Thanksgiving
Hebrews 13:20-21
November 26, 2017
Well, we’ve officially entered the Christmas season! It seems too soon. It doesn’t seem like this should be the last Sunday of November and advent starts next Sunday! We’re past Black Friday and maybe my mood is not great is because I didn’t go shopping . . . in a store or online. I tried to buy one item, and they were sold out online. So I was done! OK, I’ve got it off my chest and feel so much better!! And really this feeling I have leads into what I want to talk about today.
I want to take a look at 2 verses from Hebrews as we close the book on our study of who Jesus is. I want to look at these 2 verses as we use those verses to lead us into talking about who Jesus is and being thankful.
As the writer was coming to the end of the book, he wrote this benediction ~
20 Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant,
through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. – Hebrews 13:20-21
This passage is a great reminder of who Jesus is. It was God who brought Jesus back from the dead. It was God who raised Jesus so that He could break the hold death has on us. We no longer have to fear the consequences of death, instead, if we have the faith, we can embrace death, because we have the opportunity to meet God face to face and live forever in the only place of perfection -- heaven with God.
We’re reminded that Jesus is the great Shepherd of the sheep. We are the sheep. He is our Shepherd. He is the One who leads us, cares for us, tends to us, heals us, feeds us, washes us. He is the One who will help us fight off our enemies. He’s the One who anoints us and leads us to green pastures, beside quiet waters. He’s the One who brings us comfort and strength, He’s the One who walks with us through the valley of the shadow of death. He’s the Great Redeemer, the Lord of lords and King of kings. Are you with me?!?!
This is all happened because of the blood that was shed by Jesus. Without His blood being shed, without Jesus going to the cross - - - none of this would have been possible. Notice that the covenant is eternal. It’s not temporary. It’s permanent . . . it lasts forever and forever. Just as our heavenly home lasts forever.
And because of what Jesus did for us, when we trust in Him, through the Holy Spirit we’re equipped with everything good so that we can accomplish His will. The goal is to do good deeds because of the faith we have in Jesus. All that we seek to do should be pleasing in His sight. And ultimately we give Him glory, honor and praise. And we do it forever and ever! It’s an amazing passage. It’s a great reminder of who Jesus is in our lives.
With all of that in mind, we should be so thankful, shouldn’t we? And generally we are. We’re thankful when things go our way. When life is going the way we think it should, then we’re thankful, grateful, praiseful and more. When life isn’t going exactly our way, it’s not as easy to be thankful. Sometimes it’s a struggle.
This is the season to be thankful. We’re supposed to put on that smile, even when we aren’t thankful. I believe to be thankful means we are actively responding with gratitude to life. But sometimes we do the opposite of being thankful - - and to me the opposite is someone who’s grumbling, complaining and critical. Instead of focusing on the good, on our blessings, we focus on the opposite.
I believe this is one of the most acceptable sins in the church. Grumbling, complaining and bitterness (but I believe bitterness has a different root). These have become so common in our country and it filters over into the church. Nothing and nobody is sacred anymore. There’s nothing which we don’t think we can comment on.
We often don’t talk about how we’ve been blessed. Imagine if we did that. Not to sugar coat the troubles of life, but to remind people because we believe that we’re blessed. Instead, in the world and even in the church we focus on complaining and grumbling. Get a few people together and the conversation turns to what’s wrong with everything and everyone. They become gossip sessions.
In the church we might say things like, ‘Well, I don't like that style of music. I don't like that song, did you? I didn’t like the message. I never complain! That was not relevant for me! Caught you on that one. We got out too late today. That prayer took forever, I almost fell asleep. Did you see what they were wearing. My goodness!’ Oh, we could go on.
You see, we pick things apart, because in a sense, it’s become too much a part of our way of living. We don’t realize how much poison there is in complaining. We have to be careful that poison doesn’t filter into the church.
That's true in your home, in a relationship, in the church, at work, at school. If you've ever been somewhere where there's this negative, critical spirit, it’s poisonous, it's contagious and damaging. It's often acceptable and it shouldn't be.
Grumbling is part of the history of God’s people. When the Israelites were slaves in Egypt, they grumbled that they were slaves. When Moses came and God finally released them out of slavery they were free for the first time in their lives.
For 400 years the Israelites were in Egypt. Finally, they were about to be set free. They were free for three days. I want you to see their attitude and their spirit. In Exodus 15 - 3 days after their release ~
22 They went three days in the wilderness and found no water.
23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah.
24 And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” – Exodus 15:22-24
Miracles, God parts the Red Sea, pillar of fire at night, a cloud leads them by day, the Egyptians were destroyed. To start it all - - there were 10 amazing plagues. And now they’re complaining. Even though God had blessed them.
In the next chapter we read this ~
2 And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness,
3 and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt,
when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full,
for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” – Exodus 16:2-3
So God does something amazing. He lets a heavenly cereal fall from the sky. It’s food called manna. It even tasted good, it was made with honey. How cool is that? God not only gives them heavenly food every day, it actually tastes good. But they’re not done grumbling.
In the next chapter, in Exodus 17, we read ~
1 All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on . . . but there was no water for the people to drink.
2 Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.”
And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?”
3 But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said,
“Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” — Exodus 17:1-4
They’re ready to kill Moses & Aaron. God’s doing miracles. But nobody’s happy!
Have you ever been that way? I can’t imagine you’ve ever stood in front of your open refrigerator and declared, “there’s nothing to eat!” How many of you are already tired of turkey? We get that way . . . don’t we? We can be fickle people!
The presence, the glory and the goodness of God was right in front of the people. Their response was grumbling and complaining when they should have been thankful. They were overcome with a negative, what’s in it for me today spirit. So here's my question. And it’s a tough question - - - Is grumbling, complaining, and whining a sin? My answer: Yes, yes and yes. And I’m guilty of it too!!
You see, when the goodness and glory of God is right in front of you, when God is blessing you, when He's present, when He's caring for you and all you can do is focus on the things you don't have or the things you don’t like . . . when you can’t take the time or even have the ability to see God for what you have . . . for how you’ve been blessed . . . that’s a sin.
It becomes a matter of the heart. We believe we are entitled to all of the good things, or at the minimum, the not so good things should not happen to us, they should happen to those bad people. We begin to believe we are entitled to the good things in life. But we know that’s not always the case. And that comes because of the sin we have within us. The big issue in our world is how we go about expressing our issues.
Too often we tell others and attempt to have others band with us in agreement. But that’s never the right way to go about offering a complaint or what we like to call constructive criticism. Can you go up to that one person you need to talk to and speak humbly and sincerely to them. Or maybe you need to gain perspective from a brother or sister in Christ who can help you. I’ve done that with pastor friends when I’ve been upset about something and sometimes they tell me I’m all wrong, and I need to get over it.
Is it appropriate to express real concerns the right away? Yes, always. We should always invite that and want that. We should want that in church, to handle differing opinions in a way which honors God. That should happen in our homes, at work, at school, in our relationships.
The most important aspect is to bring honor and glory to Christ. That’s our greatest responsibility.
Psalm 118 tells us ~
1 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever!
2 Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”
3 Let the house of Aaron say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”
4 Let those who fear the Lord say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” – Psalm 118:1-4
I love that because it gives us a progression. We’re commanded to give thanks to the Lord because He is good and His steadfast love, His mercy endures forever.
Can we hold onto this, even when it’s not going our way. Even when we don’t like something. Can we still trust in God’s goodness and mercy? Can we still see that God is a God of grace.
God is changeless God is dependable God is Eternal
God is Faithful God is holy God is infinite
God is your friend God is just God is majestic
God is pure God is omnipotent God is omnipresent
God is omniscient God is righteous God is sovereign
God is perfect God is love God loves you!
Philippians 2:14 tells us this
14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing, – Philippians 2:14
I love the deeper meaning to this. If you combine the ESV, NKJ and NIV, it tells us do all things without grumbling, arguing, disputing or complaining. That’s pretty good advice. The word disputing comes from a Greek word which really means ~ ~ ~ reasoning that is self-based and therefore confused – especially as it contributes to reinforcing others in discussion to remain in their initial prejudice.
In other words, when you are disputing and arguing, it’s all based on your own self-reasoning, and catch this - - - self-reasoning which is confused, as you attempt to convince others to remain in their wrongful attitude or way of looking at things.
So, what am I getting at? We started out looking at a great benediction type passage from Hebrews for a purpose. It should lead us to stop, to pause, to be still . . . and to give thanks.
Maybe the turkey wasn’t so good this year. Maybe it was a little dry. Maybe someone didn’t think and put celery in the stuffing. Maybe the rolls were over done. Maybe you didn’t get the one item you really wanted on Black Friday.
In a more serious vein,
maybe you’re struggling financially
maybe you’re struggling physically
maybe you’re struggling emotionally
maybe you’re struggling with some home projects
maybe you’re struggling with loneliness
maybe you’re struggling with grief and loss
maybe you’re struggling job loss
maybe you’re struggling with tough decisions
maybe your struggling with medical issues or medical bills
maybe you’re struggling with whatever it is you’re struggling with . . .
. . . and I’m not making light of anything we go through . . . but can you find someone, someone in your family, a friend, another Christ follower, a person in this church. Someone you can talk to, but someone who can also point you to the glory of God.
I had a conversation with someone this week who was confessing sin to me. They don’t go to this church. So don’t look around. It could have been any of you. They were confessing something they did wrong. They were torn about what to do. Especially since it was in the past and there was nothing they could do to change the situation.
I told them and I repeated myself over and over - - - I’m not being trite . . . God knows your heart. God knows your spirit, your mind. He knows you. He knows the struggle you’re going through about this sin. Let’s pray, ask God to forgive you . . . and He will. He loves you and sent His Son to die for you . . . so you could be forgiven and redeemed. It’s His gift to you. Ask for forgiveness and the beauty and the power of God is this . . . He will forgive you and He desires to create in you a pure and clean heart as He makes you whiter than snow.
Friends, that’s a gift to you and I. That’s available to all of us. The God of the universe who says YOU ARE FORGIVEN!! I told this person, now, you just need to forgive yourself.
Experience the richness the power and strength of God’s blessings in our lives. He is good and His mercy and love lasts forever. Bathe in that! Hold onto that! He will never, never, never let go of you.
He will NEVER NOT LEAVE YOU AND HE WILL NEVER NOT FORSAKE YOU!
So, look to Him, even in the midst of your struggles and in the midst of your complaining, grumbling or whatever it is . . . seek God and praise Him from whom all blessings flow!
