And We Give Thanks

AND WE GIVE THANKS Spring Valley Mennonite; November 22, 2020; James 1:17; 1 Thess. 5:18; Psalm 92:1 "Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly implore His protection, aid and favors...Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these states to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the Beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country, and for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us. George Washington, 1789 So reads the first Presidential Thanksgiving Proclamation for the United States. President Washington gave official approval of the common practice of the American Colonies dating back to 1621. It was in 1621 when the Pilgrims at Plymouth Colony paused to give thanks during their preparations for their second winter in the New World. It is natural to expect that God's people will desire to designate special days to stop and give thanks to their Heavenly Father for the blessing of all good things. Psalm 16:2: "I said to the Lord, You are my Lord; I have no good beside You." James 1:17: "Every good thing bestowed, and every perfect gift is from above..." As we prepare for our National Holiday of Thanksgiving, it affords us the opportunity to examine how the practice of giving thanks fits into the Christian's lifestyle. A great danger in an affluent society such as ours is that materialism can dull our sense of thankfulness. May we view this morning as an occasion to re-sharpen and refocus ourselves in this very vital area of Christian living. We will begin by asking the question: I. WHY WE SHOULD GIVE THANKS When we open God's Word and examine some to the many verses which speak of the topic of Thankfulness, we quickly come to the conclusion that giving thanks is not to be merely incidental in the life of the believer. A thankful heart is at the very core of what it means to be a child of God. Consider the basic concept of thankfulness: to be thankful is admitting that you have been given something. We needed something that we did not have, and we have it now. And we are to thank someone for what we have received. For the person of faith, as Christians, thankfulness is admitting that we are dependent on God. Understand that the giving of thanks is inherently a religious idea. The concept of thanksgiving is severely weakened without the belief in God. I have often wondered how atheists handle thanksgiving! Mankind has a difficulty admitting dependency. The opposite of the attitude of thankfulness is an attitude of pride and self-sufficiency. It is easy to see why God hates pride, for pride is the evidence and the attitude of a self-reliant person. Although the proud person may not realize it, to some extent he has rejected God as the source of all good. Romans 1:21-22, in speaking of the wicked, reads, "For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened; professing to be wise, they became fools." A lack of thankfulness is a characteristic of the ungodly. But conversely, giving thanks affirms a godly perspective of dependency. Thankfulness does not come without cultivation. As individuals we must cultivate a vital, dependent faith in God, and such faith is demonstrated by giving thanks. On the dashboard of my car is a light which comes on when there is a problem with the engine. When my "thankfulness level" is low, it signals something is wrong in my life, and needs fixing. A negative and complaining attitude is like that flashing dashboard signal; I am dangerously low on thankfulness. In addition to affirming our dependence on God, God's Word presents the giving of thanks as an obligation that is commanded. Listen to only a few of these commands: Colossians 3:15: "And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body, and be thankful." I Thess 5:18: "In everything give thanks for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." Ephesians 5:20 tells us that we are to be "always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father." In addition to being commanded, the giving of thanks is inherently good for us. Psalm 92:1 begins with the world, "It is good to give thanks to the Lord..." I see several ways how giving thanks is good for us: first, giving thanks is a beneficial and positive exercise of worship. Worship reminds us who we are and who God is. True worship reinforces our belief that He is Creator and we are the created. True worship affirms that He is sovereign, and we are dependent. This is infinitely healthy and is the basis of good spiritual as well as mental health. It is this idea of mental health that supports the second way giving thanks is good for us: Giving thanks takes our eyes off ourselves and focuses them on God. Giving thanks helps us "unwrap" ourselves and to get in touch with God, the source of all good things. It is so easy for us to lose perspective on the relationship of our needs and wants. Giving thanks forces us to focus on what we have been given, rather than what we do not have, but want. One of the gravest dangers in an affluent and materialistic society such as ours is to be drawn deep into consumerism. Only in such an affluent society such as ours can a day of giving thanks for what we already have be followed by a day where we madly rush to purchase even more stuff! And in past years it seems that Thanksgiving has almost been forgotten by the expansion of "Black Friday sales"? Perhaps one "silver lining" on the current pandemic is that Black Friday crowds have become dangerous and are to be avoided. Understand this: consumerism operates on the principles of dissatisfaction and discontent. Advertisements promote the idea that having whatever they are selling will improve your life and make you happy-just look at those happy, attractive people! The idea behind advertising is that if you buy this product, it will make you attractive and happy. I have never found that to be true! Materialism is one of the lies of the world system as it promises happiness, but inherently is unable to grant that happiness. There is always something better and more advanced. As Proverbs 27:20 warns, "The eyes of man are never satisfied". God has created within each of us a capacity for the infinite. This has been described as a "God-shaped vacuum" which can only be filled with a relationship with Jesus Christ. To try and satisfy this hunger for the infinite with material things leads to great disillusionment. But for those who have trusted Jesus Christ as Savior, the emptiness has been filled. We have the capacity to be content. But that contentment is not automatic, it must be maintained by an attitude of thankfulness, and that is extremely healthy, for both spiritual and physical health. Continuing to examine what the Bible says about thankfulness, scripture gives us some guidelines for: II. WHEN WE SHOULD GIVE THANKS Some valuable principles can be taken from God's instructions to Israel. There were three occasions when all the men of Israel were commanded to assemble in Jerusalem (whole families were encouraged to come, but men were required): the first occasion was Passover in the spring of the year; second was the Feast of Weeks, seven weeks after Passover, (we call it Pentecost), celebrated in early summer; and the third was the Feast of Tabernacles which followed the day of atonement. This gathering happened after harvest time in the fall: So the dates were April/March, early June, and mid-October. A big part of the observance of each of these holy gatherings was a communal feast of emphasizing thankfulness. The feast of first-fruits, celebrating the beginning of barley harvest accompanied Passover. A Feast of thanksgiving at the beginning of wheat harvest accompanied Pentecost, and the Feast of ingathering accompanied the 8 day celebration of Tabernacles. Whenever Israel gathered as a nation, they were to collectively give thanks for the gifts of God, for His provision. In addressing the question of "When to give thanks", we see that Israel was instructed to observe 3 yearly festivals at which they gave thanks. When we as a nation observe a holiday of Thanksgiving, we are following a godly pattern. As believers, we represent our nation before God when we give thanks for the blessings He has given our nation. But in addition to observing yearly times of thanksgiving, the Nation of Israel was instructed to "enter His gates with Thanksgiving and His courts with praise." This is perhaps even more valuable to us as a pattern. When the Jewish people entered the Temple grounds on the Sabbath particularly, but also at any other time, they were to come with an attitude of Thanksgiving. Even though they might come weighed down with their personal needs, their preeminent attitude was to come acknowledging the goodness of God. They were to come first thanking Him and praising Him in spite of their personal needs! Do not think for a moment that the Israelites coming to the Temple did not have personal problems! They also struggled with personal sin, and with problems in relationships; part of the human dilemma is that needs often outstrip resources. Children and parents got sick and died back then, yet, they were to come to worship with an attitude of thankfulness. There is a lesson here about God's desires for us as we gather weekly for worship. We should enter into our worship with heartfelt praise and thankfulness. Do we? Or do we most often come with our needs foremost in our minds? Are we focusing on our unmet needs or are we praising God for His sufficiency? Are we looking at our cup as half-empty? Perhaps our problem is that we think our cup is bigger than how God sees it! Perhaps God wants us to be content with what we have! Are we coming to God with an attitude of entitlement? "God, I deserve more than what I have! I deserve good health. I deserve better wages. I deserve more productive crops. I deserve..." Rather we should come with the attitude that with food, clothing and shelter I am content. Having thought about why and when we should give thanks, God's Word gives us some instructions on: III. HOW AND WHERE ARE WE TO GIVE THANKS? Hebrews 13, verse 15 tells us, "Through Him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name." While this adds to the "when" we are to give thanks-yearly, weekly, and continually, this verse also emphasizes that the giving of thanks is to be in large part a public exercise-it is something done with our lips and tongues and mouths. King David tells us in Psalm 35:18, "I will give Thee thanks in the great congregation; I will praise Thee among a mighty throng." Publicly giving thanks is the outward expression of our inward attitude. We are to be telling others how God has blessed us. This may be difficult for many who are quieter by nature, but we are to voice thankfulness for God's blessings. What a healthy topic for our conversations; how encouraging and edifying to the faith of one another! As one examines the Psalms, another thing definitely catches our attention. Let me read only three of many verses which deal with giving thanks: the first is: Psalm 27:6: And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me; and I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing, yes I will sing praises to the Lord. Psalm 69:30: "I will praise the name of God with song and shall magnify Him with thanksgiving." Psalm 107:22: "Let them also offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and tell of His works with joyful singing." What is common to all these expressions of thanksgiving? Singing! Singing together is commanded by God as an expression of Thanksgiving. Singing is not an incidental part of worship, something that is optional, not something to be endured until we get to the real business of the sermon! No! Singing is mandated as a means of giving thanks. I realize that not all people are given the ability to sing. But that is no reason for anyone to be uninvolved during our singing. I look around and see people who appear like they are completely uninvolved in worship during the singing. Perhaps I am misjudging people, but that is how it appears. If you are not a singer, let me suggest some ways you can be involved. Try following along by reading or singing the words to God softly or even loudly-we are told to make a joyful noise to the Lord; it doesn't ever say that noise has to be in tune! Our songs are beautiful poetry that can be read as well as sung. Let the words be your expression of praise and thanksgiving. By the way, remember to Whom you are singing or reading; you are not singing for the benefit of those around you anyway! Consider also what the youngsters around you are thinking-might they get the idea from watching you that singing is unimportant? And a word to you children: take the hymnbook and follow along with the words, singing the melody as best as you can. I will guarantee the words of these hymns will stay with you all your life, and will become very important to you. Lastly, look with me at the question: IV. FOR WHAT ARE WE TO GIVE THANKS? We are to give thanks for "opportunities to trust" cleverly disguised as trials. Although I don't know the source of this quote, I find it profound: "The Christian privilege is to find reason for gratitude in all things." This is based upon 1 Thess. 5:18: "In everything give thanks". God is able to put a silver lining around the darkest cloud, although it may take us a while to find it. The response of faith is to realize that even in the midst of the most severe trial, we have ample reason for gratitude. Our giving of thanks may simply be for the provision of God's peace in the midst of turmoil. It may be for the hope of the future. It may be that a crisis has the potential to bring you or others closer to God. It may focus your life in a way that could not otherwise have been possible. "It is our privilege to find reason for gratitude in all things." We are to give thanks in everything, even in midst of a worldwide pandemic, even when we must limit our contact with others, even when we must wear masks to protect ourselves and others, even when our favorite restaurants are closed! The list of things for which believers are to be thankful is endless, but it must begin with thanksgiving for God's gift of the Lord Jesus. What a wonderful Savior we have! Have you thought lately of how your life would be different without the influence of the Lord Jesus? We are to continually give thanks for the deliverance from the old nature of sin-we now have the potential and possibility of living above our fleshly urges. We thank God for the provision of His Holy Spirit who leads and enables us in living Holy lives. We thank God for His instruction Book, the Bible. How about the godly heritage so many of us have had? Simply look around you to see families without the grace of the Lord Jesus in their lives and situations. Or we can thank God that in spite of our background, we can break old patterns of dysfunction. The Apostle Paul gave thanks that God considered him faithful to put Him in service. Do you consider the ministry God has given you here at church a reason for thanksgiving? We could go on to think of the blessings of a church which is true to the Word of God. We could mention the food we eat every day, or the warm clothing we wear, or a roof over our heads. I heard of someone speaking of a missionary ministering to some Sudanese refugees in Ethiopia. The believers had no possessions, only the thin rags they were wearing. Upon being given tents in which they could live, they were rejoicing and thanking God for their good fortune! We are thankful for the love and companionship of friends and family, for the joys of children and grandchildren. We are thankful for the delight of God's creation. Let us all join in thanking God for the incredible wealth of good things which flow from His hands. Giving thanks is both our privilege and responsibility. Thanksgiving is one of the distinctive marks of the believer. Thanksgiving is good for us: it refocuses attention on God; it reestablishes our priorities in life. We are to give thanks continually. Thanksgiving is something we do verbally, with our voices in speaking to one another and in singing. And we are to be thankful for all things. It certainly is good to give thanks. 1