How to Celebrate Thanksgiving
Leviticus 23:34-40
Luke 17:11-19
When I check out the comics in the newspaper I look at two comic strips: Peanuts and Garfield. My top comic strip is Peanuts, written by the late Charles Schulz. Schultz describes the lives and relationships of Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, Snoopy, and all the other characters. Many of the Charlies Brown comics have a moral truth in the story line.
One comic strip shows Linus sharing with his older sister Lucy a comic strip he had written. He hands her the piece of paper and asks, "Lucy, would you read this and tell me if you think it’s funny?"
Lucy reads it, and a bit of a grin comes across her face. She looks at Linus and says, "Well, who wrote this?"
Linus puffs out his chest and says with a big smile, "Lucy, I wrote that." Lucy then wads the paper up, tosses it to the side, and says, "Well, then, I don’t think it’s very funny." Linus picks up his crumpled comic strip, throws his security blanket over his shoulder, and says, "Big sisters are the crabgrass in the lawn of life.
Many of us have a few clumps of crabgrass in the lawn of our lives. Some family members or friend have said or done hurtful things to you. You’ve felt the discouragement of failure, the sting of criticism, and the despair of hopelessness. Sometimes your crabgrass even comes with "stickers"—thorns that pierce to your very heart day after day.
Too often our tendency is to get so upset over the crabgrass that we forget to give thanks for the lawn. We get so focused on our problems and our pains that we lose our sense of gratitude for the many blessings we enjoy. How do we keep that joy alive? How do we live thankfully? How do we pray with an attitude of gratitude? How can we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving?
We best prepare for Thanksgiving by reflecting on the past blessings and provisions of the Lord.
The Old Testament records 7 festivals and feasts instituted by God to remind Israel of God’s past blessings and providential care.
The Feast of Passover was celebrated to remember how God had spared the life of all first born of the Children of Israel in the final plague on Egypt so Pharaoh would release the Children of Israel from bondage.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread followed the Passover Festival and remembered that in the exodus the Children of Israel prepared bread without yeast because of their hasty preparation to leave Egypt.
The Feast of First Fruits took place at the beginning of harvest and signified Israel gratitude to and dependence upon God.
The Feat of Weeks occurred seven weeks after Pentecost and was a sacred day of assembly and no work on that day was allowed. The feast focused on giving God thanks for the wheat harvest.
The Feast of Trumpets marked the end of the agricultural year. The blasting of trumpets announced the commencement of this special celebration.
The Day of Atonement festival focused on the atonement for the sins of the people. The Day of Atonement took place at the end of the agricultural year.
The Feast of Tabernacles, also called the Feast of Booths took place five days after the Day of Atonement. The people camped out in small huts during this time in order to recall their temporary living quarters prior to entering the land of Canaan. This joyous week was a time of final celebration and thanksgiving for the year’s harvest. The Feast of Tabernacles lasted 8 days. Thanks to God was given for the harvest that had been gathered. A palm frond was bound together with a thick myrtle branch on one side and a willow branch on the other. The branches were carried and waved in the air along with fruit during the religious celebration. Tradition says that Psalm 118 was recited from memory as part of the ritual of celebration. Psalm 118:1 “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures for ever.”
Small booths were made from leafy branches and people lived in the booths during 7 days of the 8 day celebration. This reminded the Jews how God had provided for them during their 40 years of wilderness wandering. For 40 long years God provided food and water and long wearing clothes and sandals for their journey through the desert.
The Feast of Tabernacles was a time of thanksgiving and rejoicing before the Lord.
We don’t build booths to live in during days surrounding the day we designate as a Day of Thanksgiving, but we can reflect on past blessings and how God has provided for us individually as a family.
Thanksgiving and joy are linked together. When we focus on thanksgiving and praise we enjoy the attitude and spirit of joy in our life.
Thanksgiving is a reminder that we are to live everyday with a thankful heart. Too often we are thankful when all is going well and critical when things don’t go our way.
# The story is told of two old friends who met 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 $40,000.
“That’s a lot of money.” “But, two weeks ago, a cousin I never even knew died, and left me $85,000 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 dollars.”
Now his friend was really confused. “Then, why do you look so glum?”
He answered, “This week…..nothing!”
I Thessalonians 5:16-18 is a good reminder for us to ponder in preparing our hearts for our annual Thanksgiving celebration. “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
What is God’s will for you: To be a negative, complaining and critical person? “No!” “Be joyful always, (how?) 1. Pray continually. 2. Give thanks in all things. 3. For this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
We celebrate the true spirit of Thanksgiving when we have the joy of the Lord in our heart and express gratitude for all God’s blessings we have experienced in our life and family.
Sir John Templeton, the billionaire investor, was once asked, “what is the secret of wealth?” He said, "Gratitude. If you’re not grateful, you’re not rich--no matter how much you have." The flip side of that is, "If you’re grateful, you are rich--no matter how little you have."
So, today, your life can become rich--if you choose to be thankful for all that you have.
We have a tendency to rate our lives on a scale of comparison with others--and we compare ourselves with those whose lives appear to be richer, fuller, and more exciting than ours. Many times we feel short changed. We wonder why others have it so much better than we do. Of course, that’s distorted thinking. Having a thankful heart is not about comparing yourself to others it’s about recognizing and acknowledging what God has done in your life.
In Luke 17:11-19 --- All ten lepers were healed, but only one returned to express his gratitude to Jesus for his healing. I wonder it that’s about the average in America for people giving thanks for God’s blessing, one out of ten?
Jesus was not moved by the good works being accomplished by the ten lepers. Jesus was moved by their desperation and genuine cry for help.
Too often we experience blessings in life and instead of thanking God we believe we are entitled to the blessing and fail to express gratitude to God for the blessings.
Here’s a Biblical truth: Jesus does not bless us because of how good we are or how many good deeds we do for him.
From a human standpoint we often believe that if we have offended God then we need to do something to get back in God’s favor.
# Bryan Chapell, president of Covenant Theology Seminary in St. Louis, MO tells about a sign he saw in a yard not far from where he lived. The sign read: “Mom on Strike.” The mother had moved into her children’s tree house and vowed she wasn’t coming down until a few things changed.
A local television station saw the sign and ran a story in which they interviewed the mother. The reporter also interviewed the husband. During the interview he said, “I’ve told the kids to cool it with the back talk. I’ve told them to do their chores again. We’re doing everything we can to get her to come down.”
From a human point of view it makes sense to make amends to someone you have offended. The healing of the ten lepers make it clear that if we are depending on what we do to make ourselves right with God, we barking up the wrong tree.
All our good deeds and good works will not bring God down from His so called, “Tree House” in heaven and be present and move in our midst. We cannot impress God with our good works. The prophet Isaiah declared that the best deeds of righteousness are like filthy rags in the sight of our Holy God. Isaiah 64:6 “…All our righteous acts are like filthy rags…”
The ten lepers cried out, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” Luke 17:13: Jesus did have mercy on them. God is not moved by our good deeds. God is moved when we humble ourselves before him and cry out to Jesus that we need His help.
A pastor and his wife had a son who at 17 tuned from faith in the Lord and rebelled against his family. The son so embarrassed the family that the mother confided in a Christian friend that she wasn’t sure she could love her son any more. The son had deeply hurt her.
After one of his wild escapades he came home. He said what he had said many times that what he had done wasn’t that bad. His actions had not been very wrong. He promised that he would do better. While the teenager was talking, his mother walked out of the living room.
The young man was left in the living room alone. He began to thumb through the family photo album. He came across a photo that spoke to his heart. He called his mother back into the room and said, “Mom, when I looked at this photo, I realized why you can’t love me any more. In the picture you are looking at me as a little boy, and your eyes are filled with such hope for me. But, Mom, I have dashed all your hopes. I know it. I have dashed your hopes.”
This time the son spoke from his heart and didn’t protest that he had not done anything so bad. He was acknowledging that he didn’t have any reason his mother should love him. His genuine desperation made his mother want to love him again.
God is telling you and me to come to Him, not trying to explain how much goodness we have or how much we have accomplished in life. God wants us to come to Him acknowledging how deeply we need his grace. When you come to Jesus praying, “Jesus, Master, have pity on me;” then Jesus stands ready to forgive, heal and bless you.
When you receive God’s blessing He is pleased when you acknowledge His blessing with gratitude.
Luke 17:14 --- Jesus told the Lepers to go show themselves to the priests. “And as they went, they were healed.” Luke 17:15, “One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice.” It took something for the one Leper, probably a Gentile, to go back and thank Jesus for His blessing. He may have thought, “Jesus said go show yourselves to the priests. If he turned back his healing may stop.” He risked his health to return and express his gratitude.
The Lord appreciates your attitude of praise and thanksgiving. As Americans we have much to praise the Lord for. This Thanksgiving when you sit down, to a table with lots of food to eat remember that nearly a billion people around the world will go to bed hungry. As you enjoy the comforts of a home, don’t forget that many in the world have no home to go to. When you step into your car, remember that many people in the world can’t afford even a bicycle. (Turn to the person sitting next to you and say, “We have much to be thankful for!”)
#A pastor in the Detroit, Michigan area had a daughter who had a gift exchange at her school. Among the gifts she received was a chocolate teddy bear that she brought home and put in her room. She went to school the next day. And while the daughter was at school, her mother went into her room and found her younger preschool brother there. As mom entered the room, the brother backed against the wall like a cornered criminal, the evidence of his crime all over his face, and the boy said, “Oh, Mommy, I’m so sorry.”
His mother said, “If you are truly sorry then you are going to confess what you did to your sister when she comes home from school.” You can imagine the anxiety and dread the little preschooler felt waiting for his sister to come home. Finally his sister came into the front door and the little boy ran to her. He threw his arms around her and said, “Oh, Sister, I’m sorry! I ate your chocolate teddy bear.”
This brother had the kind of sister who was always looking for ways to love her brother. She picked him up in her arms and said, “It’s okay, Jonnie, I will love you anyway and always.” With tears running down his cheeks he hugged his sister for all he was worth.
You prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving when you acknowledge the many blessing God has given you that you don’t deserve. Come to Jesus, just as you are, asking for His help, asking for His forgiveness, Jesus accepts you and says regardless of what you have done, Jesus tenderly says: “I will love you always.”
What ever your need you can cry out to Jesus and he will hear you and give you his love and blessing.
Closing Prayer
Special – “Cry Out to Jesus”
