Thanksgiving 2021

ILLUSTRATION

In the late 1800’s George Mueller operated an orphanage in England that at one time had almost 1,000 orphans. One morning there was no food to eat, but he called all the children and staff together and prayed thanking God for the provision of food, even though no food was on the table. A few moments later a baker knocked on the door. He told Mr. Muller that God had led him to bake bread the night before and give it to the orphanage. Before the bread was given to the children, a milkman knocked on the door. He said that his milk truck had broken down and he wanted to give the milk to the orphanage. George Muller gave thanks, even when it took faith to do so.

ILLUSTRATION

Author Joni Eareckson who was paralyzed after an accident said in her book, “Giving thanks is not a matter of feeling thankful; it’s a matter of obedience.”

INTRODUCTION

Today is the last Sunday of 2021. We at City Harvest take this day to specially thank God for the year. According to the scriptures, thanksgiving should be a continuous attitude of a believer, it is also good if we can additionally devote one Sunday for Thanksgiving.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ¹⁶Rejoice always, ¹⁷pray continually, ¹⁸give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Here we find the responsibility of the believer before the Lord in terms of our heart attitude. A believer is to have inward incessant joy, continual unceasing prayer, and constant daily thanks. I mean, that’s to be the character and the pattern of our life. And by the way, these three commands, rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks, these three commands penetrate the innermost recesses of the redeemed heart.

That little phrase, en panti, in the Greek means in connection with everything that occurs. In connection with everything in life give thanks, no matter what it might be.

With obvious exceptions of personal sin, he is saying no matter what happens to you in life, be thankful. No matter what lot, no matter what circumstance, no matter what struggle, vicissitude, trial, testing, be thankful, give thanks. No matter what the situation we are to find reason to thank God.

ILLUSTRATION

One family was seated around the table, preparing to eat their last meal of the year. Then, from the oldest to the youngest, they were asked to express their thanks.

When it came to the 5-year-old in the family, he began by looking at the chicken & expressing his thanks for it, saying that although he had not tasted it he knew it would be good. After that rather novel expression of thanksgiving, he began with a more predictable line of credits, thanking his mother for cooking the turkey, & his father for buying it.

He said, “I’m thankful for the checker at the grocery store who checked out the turkey, & for the grocery store people who put it on the shelf. I’m thankful for the farmer who made it fat, & for the man who made the feed.”

In expressing his thankfulness, he traced the turkey all the way from its origin to his plate. And then, looking around the table he asked, “Did I leave anybody out?”

His 7-year-old brother, rather sarcastically said, “Yes, God.” Solemnly & without being flustered at all, the 5-year-old replied, “I was about to get to Him.”

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ¹⁶Rejoice always, ¹⁷pray continually, ¹⁸give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

To be thankful “in all circumstances” we need a proper perspective of our circumstances & of our relationship with God.

We should not be slow to express our thanksgiving.

A chorus we often sing is based on Psalm 100:4 Enter His gates with thanksgiving & His courts with praise; give thanks to Him & praise His name.

And David says in Psalm 107:1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.

ILLUSTRATION

It was Thanksgiving Day in the old age home. The small resident population was gathered about their Thanksgiving table, & the director asked each in turn to express one thing for which they were thankful.

Thanks were expressed for this home in which they could stay, families who loved them, people who came to visit – & on the list went. Then one little lady spoke up & said, “I’m thankful for two perfectly good teeth, one in my upper jaw & one in my lower jaw that match so I can chew my food.”

In Luke Chapter 17, we read about ten men with leprosy who were healed by Jesus. Of those ten only one came back to thank Him.

Being Unthankful Is the Essence of an Unregenerate Heart

Romans 1:21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile & their foolish hearts were darkened.”

Five Things We Should Thank God For

a. Salvation

2 Corinthians 4:15 All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. What he means there is that as people receive God in salvation, it leads to redounding thanksgiving from people to God.

In the OT, in the book of Leviticus 7, there is mention of sin offering were to remind the people of their sinfulness and their desperate need for forgiveness, atonement, cleansing, and righteousness before God. But there were also thank offerings. They were sometimes called peace offerings. Thank offerings were designed to remind the people to be thankful, thankful for God’s mercy, thankful for His grace, His lovingkindness, His forgiveness, His provision for all of their spiritual and physical needs.

Both the sin and thank offering is the ultimate sin and thank offering. We are called to thank God for Jesus’ body and blood which brings us salvation.

Psalm 103:1-5 ¹Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. ²Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits— ³who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, ⁴who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, ⁵who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

b. Benefits

Not only do you have salvation, but you have everything. God has poured out everything in life: Home, bread, clothes, family; and the result of all that God doing in your life should be unending thanksgiving.

c. God’s Spirit

Ephesians 5:18-20 ¹⁸Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, ²⁰always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. A Spirit-filled believer is a thankful believer, is a joyful believer, is a praying believer. That’s what he’s saying. If you’re filled with the Spirit, you’re going to be giving thanks for everything. It’s just going to gush out of you.

d. Troubles

Even in the times of trouble we are to thank God. Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Even in the times of great anxiety, in the times of great fear and worry and stress, you’re to be characterized as thankful.

e. People in our Lives

ILLUSTRATION

A letter to the editor of the Chicago Tribune was written by a man who had just buried his wife of 40 years.

In it he said that after all the relatives had left, he had wandered around their house for a while, looking at the furnishings the two of them had bought together – & remembering

He recalled 40 years of marriage, 40 years of companionship & happiness. “We went through some hard times,” he wrote, “but she never complained. Even when money was the tightest, she always had a good hot meal ready when I got home.” Then he added, “But never once do I remember saying ‘Thank you.'”

His letter was published in the Chicago Tribune as an appeal to husbands & wives to turn to their spouses & say, “Thank you. Thank you for making my home, thank you for loving me, and thank you for being my companion.”

SUMMARY

There is always something, you see, to cause us to be thankful.

Seven Things that Corrupt Our Thanksgiving

a. Doubt

If you doubt God, you can never give thanks. If you doubt God’s truthfulness, God’s character, God’s sovereign power, God’s wisdom, God’s timing you’re going to have trouble being thankful.

b. Selfishness

Selfishness poisons the springs of gratitude. This is the attitude that says, “Look, I don’t want the way God wants. I want it the way I want. God, get off the throne and put me on it. I want to be in charge, I want to run my life.” I want my life this way, I want my job this way, I want my spouse this way, I want my kids this way, I want my career this way, I want, I want, I want, I want. And if God doesn’t come in and fit the picture perfectly, then self-will begins to run over the plan of God and a thankless spirit is the result.

c. Worldliness

Someone whose vision is filled with pleasure, prominence, popularity, prestige, people, places, possessions, pursuits cannot thank God. It is somebody whose vision is all filled up with the trivia of the world, the stuff that is passing away. They’re so consumed with all that stuff that if they do not get all they want, they’re not going to be thankful. If your vision is the material world, that causes you to be thankless and ungrateful. The more you have the more you want.

d. A Critical Spirit

A person who is bitter, a person who is negative, who has a sour life attitude. It can be produced by a number of things but if it is running unchecked, it will destroy a thankful heart, it will blind your vision and will warp your understanding. It will make you useless to God and a pain in the neck to everybody around you. This over-analysis of everything and need to criticize everything makes a bitter, negative, thankless person.

ILLUSTRATION

A lady known as an incurable grumbler constantly complained about everything. At last, her preacher thought he had found something about which she would be happy, for her potato crop that year was the finest for miles around.

When he saw her, he said with a beaming smile, “You must be very happy, Mary. Everyone is saying how great your potatoes look this year.” “True, they’re pretty good, but what am I going to do when I need bad ones to feed the pigs?” (Steve Malone on Sermon Central)

e. Impatience

Some people don’t give thanks simply because God doesn’t operate according to their schedule, their clock. They just can’t take process. People like that want instant gratification. They can’t deal with process, they cannot patiently thank God for an unfinished process, they want God to work for them to accomplish all their goals in their own timeframe. Impatience will just destroy thankfulness. Learn to thank God for the process and in the process.

f. Spiritual Coldness

You could call it apathy or lethargy. It is like lukewarm heart of the Laodiceans or the Ephesian Church who lost its first love. There’s a lack of zeal for Christian service, lack of love for Christ and a lack in the study of Scripture, worship, and prayer. Christian life is just on the outside. They just become spiritually indifferent, lethargic, apathetic, and thankless.

g. Rebellion

“I’m not thankful because I’m angry with God, I’m not thankful because I don’t like what He’s doing in my life. I am mad. And I know I’m unthankful and I’m going to stay unthankful.” Just plain rebellion.

In any form, any of these seven, you have gross sin. You’re defying the command of God in everything to give thanks. And so, because we can fall to the sin of ingratitude, the NT repeatedly calls us to thankfulness. I’ll just share a few NT verses of thankfulness and when to give thanks that may help us understand this better.

We take Things for Granted

Someone said that if the stars only came out once a year, we’d stay out all night to watch them. But since they are there every night, we just take them for granted.

The Israelites wandering in the desert grumbled because they had no food. So, God miraculously sent manna to cover the ground & meet their needs. Then they grumbled because it was the same thing every day. They were never satisfied.

ILLUSTRATION

In Daniel Defoe’s novel, “Robinson Crusoe,” among the first things Crusoe did when he was shipwrecked & found himself on a deserted island was to make out a list. On one side of the list, he wrote down all his problems. On the other side he wrote down all his blessings.

For example: He was alone on a desolate island – but he was still alive, not drowned as were all his shipmates. All the food supplies had been lost – but there was plenty of fresh fruit & water on the island.

He had only the clothes he was wearing – but he was in a hot climate & really didn’t need any. He was without means of defence – but he saw no wild animals, he had nothing to speak of – but the wrecked ship was so close to shore that he could salvage things necessary for his survival.

Crusoe discovered that for every negative aspect of his situation there was a positive aspect, something for which to be thankful. Perhaps this would be a good time for us to take an inventory of our blessings, too.

Let me call your attention once again to the apostle Paul’s words that I read earlier in this sermon:

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ¹⁶Rejoice always, ¹⁷pray continually, ¹⁸give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Now notice, Paul didn’t say to give thanks “for all circumstances,” but “in all circumstances.” All the circumstances that come our way are not necessarily good, but there will always be something in those circumstances for which to give thanks.

SUMMARY

Whether it is our pride, a complaining attitude, or just taking things for granted – these are things that can keep us from being truly thankful for all that God has given us.

Yes, the Psalmist was right, “It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord.” (Psalms 92:1)

INVITATION

What does God ask in a growing flock? What does He ask of the sheep in terms of being related to Him? He asks that they rejoice all the time, pray all the time, and give thanks all the time. That’s their spiritual duty and that’s a duty that is energized by the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. And as we yield to the Spirit, God produces that.