INTRO.- It’s Thanksgiving and the kids are coming home. ARE THEY NOW?
ILL.- The day before Thanksgiving an elderly man in Phoenix called his son in New York and said to him, "I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing; 45 years of misery is enough. We’re sick of each other, and so you call your sister in Chicago and tell her."
Frantic, the son called his sister, who exploded on the phone. "They are not getting divorced," she shouted. "I’ll take care of this."
She called Phoenix immediately, and said to her father. "You are NOT getting divorced. Don’t you do a single thing until I get there. I’m calling my brother back, and we’ll both be there tomorrow. Until then, don’t do a thing, DO YOU HEAR ME?"
The man hung up his phone and turned to his wife. "Okay, honey. The kids are coming for Thanksgiving and paying for their own flights."
Thanksgiving is a great family time. It’s when most families get together to eat, share, laugh, have a good time, and demonstrate love to one another. I VOTE FOR LOVING ONE ANOTHER!
Some people are fortunate enough to be with their family members on Thanksgiving. If so, thank God. Some don’t get to spend time with their family members on Thanksgiving, still, we must be thankful. IT IS ALWAYS RIGHT TO BE THANKFUL! We are blessed.
ILL.- I saw an article about Arnold Schwarzenegger. It was entitled, “Arnold’s Toys.” Arnold is not only worth $800 million dollars, he also loves his toys and he has plenty. He smokes $4000 cigars, wears shoes that cost as much as $5000 a pair, wears $3000 Italian suits and has a $12.5 million Gulfstream Jet. Arnold and family cruise in style on a $4.5 million 88 foot yacht. He also has a great fondness for Hummers (autos) which run anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000. He has nine of them, estimated to be worth $1 million. The first one he purchased at a cost of $117,000.
When we hear about people like Arnold most of us tend to become somewhat envious and would like to have more; more money and more material toys. BUT WE ARE RICH!
I Tim. 6:17-19 “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.”
WE ARE THE RICH OF THIS WORLD and we should not be arrogant about it.
ILL.- The guest speaker had just returned from a tour with the Peace Corps. He was troubled about the apathy of American church members. On this particular night he was late to an Atlanta, GA, church. After the opening hymns had been sung he marched to the platform. He hadn’t changed clothes after ten hours of work on the farm. Clumps of mud and manure clung to his clothes and boots. The aroma filled the church. The people began to whisper. His sermon was short.
He said, “You act shocked as though I were a costumed clown. But you are wearing the costumes. Seventy-five percent of the world is dressed like me. Half of the world went to bed hungry tonight. You stuffed yourselves, fed the dog, and still threw away a good meal.
“Something is wrong with a country that lets grain rot in the silos while bodies rot away in other nations. What’s more, you do not care. When I leave tonight, I will be remembered as the misfit. You will not think of yourselves as the strange ones. But you are. And the strangest thing of all is that you do not even realize it. Just by being an American, I am one of the richest people on this planet. The rest of the world wants what we’ve got…and we’re not going to give it to them.”
Brothers and sisters, we are rich in America, far richer than we realize. WE ARE ABUNDANTLY BLESSED.
PROP.- Our text in I Thess. 5:16-18 gives us some of the attitude and action of Thanksgiving, which should be a part of our lives.
1- Be joyful
2- Give thanks
I. BE JOYFUL
V. 16 “Be joyful always.” A thankful person is a joyful person and a joyful person is generally a thankful person.
ILL.- The story is told of two old friends bumped into one another on the street one day. One of them looked forlorn, almost on the verge of tears. His friend asked, "What has the world done to you, my old friend?"
The sad fellow said, "Let me tell you. Three weeks ago, an uncle died and left me forty thousand dollars." "That’s a lot of money."
"But, two weeks ago, a cousin I never even knew died, and left me eighty-five thousand free and clear." "Sounds like you’ve been blessed...."
"You don’t understand!" he interrupted. "Last week my great-aunt passed away. I inherited almost a quarter of a million." Now he was really confused. "Then, why do you look so glum?" "This week... nothing!"
This is often the way we are. We are blessed in certain ways and expect more all the time. What? Nothing this week!
We’re not as joyful as we should be and that’s because we don’t recognize what we’ve already been given.
I Cor. 4:7 “For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?”
Everything we have we received from God. Our jobs, incomes, cars, houses, land, food, clothing, you name it. We have no right to boast as if we provided everything for ourselves. EVERY GOOD GIFT IS FROM ABOVE! There should be no boasting or indifference on our part. Never.
ILL.- Leslie Weatherhead told about eating with a couple in northern England right after WWII. Food was still scarce, but the wife managed to prepare a fine meal of fresh trout from a nearby stream and some fresh vegetables cooked in a delightful way.
He enjoyed the meal greatly and when it was over, he thanked his hostess for it. She blushed rather shyly and said, “Oh sir, my husband never thanks me when I prepare a fine meal for him.”
Weatherhead said that he felt a little embarrassed for the husband. But he discovered that the husband was not embarrassed at all. He said that he could still see the man sitting there, saying, “Hey, Love. I would have told you if I didn’t like it.”
Isn’t that the way we are so much of the time? Instead of being humbled, thankful and appreciative, we are quicker to complain if our blessings are not just the way we want them or the amount that we want.
ILL.- The young man was feeling very proud of himself. As a brand-new college graduate he had taken the C.P.A. Exams and passed with flying colors. Now he was a full-fledged Certified Public Accountant.
His father had been an immigrant to the U.S. and now owned his own little business. Filled with self-importance, the young man began to criticize his father’s way of keeping books. He said, “Dad, you don’t even know how much profit you’ve made. Over here in this drawer are your accounts receivable. Over there are your receipts and you keep all your money in the cash register. You don’t have any idea how much you’ve made.”
The father answered, “Son, when I came to this country the only thing I owned was a pair of pants. Now, your brother is a doctor, your sister is an art teacher, and you are a C.P.A. Your mother and I own our home. We have a car and we own this little business. Now add that up, subtract the pants, and all the rest is profit.”
ADD IT UP, brothers and sisters. That’s exactly what we need to do at Thanksgiving. Add it all up. We came into this world with nothing but the eternal soul that God gave us. Everything else is profit. We all have profited quite well. BE JOYFUL.
II. GIVE THANKS
V. 18 “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
A thankful person is quick to give thanks to God in all circumstances.
ILL.- I like the story about a lady who pulled up to the drive-in window at the bank. The inside teller was facing the hot afternoon sun, so he pulled down the large window shade, making it impossible for his customers to see him through the window. He could see out but they couldn’t see in.
As this lady pulled up to the window he pushed the button and the drawer moved out to meet her. She put in her deposit and the drawer withdrew. A few moments later the drawer came back out again with her deposit slip and the money she had requested. She counted it and then put the money in her purse.
She looked at the window, but unable to see anyone inside, said, "I suppose you’re totally automated, but I just feel I ought to say `thank you’ anyway." Good job, lady. More of us should be that way.
We should be thankful to God and to all people who bless us in life. We should be thankful to God for those who serve us even though we may not know them or see them.
GIVE THANKS IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES. The apostle Paul didn’t say to give thanks “for” all circumstances, but “in” all circumstances. All our circumstances in life are not good, but there will always be something in those circumstances for which to give thanks.
ILL.- When Robinson Crusoe was shipwrecked on a lonely island he thought of both the good and the bad.
- He was cast onto a desolate island, but he was still alive, not drowned as all of his ship’s company was.
- He was divided from mankind, but he was not starving.
- He had no clothes, but he was in a hot climate where he didn’t need them.
- He was without means of defense, but he saw no wild animals.
- He had nothing to speak of, but God had sent the ship so near to the shore that he could get out of it all things necessary for his survival.
So he concluded that there was not any condition in the world so miserable but that there was something positive for which to be thankful.
That’s the attitude that we need to have. Crusoe could give thanks in all circumstances. He found some things for which to give thanks AND WE CAN TOO NO MATTER HOW BAD OUR SITUATION OR CIRCUMSTANCES MIGHT SEEM TO BE!
ILL.- Max Lucado tells about living as an American in Brazil. One day, as he was walking along the street on his way to the University to teach a class, he felt a tug on his pants leg. Turning around, he saw a little boy about 5 or 6 years old with dark beady eyes and a dirty little face. The little boy looked up at the big American and said, "Bread, Sir."
He was a little beggar boy and Lucado said, "There are always little beggar boys in the streets of Brazil. Usually I turn away from them because there are so many and you can’t feed them all. But there was something so compelling about this little boy that I couldn’t turn away. So, taking his hand, I said, `Come with me’ and I took him into a coffee shop." Max told the owner, "I’ll have a cup of coffee and give the boy a piece of pastry…whatever he wants."
Since the coffee counter was at the other end of the store, Max walked on and got a cup of coffee, forgetting about the little boy because beggar boys usually get the bread and then run back out into the street and disappear.
But this one didn’t. After he got his pastry, he went over to the big American and just stood there until Lucado felt his staring eyes. Lucado said, "I turned and looked at him. Standing up, his eyes just about hit my belt buckle. Then slowly his eyes came up until they met mine. The little boy, holding his pastry in one hand, looked up and said, ‘Thank you, sir. Thank you very much.’”
Lucado said, "I was so touched by the boy’s thanks that I would have bought him the store. I sat there for another 30 minutes, late for my class, just thinking about a little beggar boy who came back and said, `Thank you.’"
Brothers and sisters, if a little Brazilian beggar boy could make Max Lucado’s heart bubble, I wonder if we could make God’s heart jump for joy when we say, “Thank you. Thank you very much”? IT COULD VERY WELL BE. And this is God’s will for our lives. To give Him thanks and praise in all circumstances.
CONCLUSION-------------------------------------
ILL.- Little eight-year-old named Christina had cancer of the nervous system. When asked what she wanted for her birthday, she thought long and hard and finally said, "I don’t know. I have two sticker books and a Cabbage Patch doll. I have everything!"
Brothers and sisters, we all have that great cancer of the soul called sin, but Jesus took it away. WE HAVE EVERYTHING BECAUSE OF HIM! “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
