Thanks for Nothing
Notes
Transcript
Handout
BIBLICAL Thanksgiving begins and ends with DOING NOTHING. (Leviticus 23:33-36
The Lord said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the Lord’s Festival of Tabernacles begins, and it lasts for seven days. The first day is a sacred assembly; do no regular work. For seven days present food offerings to the Lord, and on the eighth day hold a sacred assembly and present a food offering to the Lord. It is the closing special assembly; do no regular work.
DOING NOTHING is a DISCIPLINE that teaches us to be thankful. (Deuteronomy 8:3)
He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
DOING NOTHING gives us time to be THANKFUL. (Psalm 92:1-3)
It is good to praise the Lord
and make music to your name, O Most High,
proclaiming your love in the morning
and your faithfulness at night,
to the music of the ten-stringed lyre
and the melody of the harp.
The Sabbath Day is better for praising the Name than the other days of the week. For one is free of the business of the world and one's spirit rests from physical troubles. The spirit occupies itself in Wisdom and the service of God.
DOING NOTHING is a GIFT for which we should be thankful. (Mark 2:27)
Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
The Lessons of Sabbath (Psalm 92)
The Lessons of Sabbath (Psalm 92)
We can DO NOTHING because God has made a GOOD WORLD. (v. 1-5, Exodus 20:8-11, Genesis 1:28-2:3)
The Israelites learned this when they took a sabbath year and still had enough food.
Speaks to our need to fix it.
It is good to praise the Lord
and make music to your name, O Most High,
proclaiming your love in the morning
and your faithfulness at night,
to the music of the ten-stringed lyre
and the melody of the harp.
For you make me glad by your deeds, Lord;
I sing for joy at what your hands have done.
How great are your works, Lord,
how profound your thoughts!
For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
We can DO NOTHING because God defeats EVIL. (v. 6-11, Deut. 5:15)
The Israelites learned this when they had no standing army and still maintained their independence.
Speaks to our need for control.
Senseless people do not know,
fools do not understand,
that though the wicked spring up like grass
and all evildoers flourish,
they will be destroyed forever.
But you, Lord, are forever exalted.
For surely your enemies, Lord,
surely your enemies will perish;
all evildoers will be scattered.
You have exalted my horn like that of a wild ox;
fine oils have been poured on me.
My eyes have seen the defeat of my adversaries;
my ears have heard the rout of my wicked foes.
Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.
We can DO NOTHING because God already APPROVES of us. (v. 12-15, James 2:23, Romans 4:23-25)
Speaks to our need to be a hero
The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,
they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;
planted in the house of the Lord,
they will flourish in the courts of our God.
They will still bear fruit in old age,
they will stay fresh and green,
proclaiming, “The Lord is upright;
he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.”
And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend.
The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.