fail to praise him and thank him then there's something wrong with the way I think. My way of thinking is that somehow God is there to be my spiritual Santa Claus who's duty is to fulfill my wish list. When I don't see God in the proper light or respect him for who he is; when I'm not thankful toward God (and others for that matter) darkness has invaded my foolish heart. This is all part of the unholy trinity-me, myself and I. Entitlement mentality: "I'm owed", "I deserve", "You need to give me", phrases like this.
I can be fooled; I think I'm thankful but the question is-how have I shown that I am thankful? How often do I literally say, "thank you" to God and others? How often do I do things to show that I'm appreciative? People who help you out in any way do you say and show you are thankful? Those who get rides to church do you say thank you? Do you offer gas money or offer your services in some way as a declaration of your gratitude? What about when God answers prayer? Do we remember to say, 'thank you'?
During WWII, many churches were kept open 24 hours a day so people could come and pray for loved ones on the battlefront. A caretaker in one of those churches notices a boy who came in every day for about 10 minutes. After several weeks, the youngster came in and stayed much longer. The concerned caretaker spoke to him, asking him why he was there so long today. He replied, "Each day I came in here for a few minutes to ask God to bring my father home safely. This morning he did, so I hurried over here to thank the Lord for answering my prayer." We can be focused on asking the Lord for things but are we as diligent in thanking him? For some people, God will get all the blame when things go wrong but none of the credit when things go right. Thankful people say and show they are thankful.
2) What is involved in living thankfully?
• Humility.
In this I see my utter dependence on God. And in that I will be ever so thankful when he blesses me. When I see that he is the giver of all good gifts and he is the great provider I will acknowledge him more. In humility I see that I am undeserving of all the blessings God gives me.
Deut. 8:10-14, "When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery."
Such is the danger in not being thankful-forgetfulness. To not remember that God is the reason and the source of all good gifts and blessings will lead to me stop thanking him. I might thank him initially but I will not thank him continually. My heart will grow prideful and comfortable. When I forget where I came from and how things used to be I will cease to be thankful. When God rescues me from the pit of despair I am thankful. But after a while, when I am doing better, I might think I've arrived and I'm all that. And I believe if I get all high and mighty God will remind me of where I came from and how I was not able to get it together until God came along and lifted me up. And then, in my humility I am thankful all over again. If I am going to live thankfully I need to be humble.
• Contentment.
Last week, in my sermon on overcoming anxiety, I shared Phil. 4:6, "Do not be anxious for anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." When we are tempted to be anxious about something we should bring it to God in prayer. But when we pray, we need to show thanks, not just present our requests. Sometimes when we petition God to move in our situation we're like, "God, you need to do something now!" God might understand a plea of desperation but if it's said in a demanding way then we are lacking a spirit of thanksgiving.
And in that we are lacking contentment. Paul went on to say in verses 10-13, "I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength."
Paul was like, "I appreciate what you did for me and I just want you to know I wasn't panicking about your inability to help me until now. I've been in worse situations and I've been in better ones. And in every situation I've learned to give it to the Lord instead of being anxious; I focus on what there is to be thankful for." The secret to contentment is found in trusting Christ and having a Sprit of thanksgiving; no matter what's going on and regardless of what I have or don't have. Paul's ability to be content was not because he had everything in the world; but because he had everything in Christ.
A man tells this story, "As I was walking along a busy street today I heard someone singing above the noise of the traffic. It wasn't loud singing, but like he was singing to himself, but I could hear it. Then I saw him. He was pushing himself along in his wheelchair. I caught up to him and said, "A man in a wheelchair singing gives everyone who hears it a lift." He answered, "When I stopped looking at what I had lost, and began looking at all I had left, I could sing again."
Will we focus on what we don't have or will we be thankful for what we still do have? Not that we don't strive to better our lives but if we're content we will be patient as we wait upon the Lord for the increase and we'll be thankful for the blessings he has already given us.
• Generosity.
If I understand that I am blessed my gratitude will prompt me first to be generous towards God. Next, I will be generous towards God's people. An article I read stated, "We've broken the old rule of how to handle blessings: "Increase your standard of giving, not your standard of living." In the scriptures we see that stewardship, not ownership, is the plan God has for our possessions. The hallmark of ownership is worry and the hallmark of stewardship is thanksgiving."
2nd Cor. 9:11, "You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God." The proof of our thankfulness is seen in our willingness, and eagerness, to do for God. When God blesses us, saying, 'thank you' is only part of what our response should be. We should follow up our, 'thank you' with, 'now, what do you want me to do for you'.
And God will always say, "pay it forward". Go out and bless someone who needs it. Give to those in need, help the helpless, encourage the discouraged, be a companion to the lonely, be a listener to the sad and depressed. Show me that you are grateful for what I have done for you.
Are you thankful that God sent people to us when we needed someone? Then go and do likewise. "But why should I? There were times when I needed someone and no one came". Then you know first-hand how it feels so let that motivate you to not allow it to happen to someone else. A thankful person is generous toward God by being generous toward others with their resources.
• Being thankful even in difficult times.
In the times of Habakkuk the prophet God's people had been taken into captivity by the Babylonians. Things were not good but Habakkuk still rejoiced.
Hab. 3:17-19, "Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights."
Habakkuk didn't lose faith and trust in God. He knew that regardless of how bleak things looked God was his strength and he would enable him to rise above it. That's what it's going to take in order to be thankful in difficult times.
"Though there's no money in the bank and the food is running out and the bills are piling up-still I will praise you Lord." "Although I'm discouraged and depressed and lonely...still I will be joyful in God." Being able to still be a thankful person when life becomes difficult is part of thankful living. Whether it's finding something to be thankful about in the situation itself or being thankful despite the situation, having a spirit of gratitude when life stinks is a powerful thing.
One way to have this attitude is to think about how things could be worse. Bill Smith shared, "These two guys were having a conversation and one told the other, 'I was having a bad day and my friend said, 'smile, it could be worse'." "So, what'd you do", the other asked him. "Well, I smiled...and then it got worse!" Things might get worse; but keep the faith.
But it does work for me. Whenever something goes wrong the Lord shows me how it could be worse. If I'm feeling miserable the Lord shows me someone who's got it worse than me. Does that solve my problem? No; it just makes my problem more manageable. And it changes my attitude and enables me to better be able to solve my problem. And not only that, it stifles any temptation to be angry with God over my situation. Thus, I can actually be thankful to God that it isn't worse and for giving me what I need to be able to resolve my problem or handle my situation.
Jonah. God wanted Jonah to go preach to the Ninevites and Jonah said, "no way, Jose, I'm going the other way." And God said, "OK, then I'm sending a big fish to swallow you today. Then let's see what you have to say; comprende?" Jonah was on a ship headed for Tarshish. But then a storm flared up and Jonah knew it was because he was running from the Lord so he told the men to throw him overboard and when they did the storm subsided. But, Jonah was still floating helplessly in the sea. And when you read his prayer it's obvious that he was in trouble.
Jonah 1:17-2:10, "But the LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights. From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. He said: “In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry. You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me. I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.’ The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you brought my life up from the pit, O LORD my God. “When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, LORD, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. “Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the LORD.” And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land."
God sent the fish to rescue him, not to kill him. Now, had Jonah not come to his senses inside the fish God no doubt would've blessed the fish with a nice meal. But Jonah not only came to his senses, he gave thanks. We might think it strange-if I was swallowed by a great fish the last thing on my mind would be to say, "thank you". But we see it took Jonah three days to get to this point so quite realistically he may have been a wee bit frustrated at his newfound predicament. But then he thought about it and realized that God was chastising him and humbling him but also rescuing him. And upon the realization of all that Jonah found himself thanking God.
Perhaps you've been in (or are currently in) a situation and predicament where you felt like you were floating in the open sea; wondering how things could possibly get any worse and then a great fish comes and swallows you up. What do you do? Will you allow your heart to rage against the Lord or will you look to the Lord in humility with a willingness to thank him as you pray and petition him for help; knowing your salvation comes from him? We can allow our circumstances to make us bitter or better. We can either sink lower in bitterness and anger or we can climb higher with a spirit of thanksgiving. Living a thankful life involves being thankful when life is difficult.
CONCLUSION: Thanks to God for my Redeemer, thanks for all that you provide; thanks for times now but a memory, thanks for Jesus by my side. Thanks for pleasant, balmy springtime, thanks for dark and dreary fall; thanks for tears by now forgotten, thanks for peace within my soul. Thanks for prayers that you have answered, thanks for the ones that you deny; thanks for storms that I have weathered, thanks for all that you supply. Thanks for pain, thanks for pleasure, thanks for comfort in despair; thanks for grace no one can measure, thanks for love beyond compare. This year, let's be more focused on thanksliving.
