Alba 11-10-13 (Revised 11-13-2022)
THREE THINGS TO INCLUDE IN THANKSGIVING
I Thessalonians 5:18
I Thessalonians 5:18 says, Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Sometimes the circumstances of our lives are not always the best. In fact, they may be downright bad. We wonder about the future or our country and the downward direction it is going. Gender reassignment is accepted. Abortion is promoted. Drugs are being legalized.
But still, in all circumstances we are to look for something for which to be thankful! And there is ALWAYS something positive for which we can be thankful!
One morning after a terrible snowstorm, a lady named Susan was outside shoveling her driveway. She stopped to wave hello to her neighbor, and he asked her why her husband wasn’t out there helping her with the chore.
She explained that one of them had to stay inside to take care of the children, so they drew straws to see who would go out and shovel. "Sorry about your bad luck," he said. Susan replied, "Don’t be sorry. I won!"
Yes, give thanks in all circumstances.
Today's message is called three things to include in thanksgiving. As our thanksgiving expands, it should include at least these 3 things;
1) The Blessings of Life.
Picture this: Each evening the wife and mother of the family stands in the kitchen and thanks God for a sink full of dirty dishes. Does she do that? No, she doesn’t! Who would? But we should!
A sink full of dirty dishes usually means that we have been blessed by God with daily food and water. They say that there are many in the world who go to bed hungry every night.
Our prayers are often very general. We say, "Thank you God for all our blessings." But for which blessings are we really thankful? We are to: “Count your blessings...name them one by one...count your many blessings see what God has done.”
What could we include if we were to list the blessings that God has given to us? Someone came up with this list of eight things to remember at Thanksgiving: Be grateful...
* For automatic dishwashers. They make it possible to get out of the kitchen before the family comes in for their after-dinner snacks.
* For husbands who attack small repair jobs around the house. They usually make them big enough to call in professionals.
* For the bathtub -- the one place the family allows Mom some time to herself.
* For children who put away their things and clean up after themselves. They’re such a joy you hate to see them go home to their own parents.
* For gardening. It’s a relief to deal with dirt outside the house for a change.
* For teenagers. They give parents an opportunity to learn a second language.
* For smoke alarms. They let you know when the turkey’s done. -- Gene Perrett
Giving God thanks should be a theme running through our lives. Not only do we need to be thankful for our blessings, blessings result from being thankful.
Because thankfulness forces us to focus on what we have, rather than on what we want. In our materialistic culture, we can give in to a consumerism of the soul that reduces our prayers to shopping lists.
But a sincere thankfulness looks outward, not inward. It realigns our lives so that we revolve around God instead of trying to make God revolve around us.
Also thankfulness highlights grace. To give thanks is to admit that we are dependent upon God. It is our way of saying, "I could not have done this on my own, but You, Lord, helped me."
Thanksgiving removes the temptation to boast, and strengthens the only basis on which we can relate to God: that of accepting our own unworthiness in the presence of God, and of God’s free grace to us through the cross of Jesus Christ.
Gratitude is an attitude of grace. It means that we can see God's grace in all things. That we don't feel that He owes us, or that we have earned His blessings. But rather that everything we have is by the grace of God.
That should make us truly thankful. And also make us gracious to others as well. Those who are truly thankful usually are more giving and more kind to others.
So, we need to thank God for the blessings of life. But, we should also give thanks for...
2) The Burdens of Life.
This is where it gets tough. But our verse in I Thessalonians 5:18 says, "Give thanks in ALL circumstances." Ephesians 5:20 adds we should be, "always giving thanks."
You may think, surely the apostle Paul made a mistake, or even that it must have been easy for him to say. But it wasn’t. Paul suffered from a very difficult problem that he called a “thorn in the flesh”.
He also had been run out of town, beaten, whipped, imprisoned, betrayed by friends. He was naked, cold, hungry shipwrecked, and stoned because of his faith. Yet, Paul never stopped giving thanks.
Paul said several things that really show us that he had the proper perspective about the burdens of life... Such as Romans 8:18 where he says, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”
He also wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:10 “Most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
And even though he was in prison for preaching the Good News of Jesus, Paul wrote to the people of Philippi in Philippians 1:12. "Now I want you to know brothers that what has happened to me has really served to advance the Gospel..." And he was thankful!
If we are like the apostle Paul, having the proper perspective, we too can give thanks in all circumstances.
Do you have trouble finding something for which to be thankful? Try looking at someone else. We need only to look outward from ourselves to see others who have greater needs than we do.
In comparison to some whose struggles are far more difficult than our own, our troubles will seem small, and our sorrows seem few.
Our weeping can turn to joy as we give thanks. And instead of complaining, being thankful that God helps us when we have burdens causes us to want to extend a helping hand to others, wanting them to have that same blessing of God's care.
Listen to this story: Rhea Thompkins was 35 years old and just finished college. She was the mother of 3 boys. She had a new job at GTE, but developed lupus. Her husband left her. Her oldest son went to jail for dealing drugs.
She lost weight and couldn’t hold her head up or get in and out of bath tub by herself. In spite of all of this she told someone that this, her lupus, was really a blessing.
It had allowed her to spend more time with the Lord. When in hospital she said “There may be someone here that God wants me to share with.” She was being thankful for her burden.
In our weakness God can make us strong. When we are struggling, God is able to do His work in our lives. He is the one who helps us through times that we could have never faced on our own.
There was a time when I probably wouldn't have said this, but I have learned to be thankful in difficult circumstances my family has faced. Now, notice, I didn’t say I was thankful for them.
You see, the apostle Paul is not saying that we have to be thankful FOR our problems, but rather - IN THEM." And being thankful in them allows God to use them for His greater good.
The Bible tells us that the Philippian Jailer was ready to take his life because an earthquake freed his prisoners. But what saved him was the attitude of Paul and Silas during their difficult imprisonment.
They were singing and praising God even though they were in chains. They knew God, and that He would help them through. And because of them, the jailer and all his household became Christians.
If our example shows a willingness to be thankful, especially in the middle of difficult times, it will be a witness to others that may bring them to faith in Christ.
So as we give thanks, it should include the blessings of life, the burdens of life and also...
3) The Benefits of life.
Whether or not a person celebrates a holiday called Thanksgiving, we all need to practice thanksgiving on a daily basis. That "attitude of gratitude" is not just a duty to be fulfilled, but something that will bless us and others.
It's typical of God’s graciousness that the best gift we can give ourselves and others is to say thanks for what we have already received.
You see, thankfulness encourages a positive attitude. It forces us to think about what is right with our lives rather than what is wrong. This is important in an age when many feel depressed. Thanking God is a proven way of piercing the gloomiest of clouds.
And thankfulness also develops hope for the future. Looking backward to the past with thanksgiving actually helps us to look toward the future with anticipation.
Another benefit when we practice thankfulness regularly is that it ensures that gratitude will spill over into every area of our lives. We can't thank God for difficult relatives, or neighbors for long before finding that we are able to express a more positive attitude toward them.
Grumpiness and irritability do not grow well in a climate of gratitude. We constantly add needs to our prayer list, but more than anything we should be adding to our praise list.
The Gaither Vocal Band sang a song entitled “Attitude of Gratitude” written by Mark Lowry and Ben Gaither. Here are the words:
I've got an attitude of gratitude, A heart that's full and thankful
Through the good, the bad, the happy or sad.
Dear Lord, help me be grateful.
When I'm standing in the middle of misery,
help me stop and count my blessings.
In our history you've been good to me.
Lord, help me always keep confessing,
I've got an attitude of gratitude, A heart that's full and thankful
Through the good, the bad, the happy or sad.
Dear Lord, help me be grateful.
If I win or lose it's up to you.
Alone, you hold my future.
If I stand or fall, Lord, through it all,
Life's a marvel of adventure.
I've got an attitude of gratitude, A heart that's full and thankful
Through the good, the bad, the happy or sad.
Dear Lord, help me be grateful.
I'm not grateful for it,
I am grateful through it,
And being grateful in it,
changes the way I look at it.
Oh, we all have had some difficult times. Maybe even times that we have despaired even of life itself. But, if we really look at all the benefits of life, I think we will find a way to be thankful.
An experiment was done in New York City’s Central Park where an advertising firm dressed up a man as a blind man and gave him a cup to collect money.
One day they put a sign around his neck that read, "I’m Blind." On that day he collected about $4.00. The next day they dressed him the same way, placed him in the same place but changed the sign to read, "It’s Spring, and I’m Blind."
That day he collected nearly $40.00. That day, those people realized how blessed they were by the beautiful flowers, birds, the sunrise and sunset.
And as Christians, if we keep our eyes open, we will see many benefits of life. One thing for sure is that in Christ we are forgiven and free. Oh, it’s good to be thankful for the blessings, the burdens and the benefits God gives.
CLOSE:
Fulton Oursler, who wrote the book, “The Greatest Story Ever Told”, is credited with this story of his old Black nurse, Anna Marie Cecily Sophi Virginia Avalon Thessalonians.
According to the story, she was present when his mother was born; she was there when Fulton Oursler was born.
"I remember her," he says, "as she sat at the kitchen table in our house, the hard old brown hands folded across her starched apron, the glistening black eyes lifted to the white-washed ceiling, and the husky old whispering voice saying, `Much obliged, Lord, for my vittles.’
`Ann,’ I asked, `What’s a vittle?’ She said, `It’s what you got to eat and drink, that’s vittles.’ I said, `But you’d get your vittles whether you thanked the Lord or not.’ She answered, `Sure, but it makes everything taste better to be thankful.’
After the meal she thanked the Lord again and then said, `You know, it’s a funny thing about being thankful. It’s a game an old preacher taught me to play. It’s looking for things to be thankful for.
'Many of them you pass right by unless you go looking for them. Take this morning, I woke up and lay there wondering what I got to be thankful for now.
'And you know what, I couldn’t think of anything to thank him for. But then from the kitchen comes the most delicious smell that ever tickled my nose--coffee. Much obliged, Lord, for the coffee, and much obliged, too, for the smell of it.’
Years passed and Oursler grew up, left home, and learned some of the hard lessons of life. One day he was called to Anna’s bedside. She was dying.
Oursler noticed her old hands were twisted with pain. He wondered what she had to be thankful for now. Just then she opened her eyes, looked at all the people around her bedside, closed her eyes again and said with a smile, "Much obliged, Lord, for such fine friends.’
I Thessalonians 5:18 says, Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
