Everywhere you look – Thanksgiving
Psalm 95
You know sometimes I get upset because, my children don’t seem to be thankful. They expect things….3 meals a day, to be taken places at a moments notice and they expect money to just appear when they want it. They seem to only say “thank you” when prompted by one parent or the other.
This morning we are on the down hill stretch to another Thanksgiving Day.
Abraham Lincoln in his Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1863 said this:
The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God.
He goes into a brief mention of the waste and loss of the war that is underway. How industry continues and the population grows and all of it is because of God.
In Lincoln’s day and right up to this minute, people become so puffed up and prideful of their own abilities that they need to be reminded to be thankful to God. We even forget to pray and ask for mercy. We forget that everything comes from God.
The Psalmist said, it a long time before Lincoln.
Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the desert, where your fathers tested and tried me, though they had seen what I did.
The psalmist is referring to the time when the people were complaining in Exodus 17 abut Moses leading them into the desert to die of thirst. Meribah and/Massah mean quarreling and testing.
Lincoln and the psalmist speak to the basic flaw of mankind , that starts with not being satisfied with what we have. We also have a tendency to develop and attitude of I did it, I deserve it - not I’m thankful for it.
The psalmist gives us and understanding that Thanksgiving is an attitude, an attitude we are to cultivate in our hearts if we are not to repeat the mistakes of the past.
Having the right heart attitude also speaks to how we move into every new day.
So, as we look around, I believe that we need to notice and be thankful. Lets start with UP.
Looking up is to notice the power and gifts of God. We need to get into the habit of thanking God. Not just on the one day a year that the country sets aside for the purpose…. We need to live nor as thanks-giving but, thanks-living.
-- Harriet was an atheist. One morning she & a Christian lady-friend stepped out into the glories of a beautiful fall morning. As Harriet saw the brilliant sun peaking through the haze, & the frost on the meadow, & the brightly colored leaves making their way lazily to the ground, she was filled with the beauty & said, "I am so thankful. I’m just so grateful for it all." And her believing friend asked, "Grateful to whom, my dear?"
We should develop a habit of thanking God…He created us for His glory and so we should give Him the glory! That means, the good parking spot, the accident avoided, anything that we might call luck. That means that we actually share when something good happens and Give God the credit….AND tell people about it.
Let me share with all of you and example of what I mean. You all know I was in the hospital a while back. Well I finally got a bill. Over the last months I got several things fro the Insurance Company. Generally they listed all the things they were not going to cover.
I was a little hesitant to open the envelope. When I did I noticed the charges were well over $17,000. My co pay of $500 plus 20% makes my share of the bill $4100. As I looked down the bill I noticed that the insurance had made a payment of $666.00. That was a really strange total. I saw the $100 co-pay we made at the hospital and a subtotal over $16000.00. Then the next line was a negative for $16000 and some odd dollars leaving $400 due by me.
I reviewed the charges and the notes and found the total to be accurate. Folks I thanked God. The hospital wrote off the amount without hassling me for the difference because the Insurance Company said that I never should have stayed.
That is the kind of news about God that we should share, not just the fact that I did not need to stay but, the deliverance from a big financial burden. God has never really handed me cash; however, he has helped me financially and physically more times that I can really count.
When we just decide that he hospital made a mistake or some event was just good luck, we are failing to give God any credit for something good in your life.
--A man was lost and walking in the desert for about five days…he comes to the home of a preacher. Tired and weak, he crawls up to the house and collapses on the doorstep. The preacher takes him in and nurses him back to health. Feeling better, the man asks the preacher for directions to the nearest town. The preacher tells him the directions, and offers to lend him his horse. The preacher says, "However, there is a special thing about this horse. You have to say ’Thank God’ to make it go and ’Amen’ to make it stop."
Anxious to get to town, the man says, "Sure, okay" and gets on the horse. He says, "Thank God" and, the horse starts walking. A bit later he says louder, "Thank God, thank God," and the horse starts trotting. Feeling really brave, the man say, "Thank God! Thank God! THANK GOD!" and the horse is soon up to a full run!
About then he realizes he’s heading for a huge cliff and yells "Whoa!" But the horse doesn’t even slow! It’s coming up REAL QUICK and he’s doing everything he can to make the horse stop. "Whoa, stop, hold on!" Finally he remembers "AMEN!!!"
The horse stops a mere two inches from the cliff’s edge, almost throwing him over its head. The man, panting and heart racing, wipes the sweat from his face and leans back in the saddle. Gasping for air he says with relief, "Thank God."
Being thankful to God is understanding his promises, that our God actually knows you exist. Yes…God knows you exist and he hears your prayers. He sent is son to remove the barrier of sin that separated us for Him.
Looking up we should notice the presence of God
Looking Up we should notice the plans of God
Looking Up we should notice the protection of God.
How about looking around ourselves?
My live is pretty good. I am comfortable…perhaps I could even say content.
Until all the advertising starts, the catalogs in the mail I rarely need anything.
I like my truck until I see some of the really nice Vehicles and look at Gas prices…
I am satisfied with my clothes — until I stroll through the Mall.
I love our home — until I think of what it would be like to have a mansion or a log cabin on the shore of some remote lake.
I am satisfied with every area of my life — until I start comparing with someone else’s life. Yea, preachers do that too. When my children want what some of the other kids have and have to say no…we get dissatisfied what the blessings we already have.
I feel like I have enough of everything — until I see someone who has more.
The secret of a happy life is not to get what you want but to live with what you’ve got. Most of us spend our lives concentrating on what we don’t have instead of thanking God for what we do have. Then we wake up, our life is over, and we missed the beauty of the present.
Verse 7 says, “for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture,
the flock under his care.
It seems like we are so short sited that we don’t know what we’ve got until it is gone.
The power went off at the house the other night. All the sudden all the clocks were wrong. The alarm clock was not going to go off on time. If it stayed out too long the food in the freezer and refrigerator would go bad.
What if our phone or mail delivery suddenly stopped?
A good friend dies, and suddenly we discover how much he meant to us. Our water becomes too polluted to drink and suddenly we appreciate having good water.
Our attitude: “But, what have you done for me lately?” [selfish]
We are much like the little boy who was given an orange by a man. The boy’s mother asked, “What do you say to the nice man?” The little boy thought and handed the orange back and said, “Peel it.”
In regions of Mexico hot springs and cold springs are found side by side, and because of the convenience of this natural phenomenon the women often bring their laundry, boil their clothes in the hot springs, and then rinse them in the cold springs.
A tourist watching this procedure commented to his Mexican guide: "They must think Mother nature is generous to freely supply such ample, clean hot and cold water." The guide replied, "No senor, there is much grumbling because she supplies no soap."
Look at the things around us lets us notice the scenery. The recent colors and feel in the air. I am reminded to be thankful.
Yes, I know about how the leaves fall off and the color disappears. But, that is not reason to forget to give thanks.
Looking around me I am thankful for the generous provision of our God.
Looking around me I am thankful for the scenery which changes every season to something new and amazing.
Looking around me I am thankful for the people that God has placed around me.
How about looking inward to ourselves?
In a sense, thanksgiving is an expression of modesty. To offer thanks is to confess dependence, to acknowledge that others have the power to benefit you, to admit that your life is better because of their efforts.
I am Thankful for...
....the taxes I pay (sort of)
....because it means I’m employed.
....the clothes that fit a little too snug
....because it means I have enough to eat.
....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 alarm that goes off in the early morning hours
....because it means that I’m alive.
....weariness and aching muscles at the end of the day
....because it means I have been productive. [that’s sincere gratefulness]
The yearly celebration of Thanksgiving should only be highlight of a year of thanks-living
The art of thanks-living. It is gratitude in action. [demonstrating it!]
It is thanking God for the gift of life by living it triumphantly.
[if it reaches your hand then it has reached your heart!]
It is thanking God for your talents and abilities by accepting them as obligations to be invested for the common good.
It is thanking God for all that men and women have done for you and showing you’re thankful by doing things for others.
It is thanking God for happiness by striving to make others happy.
It is thanking God for beauty by helping to make the world more beautiful.
A sincere heart will recognize the privileges of serving God/others.
An Inward Look at my Health Makes me Thankful.
Most of you know that at least a couple of Sundays a month I give a message at Beverly nursing home. We have a prayer time where they share what is on their hearts. They are thankful for the little things. Their care givers, family and friends that visit. Folks, when your life gets changed because your health declines. You start to notice the good things that are left. When your dignity and pride are worn down, you more freely share with others what a blessing they are to you. All because you are able to look inside and more clearly see the important things in your life.
Folks, we take so much for granted! We don, say thank you to god or others nearly enough.
A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I hoped that you would take a few minutes to notice the presence of God in your life. I hope that you kept a few notes. I hope that you will share with all of us some special moment in your life this week.
It is time for somebody to testify!
Family
Friends
Church
Health
Dessert
Doctors
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
1 Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD;
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and extol him with music and song.
3 For the LORD is the great God,
the great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth,
and the mountain peaks belong to him.
5 The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.
6 Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;
7 for he is our God
and we are the people of his pasture,
the flock under his care.
All glory be to God!
