As we begin our trek into the holiday season, I thought it would be best to review and study the importance of being thankful. I have decided to recall a word I adopted as my own a few years ago: Thankology.
Thankology comes from merging the words: thankful and -ology.
Thankful is defined as: being glad that something has happened or not happened, that something or someone exists, etc. or : of, relating to, or expressing thanks.
Ology is defined as a suffix which means it changes the root word slightly. In this case, the suffix '-ology' means the scientific study of a particular topic. http://www.ask.com/question/the-definition-of-the-suffix-ology
So Thankology is actually the study of being thankful. The question I would like to attempt to answer this morning is, what do we have to be thankful for?
The bulletin gives you a lot of space for a reason. I'd like for us all to detail out five aspects of your life your thankful for so today throughout our time together, jot down your fab five. ...while your doing that….
When Mrs. Klein told her first graders to draw a picture of something for which they were thankful, she thought how little these children, who lived in a deteriorating neighborhood, actually had to be thankful for. She knew that most of the class would draw pictures of turkeys or of bountifully laden Thanksgiving tables. That was what they believed was expected of them.
What took Mrs. Klein aback was Douglas’s picture. Douglas was so forlorn and likely to be found close in her shadow as they went outside for recess. Douglas’s drawing was simply this:
A hand, obviously, but whose hand? The class was captivated by his image. “I think it must be the hand of God that brings us food,” said one student. “A farmer,” said another, “because they grow the turkeys.” “It looks more like a policeman, and they protect us.” “I think,” said Lavinia, who was always so serious, “that it is supposed to be all the hands that help us, but Douglas could only draw one of them.” Mrs. Klein had almost forgotten Douglas in her pleasure at finding the class so responsive. When she had the others at work on another project, she bent over his desk and asked whose hand it was.
Douglas mumbled, “It’s yours, Teacher.”
Then Mrs. Klein recalled that she had taken Douglas by the hand from time to time; she often did that with the children. But that it should have meant so much to Douglas …https://www.rd.com/true-stories/inspiring/thanksgiving-story/
Be Thankful because of people in your life both big and small. They offer perspectives you may would never have been aware of if not for their presence.
The story of the teacher reminds me of a moment in Jesus' life. It was near the end of his ministry on earth and he just told the disciples again he was going to die. They were a bit perplexed so he stopped what he was doing and prayed. The words he prayed were recorded by His friend John in the 17th chapter and you can read it for yourself. However, the ending is really important. He prayed for those who were with Him and then listen to this:
20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”
Did you hear that? Jesus prayed for you in verse 20! Be thankful because He prayed for:
Spiritual unity with Him, the Father and His Spirit
This unity is designed to help the world to believe in Him
God’s Glory to be displayed through you so that you can receive all the same love He experienced
your complete spiritual connection with Him
everlasting life with Him
love which goes beyond all understanding
your sentness in his image
His Love to be in you as a witness of Jesus to the world
Warren Weirsbe said, “one of the things that most impresses the world is the way Christians love each other and live together in harmony… The lost world cannot see God, but they can see Christians, and what they see in us is what they will believe about God… we must make sure our witness is true and loving.” commentary 371
This prayer should serve as a reminder of the greatest reason to be thankful today
“16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned,...”
Be Thankful because:
God loves you so much He would die for you.
God created you to be in relationship with Him. As the song says, “God calls you friend.”
God gave you free will. Love without free will is hostage taking.
God wants to share his glory through you.
God created you with a purpose. You only need to accept your role.
God has sent you, his image bearer, to be His witnesses. You are God’s assistant in changing the world.
Just as that young boy in mrs. Klein's class recognized her hand, this Thanksgiving we only need to recognize God's hand as it extends to us. It's His grace and mercy we all need to be most grateful for.
