INTRO.- ILL.- One man wrote, “The day before Christmas became a thanksgiving day for my family. The station wagon was packed with kids and travel stuff for the 400-mile trip to Grandma’s. As is our custom, before leaving we asked God to protect us on the road. He did, but in an unusual way.
“As we were cruising down I-75 in Ohio, we ran over some debris in the road. It made a lot of noise, but did no damage--or so we thought. With every passing mile we figured that the crisis had passed. When we pulled off the expressway for gas a few miles later, though, we were in for a deflating surprise. I felt a sickening, sloppy feeling in the front of the car. Both front tires had gone flat.
“We weren’t happy with having to replace the tires, but we were thankful for God’s care. Thankful that we didn’t have an accident. Thankful that the tires stayed inflated until we got off the expressway. Thankful for the tow truck sitting at the gas station. Thankful that a repair shop was open. We were thankful for God’s answer to our prayer.”
I Thess. 5:18 “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, but still, we are to look for something to be thankful for! And there is ALWAYS something positive for which we can be thankful!
ILL.- One morning after a terrible snowstorm, 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!"
Give thanks in all circumstances.
ILL.- Dr. Dale Robbins writes, “I used to think people complained because they had a lot of problems. But I have come to realize that they have problems because they complain. Complaining doesn’t change anything or make situations better. It amplifies frustration, spreads discontent and discord, and can invoke an invitation for the devil to cause havoc with our lives.” Complaining makes us miserable.
Psalm 77:3 says, “I complained and my spirit was overwhelmed.”
Philippians 2:13 “Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe.”
A positive, thankful person is a great witness in this dark world. We only shine when we are thankful. Our light shines for the Lord when we are thankful, when we live it and express it!
Instead of looking at the negatives in our lives and complaining, we must look at and for the positives and give thanks.
I Thess. 5:18 “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
Giving thanks is God’s will for our lives. Giving thanks to God and others is what pleases the Lord.
PROP.- I have three simple thoughts about thanksgiving.
1- We have it so good
2- We enjoy it so much
3- We express it so little
I. WE HAVE IT SO GOOD
I Tim. 6:17 “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.”
ILL.- Someone said, Your mama is so poor, she goes to Kentucky Fried Chicken to lick other people’s fingers.
- Your mama is so poor, I walked into her house, asked to use the bathroom, and she said "3rd tree to your right."
Where did you come from? How poor were you when you were a child? What do you now have that didn’t you have? Many of you grew up with a whole less than you have now.
I Tim. 6:17 “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant...."
ILL.- Elaine and I went to the Canton, TX, flea market on Nov. 3rd and 4th. It takes place every month for 4 days (Thursday to Sunday) before the first Monday of every month. We were told that it was very big and it is HUGE! You couldn’t see the whole thing in one day. I’m not sure you could see it all in 4 days. I NEVER SAW SO MUCH STUFF AND JUNK IN MY LIFE! Americans are rich! They are rich in junk if nothing else!
WE ARE THE RICH OF THIS WORLD and we should not be arrogant about it. Have you counted up your blessings lately?
ILL.- Every week I send my sermons to an internet site called, “sermon central.com.” Occasionally, I receive e-mail notes from preachers who read my sermons. Some of the best notes I receive are from people in other parts of the world. For example, Packs Padillia preaches in the Philippines. Do you know how much the average Filipino lives on yearly? $1040. Can you imagine? We have it so very good here in America!
ILL.- Brother Ruben Casas is a Hispanic preacher in East LA, California. He preaches for the American Baptist Church. We got acquainted some years ago through sermon central as well. Ruben, of course, was born and raised in Mexico. Here is a part of a letter that he wrote me.
“I remember the time in my homeland when I was working for less than one dollar a day. I came to this country looking for a better future and I found it. I went to school for a few years while I was working, sometimes part-time, sometimes full-time. When the Lord called me to ministry, He opened many doors. I was able to go to college than to seminary to get my Masters in Divinity.
“For many years I served the Lord in the barrio, in the heart of Northeast Los Angeles where gang activity, drive-by shootings, drug trafficking and other criminal activities were rampant. We preached on the streets, in the parks, in parking lots and everywhere we could, besides the church. We were trying to make an impact in the community.
“During those years I received a very small salary from the church. I used to get $800 dollars a month. It was not very much, but it was a whole lot better than what I had ever earned back in my country. I went through a lot of financial struggles. I had to drive a 1971 Ford Pinto, but where I grew up, I had to ride on a donkey. I did not enjoy many material things for many years, but I kept faithfully working for the Lord.
“I also believe God brought me here to bless me and to prosper me so that I can bless other people. God has blessed me so much in so many ways.
“I just cannot thank Him enough. Every day of my life I gather my family and we thank God for all His blessings. By the way, I still drive an old car, a 1993 Honda Accord.
“God has been very good to me. The church has more than doubled in size. My salary has also grown accordingly.
“I am not rich according to our standards. I only make about 36K a year. But according to the standards of where I grew up I am certainly very, very rich. I am so grateful to God for all the things He has given me. Sometimes I feel I do not deserve so much. But God is good and He wants me to enjoy his blessings.” We all have it so good!
II. WE ENJOY IT SO MUCH
I Tim. 6:17 “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.”
ILL.- Are we having fun yet? Sometimes we work so very hard to have fun in this life. ARE WE HAVING FUN YET? I thought of this when Elaine and I were at that Canton Flea Market. Tired, foot weary, dodging people and carts, hungry, thirsty, hot, etc. Are we having fun yet?
We Americans are a crazy lot. We will do almost anything to have fun, so to speak, then complain and can’t get out of bed to go to work or go to church!
ILL.- Someone said, “We worship our work, work at our play and play at our worship.” This is very true for many people in America.
II Tim. 3:1 “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.”
II Tim. 3:4-5 “…lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.”
God richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment and we often enjoy it too much!
ILL.- (June 2, 2005) News-medical.net. "We have increased sedentary activities for children by 4.5 times since 1950. Children and adolescents now spend 45 hours each week watching television, working on the computer, playing video games or watching movies.”
According to this medical bulletin it sounds like many children are enjoying too much of this life! They are taking in too much TV, video games, etc. and probably enjoying too much food as well.
It’s all right to enjoy the blessings of God but not to the point where this is our main focus! WE ARE NOT TO FOCUS ON THE GIFTS BUT RATHER THE GIVER OF THE GIFTS!
James 1:17 “Every good and perfect gift is from above…”
If it’s good, it’s from God. BUT LET’S NOT FORGET GOD!
I’ve heard it said that moderation is the key. I think this is true when it comes to enjoying the pleasures of this life. Too much can be too much. Too much of a good thing can destroy a person in other ways.
ILL.- I was watching the TV reality show “Survivor” recently. I think the week of Oct. 23rd. The two teams are pitted against one another in competition and there is always some kind of reward for the winning team. That particular week the reward was chocolate, all kinds of chocolate candy. One man said, “I have never eaten so much chocolate in all of my life.”
Of course, you must realize that those people had been living on anything they could get to eat: berries, corn mush, etc. So that chocolate tasted pretty good. At least, at first. Too much of a good thing can be too much.
Brothers and sisters, we have it so good and we enjoy it so much! Too much, in fact! It seems like we go “whole hog” when it comes to many things in life: eating, playing, pleasure, trips, etc.
Buffets are not where we just eat, but rather where we gorge ourselves. Our focus is on the food. Our focus is not on giving thanks for what we have but on how much we can get!
Trips are to be enjoyed, but instead they often overwhelm us. We want more and more, without thanking the Lord for what we already have whether we receive any more or not. It seems like we are never content, never satisfied with what we already have. WE ALWAYS WANT MORE. And this craving for more captures our minds and wills. The lust for more material things and more pleasure dominates and controls our lives to the point where God is put on the sidelines or pushed completely out of the picture of our lives.
I Tim. 6:10 “For the love of money (and pleasure could be included) is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money (and pleasure), have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
SOME HAVE WANDERED FROM THE FAITH. When we lust for more and more of the things of this world, the things of God go out the window. Our faith is diluted or drained and damned.
It’s okay to enjoy the blessings of God but not to the point where they become the main focus of our lives and God is shoved to the sidelines or worse.
III. WE EXPRESS IT SO LITTLE
ILL.- Some years ago, the cartoon pictured Charlie Brown bringing out Snoopy’s dinner on Thanksgiving Day. But it was just his usual dog food in a bowl.
Snoopy took one look at the dog food and said, "This isn’t fair. The rest of the world today is eating turkey with all the trimmings and all I get is dog food. Because I’m a dog," he said, "all I get is dog food." He stood there and stared at his dog food for a moment and said, "I guess it could be worse. I could be a turkey."
Brothers and sisters, whenever we think life is unfair to us, we need to think again. We could be a turkey at Thanksgiving! We could have born and raised in some third world country where the people have little or nothing!
Instead of thinking about how little we have, we need to count up what we do have and give thanks!
LL.- In Los Angeles a parking citation with a five-dollar bill attached arrived at the traffic-fine bureau. An accompanying note said: “I found this ticket on the sidewalk. Not knowing if the car owner has ever seen it, I would like to make the remittance for him—in gratitude for the occasions when I have parked over the allotted time and not received a ticket.”
How’s that for gratitude?
I Thess. 5:18 “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
ILL.- A man in Miami organized a new commuter airline and listed God as the Chairman of the board. Commutaire International Airways, Inc., was started by Ron Infantino after his narrow escape from death in a crash of an Eastern Airlines plane in the Everglades in 1972. In explaining why God’s name is listed as the Board Chairman, Infantino said, “Who else could have put me in a business having anything to do with airplanes?”
We don’t know how well the airline did, but shouldn’t God be recognized as chairman of the board of every church and every person’s life? He has given us everything good thing to enjoy.
ILL.- Several years ago some German immigrants to America told this story of a woman living on a farm in Germany who brought to her minister an amount in German money equivalent to about $10 in American money.
As she laid down the money she said: “In former years I have had to pay about this amount in medicine. This year there has been no sickness in our family. I want to show my gratitude to the Lord in this way.”
Some time later this same woman again came to her minister with about $5, explaining that many of her neighbors had suffered some losses in a recent windstorm, but that her farm had been spared. “I bring the church this donation as an offering of thanks.” That’s gratitude!
I am Thankful for.........
....the taxes I pay because it means I’m employed.
....the clothes that fit a little too snug because it means I have enough to eat.
....my shadow who watches me work because it means I am out in the sunshine.
....a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning and gutters that need fixing because it means I have a home.
....the spot I find at the far end of the parking lot because it means I am capable of walking.
....my huge heating bill because it means I am warm.
....all the complaining I hear about our government because it means we have freedom of speech.
....the lady behind me in church who sings off key because it means that I can hear.
....the piles of laundry and ironing because it means my loved ones are nearby.
....the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours because it means that I’m alive.
....the weariness and aching muscles at the end of the day because it means I have been productive.
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 money 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! 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 can never give too much thanks to God!
CONCLUSION-------------------------------------
ILL.- A 12 year old boy named David was born without an immune system. He underwent a bone marrow transplant in order to correct the deficiency. Up to that point he had spent his entire life in a plastic bubble in order to prevent exposure to common germs, bacteria, and viruses that could kill him. He lived without ever knowing human contact. When asked what he’d like to do if and when released from his protective bubble, he replied, "I want to walk barefoot on grass, and touch my mother’s hand."
Get it right. We have it so good. We enjoy it so much. And often, we express it so little.
I Thess. 5:18 “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
