Thanksgiving is coming up, as you all know. When you think of Thanksgiving, what do you think of? Well, mashed potatoes and gravy, homemade rolls, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, pumpkin pie, and of course, turkey. At least, that’s what most people think of. But in the past few years, vegetarians have been promoting an alternative to turkey, a tofu turkey, or “Tofurky”. Now, I don’t want to be judgmental, but my response to this is – Yuck! A tofu turkey? Is nothing sacred? Here is what Thanksgiving dinner is supposed to look like [Norman Rockwell painting]. If you’re planning on having Tofurky for dinner on Thursday, please forgive me, call me an unenlightened carnivore, but personally I’m very much looking forward to eating a dead bird for Thanksgiving, and I expect to have no pangs of conscience whatsoever.
What else do you associate with Thanksgiving? Families getting together. The kids playing ping pong in the basement. The grownups dozing off after dinner while they watch football on TV. Eating turkey sandwiches for supper (and lunch and dinner). Well, what I’d like to do this morning is focus on what the holiday is really about, buth which ironically is often forgotten in the midst of our celebrations, which is giving thanks to God for all of His blessings. I’d like to look at why it is so vitally important for Christians to maintain an attitude of gratefulness toward God; not just one day a year, but as a habit of life.
First of all, a thankful spirit is one of the key distinguishing marks of a Christian. It sets us apart from the world, it makes us different. In 21st-century America, we live in an entitlement culture. We have so much wealth as a society that we tend to take for granted things like food, and clothing and shelter. Ralph Nader ran for President on a platform which called health care a universal human right [not just something good or desirable, but something we deserve]. Most people today consider a color television and a VCR to be necessities rather than luxuries. What we consider to be ‘poverty’ today is far above the quality of life that most people enjoyed a hundred years ago. From a material point of view, we’re better off now than we’ve ever been. And that inevitably colors our attitudes. We don’t see all these things as blessings, as gifts to us from a loving and gracious heavenly Father. Instead we tend to view things like having enough food to eat, and having warm clothes to wear, and having a roof over our head as things we have a right to, things we deserve. Even though most people in the world see us as incredibly wealthy, we tend to view all of this abundance and prosperity as simply our birthright. And if, for some reason, we are temporarily deprived of the standard of living we have grown accustomed to, we feel very put out, as if we are being denied what is rightfully ours.
I may be overstating it a bit, but it’s hard to argue with the statement that in America, we tend to take our prosperity for granted. And the danger in that, for those who are seeking to follow Christ, is that it will dull our sense of gratitude and thankfulness toward God. Because paradoxically, the more we have, the less we seem to appreciate it. Why does that matter? Let’s look at Luke chapter 17, verses 11-19 (NIV):
“Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!" When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him--and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well."
Let’s set the scene here. These days, we have effective treatments for leprosy, but in Bible times there was no cure. It was a gruesome, horrible disease that crippled and disfigured its victims. Anyone with leprosy was forced to live outside the city, and was forbidden to have any close contact with other people, lest they spread the disease to others. In this passage, the ten men are outside the village. They can’t get close to Jesus because of their disease, so they have to stand at a distance and yell to him, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” Jesus gives them a command, which they follow, and as they are walking, miraculously, all are healed of their disease.
Now here comes the interesting part. How do they respond? They must have been overjoyed! Perhaps some of them ran home to see their parents, their brothers and sisters, to embrace wives and children whom they hadn’t been able to visit or touch in years. Maybe they ran to the town square to tell everyone what had happened. They might have gone to the temple to make a sacrifice, as the Old Testament commanded. Imagine if you had been suffering for years with a disease that was not only painful and repulsive, but which made you an outcast in society. If you were suddenly cured, what would you have done? Go to the market? Look up some old friends? Buy some new clothes?
They probably did all those things. But only one had the presence of mind to return. Only one saw beyond the gift to the giver, only one came back and gave thanks. One out of ten. [Think about it. Would you have been one of the nine or this one that returned to give thanks?] What was Jesus’ response? “Your faith has made you well.” What did he mean by that? Hadn’t they all been made well? Yes and no. They had all been healed physically. But what Jesus is saying to the one who returned was that he had also been healed spiritually; his sins had been forgiven. The others received a temporary blessing, a physical healing. But he received eternal life.
What was the difference? The nine only cared about the healing. They didn’t care about the healer. Once their illness was cured, they had what they wanted. There was happiness and relief, I’m sure, at finally being free of their affliction. But there was no gratitude, no thankfulness, no appreciation. They just took the blessing and ran. Their faith was limited to believing in Jesus as a miracle worker. They believed that He could cure their leprosy, and that was all. But the one who came back was “praising God in a loud voice.” He wasn’t just rejoicing over being healed; He was praising God as the source of his blessing. He knew that Jesus was more than just a miracle worker; he understood that Jesus had come from God. He had faith, not just in what Jesus could do, but in who Jesus was. That faith expressed itself in gratitude, and resulted in his salvation. The nine received a tremendous gift, but only one received the greatest gift of all. Only one gave thanks; only one had faith.
I’d like to draw a couple of conclusions from this story. First of all, it is possible to be blessed by God and not have true faith. It is possible to receive help from Jesus Christ and not be saved. Listen: The fact that God has done something good in your life is not a guarantee that you belong to Him. The key is not how God has blessed you, but whether you are responding to His blessings with faith and praise and thanksgiving. [Are you doing that?]
Many people come to Christ and don’t really want Him. They don’t want a relationship with Christ. They don’t want to know Christ and be known by Him. They don’t want to follow Him; they don’t want to be disciples. They just want something from Him. Most of these lepers just wanted healed. That’s all they cared about. When they got what they wanted, they went on their way without a look back. In the same way, many people come to God today because they want something from Him. Maybe they want money. Maybe they want to be healed of some disease. Maybe they want to be delivered from some addiction. Maybe they need help with depression, or anger, or low self-esteem. Maybe they just want to be around a group of loving people, be a part of a community. But when they get the blessing, they’re satisfied. That’s all they want from God, they get it, and that’s the end of it. They don’t really want Christ, they just want what He can do for them.
Does that describe you? I hope not. But if there’s no gratitude, no thankfulness toward God for all He’s done for you, if there’s no desire to know Christ, then perhaps you need to examine your heart. Because the whole purpose for God blessing us is to draw us to Himself. If you’re missing that, you’re missing everything.
Let me give an example. A husband’s relationship to his wife. Men, if all you want is what your wife can do for you – cook, clean, take care of the children, share the bed – then you don’t really want or need a wife. You need a short order cook, and a maid, and a nanny. To have a relationship, to have a love relationship, you have to want her, not just what she can do.
The second point I want to make is that not all faith is saving faith. You may have faith that Jesus is able to do something for you – help you quite smoking, help you control your temper, help you do a better job of relating to your kids. You may even be willing to follow His instructions, as these men did. You may even get what you seek from Him. But if that’s all the faith you have, then your faith is just the same as the nine lepers who didn’t return. It’s faith in Jesus as a miracle-worker, but not as a Savior. Are you seeking Christ? Are you giving Him praise and thanks for His work in your life? Are you looking beyond the gifts to the giver? Gratitude and thankfulness are essential, because they cause us to return to Christ as the source of our blessings, rather than just seeking the blessing itself. But if there is little or no thankfulness, there is little or no faith.
How do you know if you’re thankful?
How do you know if you’re thankful or not? Let me give you some help in examining your heart.
* Which do you tend to talk about more – your blessings, or your disappointments?
* Are you a complainer, always grumbling, always finding fault with your circumstances?
* Are you content with what you have, or always dissatisfied and wanting more?
* Do you find it easier to count your blessings, or is it easier to count your afflictions?
* Do you express thanks to others when they help you, or do you just take it as your due?
* Would others say that you are a thankful person?
I’m not suggesting that we should be Pollyannas, pretending that everything’s “fine,” but that in the midst of everything your focus is on God’s goodness toward you in Christ, and your trust is in God.
When should we be thankful?
Well, then when should we be thankful? Under what circumstances? In other words, how long do we have to keep up this gratitude stuff? That one is pretty easy to answer: always, and in every situation.
“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV)
“Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” – Ephesians 5:19-20 (NIV)
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” – Colossians 3:16-17 (NIV)
I don’t know about you, but I find these verses very challenging. They present thankfulness as a constant attitude of the heart. No matter what you’re doing, no matter what’s going on in your life, no matter what your circumstances, you are supposed to be thankful. Now, is that the way it usually works? No. When things are going well, we’re thankful. When things are going badly, we’re not. We complain and whine and moan about how badly life is treating us. But God’s Word says, “be thankful in all circumstances”. God says “always giving thanks”. God says, “whatever you’re doing, give thanks”.
* Whether you’re eating dinner at a nice restaurant or cleaning the toilet, give thanks.
* Whether you get a promotion and raise, or get a pick slip and shown the door, be thankful.
* Whether you’re strong and healthy and full of life, or sick and diseased, be grateful.
* Whether your marriage is rewarding and satisfying, or whether it’s a painful struggle, give thanks.
In every situation, we are to have an attitude of thankfulness toward God. How in the world is that possible? Because I’ll admit right now, that doesn’t describe me. I have a long way to go before I can claim to be maintaining a thankful heart in any and all circumstances. How do we do this? How do we maintain an attitude of thankfulness when the bottom is falling out?
First, recognize that although not everything is good in itself, God can and will use everything in our lives for our ultimate blessing.
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” – Romans 8:28 (NIV)
God has a good and wise and loving purpose for everything He allows into our lives, even pain and suffering. We can give thanks in the knowledge that He loves us and will never permit us any pain unless the ultimate benefit is worth the cost. That doesn’t mean we can understand His ways. We may have no idea how anything could be worth this much pain. But God’s Word tells us that it will be worth it.
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” – James 1:2-4 (NIV)
“In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” – 1 Peter 1:6-7 (NIV)
One of the reasons that God allows us to suffer is to refine our character and strengthen our faith. The Bible tells us that our faith is worth more than gold. It’s precious to God. And when Christ returns, we’ll see and understand that even our greatest suffering was worth it, because it brought us closer to God.
Conclusion
“So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” – Colossians 2:6-7 (NIV)
(For an .rtf file of this and other sermons, see www.journeychurchonline.org/messages.htm)
