Christian Thanksgiving

In the fall of 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued two landmark statements. The first was the famous Gettysburg Address in which Lincoln commemorated the battlefield of Gettysburg. The other statement, made just weeks before, may be a bit more surprising. On October 3, 1863, President Lincoln instituted the first official Thanksgiving holiday.

Lincoln wrote, “It has seemed to me fit and proper that [the gracious gifts of the Most High God] should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People.” Thus, Lincoln set apart the last Thursday of November as “a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father.” Apparently, in the midst of the worst war our nation had ever seen, Lincoln thought the time was ripe for gratitude.

We may be tempted to think Lincoln’s statement of gratitude was inappropriate, naïve, or even offensive. Reading the entire text of Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Proclamation, however, disabuses the modern reader from the conclusion that he had (somehow) forgotten about the Civil War. Lincoln candidly addressed the horrors of the Civil War, a war “of unequaled magnitude and severity” that had transformed tens of thousands of Americans into “widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife.” But he coupled this hardship with hope, recognizing the hand of God guiding him through the valley of the shadow of death.

Conflict and gratitude. Hardship and hope. Lincoln wasn’t confused. He was seeing thanksgiving through a biblical lens.

While it might not seem natural to have hope or be thankful in the middle of difficult times, this is what we see from Christians around us and this is what we see prescribed for us as followers of Christ today from the Bible! See, Christian Thanksgiving didn’t start in 1863… it didn’t start in 1621… Christian Thanksgiving has been around for 2,000 years as followers of Jesus Christ have paused at various points in time to simply give thanks to God for what Jesus has done for us. During this busy and crazy week and season of the year, let’s be sure that we pause and remember why it is that we truly give thanks today. It’s not just because of the turkey, pie, or family reunion coming up later this week… we give thanks because of what our Savior has done and what He commands us to do today!

This morning we’re going to study out of the book of Colossians in the New Testament. If you turn about 3/4 of the way through your Bible, you’ll probably be close! This book was written by Paul to a group of Christians in the city of Colossae. This is a primarily positive letter as Paul simply reminds these Christians of 3 simple words over and over: Jesus is King! Colossians helps unpack how we should live our lives in light of that reality. Today, let’s study in Colossians 3:11-17 and see how we can have genuine Thanksgiving because of the truth that Jesus is the King of the Universe.

Colossians 3:11–17 CSB

11 In Christ there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all. 12 Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a grievance against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you are also to forgive. 14 Above all, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. 15 And let the peace of Christ, to which you were also called in one body, rule your hearts. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Christian thanksgiving is more than happiness or having a positive attitude. Christian Thanksgiving extends to our heart.

Christian Thanksgiving is Based on Fact, Not Feeling (12a)

We live in a world where people have trouble at times giving thanks. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that we’re living in a world that struggles with manners nowadays. Some of you were raised to say yes sir, no ma’am, thank you, and no thank you. Today we live in an age of individualism where so many are concerned primarily about self that manners are a foreign concept in the same way that Latin is a foreign concept to 99% of the world. What has changed so much in our world? Our identity. There was a time in which people treated others well and gave thanks and encouraged others not necessarily because it was easy but because it was seen as the right thing to do to other people. There was a corporate view not just an individual view. This has changed so much in recent decades to the point that our feelings determine almost everything about us. What we think matters most of all. If you don’t feel good then you kind of have an excuse to treat others poorly because you don’t feel good. If you feel like you’re right then you’re obviously right, because feelings matter more than anything. If you think this is crazy and not happening then you’re partly right because it is crazy, but believe me it is happening in our world. People place a higher priority on feelings than facts. This is called Expressive Individualism. We feel certain things and what we feel inside should express itself outwardly. Our society says that what we feel is ultimately authoritative and what we feel must be affirmed by everyone else because feelings matter most of all.

Feelings do matter. God created us to feel certain ways and certain things. Suppressing all of our feelings is a bad thing! The problem comes whenever we think that our feelings determine reality. This is a Greek word called bologna. It’s not true! What determines reality? Truth does. See, our feelings change. One minute you might feel happy, the next you might feel sad. As a child you probably thought that the opposite gender was weird and one day that feeling changed as you began to have some interest in the opposite gender! Feelings change and this is a normal part of being a human. If we change and if our feelings change, what do we all need? We need an anchor. We need an objective standard for truth that exists outside of ourselves. We need something to look to to guide us in this thing called life, especially whenever our feelings and thoughts change a little bit. Where can we find that type of standard? As Christians we know that the solution is God’s Word! God’s Word determines what is true - we have to submit to what God’s Word says.

So, what are the facts according to God’s Word?

We are sinners who are separated from God

Jesus Christ alone saves sinners

It doesn’t matter what you or I feel, we have fallen short of God’s standard and this is bad news! Even if you feel like you’re a pretty good person, the Bible shares that we’re all sinners and that separates us from God. The solution isn’t to try harder or be a nicer person, the solution is to repent of your sins and place your faith in Jesus. Regardless of our feelings, these are the facts of God’s Word.

How do these facts help you and I throughout this life? On the one hand we don’t like receiving bad news because it might make us feel like a failure to come capacity, but on the other hand these facts and other facts in God’s Word can guide us and provide us with hope because they will never change. There will never be a person who doesn’t need Jesus and there will never be a sinner too bad for Jesus to be incapable of saving them. These are good things whenever you find yourself in a bad place! The facts from God’s Word are authoritative and they are there to encourage and challenge and convict us.

Look in our text this morning, Paul begins this text by talking to his brothers and sisters in Christ and he starts out with that pesky word: therefore. What has he just gotten done talking about? He’s discussed how we are united in Christ. Who is united in Christ? Those who are Christians! Those who were walking in darkness and who have been raised to walk in newness of life. Those who have put off the old self and who have put on the new self

Colossians 3:9–10 CSB

9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self. You are being renewed in knowledge according to the image of your Creator.

So who is Paul talking to in verse 12 and following? Christians! What does the Bible say about Christians? Verse 12 calls Christians, “God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved.” Church, here’s some good news. You might feel like an absolute failure at times, but if you’re a Christian, that failure has been forgiven. You might feel like you don’t have a home, but if you’re a Christian, you’re a dearly loved brother or sister and you have a family to call your home. One preacher traveled to Istanbul, Turkey and was talking with 3 elders at a church and they were all of different ethnicities: 1 was Turkish, 1 was Armenian, and 1 was a Kurdish. If you know those people groups at all, you know that they have some violent history and lots of bloodshed in recent years! Yet, here 3 of them are not only in the same church but they are pastoring together as equals in that church. How on earth can that happen? Because they understand that even though they might not always feel the same way and even though they might have feelings of bitterness against things that have been done against their ethnicities in the past, they have been called by God and God has brought them into the same church family! The fact of being called God’s chosen, holy, and loved people transcends our human feelings.

This is how it works with thanksgiving as well in the life of a Christian. We might not always feel like giving thanks in this life. Even during this season of Thanksgiving, you are probably going through something that is threatening to stop you from giving thanks. Perhaps that’s an illness or ongoing question. Maybe that is stress or anxiety. Possibly it’s the loss of a loved one or a fear that you have. We all are tempted to forfeit this feeling because of our feelings… 2 years ago Thanksgiving was weird and so many people talked about how they really weren’t all that thankful in our world. See, Christian Thanksgiving is completely different from worldly thanksgiving. The reason that it’s different is because the basis for our thanksgiving isn’t ourselves or our feelings, it is the reality of what Christ has done for us! God sent His Son to die for us. He has called us into His family. We are set apart by God and we are loved by Him. We might not always feel these ways and we might not always feel like giving thanks, but we CAN always give thanks because the basis for Christian thanksgiving is factual, not feelings. You can always give thanks because of what God has done for you in not giving you what you immediately deserved when you were lost. He had mercy and grace and that generates thanksgiving in our hearts. We remember that He has brought us out of darkness and into His light. This produces Thanksgiving!

Christian Thanksgiving Produces Fruit, not Fads (12b-14)

Paul continues to give several attributes that Christians should model. Having been set free from our slavery to sin and death, we should look and act different as Christians. Think of some of the fads that you’ve gone through in your life and that have made their way through our entire society. Let’s look at just a few over the last 100 years:

1920 - the debut of commercial radio. By 1923, 12 million households had radios in their homes and now cars don’t even have a radio in them because people connect their smart phones to their cars. The world has changed!

1933 - drive in theaters made their debut in New Jersey and there would be over 4,000 around the United States in the late 1950s. Now, though, movie theaters are the norm and streaming services like HBO Max, Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Disney Plus bring many movies straight from production to your living room. The world has changed!

1979 - the Walkman cassette player debuted and people could suddenly listen to music anywhere they walked. Hundreds of millions of these were wold worldwide but if you asked anyone under 20 they likely have no idea what you’re talking about because their music is on their phone and they have bluetooth headphones that they use

Technology is a wonderful thing and it’s led to some cool inventions and fads… but in time those things change. You might think that you’ve finally found the thing that is going to change everything, but history tells us that those things aren’t quite as big as we often make them out to be. Fads come and go. Styles are here for a year and gone the next. Clothes are in fashion and then they’re not. Some things make us smile one day and then they make us frown the next. This is true for 2 year olds and if we’re being honest it’s true for us as adults too - things change!

Is this how Christian Thanksgiving should be as well? Should we only give thanks whenever we feel like it or should we only act a Christlike way whenever it benefits us? That’s not what Paul is arguing for in our text.

Because God’s Word is our basis for truth and because God’s Word tells us that the basis for Thanksgiving is in our salvation, not our circumstances, we should always produce these types of fruit. The Fruit of the Spirit are not optional in the life of a Christian, they are the natural overflow that comes out of your life. The Bible talks about Jesus being the vine and us being the branches, let’s use that picture for a minute. If you have an apple tree, what fruit should you reasonably expect that tree to produce? Apples. What about a banana tree? Bananas. Here’s our problem: So many people claim to be apart of Jesus’ tree but they’re not producing Jesus’ fruit. If you’re saved, you’re not saved to sit or sulk, you’re saved to serve and share. God’s Word is clear that if we belong to Jesus and if He has changed our heart, we naturally produce these fruits because of His presence in our lives. Outside of Christ, it would be crazy to “bear with one another” or to “forgive one another” and it would be insane to “love one another” especially whenever other people wrong us. Our world might talk a great game when it comes to love, but its a fad. It comes and it goes. It changes because in secular society, love is a feeling… Our world will forgive and love to a point - but what does Jesus do? Jesus loves sinners. He loves to the uttermost. As the Christian song the Love of God puts it, If the ocean was filled with ink and the skies were paper and every person was a scribe with unlimited pens, we would drain the ocean dry and fill up the sky before we adequately described God’s amazing love for His children.

That love and that forgiveness that you have been given by Christ produces fruit for Christ. Sure, it might still be hard to forgive others and be gentle and patient with others, but whenever we remember what Christ has done for us and whenever we realize that we’re connected to His vine and as we grow to know Him more, these things become the overflow of our heart and life.

Christian Thanksgiving Results in Followers, not Fans (15-17)

David Platt wrote a book several years ago called Radical and the book centered on what it means to genuinely follow Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior in a culture that prides itself on independence and wealth and status and power. This was a best-seller for over a year and sold over a million copies and understandably so because we live in a culture that promotes fandom. We are all fans of things - we are fans of teams, ideas, movies, politicians, and books. We could talk about these things for hours and it’s good to be passionate about things, but what rules our lives? What is located at the center of your life? What is seated on your throne? What reigns supreme? How can we know the answer to this question? Let’s dive into this question. Colossians 3:15 shares with us that the peace of Christ must rule our hearts as Christians.

Colossians 3:15 CSB

15 And let the peace of Christ, to which you were also called in one body, rule your hearts. And be thankful.

What rules your heart?

Buffalo Bills football game today - 3-6 feet of snow! There are some crazy fans who will still go to this game and not just a few, we’re talking tens of thousands because in the words of Dr. Cyril Wecht, “The NFL owns a day of the week. The Church used to own Sunday but now it’s theirs.” You think I’m crazy? People schedule their day around a football team with players they’ve never met instead of around a church body that is called their family. We’re addicted as fans to football, hunting, camping, and all the other ings, isms, and spasm you can think of. We’re a culture of fans and we allow those things to determine aspects of our lives… This isn’t what Jesus wants. Jesus doesn’t want you to be His fan and allow Him to change a portion of your life. He wants you to be a sold out follower who is all-in for King Jesus. What’s the difference? Here you go: Buffalo Bill fans will go to a game in subzero weather and 5 feet of snow today - are you that passionate about coming to church? Will you look for any excuse to miss church or is church your reason to miss other things? Maybe the answer is yes - maybe we’re passionate about coming and we want to worship Jesus… Are you willing to lose your life for Jesus? I love my St. Louis Cardinals but if someone came up to me and my life was on the line because I was a Cardinals fan, I’d stop being a fan. It’s not worth my life and no team is if you’re a Christian. But are you willing to lay your life down for team Jesus? That’s the type of followers He’s been interested in from the start!

Knowing Jesus and experiencing His otherworldly peace changes us! It must produce a follower - not a fan.

Followers of Jesus Christ aren’t immune from conflict and problems - we still face both. But we face those conflicts with peace. We aren’t given rules - we are given a ruler that we all submit to and Who alone leads us. As we go through this Christian life with one another, Paul shares that we let the Word of Christ dwell richly with us. If the overflow a life connected to Jesus is thanksgiving then the result of Christian Thanksgiving is fellowship and worship with the body of Christ. Does this just include 30 minutes of singing songs each week with one another? Does it just include 45 minutes of sitting under the preaching of the Word? Does it just mean that God gets a portion of our lives? That can’t be it. Adrian Rogers said that whenever he was growing up, the really big super-Christians looked at their life as if it were a pie chart and God got 1 day of the week and 10% of the money. Got got 1/7th of their time and 1/10th of their money. This is how a fan approaches things. A fan looks at a situation with a box or a pie chart mentality and tries to figure out what fits and where it fits. The follower lives out Colossians 3:17. If you’re looking for your Thanksgiving analogy here it is: Jesus doesn’t just get a piece of your pie, He gets all of it! We’re commanded to do everything for God’s glory and to give thanks to our God. What does this practically mean for us as we go through our lives? It means this: If you are a teacher, you are not first and foremost a teacher, you are a Christian who teaches in such a way that glorifies God. If you are a coach, you are not first and foremost a coach, you are a Christian who coaches in such a way that glorifies God with the things you say and the way you lead. God doesn’t just get 1 hour… He doesn’t just get 1 day… He doesn’t just get 10%… He demands it all. Fans will refuse - but followers will rejoice. Which are you today? Are you genuinely giving thanks to God because of what Jesus has done or are you still trying to hold things back from Him?

Our entire lives are meant to be an act of worship. Everything we do as a church here at FBC Salem, every program we have, every event we do, every worship service, every Kidz Choir musical, every Camp Joy week, every mission trip, everything we do must be done to glorify Jesus. Everything that you do in your life should be done in light of what Christ has already done for you. This should result in genuine thanksgiving even in hard situations and in times of conflict. Even when you’re admonishing one another through a psalm, hymn, or spiritual song that you may not know - you still are responsible to sing to God with gratitude in your heart and whenever you are a follower who reflects on the cross of Calvary you have no other alternative.

10 Reasons for You to Give Thanks Today

This week millions of people will be talking about Thanksgiving. We’ll have family gatherings. We’ll have yummy food. We’ll have the Macy’s parade and football. We might even sneak in a nap or two! Thanksgiving is a wonderful time and a wonderful thing to do… but maybe this year it’s going to be hard for you because it’s not going to look like it has in the past. Maybe it’s hard because of a strained or lost relationship. Maybe it’s hard for you because you have a loved one who doesn’t know Christ and that creates some tension at times. Maybe it’s hard this year because you’re struggling to find reasons to give thanks. Christian Thanksgiving isn’t based on a holiday or a positive present feeling, it’s based on the facts of Scripture. We give thanks because of what Jesus has accomplished for us. We give thanks and we obey our Lord’s command to live under His complete Lordship in our lives and to bring Him glory with all that we do. This isn’t a 1 day a year feeling - this is a year round reality for God’s people.

Today I want to conclude with 10 reasons according to God’s Word that you can give thanks today in the good and bad moments:

You can give thanks because God sent Jesus (John 3:16)

You can give thanks because God gives His children good gifts (James 1:17)

You can give thanks because God is faithful (Hebrews 11:11)

You can give thanks as a Christian because God is with you (Hebrews 13:5)

You can give thanks as a Christian because God has forgiven you (Romans 8:1)

You can give thanks because God has a perfect plan for you (Romans 8:28)

You can give thanks as a Christian because God loves you (Romans 5:8)

You can give thanks as a Christian because God has adopted you (Galatians 4:5)

You can give thanks because you are made in God’s image (Genesis 1:26)

You can give thanks because God is good (Psalm 100:5)

While we sang that there are 10,000 reasons to bless the Lord - I don’t think we have that kind of time… But here are 10 Biblical reasons and truths to give thanks for today. These things don’t ever change. God will never not be good or faithful. He will never fail or abandon you. If you’re a Christian, He has saved you! Give thanks for these things today.

You’ve probably been wondering what the index card is for. This is what I want us to do: On one side, write something that you are thankful for right now. Maybe something big or small, whatever it is, write it down on one side of this card. On the other side, write down something that you are having issues with this morning. Something that you’re struggling to give thanks for. It’s hard to have that joy in difficult times, but James encourages us to consider it joy whenever we go through tests and trials - we don’t have to like the situation, but we can always give thanks to our God for what He is doing in our lives - even when it might not feel good. As we get ready to enter a new year, use this card as a prayer starter to always give God thanks… not because it’s always easy or natural, but because His grace always enables us to choose joy! I pray that the peace of God rules your heart and that our congregation would continue to faithfully give thanks to God for Who He is and all that He has done as we gather together and worship Him today and in the years and decades to come.

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