The Real Story of Thanksgiving

Sermon Notes – Oct 13, 2019 The Real Story of Thanksgiving Col. 3:15-17 Rev. L. Kent Blanton Introduction • History of Thanksgiving in US is most-commonly traced to Plymouth Plantation in 1621 • In Canada, Thanksgiving celebrations can be dated to Martin Forbisher’s discovery of the New World in Newfoundland and Labrador in 1578 • The Bible however, tells a much older, yet ongoing, story of Thanksgiving • Pastor David Mathis points out this story has four parts (acts) Act I: Created for Thanksgiving • All humankind was created for thanksgiving • Humans were created to appreciate and express gratitude toward God; this brings God glory • Humans were made to appreciate both who God is and what he does • When we give thanks to God, we honor him • Rom 1:21 reveals what has gone wrong with our world For though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became nonsense, and their senseless minds were darkened. Rom 1:21 HCSB • Part of what Adam and Eve and every human on earth was created to do was, and is, to honor God by being thankful Acts II: Fallen from Thanksgiving • We have failed miserably in appreciating God as we ought. • Adam and Eve weren’t satisfied with what God provided. They failed to appreciate and honor God by giving thanks. They wanted something more, something other. • They followed Satan’s lead (the supreme ingrate) and chose ungratefulness toward God. They disobeyed, rebelled, and sinned against God. • We have done the same things. We have chosen dissatisfaction and thanklessness toward God For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Rom 3:23 HCSB • All have sinned. The disease of sin is terminal. It always leads to death. For the wages of sin is death. Rom 6:23a HCSB • Sin always leads to separation from God, now and forever. • We have fallen from God’s intended purpose for our lives: thanksgiving Act III: Redeemed by Thanksgiving • God’s Son Jesus came to earth as a man and lived in flawless appreciation of his Father. • Jesus died on our behalf for our chronic ingratitude. • The Bible records Jesus repeatedly giving thanks to his Father: At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children . . . Matt 11:25 ESV So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You heard Me. John 11:41 HCSB He took the seven loaves and the fish, and He gave thanks, broke them, and kept on giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. Matt 15:36 HCSB Then He took a cup, and after giving thanks, He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves. For I tell you, from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And He took bread, gave thanks, broke it, gave it to them, and said, “This is My body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” Luke 22:17-20 HCSB • Jesus was God, but he was also the quintessential thankful human. • Jesus not only died to forgive our failures in giving God the rightful thanks he is due, Jesus lived the perfect life of appreciation toward his Father, in our stead. • We were redeemed by thanksgiving Act IV: Freed for Thanksgiving • By faith in Jesus, we are redeemed from ingratitude and its just enteral penalty in hell. • Jesus freed us to enjoy the pleasure of expressing our thanks to God. • Creatures should rightfully give thanks to their creator • It is even more fitting that a redeemed rebel express gratitude to his/her Redeemer • The kind of life that flows from such amazing grace is a life of continual gratitude. • We are repeatedly enjoined in Scripture to give thanks to God: May you be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience, with joy giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light. Col 1:11-12 HCSB Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, overflowing with gratitude. Col 2:6-7 HCSB And let the peace of Christ, to which you were also called in one body, rule your hearts. And be thankful. 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. 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. Col 3:15-17 CSB giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . Eph 5:20 CSB give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thess 5:18 CSB • When we choose to submit control of our lives to Jesus Christ, he frees us to become the kind of persistently thankful people God created us to be. • Jesus frees us to fulfill our purpose of thanksgiving, of glorifying and appreciating God. Application • Where does your life currently intersect the real story of Thanksgiving? • Like Adam and Eve, are you stuck in Act II? Are you ungratefully refusing to acknowledge that God, as your creator, deserves your complete trust and obedience? • God is calling to you today to give him control of your life, to turn from your sin, to personally receive what God did for you through his Son Jesus in Act III, and to publicly profess your faith in Jesus through baptism. • In Act III, God sent Jesus his Son to live a perfect life of appreciation and gratitude and then die for your and my ungratefulness, rebellion, and sin. • If, and when, you choose to receive God’s gift of forgiveness and life, made possible through Jesus’s death and resurrection, you move into Act IV. • In Act IV, the power of God through His Son Jesus sets us free to live lives of continuous thanksgiving. • We sometimes need to be reminded that our destiny is to continuously give thanks to God for his indescribably, wonderful gift, the gift of forgiveness and life. • The Bible reveals to us the real story of Thanksgiving . . . the old, old, story that began at creation, that continues today, and that for those who put their faith and trust in God’s Son Jesus, will never end.