November 26, 2008 (Thanksgiving Eve Service)

"Always Be Thankful"

1 Thessalonians 5: 12- 24; text v. 16- 18

Do you ever catch yourself saying "thank you" out of habit.  I sure have.  I remember going in a store to pay a bill.  I gave the money.  And then without thinking I said, "Thank you."  The person taking my money responded, "You're welcome."  After I left I thought to myself, "This really should have been the other way around."  He should have said, "Thank you."  And I should have responded with, "You're Welcome."  Maybe it comes from all those times as a little boy.  I would receive a piece of candy or something else and my dad or mom or some other adult would remind me,

"Dave, what do you say?" 

And so prompted, I would respond "Thank you." 

I read a story of a little boy who waited in line at a door to get his Halloween candy.  His mom waited for him on the sidewalk. 

After he returned to her she said to him, "Georgie, I didn't hear you say thank you." 

"But, mommy, replied George, "Sallie said thank you and the lady told her, ‘Don't mention it.'  So I didn't."

Maybe little George was simply being less hypocritical than the rest of us.  How many times do we say "thank you" and not really mean it? 

In a sense it almost seems like our text this evening might lend itself to that kind of behaviour.  Listen again to the words,

"Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

But, what if I just lost my job?  What if my 401k is worth half of what it was?  What if I'm losing my home or my business is going under?  What if I or a loved one is sick?  What if I don't have any friends or am failing in school or didn't make the team?  Yeah, I can say I'm thankful, because I'm supposed to be.  But, I don't feel thankful. 

Certainly, God is not interested in lip service.  It is his desire that our thanksgiving come from a sincerely thankful heart.  And so, as those who belong to Christ Jesus, the question is, "how can I have a truly thankful heart?"

It's important to note that along with this command are two others: 

Verse 16

Be joyful always; 

And Verse 17

pray continually; 

All three of these commands are related to each other and are somewhat dependant on each other.  They are a little like the legs of this tripod.  All three legs must be down if the tripod is to stand.  If one leg is missing, it falls over.  In order to always be thankful before God then we must also have lasting joy and we must pray continually.  If we are to have lasting joy we must be thankful always and pray continually.  If we are to pray continually, we must have lasting joy and be thankful always.  If any one of these is missing the other two will soon collapse.  Since our goal, however, is to be sincerely thankful always, let's first consider the other two commands and how they help us be thankful.

"Be joyful always."

There are two aspects of many people's thinking today that hinder them from knowing the joy spoken of in this verse.  For those of you with a philosophical bent, they come out of a philosophy called existentialism, which continues to impact modern thinking.  I know that most of you don't care about such things, so let me just state what these two joy blockers are:

The first is that in much of our thinking we over emphasize the value of self-of me, myself, and I.  This blinds us to the fact that real purpose and joy can only be found in belonging to something or someone bigger than ourselves.  Listen to these words from Colossians 3:2-4,

Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep focusing on the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. ²Keep your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on the earth. ³For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you, too, will be revealed with him in glory.

The Bible says that we find joy and meaning in our lives when we die to self and when we become one with Jesus Christ and through him one with God and his people.  You might remember the question and answer we read a couple of weeks ago from the Heidelberg Catechism,

What is your only comfort in life and in death?  That I am not my own, but belong body and soul, in life and in death, to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.

As I think of this answer I think of the joy that Christians in the first century had even while they were being tortured for Jesus.  The governor would put them in the arena and order them to say "Caesar is Lord."  They would refuse.  He would threaten to throw them to the lions.  They knew that because their lives were hidden with Christ, killing them would simply send them to heaven to be with him.  And if he didn't kill them, they would continue to defy the governor and proclaim that Jesus and not Caesar is Lord.  So, no matter what happened the Savior to whom they belonged would take care of them.  And that brought real joy, even in the face of martyrdom.

I had a similar, but not life threatening, experience when I was working for McDonald's.  My boss told me I had to work on Sunday.  I was determined to keep Sunday totally for the Lord and to give him that day.  He threatened to fire me.  Now I needed to make money for college.  But, I said I didn't care.  I wasn't going to work on Sunday.  I knew the Lord would take care of me somehow.  Eventually the boss did fire me.  God responded by giving me a job that paid twice as much.  And what if he hadn't?  It wouldn't have changed the fact that I belong to God, who sacrificed his Son for me.  He surely would never abandon his own.  Certainly that is a joyous position to be in.

A second aspect of our modern thinking that blinds us to the joy that can be ours in Christ is our preoccupation with our present condition.  Some of us reason that if my life is in shambles right now, it must mean that God doesn't love me or at least that he is punishing me and that I am getting my just desserts for something I did wrong.  On the other hand, if things are going well, God loves me and I must be doing something right.  Certainly that may be a consideration, but we should also consider what Paul says in Romans 8:28,

Romans 8:28 (NIV) ²⁸And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 

And why do we know that God will work all things together for our good.  Here's one good reason.  Philippians 1: 6,

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.

God who saved us in Jesus Christ has big plans for us.  He also is the one who is in control and he is guiding our lives.  So, somehow he's going to work it all out.  Knowing that is far more important than dwelling on my present condition, which whether good or bad is simply part of God's plan.  And God promises that his plan will end in good for me.

When my wife and I moved to Iowa from Chicago, we brought some broken slats of wood which at one time constituted my teacher's desk.  I told her that I would make her a desk out of them.  At the time, she was a bit amused.  And as time went on she had her doubts.  The pieces remained in the attic for almost two years.  Then about a year after my daughter Hannah was born I dragged them down to the basement.  Every so once in a while I would get inspired and work on it.  I had put that desk together at least 3 times before, so I knew I could do it., but it was Brenda's love for me that enabled her to say nothing and just put up with the mess in the basement. Her love was eventually rewarded.  Eight years later, about six months before we moved to Wisconsin, I finished it.

Sometimes love allows those who love us to put more faith in us than we as procrastinating husbands deserve.  Aren't we willing to put at least that much faith in the God who saved us and made us his own?  If we do, we will know joy, not because we love the fact that things have seemingly fallen to pieces, but because we know that in his time God will put the pieces together and make something beautiful.

In order to be thankful always we must also be those who

"Pray continually"

One time C.S. Lewis was asked if he believed that his prayers changed God's mind.  He said, "Prayer doesn't change God, it changes me." 

Please don't understand this to mean that God is not moved by our prayers.  Certainly, he is.  But prayer does change us.

Hebrews 11 mentions many heroes of faith.  Among them is Enoch.  Enoch you might recall was a man who lived before the great flood.  He lived in an increasingly evil world.  Surely, he must have suffered from the realities of living here.  But, one reality he did not suffer was death.  Hebrews 11: 5- 6 puts it this way,

⁵By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away.  For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.  ⁶And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. 

Enoch pleased God and was able to walk in communion with him, because of his faith.  Faith is crucial if we want to know the presence of God in our lives. 

Jesus showed how there is a link between our having faith like a child and our going to him in prayer.  Listen.

⁷"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.⁹"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? ¹¹If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!  (Matthew 7: 7-9)

If you ever visit Grand Canyon and have small children, do keep an eye on them.  It's pretty easy for them to slip past some of the fences and get in trouble.  That happened to a little boy.  There was a flower on a ledge of the canyon wall just a foot below the rim.  The little boy wanted to pick it for his mom.  But he lost his balance and fell to another ledge about 6 feet farther down.  Below him was a 300-foot drop.  He screamed.  His parents got the ranger who let down a rope with a noose. 

"Put the noose under you arms and we'll pull you up," said the ranger.

The boy was afraid.  Rather than take the rope he cried, "Papa, help me.  Papa, help me."  Then he saw his father's head peer out over the rim. 

"Son, take the rope.  I have the other end."

The boy took the rope and was pulled to safety.

Calling out to our heavenly Father in prayer reminds us that he has the other end of the rope.  And because we trust that, no matter what our circumstance are we can know for sure that he will never let us fall.  Praying with childlike faith is putting up our hand to heaven and knowing that our heavenly Father will grasp it.  And, because we know that we can be thankful no matter what our circumstances.

And so, people of God, if we know that our joy comes from belonging to our Lord and if we know the joy that he will work all things together for our good and if we pray with childlike faith, then we truly have a lot to be thankful for no matter what our circumstances.  Imagine what it would be like even knowing blessing without knowing God.  It's hard to be an atheist and be filled with thankfulness and not know who to thank.  It's even harder when things go wrong and you know some of the curse that existence in this world can bring.  Without God there is no reason to believe that an end is in sight.  If you don't accept God's promises, there just plain isn't any end, except death.  How awful it must be to believe that when you cry out in pain there is no one to take your hand.  As believers, we are so blessed.  And of course knowing and declaring our blessing enables us to have more joy and it strengthens our childlike faith.  And that makes us more thankful.

But, maybe there is someone here this evening, who in spite of all that God has said in his Word, still worries and wonders whether you can ever be truly thankful.  If that's you then read on.

¹⁹Do not put out the Spirit's fire; ²⁰do not treat prophecies with contempt. ²¹Test everything. Hold on to the good. ²²Avoid every kind of evil.

²³May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.

Do not put out the Spirit's fire ... May the God of peace sanctify you-in other words may he make you more and more the person Jesus saved you to be-a person filled with joy, trust, and thanksgiving.

You see, the joy and the prayerful trust that make thanksgiving possible are really gifts of the Holy Spirit.  They are results of his work in us.  Let us pray that more we might realize those gifts and then we will have something else to be thankful for. 

Holy Spirit light divine, shine within this heart of mine; chase the shades of night away.  Turn my darkness into day.  Holy Spirit, joy divine, cheer this saddened heart of mine.  Bid many woes depart.  Heal my wounded bleeding heart.  Holy Spirit, all divine, dwell within this heart of mine.  May I ever thankful be, ‘cause I know you live in me.  For Jesus sake, AMEN!