A FIRST CENTURY THANKSGIVING

Introduction

-It is that time of year again where the holiday season begins with Thanksgiving. Although we have packed it with food, family, football, and fun, we also know that it is also a time to reflect on what we have and be grateful for it.

-I found a little history about the national holiday of Thanksgiving that I thought you might find interesting:

~In 1621 at the Plymouth Plantation, the

early settlers enjoyed their first harvest season in what would soon be known as America. These Pilgrims stopped and celebrated for three days, honoring and thanking God for His blessing upon them. Their motivation was religious, giving honor to God alone.

~Two years later in 1623 after a horrible drought, the people fasted, rain came, and the harvest was plentiful once again. This is when most people believe that it became recognized not only as a spiritual conviction, but also as a civil recognition.

~Later, President George Washington proclaimed the first nation-wide thanksgiving celebration in America marking November 26, 1789, "as a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many … favors of Almighty God.”

~Less than 100 years later when the nation was at war amongst themselves in the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a National Thanksgiving Holiday to be celebrated on the final Thursday of November, 1863.

In the proclamation he said:

I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union.

~So, we know, that the basis of the Thanksgiving holiday is recognition, adoration, and thanksgiving to God alone for His providential care and blessings upon us.

-But our holiday by no means was the first Thanksgiving given for God’s blessing. In fact, there is a First-Century thanksgiving given that I think is a great reminder about what our holiday ought to be about.

-In the passage we are reading today, Mary had just found out that she is the chosen vessel through whom the Messiah would come, and in response she gives a song of thanksgiving that demonstrates gratefulness for God’s character and His marvelous works in people’s lives.

-From this we learn that a time of thanksgiving is an appropriate response in light of what God had done by Mary through the child she bore, as well as what He has given to and done in our own lives.

-And what I hope we get out of today is the development of a heart of thanksgiving that lasts beyond one mere holiday.

Luke 1:46–56 ESV

46 And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; 49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. 50 And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. 51 He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; 52 he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; 53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 55 as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.” 56 And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home.

-Mary’s song reflects other psalms of thanksgiving, and from it we see four characteristics that can be a part of our own times thanksgiving, even beyond the holiday.

I) The reminders towards thanksgiving

-Mary’s psalm of thanksgiving is very similar to one given by Hannah in 1 Samuel 2, which also was a thanks to God for the gift of a child—in that case it was Samuel. But what we find in Mary’s psalm that differs is that she incorporates numerous promises from Scripture, especially with regard to His covenant with the people.

-For example, there are allusions to Psalm 103:1 that calls upon oneself to bless the Lord because He accomplishes what He says in His Word. There are allusions to Proverbs 3:34 and Isaiah 2:12 that says God takes care of the humble, but will resist the proud. There are allusions to Genesis 12 and Genesis 17 where Mary recognizes that the child she will bear is the fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham.

-On and on throughout her song, Mary uses the Bible to bring up points and reason about why God should be thanked. It reminds me of the song that says: Count your blessings, name them one by one. In a sense, you can go through Scripture and find the promises of God, and see how He has accomplished His Word in your own life—you can count them and name them one by one, and you will never stop giving thanks.

-Often times, when we go through trials or difficulties in life, we may find it difficult to find any reason to give thanks. But if we take the time to go through Scripture, we find passages that are reminders to us that ultimately in a spiritual sense (on top of many in the temporal sense) we have been given blessing after blessing for which to give thanks.

-So if you ever find yourself wondering what in the world to thank God for, merely open up the Bible and read, and it will remind you of so much God is and has done, not the least of which is the way in which He purchased your salvation through Jesus Christ, and the benefits you receive from being part of God’s covenant people.

II) The partner with thanksgiving

-Look at vv.46-47

-You notice that Mary starts her psalm of thanksgiving with praise and worship, recognizing first that God is worthy of honor and glory.

-This teaches us the important lesson that praise and worship go hand in hand with thanksgiving—they are partners together. When we fully realize that the blessing for which we give thanks completely comes from the hand of God, it is hard not to fall into spontaneous praise.

-Theologian and prayer warrior E. M. Bounds put it this way:

Praise is begotten by gratitude and a conscious obligation to God for mercies given. As we think of mercies past, the heart is inwardly moved to gratitude.

-This is opposed to people who have a complaining spirit. Having a complaining spirit actually comes from an ungrateful heart. So, we could say that a spirit of complaint partners with ungratefulness, and a spirit of praise partners with thanksgiving.

-Again, E. M. Bounds said:

Gratitude and thanksgiving forever stand opposed to all murmurings at God's dealings with us, and all complainings at our lot [in life]. Gratitude and murmuring never abide in the same heart at the same time. An unappreciative spirit has no standing beside gratitude and praise….The murmurers are ungrateful people. Appreciative men and women have neither the time nor disposition to stop and complain. The bane of the wilderness-journey of the Israelites on their way to Canaan was their proneness to murmur and complain against God and Moses. … The absence of gratitude left no room nor disposition for praise and thanksgiving, just as it is so always. But when these same Israelites were brought through the Red Sea dry shod, while their enemies were destroyed, there was a song of praise led by Miriam, the sister of Moses. One of the leading sins of these Israelites was forgetfulness of God and His mercies, and ingratitude of soul. This brought forth murmurings and lack of praise, as it always does.

-The apostle Paul actually brought my first two characteristics together when writing to the Colossians when he said in 3:16--

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. (Col. 3:16 ESV)

-When God’s Word dwells in us richly, it reminds us of the many blessings God gives, bringing a thankful heart that leads to praises of our loving God.

III) The heart of thanksgiving

-When you look at how Mary describes herself in this psalm of thanksgiving, it gives you a glimpse at the type of heart from which gratefulness grows.

-Looking at v. 48 she talks about her humble estate, and she then refers to herself as a servant, or a bondservant, or a slave—someone who is in complete submission to God and is always available to serve Him.

-Mary recognized that there is nothing special about her that attracted God to her in order to use her, but that it was completely the grace of God at work in her life.

-Mary had a humble heart. A humble heart is not one that gets down itself. A humble heart is not saying and believing that you are nothing or that you are dirt. Rather, a humble heart realizes who we are in light of who He is. It is a heart that comprehends the utter inability that we have to spiritually, much less physically, provide for ourselves.

-Thus, with that kind of heart, there is a recognition that every good and perfect gift comes from the Father above.

-But in contrast, a prideful heart thinks that they are a self-made man or woman who provides for themselves. They see no need to thank God since they were the ones that did it all, not God.

-They say things like: All of this belongs to me because I bought it with my own money that I earned at my job that I worked. So, because of my effort, I have need of nothing.

-But you have to ask yourself: who gave you your job, and who gave you the gifts, skills, and talents to do your job. Nobody other than God.

-Nancy Leigh DeMoss put it eloquently, saying:

One of the fundamental qualities invariably found in a grateful person is humility. Gratitude is the overflow of a humble heart, just as surely as an ungrateful, complaining spirit flows out of a proud heart.

Proud people are wrapped up in themselves. They think much of themselves and little of others. If people or circumstances don’t please or suit them, they are prone to whine or become resentful….

But when we choose to humble ourselves…God draws near to us and pours His grace into our lives. His Spirit does a cleansing, purifying work in our hearts; gives us victory over the noisy, demanding tyrant of self; and enables us to be thankful people, even in the midst of challenging circumstances.

-So I urge you today to cultivate a humble heart, which to having a grateful spirit.

IV) The testimony of thanksgiving

-When one has a humble, grateful heart, they are more prone to tell people about what has happened in their life, and give credit where credit is due.

-In v. 49 Mary testifies that: He who is mighty has done great things for me

-Mary didn’t say: look how special I am because God picked me and He didn’t pick you. No, instead, Mary is amazed that God chose her by grace, and gives all the credit to God for the choosing, the using, and the result.

-So, when you realize all that God has done for you, give Him the credit. He’s the one that did it. Don’t steal His glory. Say along with the psalmist who said in Psalm 126:3—

The LORD has done great things for us; we are glad. (Ps. 126:3 ESV)

-When Scripture reminds you of what you have to be thankful for, and you are led to praise Him out of a humble heart, make sure you testify that it is all about what God had done in your life—give Him the credit, telling all around you the great and mighty things He has done.

Conclusion

-I’ll close with this: A lot of times when athletes get some sort of award or reward, they give thanks to God. For many I am sure it is just lip service. But for others, it is recognition that they are unable to do anything of themselves.

-I remember reading the story of Olympic runner Brianna Rollins who, after winning the gold, gave testimony that it was God who had done it, being quick to give Him credit. She said:

“I just kept God first and just continued to let Him guide me throughout the rounds. [The team] formed a prayer circle this morning and we just let His presence come upon us.

Praying that God would just help us come out here and continue to glorify Him and do the best that we can and that's what we did."

I'm just so excited; we are blessed, I'm grateful to God."----may we be quick to do the same thing she did.

-From the big to the small things going on in your life, from the exciting to the mundane, God had a hand in it, and is deserving of thanksgiving for every bit of it.

-During the invitation I invite you to come to the altar and thank God for anything and everything going on in your life.

-Or maybe you have been a whiner and a complainer, meaning your heart is proud, and you have been ungrateful, and you want to repent of such a heart, I invite you to come to the altar.

-The biggest thing we have to thank God for is our salvation. If you have never trusted that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins and rose from the dead, you are separated from God. But today you can come forward, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved—thankful for the sacrifice He gave of Himself.