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The following is based on the text of a sermon delivered on the Sunday after Thanksgiving in 1996. I hope this encourages, blesses, and challenges you.
Thanksgiving is perhaps my favorite holiday. This is not so much because of its interesting historical background, nor merely because of the fine words of the Thanksgiving declaration, nor simply because of the yearly family gathering. Neither is it because thanksgiving is a uniquely Christian holiday, which it isn’t. There are several reasons why Thanksgiving is a special time for me.
First, for the most part, Thanksgiving has for the most part escaped commercialization. It doesn’t get much hype, and we don’t have to buy presents.
Second, I love the late-fall-turning-to-winter season.
Third, Thanksgiving in its name or common meaning isn’t an exclusively Christian holiday. This means that we as Christians don’t spend a lot of time trying to reclaim some vague “true meaning of Thanksgiving.” We aren’t arguing with others or ourselves really about what Thanksgiving really means or doesn’t mean. Thanksgiving is a good kind of civic holiday in a pluralistic society. The fact that while I may be giving thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, one neighbor may be giving thanks to Allah, and another neighbor may be an atheist and simply trying to foster a general spirit of appreciation for good things -- well it doesn’t much matter on this day. Indeed, the idea of thankfulness as a virtue is pretty much universally agreed upon, if not universally practiced.
Fourth, I really do like turkey.
Fifth, Thanksgiving reminds me of a way of life that I am to live all year long. Thanksgiving gives me a chance to think again about what my relationship to God and to others is to look like, and a chance to see if I have made any progress since last year. For although Thanksgiving as a holiday isn’t just for Christians, thanksgiving as a way of life is a necessary way of life for Christians.
Indeed, the giving of thanks is something very basic and creaturely. It may be considered the first step toward proper response to the God of heaven and earth. In the book of Romans, Paul is making an argument for the universal need all men have for the good news of Jesus Christ. In chapter one he speaks about the state of human beings apart from the gospel. These are his words:
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened (Romans 1:18-21).
Giving thanks to God is one of the most basic responses of the creature to the Creator. All men everywhere, when they refuse to glorify God as God, and give thanks to Him, are rebelling against God as He has revealed Himself in creation and in the human conscience.
I learned a lot about thanksgiving as a first and primary response to knowing God immediately after coming to Christ. As I have shared before, my father was a binge alcoholic. This had a pretty profound impact on my childhood. I guess I grew up looking for meaning and happiness outside of the family, and even outside of relationships with people.
I lived in a beautiful area of large pine trees, oaks, hickories, and dogwoods. Near my house were several lakes, and just three doors down was a large wooded area owned by a church. From an early age all the kids of the neighborhood played and built forts and dug tunnels and climbed trees in “the woods.”
By the time I was a teenager, many of my friends had moved away or their families had broken up. As my father’s problems grew worse, and as the cigarette smoke and incessant TV would get on my nerves, I would flee the house and go for long walks with my Irish Setter Clancey. We spent a lot of time in the woods. I would sit still for an hour against a tree, and Clancey would either sit with me or go off and look for squirrels.
I knew and felt myself to be friends with the trees and plants and critters. I felt myself at home out in the woods. In time I grew to want to study animals and plants. I had both an intellectual curiosity and an aesthetic interest in natural things.
You all know the feelings you get when you see something beautiful -- a great canyon with a river snaking through it stretching for miles below, the misty series of blue ridge mountains in the distance, a bald eagle flying over the water, an unexpected clump of flowers along the edge of a lake, a great oak tree up on the hill, or the happy laughing smile in the face of a child.
Beauty creates a longing inside. It suggests meaning, but doesn’t give out the secret. Maybe if I studied these things and learned all about them I could find and discover the meaning they suggested was there. Maybe I could get at the essence of an eagle by knowing all about its anatomy and its behavior. Maybe I could exhaust the meaning of a flowering plant by understanding just how it developed from seed to mature specimen.
But the more I studied in college the more it was all just a dead end. I knew more, but meaning alluded me. Indeed, the longing which pointed to and hinted at some secret beyond just died inside me.
And then, through a series of circumstances, Jesus came into my life, and I came to know the Creator God. His invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--were now clearly seen, and now I glorified and gave thanks to him. No longer was I under His wrath, but through Jesus He had become my Father. The vague “possible” deity behind the trees and mountains and birds was now my Father in heaven. And this world, with all of its beauty, was my Father’s world. These trees were His trees. That sky was His sky.
I then discovered a simple truth. I learned that all of the things I loved about the created world now evoked a simple thank you to my Father in heaven. This thank you was both a thank you for who He was as Creator of all I loved in His world, and also a thank you for gracing me with His creation.
I now knew Him to be the giver of all that was good and beautiful in His world. My thank you was my most simple and basic response to the mystery and longing evoked by the beauty of His world. Beauty still evoked that sense of longing. But now I knew for what and for whom I longed. And now the longing had resolution in the heart’s lifting up of gratitude and thanksgiving. This habit of thank you was in many ways the simplest and most delightful new habit of my redeemed heart.
Thus we see how it is that thanksgiving is perhaps the simplest way we fulfill the positive meaning of the First Commandment. How better do we begin to love and serve God with all of our heart soul and strength than by simply thanking Him for who He is and for all of the blessings and benefits He has given to us?
So I offer today these thoughts about thanksgiving. I am still learning to give thanks in all circumstances. I am still learning to put off the negativism and grumbling that are easy for the grumpy and cynical side of me to slip into. My thinking still outruns my doing, so what I write I have by no means fully arrived at myself.
First, thankfulness is commanded throughout the Scripture. Thanksgiving commandments are usually given in one of three ways.
First, we are told simple to do something – to “give thanks.” This “giving of thanks” is often set in the context of corporate praise. We see this in Psalm 136, “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever.” But the “giving of thanks” is also to be a basic habit of heart, as we see in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 “give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.”
Second, we are commanded to be something – to be thankful, or to have a heart attitude of thankfulness. This is to be both a private and a corporate attitude. We see this in Colossians 3:15, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.”
Third, we are told to do various sorts of things “with thanksgiving,” as when we pray, according to Philippians 4:15, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
The Psalms are full of commands to give thanks. Thankfulness is the chief characteristic of corporate praise. Possibly the main reason we gather here is to give thanks to God for His attributes and deeds. We are to give thanks in our songs and in our prayers and in our praises. In fact the two Hebrew words which we translate as “give thanks” and “praise” respectively are often used interchangeably.
Thanksgiving is to characterize our corporate gathering. Consider Psalm 100:
A psalm. For giving thanks. Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his ; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
If we are really going to serve our God and King exclusively and wholeheartedly, then we must come before Him with thanksgiving. He tells us we must do this. This commandment should bind our conscience just as much as the commandment to love our neighbor or to be pure in heart or to not murder. Our King desires subjects who are grateful for all the benefits He bestows. Of course, He is commanding us to do the very thing we want to do when we are growing and walking in His will, as we are being made into the likeness of His Son.
So, when we come together, let us sing as if we have something to sing about. It doesn’t really matter if we like the song so much, or if we have had a good week, if we feel thankful or upbeat, or whatever. Words of praise are the least we can offer to our Creator and Redeemer.
Now we easily understand it when we are told to “give thanks.” We can even understand what it might mean to do something “with thanksgiving.” After all, that is something we can do, however we may feel. But it seems odd to be commanded to be a certain way. We are how we are, right? It’s like being commanded to feel loving or to be humble.
But it is in fact our duty as Christians to pray for, to work at, and to foster habits of heart that are in keeping with our being children of God. If we are honest we will admit that we live today in a culture of complaint. It almost seems normal to be grumpy and down in the mouth. I remember the staff room where I taught school. It was one gripe and complaint and criticism after another. I’m so tired. My students are so lazy. The administration is so stupid. Dr. so and so is so arrogant. On and on it would go.
We baby boomers, if we are honest, will also admit that we do not handle pain, discomfort, and adversity very well. Imagine that you lived 2000 years ago when these Scriptures were written, with no arthritis or headache or cold or pain medication, no real surgery, no antibiotics, no good way to fill rotten teeth, no glasses, no furnace, no air conditioner, no antacids, no sick leave. People lived lives that were hard and rough compared to ours, and they lived, for the most part, with constant pain. To these people the Psalmist said, “Give thanks to the Lord for He is good. His love endures forever.” But we can be pain free except for a throbbing pinkie, and that’s all we can think about.
Second, thankfulness is to be characteristic of the Christian. To be a Christian is to be thankful, and our thankfulness is to be in and through Christ. Our expressions of thanksgiving are through Jesus, through whom we have access to the Father. You can be thankful in a general sense without being a Christian, but you can’t be a Christian without being thankful. Colossians 3:17 puts it this way:
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
All that we say? All that we do? Every little word? Every little deed? Yes, all of it is to be said and done “in the name of” the Lord Jesus. Yes, all of it is to be said and done while “giving thanks” to the Father through the Lord Jesus.
It is through Jesus that we know the Creator and have relationship with Him as Father. Our very life and breath is in Jesus. Through Jesus we have forgiveness, escape from wrath, eternal life, a living hope, and new life. If every act and word of our life is to be unto our Father, it is only so because of Jesus.
So each moment of acting and speaking unto Him is a gift given by Jesus, and so it is right to give thanks in all things. This is why it says that we are told to “give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.” Have you been searching hard to understand God’s will for your life? Well, God’s will is not a secret, if you really want to know it. You can start with this: “give thanks in all circumstances.”
Likewise we see in another passage that thankfulness is a key part of our growth in holiness. We read in Philippians 2:14-16:
Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life--in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing.
This passage doesn’t use the words “thankfulness” or “thanksgiving,” but rather their opposite – “complaining and arguing,” or as the NASV puts it, “grumbling and complaining.” To say “do everything without grumbling and complaining” is like saying “do everything with thankfulness and gratitude.”
What is the goal of doing everything “without grumbling and complaining”? It is that we would become blameless and pure, children of God without fault, shining like bright stars in the dark universe. In other words, there is no growth in holiness without growth in thanksgiving. This is so important to Paul, that if a habit of grumbling and complaining persisted in those professing Christians in Philippi, he would have had no confidence in their standing in the final day. He would anticipate that he had just wasted his time with them.
OK, keep your attention on the Philippians 2 passage above, because this brings me to my third point about thanksgiving; that is, that thankfulness is noticeable and attractive to the non believer. The thankful person will appear as a shining star in a dark place, godlike and pure in a perverse and wicked generation. And as the thankful person holds out the word of life he or she will do it with greater power and hope of greater result. The thankful person will not be a stumbling block to the Word of the gospel. The grumbler and complainer will be.
I mentioned the teacher’s staff room at the high school where I taught. I didn’t go there much. But I was there enough to notice one exception to the grumbling and complaining. I will refer to him as Mr. Anderson. Mr. Anderson taught and worked in another building. I hardly ever got to see him, but one year we had the same planning period, which is why I sometimes saw him in this staff room.
Amidst all the moaning and whining and complaining Mr. Anderson stood out like a shining star. He never said a bad word about anyone. He worked hard as a teacher, and wasn’t afraid to propose positive changes to the administration if such was needful. He had a way of deflecting negative speech without sounding sanctimonious or superior in what was truly and in fact a superior attitude.
And you know what. He was liked and respected by everyone. Twice he was elected teacher of the year by his colleagues. I didn’t know Him well. When he heard I was leaving and that I would be going to seminary, he went out of his way to come see me, wish me well, and tell me he respected and admired my decision to do that, and that he would pray for me. Mr. Anderson was an older man, and not so inclined to speak of his personal beliefs. But had he held forth the word of truth to me I would have been more inclined to receive it just because of who he was. His thankful spirit would have made the gospel attractive had he held that gospel out.
Fourth, thankfulness is a choice.
Not everyone is born with a sanguine, easy-to-please, happy-go-lucky temperament. Some folks are grouchy, or complaining, or negative, or suspicious, or critical, almost by nature it seems. And all of us have moods like this from time to time, some more and some less often. Plus, life can be hard, we can be in pain, and we can have difficulties of many kinds. I think you know I have a pretty realistic view of the brokenness and fallenness of life.
Nevertheless, I can say that thankfulness is a learned and learnable behavior and a learned and learnable attitude of mind and heart. It takes discipline and effort to put on thankfulness. But I believe that with much prayer and with proper exercise of thanksgiving muscles, thanksgiving can become a habit.
Think for a minute of the apostle Paul. The man had a hard job.
Three times he was beaten with rods, once he was stoned, three times he was shipwrecked, He spent a night and a day in the open sea, He had been constantly on the move. He had been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from his own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. He labored and toiled and often went without sleep; he knew hunger and thirst and often went without food; often he was cold and naked. Besides all that, he faced daily the pressure of his concern for all the churches, which were often divided by schismatic and false teachers, suffering under persecution, and sometimes on the verge of apostasy. Added to all that he was reviled and criticized by men who vied for control of the churches he founded.
He wrote letters from prison to churches that had problems that would make us look like perfection arrived. And how did he start these letters? How did he address his readers all of whom were less than what he could have hoped for?
How about this to the churches in and around Colosse, reeling under the challenge of a very difficult heresy:
We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints--the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel
Or how about this to the church in Corinth, a church with more problems than most of us could bear.
I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way--in all your speaking and in all your knowledge-- because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you.
Or finally, how about this to the church at Thessalonica, about to be crushed by persecution, and with half the congregation it seems running around quitting their jobs, and a serious problem with sexual immorality.
We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
What impresses me about this isn’t just how Paul chooses to mention in his letters the positive aspects of each of the churches. What amazes me even more is the way he prayed. As he says, “we always thank God for you when we pray for you. We remember before Him all these good things about you and what he has done in you.”
Paul had lots to grumble to God about when it came to these churches. I am sure that he did pour out his heart and his worries and fears. And yet these worries and fears weren’t the defining characteristics of his prayers.
And Paul lived out what he taught to others:
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me--put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
I relearned the powerful truth of this passage a week or so ago. I had gone to bed one night, and as I lay there, there was this one matter that was really bothering me. My mind was turning it over and over. I was distraught and sad about it. Since I had already started planning this sermon, this passage from Philippians 4 came into my mind. And so as I lay there, I confessed my anxiety about the situation. Then I made myself thank God for various aspects of the overall situation. I thanked Him for the good work He had done in the people involved. I made my requests known to Him. Then I decided to lock my mind completely onto other things that were good and positive, pure and right, excellent and praiseworthy. It was hard. It took real effort. But the Lord sustained me, and I fell asleep in peace.
In a broken world there is always something wrong. There is no end to what we can complain or worry about, no end to what we can fear or suspect about others and their motives, no end to the pains and disappointments and hurts and sleights and problems. There are always bad and negative things to think about. This is life. Period.
We can feed the flesh and grumble. Or we can feed the Spirit and be thankful. It’s a moral decision. It’s as real a moral decision as any other.
And we are not powerless, at least not with the God who raised Jesus from the dead living in us. By God’s grace and empowering we can learn habits of thankfulness. We can choose to be thankful and to give thanks. We can choose to think about those things for which we are grateful. Then we can choose to speak in a way that gives thanks and doesn’t complain.
This is very much like the choice we have when we are battling with other mental temptations. We may not always control how a thought pops into our mind, but we are responsible for what we do with it. We must choose not to nurture a lustful thought, an angry or hateful thought, or a slanderous thought. This is our moral obligation. And the best way to do this is to replace the bad or negative or complaining thoughts with thoughts about whatever is true,whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable- anything that is excellent or praiseworthy.
Fifth, thanksgiving is corporate, and is to inhabit our corporate prayers. We have already seen how we are to come before our God and give thanks to Him in corporate praise. Thankfulness is to characterize our singing and our speaking one to another. Thanksgiving is also to inhabit our praying.
I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone--(1 Timothy 2:1)….Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful (Colossians 4:2).
But what about our “sharing.” What about when we are troubled and worried and suffering and tempted and in need of prayer? When we gather and share prayer requests, whether in cell group, in small groups on Sunday, or in the larger Open Time, it is right to ask others to pray for us in areas of challenge and difficulty. Real life means that we have financial problems, difficult bosses at work, challenging children, cranky teachers, physical pains, hurtful relationships, fears and anxieties. We want and need to uphold each other, to care for and to be compassionate to one another.
But we should be careful that our corporate “sharing” not descend to group bellyaching and mere complaining about our various troubles in life. So when we rightfully share our hurts and fears and problem issues with one another, let us do so in the spirit of these two passages in Philippians:
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God (Philippians 4:6)….Do everything without grumbling and complaining… (Philippians 2:14).
That is, let the sharing of our issues and troubles be accompanied by thanksgiving, remembering intentionally the ways God has provided for each us in the past, remembering the spiritual blessings which are ours in Christ, remembering even the good things that are associated with the bad problem we face, the silver linings that are there in the clouds – tactfully of course, not being pat or super-spiritual or insensitive in a time of deep hurt and loss. But, in the normal routines of our sharing together and bearing one anther’s burdens, let us even then foster patterns of godly thankfulness in one another.
See, we can help one another become thankful people. This is part of our mutual encouragement. We not only develop private habits but corporate habits as well. Because just like grumbling and complaining, thankfulness too is contagious. It really is. May we infect each other daily with the thankfulness bug.
And so, lo and behold, as time goes by, as we progress from one Thanksgiving holiday to another, we find that we are becoming more like the Lord Jesus than last year, more full of gratitude, more able to be thankful is all things, more like stars which shine in the darkness, more like Mr. Anderson and the apostle Paul, more and more having the aroma of Christ about us.
In closing let me say that I want to thank you for letting me stand here this morning and talk to you about thanksgiving. Let us pray.
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