Thanksgiving: Happiness Doubled By Wonder

Colossians 3:17 (ESV) — 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.  

The Christian life has the immense beauty and otherworldly strangeness of believing that every single moment is planned, crafted, created, and beneficial. Nothing is wasted. For those who are in Christ, the easy times and the boring times and the hard times are all sovereignly ordained good times.

But you might ask, how can they all be good? What could possibly be good about a stubbed toe, or a cancer diagnosis, or soldiers going off to war?

The answer is not that we call hard things or even evil things good and simply give blind and naive religious thanks - God’s word says in Isaiah 5:20, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil.” No, it’s more complex than that.

Have fun giving gratitude for good times and boring times:

Good Times:

What does thanksgiving, or giving thanks even mean? It means that you recognize your dependence on someone else’s help. What are Christians to be if not thankful for God’s help. He has given grace. He has given mercy.

Let’s just give one example of gratitude in the good times. How about this Thanksgiving holiday. Hopefully, you get the chance to gather with family and sit down to some good food. God could have given us food that was simply nourishing. It didn’t have to taste like anything, just merely give us the calories and nutrients that we need. But he didn’t do that. Food comes to us with thousands of different flavors and textures. It comes with smells that remind us of places and people.

So when you’re sitting down this week to a massive plate of pecan pie, or pumpkin pie, or sweet potato souffle with the little sugary pecans on top, give thanks that God didn’t make food all taste like raw celery.

As one theologian says, eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we live.

Or as I like to quote from Ecclesiastes 9:7, “Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do.” (Ecclesiastes 9:7, ESV)  

Boring Time:

Or how about giving thanks in the boring times?

G.K. Chesterton, who is marvelous on the subject of wonder and gratitude, says it well when he says that “When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.”

We can’t be bored with this world, there is too much to wonder about.

There’s the whole library full of sounds - stringed instruments, drums, the howling of an owl, or the hissing of a cat.

There’s a whole world above filled with billions of burning suns exploding and shooting light with insane speed.

There’s a whole world below us with buried treasure, buried people, buried civilizations and buildings, underwater lakes and underwater magma.

There are animals that would eat you if they could, and animals that just look goofy, like the baboon or the car dodging squirrel.

You probably drove here in a car today. We don’t really refer to it much this way anymore, but when you turned the ignition switch, did you know that you were detonating an explosive liquid bomb under the hood? We harness that explosion and strap ourselves down to 2,000lbs of metal and ride on to church. We drown out the explosion noises with a muffler and a radio that plays pop hits as we ride the eruption.

Chesterton Again,

“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.”

Hard Times:

We know that a child who has been disciplined well is actually being blessed. Most of you are old enough to be thankful that someone disciplined you somewhere along the way. The discipline at the time was tough and hard, but it was ultimately a blessing. In order for us to have food to eat the seeds have to go into the dirt and die before they can rise again. We know that the doctor sometimes has to prescribe a difficult medicine or procedure. It may hurt and it may even make us sick for a while, but it is a mercy from someone who is trying to help you. In war, there is often a judgment upon a people - God is exposing the hearts of nations and their leaders, and toppling their idols and their pride. Even in death, God is giving us a mercy as he ends our suffering, and we know that He alone is able to raise us up to new life.

Jeremiah Burroughs says of the Christian that,

“The ways of God, the ways of affliction, as well as the ways of prosperity, are mercy and love to him [The Christian]. Grace gives a man an eye, a piercing eye, to pierce into the counsels of God, those eternal counsels of God for good unto him, even in his afflictions to see the love of God in every affliction, as well as in prosperity. Now, this is a mystery to carnal hearts, they can see no such thing perhaps: they think God loves them when he prospers them, and makes them rich, but they think God loves not when he does afflict them, that is a mystery. But grace instructs men in that mystery, grace enables them to see love in the very frowns of God’s face, and so come to receive contentment.” - Jeremiah Burroughs

Burroughs defines contentment as “That sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, freely submitting to, and taking complacency in God’s wise and fatherly disposal in every condition”

One of the most distinct characteristics of being born again.

Here’s a quick scripture survey of how this truth permeates the Christian worldview.

James 1:2–4 (ESV) — 2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.  

Romans 5:3–5 (ESV) — 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.  

1 Peter 4:13 (ESV) — 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.  

2 Corinthians 12:9–10 (ESV) — 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.  

Romans 12:12 (ESV) — 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.  

John 14:27 (ESV) — 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.  

Romans 8:18–21 (ESV) — 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.  

Psalm 94:19 (ESV) — 19 When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.  

Psalm 34:18 (ESV) — 18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.  

1 Timothy 6:6 (ESV) — 6 But godliness with contentment is great gain,

Godliness is great, but great gain comes from Godliness with contentment.

Let’s Look at Philippians 2:14-18 To Flesh This Out:

Philippians 2:14–18 (ESV) — 14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. 17 Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. 18 Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.  

14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,

What is the reason that we are to do all things without grumbling or disputing/complaining? Because by doing so, we are wildly distinct among a crooked and twisted generation. Our contentedness, our un-fussiness, our thanksgiving, sets us apart as lights of the world.

Specifically, our light makes us known as the children of God.

Speaking of being called sons of God, G.K. Chesterton says, “The worst moment for an atheist is when he is really thankful and has no one to thank.”

We have someone to thank!

Let’s reverse that. We could say that by our fussiness, our complaining, our ingratitude, our worry and anxiety matches the twisted generation that we belong to. When we are not distinct, and when our lives have lost their punch among our neighbors and our culture, it is likely because our worship is shallow and our thanksgiving is low.

16 holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.

We’ve learned that it is important to give thanks for all things, but how do we do this? Where does the strength to do something so difficult and unnatural come from?

In verse 16, Paul says to the Philippians that they can do this by “holding fast to the word of life”.

God’s word isn’t just data or information, it is the very words of life. It would be utterly impossible to live the life of a Christian described here if you didn’t have the life-giving word of God to give you wisdom, hope, and understanding. It’s in God’s word where we find the reason that we were created. It’s in God’s word that we get to know The Creator. It’s in God’s word where our broken world makes sense. And it’s in God’s word where we get a glorious and clear look at our Savior. To be without God’s word in this world is to be without the words of life - it would be a life of wandering, questioning, and searching with no finding, no vitality, no solid hope, and no sure footing.

17 Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. 18 Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.  

Paul’s words and his example give an illustration of what a life of thanksgiving through all things looks like in practice.

He says, even if I am to be poured out like an offering and even killed (which he later was) because of my efforts to teach you about Jesus, I am glad I did it and rejoice with you all. You should be glad and rejoice, too.

In other words, even death has lost its sting (1 Cor. 15:55). In fact, Paul debates with himself earlier in Philippians if it would better for him to die and be with the Lord (Phil. 1:23-24).

Paul is calling us to share in that beautiful and otherworldly joy that he has which comes from being rooted in God’s words of life. They are so powerful that even the things that we fear the most in this world like death and suffering cannot strip the Christian of his hope. The difference is not that we are just happy no matter what happens, but we know that whatever is happening is for our good.

Romans 8:28 (ESV) —. 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.  

What Kind of Character Will You Be?

Will you be a bitter Jonah, or the complaining Israelites in the desert, or a Paul, or even a Job?

Will you be a Reepicheep or a Puddleglum?

Will you be Bilbo at the beginning of the Hobbit all fussy about his plates and napkins being dirtied up by Dwarves, or will you the the happy Bilbo at Rivendell who can’t wait for one more adventure?

Will you be the bored character or the character that whines and complains and is fussy, or will you be alive with wonder and thankfulness?

Illustrations of Complaining and Fussiness:

Numbers 11:1–3 (ESV) — 1 And the people complained in the hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes, and when the Lord heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some outlying parts of the camp. 2 Then the people cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire died down. 3 So the name of that place was called Taberah, because the fire of the Lord burned among them.  

John 6:41–43 (ESV) — 41 So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” 43 Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves.  

Jonah 4:1–4 (ESV) — 1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. 2 And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” 4 And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?”  

Communion Charge

Like I said at the beginning, our thankfulness if not just a state of mind. It’s not just a decision because it beats being fussy, although it does.

Our ability to be thankful comes from the hope that we have.

Everything is made intentionally, even the hard times.

Everything is planned out perfectly - God is on His throne ruling over nations and directing the stars in their orbits.

Everything in Christ is going to work out - Even death has lost its sting and scariness.

Joy and Gratitude Tethered To The Cross:

Matthew 26:27–29 (ESV) — 27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, 28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”  

Hebrews 12:2–3 (ESV) — 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

John 14:27–28 (ESV) — 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. 28 You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.

John 15:9–11 (ESV) — 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

His peace he has left with us - It comes through his blood where he pays the price that justice demands for the sins of the world, for your sins. It is this alone which gives you access to God the father. It is this alone which gives you the peace of Jesus