Thanksgiving 2005
Thanksgiving
Deuteronomy 8:1-10
November 24, 2005
Remember to Thank God
Introduction: Today is Thanksgiving Day, a day our nation has set aside to remember to give thanks to our God.
In the creation account in the Book of Job we read, "The morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy" (38:7). That's the beginning of creation and there was thanksgiving. And in Revelation, the very last book of the Bible, we read of the "elders" who are gathered around the throne of God praising him day and night and then there will be thanksgiving. The Bible in many places speaks of praise to God, from the beginning of creation, through out time to the time we're in heaven.
St Paul writes, "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus," We are to praise God Praise him that he is the God who through his Son, Jesus Christ, brings life out of death, joy out of sorrow. Praise him for his presence in those crisis situations of illness and accident, loneliness and death, Praise him in those terrible moments of our lives, knowing that even through the worst moments He is using them as a way of working out his ultimate and good purpose for our lives. Therefore, on this Thanksgiving Day we remember to thank God in all things.
In our text from Deuteronomy, God reminded His people Israel to thank Him. Here is the new generation, standing on the east bank of the Jordan River. They are ready to cross over into the land with high anticipation and hope. As Moses is preparing them to enter the land, he encourages them to obey God. God wants them to remember the past and realize that he has been testing and training them.
God tested Israel in the wilderness to humble them, to prove what was really in their hearts, and to teach them. We read, “"And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. "So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD. Our Lord, with His own hunger, quoted those verses when he was tempted in the wilderness.
The Israelites were to thank God that He brought them through the worst of time, their slavery in Egypt, their wanderings through the desert for forty years, they were to thank God that He was with them in the worst of times and preparing them for the best of times in the new and promised land.
So we to thank God in a year filled with storms and disater, in a year filled with sickness and death, a year of trail and temptation. We thank God not for the pain and the suffering but that He has been with us through our pain and suffering. We thank Him that He has brought us through it with hope in the future, of his many blessings to come.
God has also been good to us. He has blessed us in many, many ways, including material blessings including the food that we eat and He satisfies us with everything that we need and more, but He also wants us to remember that He feeds us spiritually through His Word. It is the Word of God that is the real manna for us as God’s children – this alone gives us the ultimate satisfaction that leads to eternal blessings.
And then, the Lord said to the Israelites, "When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you" (Deut 8: 10). Praise the Lord and thank him. Today, it is easy to take for granted that He blesses us. That even the food that we eat comes from him. We live with the modern convenience of huge grocery stores where we can find almost everything we want almost everyday of the year. Some of you probably remember the days when it was special to find an Orange or an apple in your stoking a Christmas. It was special because you couldn’t always get these fruit through out the year. But now, put an orange in the stoking and our kids wonder if we have lost our minds and taken up valuable space for the candy that they would rather have. Sometimes I think that farmers too, forget where there blessings come from. A preacher and a farmer were talking about the fall harvest and the preacher complimented the farmer by saying, "You and the Lord produced a fine crop on that field."
"Yes," the farmer replied, "but you should have seen that field when the Lord had it all to himself. It was nothing but a weed patch."
Sometimes the farmer forgets what the field would be like if the farmer had it all to himself. All his work would be useless if the Lord did not provide sunshine, rain, and air. Not even weeds would grow without the Lord.
God was calling his people to be thoughtful about where their blessings came from. He urged them to remember Him and all the things that he was doing and how much they depended on him. How foolish it would be for the people of Israel to forget him and give themselves all the credit for their success! How foolish it is for people today to do the same!
God Wants Us to Remember to Thank Him
God wants us to remember our past too. Paul put it like this for the believer: "Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" (Phil 1:6). We are to remember that God has led us and blessed us in the past and promises to continue to do so in the future. Remembering is for our encouragement.
When our lives are filled with "goodness," we begin to feel invincible and, thus, have little need for God. We become neglectful in our praise. In the account of Jesus and the lepers, 10 were healed. Ten of them had this good thing happen to them, but only one came back to give praise and thanks. We thank God when Jesus brings his healing power into our lives. It is important that we do not become forgetful and neglectful and self-sufficient in our newfound health and strength.
Thank God for the Gospel!
More than anything else, thank God for the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation that is ours because of the sacrificial death of his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who in all things remembered to give thanks.
Jesus' neighbors once chased him out of town and tried to throw him off a high cliff. Jesus' closest friends betrayed him and deserted him in time of trouble. Jesus' sweat became blood when he reflected on the sins of the world that He would bear. Jesus' compassion for the world led Him to Calvary's hill, where he was crucified by order of his own people. Yet through it all Jesus never ceased praising and thanking God. Jesus was the "Sacrifice of Thanksgiving" because he knew the Father would not abandon the world. He knew that after the darkness there would be light; after defeat, victory; after sorrow, joy; after death, resurrection.
Jesus Christ, on the cross, was forsaken by his Father. He suffered agonizing pain for all sin. Finally at the sixth hour, Jesus had completely paid for the sins of the world. He cried from the cross, "It is finished!" But then on Easter Sunday morning he rose. By the resurrection of Jesus Christ we know that God our heavenly Father has accepted the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our sins. And, we know that we, too, will rise from the dead and be with God the Father forever and ever.
Jesus Christ is our heavenly Father's gift for you and for me. Forgiveness of sins is ours! The resurrection is ours! Eternal life in heaven is ours! We remember to thank God for all of this.
Martin Rinckart, author of the hymn "Now Thank We All Our God," lived during the time of the Pilgrims. His home was a small village in Germany. Unlike the Pilgrims who journeyed from England to Holland to New England, he was caught in the middle of the Thirty Years' War. Because his village had a big wall around it, thousands of people crammed inside for protection. Adequate sanitation, medical supplies were lacking. Food and water supplies became contaminated. As a result, the plague came. Eight thousand people died during one period of epidemic. For part of this time Martin Rinckart was the only Christian clergyman in the village. According to his journals, he personally buried more than 4,000 bodies-sometimes as many as 50 persons in a single day. During this time Rinckart wrote a great hymn, Now Thank We All our God.” Now thank we all our God With hearts and hands and voices, Who wondrous things has done, In whom his world rejoices; Who from our mothers' arms Has blest us on our way With countless gifts of love And still is ours today.
After the darkness there is light; After defeat there is victory; After sorrow, there is joy: After death there is the resurrection. "Offer to God," the psalmists have written, "a sacrifice of thanksgiving" Offer to God the "praise of sacrifice." And so we offer our song of thanksgiving again – as it was sung in the beginning, as it is sung now, and as it ever shall be – throughout eternity, through our Lord and savior Jesus Christ and the hope that we have in Him. Amen.