Thankful for Salvation

23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? 26 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. 27 But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.” 28 Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white.

As we get closer to sitting down with friends and family, we will celebrate a time of thanksgiving. But what really is Thanksgiving?

It originated as a day of thanksgiving and harvest festival, with the theme of the holiday revolving around giving thanks and the centerpiece of Thanksgiving celebrations remaining a Thanksgiving dinner. We will celebrate with turkey, ham, sweet potatoes, corn, beans, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and we can’t forget the pumpkin pie. We tend to focus on celebrating the day with family, friends, and food. It seems we focus on celebrating the excess.

New England and Virginia colonists originally celebrated days of fasting, as well as days of thanksgiving, thanking God for blessings such as harvests, ship landings, military victories, or the end of a drought. These were observed through church services, accompanied with feasts and other communal gatherings.

Think of the contrast between the two - the original Thanksgiving focused on thankfulness for survival. Now, we focus on the extravagant excess of life. The original Thanksgiving was placed in the focus by the church. Now, Thanksgiving is anything but a religious observation. Thanksgiving should still be a remembrance of the the sacrifices made so that we continue to have our liberties and freedoms we enjoy today.

Whether it be the 1619 celebration of the remaining Virginians, or the 1621 feast of the Pilgrims, they had a reason to celebrate Thanksgiving. Today, we too, still have a reason to celebrate Thanksgiving. But let’s look at the true meaning of “Thanksgiving”.

The Lexham Theological Wordbook gives this definition: “Thanksgiving is an expression of gratitude to God for his care and concern, especially as shown through his redemptive acts”.

So preacher, what does Luke 9 have to do with Thanksgiving. Isn’t this a passage telling us to deny ourselves, take up the cross, and follow Jesus?

Luke 9:25 ESV

25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?

Oh, simply , we can never lose sight of what we are thankful for.

Food, clothing, shelter, heat, cooling, transportation, pets, our job, our home, we should even be thankful we woke up today, but THE most awesome thing to be thankful for is Salvation! But how does salvation fit into Thanksgiving?

Thanksgiving Denies Self

Luke 9:23–24 ESV

Thanksgiving - an expression of gratitude to God. How can we fully show God gratitude? By denying ourselves. What does it mean to deny oneself? It doesn’t just mean you can’t have certain things (like salt, sugar, carbs), but it points towards a life that rejects self-interest and self-fulfillment.

That’s hard, especially with today’s society, that seems to mandate me, myself, and I become the focus of our attention. Christ says a true disciple does not look after their own desires, but seeks to fulfill the will of God. Christ goes on to say it is not just enough to deny yourself, but you must be willing to take up your cross. Jesus’ own crucifixion, which He had just revealed to the disciples again, would resonate with Luke’s readers as understanding this meant a commitment unto death.

Now, how many of you are willing to stand up right now and say, I’m ready to sacrifice my life for God? If anyone stands, I would be surprised. That’s not a part of preservation of life! Not others lives, nor your own. But Christ says here that it is something that we should do daily. We should make a commitment to do whatever we had to do to follow Jesus during our day. Even if that means following Him to death.

So once we deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, THEN we are told we need to follow Jesus. In contrast to the other conditions this verb is a present imperative, indicating that following Jesus must be continual.

“For” in scripture usually means it is there “for” a reason. This is no exception. Whoever saves his own hide, loses it in the end. But whoever loses his life to God’s sake will save themselves. What does it mean to lose the life you personally tried to save? It simply means, our life is not ours to save. It is only for us to obediently follow the one WHO sacrificed for us so we can be saved from the judgment of hell. For my sake - Jesus demands commitment. Either you accept Jesus, or you deny him. Being ashamed of Jesus’ teachings is equivalent to being ashamed of Jesus himself. Once again Jesus claims that the eternal state of humanity depends on a relationship to him.

Thanksgiving Causes Reflection

Luke 9:25 ESV

25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?

Remember self denial? What about the person who has everything? You know the type! Never wants anything, and has everything But Jesus points out the ultimate goal. If you focus on the things of this world - looking after self - and even if you GAIN the things of this world, what good is it if you lose out in this world and spend eternity in hell? It’s too steep a price to pay, even if you possess the whole world.

In these words Jesus is trying to give us some perspective...but apparently many of us missed the lesson. We still get so caught up in materialism, in our wants, what others have and we don’t, on climbing the social and work ladder. Having more and more, having everything that is bigger, better and brand new! Jesus teaches that bigger and better, and even brand new have no comparison to Him.

And please realize, I know as a pastor I could easily be teaching you today to be thankful and content with what you have! But I don’t want you to be content unless you have salvation. And you never will be. You were created to have fellowship with God, and you have no idea what being thankful is until you experience salvation!!!

Without salvation, I don’t know what you do have to be thankful for.

• Your money is not going with you.

• Your house will be someone else’s home.

• Your food will soon be gone and you’ll have to go buy more, and chances are, doctors will tell you what you just ate is gonna give you cancer.

• Your clothes will either become too small, go out of style, or you get to pick one outfit to wear in your casket

I’m serious!!! If you don’t know Christ, what exactly are you thankful for???

Thanksgiving Shows Reality

Luke 9:26–29 ESV

26 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. 27 But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.” 28 Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white.

Here is where things get interesting. If you’re ashamed of God, He will reciprocate. This is another way of saying “you disown me, I will say I never knew you”. This trend exists - people who are looking for anything to disagree with. You ever argued with a child? You’ll never win, and even if you do win the argument they’ll just continue to ask you “why”? They are more focused on satisfying their own curiosity, or just being plain aggravating. You want to know the sad part? Many adults do the same thing. They acknowledge the power they have thinking it all came from them, and disown Jesus. Kind of harsh, right? Preacher, they may not disown Jesus… But if they have never acknowledged Him, then they deny Him and His saving grace.

Do you want to know the crazy thing about it? Many of them get away with denying Him here in this life! But…there’s always the but… If we deny Him here, He will deny us for eternity.

Without salvation, I don’t know what you do have to be thankful for.

• Your money is not going with you.

• Your house will be someone else’s home.

• Your food will soon be gone and you’ll have to go buy more, and chances are, doctors will tell you what you just ate is gonna give you cancer.

• Your clothes will either become too small, go out of style, or you get to pick one outfit to wear in your casket

I’m serious!!! If you don’t know Christ, what exactly are you thankful for???

And some of you are thinking about your kids, and your spouse and you think, whether I know Christ or not, I’m still thankful for them!!!!! I’m thankful to be alive!

But:

#1– Who gave you life? And you don’t know Him as your savior? Your not thankful then are you?

#2– If your family knows the Lord, and you don’t, eventually you will part with them, never to see them again. And if they know salvation, how thankful for them are you if you do not plan to spend and eternity with them, but rather let them worry daily about your relationship with Jesus Christ????

#3 – If they don’t have salvation, than you and your family are all headed to an eternity in hell.

How thankful are you if you are content to let them live a life that is leading them to hell?!!?

You see, there is nothing to be thankful for in a life without Christ. But with Him and His salvation, I can be thankful in all situations.

• I don’t love money, I don’t hardly have any, and I won’t need any where I’m going

• The food I ate was a blessing and if it does give me cancer, thank God He will strengthen me for the battle ahead

Are you with me??

1 Thessalonians 5:18 ESV

18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

I Thess 5:18 says, “In all circumstances..give thanks”

Closing

I can do that today only because I know Christ.

I want you to know today that Jesus Christ wants to forgive you of your sins, and set you free of all guilt, shame and the burdens you carry around. He wants to teach you what it really is to be thankful. What it is to truly know that everything will be alright. To know that one day you will spend an eternity in heaven with the same Almighty God that carried you through your life on earth. I want you to have the best Thanksgiving you have ever had, by spending it, no matter where you go, with Jesus Christ.

Thank God that salvation is still available! And today, you can be thankful - because you have accepted it. What a day of Thanksgiving today could be!

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