Giving Thanks

GIVING THANKS

Ephesians 5:19-20

I read the true story of GIs stationed in the Philippines during World War II. Although the region was secure, sometimes the enemy tried to infiltrate their food storage area. One enemy soldier, dressed in GI clothing, had worked himself into the noontime chow line. But the camp cook spotted him, pulled a pistol from under the serving table and yelled for the MPs to come and arrest the man.

After it was all over, the soldiers asked the cook how he knew the man wasn’t one of them. He said, “I figured it wasn’t one of you guys because he was coming back for seconds.”

This enemy soldier “looked” like the other GI’s.

He was dressed like them.

He walked like them.

He behaved like them.

But something gave him away…something made him stand out.

What gave him away? He was grateful for all the food he could get. He was thankful for the food no one else wanted. Being thankful was what set him apart.

Those American soldiers had all the food they could want; they just didn’t want it all that bad. They weren’t thankful for what they had…but the enemy soldier was.

Here in Ephesians 5, God tells us He wants us to stand out. He wants us to be known for something. He wants us to be known for being thankful.

Paul’s main subject here is praise and thanksgiving. He sounds like he is talking about a church service here…”Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart…” But he isn’t. He is talking about a continual attitude for Christians – an attitude of the heart…how we are to be to each other…we are to be grateful…always and for everything.

The way you and I enter into the presence of God in prayer is by giving thanks. The first thing that should come out of your heart and therefore the first thing that should come out of your mouth when you pray is, “God, I want to thank You. I want to thank You for Your goodness. I want to thank You for who you are.”

In fact, the single greatest act of personal worship that I can give God is to give thanks. I believe it is the highest, the best and the ultimate in worship…to have a thankful heart. Why? Because giving genuine thanks gets self out of the way and recognizes God as the source of everything good in your life.

Even in what we would call the bad things, even in the difficult times of life, thanksgiving looks beyond the circumstance, looks beyond the pain, looks beyond the suffering and the difficulty and thanks God that God can bring good things even out of the worst circumstances of life.

Giving thanks moves my self out of the way and it magnifies God. It moves God to the very focal point of my life and it magnifies God that He is the One who can use everything in my life for my ultimate good. And God loves this! God loves it when we are willing to say, “Thank You” in the midst of every circumstance. I believe He is a God who will bless that.

What kind of thanksgiving is Paul after here?

Body

I.                   WHEN ARE WE TO BE THANKFUL?

I am to be thankful ALWAYS. I don’t think God ever told us to do anything that is tougher but more necessary.

This is a tough verse for many people,

·         For the person recently divorced.

·         For the person who had a miscarriage of a baby they wanted badly.

·         For the person who feels they are barely “existing” in the Nursing home.

·         For the person who is overwhelmed by financial demands.

·         For the person who has to helplessly see their child suffer.

·         For the person who lives with a cloud of depression over them.

·         For the person who recently stood at the freshly dug grave of someone they love.

·         For the person who feels suffocated by their loneliness.

In each of these cases, the idea of giving thanks is very difficult and seems impossible.

You say, “But Pastor Gary, you don’t know my problems.” It still says, “Always.”

“Pastor, you don’t know my husband! You don’t know my wife!” It still says, “Always.”

“You don’t know my children. You don’t know my family.” It still says, “Always.”

“You just don’t know what a lousy job I have. You don’t know the way they treat me where I work.” It still says, “Always”.

Why does it say that? It is because to always say, “Thanks” is to recognize that God is in control of my life and that God is always seeking to conform me to the image of His Son and He will do that through ALL THINGS that occur in my life. So the fact is, I can say, “Thank You” in the midst of every circumstance of life.

I believe there are at least 3 attitudes that steal away our gratitude. 3 things that keep us from being thankful.

1.      PRIDE. This is the attitude that says, “Nobody ever gave me anything. I worked hard for everything I have.” With this kind of attitude, we feel that we have no one to thank but ourselves.

2.      A CRITICAL OR COMPLAINING SPIRIT. Instead of being grateful, this person will always find something to complain about. My Dad told about a man in his hometown that was always unhappy about something. One spring day Dad said something to him about the beautiful day and the man said, “Yeah, but summer will come soon and it will be hot!” Dad said, “But the shade of the trees will feel nice.” The man said, “But you sit under them and the ants will get you!” Dad was determined to stick it out with him so said, “But the leaves are beautiful in the fall.” The man said, “But you have to rake them!” Dad gave up.

3.      CARELESSNESS. Someone once said that if the stars only came out once a year, we would stay out all night to watch them. But they are there every night and we have grown accustomed to them. The Israelites grumbled because they had no food so God miraculously sent them manna to cover the ground each day except the Sabbath day. Then they started to grumble because it was the same thing every day. They had a miracle – straight from God every day but were no longer satisfied.

Because of pride, carelessness or a critical spirit we will never be truly thankful for all that God has given us.

Think how God must feel when He allows difficulties, trials or tests to come into your life and gets the response that He often gets. We gripe, we complain and we don’t claim what we read in James 1:2-4. (Jas 1:2)  Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,

(Jas 1:3)  because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

(Jas 1:4)  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

So when the trials come into your life, God says to count it joy because out of those trials God is going to make you stronger and more mature.

We want to second-guess God all the time. We want to grumble, gripe and complain when the Bible says we are to trust God with these trials and tests and express that trust by being grateful. And in being grateful, God can do His maturing work in our life.

There are 3 categories of thankful people. Each one of us find ourselves somewhere in these categories.

1.      THOSE WHO ARE THANKFUL AFTER THE BLESSING. After God has blessed you, you are thankful. That is the easiest kind of thanksgiving. God unloads some kind of blessing on you and in response, you say, “Lord, I want to thank You for Your blessing.” That is a good virtue to have because we are all blessed by the hand of God and God expects us to be thankful after the blessing and many people are still not thankful after the blessing. So it is good to be thankful after God blesses you with His goodness. Yet that is the easiest kind.

2.      THOSE WHO ARE THANKFUL BEFORE THE BATTLES OF LIFE. This is a harder kind of thanksgiving, because it takes some faith. These are people who say, “Lord, I know some battles are coming in my life and I ‘m going to believe you for the victory. Therefore, I’m going to thank You in advance for the victory You are going to give me even before the battle comes.” This is saying, “God, I thank You for what You are going to do, not for what You have done.” I believe this is a deeper level of spiritual maturity.

3.      THOSE WHO THANK GOD RIGHT DOWN IN THE MIDST OF THE BATTLE. It looks like you are losing, but you’re still thankful. This is really tough. You can do it after the fact; you can do it in anticipation of it, but can you be thankful right in the midst of a very trying time? Daniel did it. In the midst of the pressure brought on by the king who said, “Daniel, I want you to pray to me and not your God, or else.” But right in the midst of that trial, 3 times a day, Daniel got on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to God, just as he had done before. That is what Jonah did. Swallowed by the whale and floating in the whale’s stomach, Jonah gets his spiritual act together and sang a song of thanksgiving. God liked that prayer so much He poked that whale and it spit out Jonah!

I believe that how you give thanks reveals your character and how you are with God. If the only time you give thanks and worship God is after the blessing, that’s good, but that’s kind of a superficial level of spiritual maturity. If you can thank God before the battle even begins in your life, I think that is getting there. But if you can thank God right down in your heart and in the midst of the pain and the trial and the loss, then you’ve reached a level of spiritual maturity that very few Christians really experience.

Joni Erikson Tada said, “Giving thanks is not a matter of just feeling thankful; it is a matter of obedience.” I don’t have to FEEL thankful to BE thankful.

Thanksgiving is a recognition that my life, my circumstances and my future are in the control of God and that everything that happens is working for the purpose of conforming me to the image of Jesus Christ.

So when are we to give thanks? We are to give thanks ALWAYS.

II.                 FOR WHAT ARE WE TO GIVE THANKS?

We are to give thanks for EVERYTHING. David Clay described the time he served as a youth minister in a small farming community in Kentucky. The people of the church were very generous with their garden produce – including their squash. However, his wife and he didn’t like squash. They tried every recipe they could think of to use the squash anyway.

They got more than they could eat and began storing the squash in a storage room at the house. Before long the rotten smell of squash permeated the entire house. There was no garbage pick-up and they didn’t feel they could sneak the squash away. In small communities, nothing is a secret. They were afraid someone would see them and think they were ungrateful.

So they did the only thing they could think of – they buried the squash one night in a flower bed behind the house. But the next spring, the squash was coming up in the flower bed!

Here’s what he learned. He writes, “What happens when life brings you squash, too much squash? What happens when you have more problems than you can handle?”

God wants us to give thanks in the good times because giving thanks promotes God’s glory and develops humility in us. We all have a tendency to usurp the credit for the good things that God does. We must give thanks in the good times because it reminds us that every good and perfect gift is from above. We call a child that takes without giving thanks, a spoiled child.

Giving thanks in good times makes us appreciate what we have been given. When we take time to count our blessings, when we make it a point to focus on the wonderful things we have been given, we appreciate life more.

Someone has written about the extravagance of God.

God has given more sky than man can see.

More sea than he can sail.

More sun than he can bear to watch.

More stars than he can scale.

More breath than he can breathe.

More grace than he can comprehend and more love than he can know.

God also wants us to give thanks in the difficult times because it is an act of faith. When things are tough, it takes faith to thank God for our circumstances. We must really believe that God has a plan we do not see. We must really believe that His wisdom is beyond our own.

Let’s be honest, when tragic times hit, it is tough to thank God. It doesn’t mean our heart isn’t breaking. It doesn’t mean we feel as if our world is caving in. It’s o.k. to hurt. It’s o.k. to confess our pain and even our anger. We can confess that HE is good.

We give thanks for a God who is working beyond the circumstances. Does a football player feel grateful for hard workouts? No. It seems like cruel and unusual punishment. But is it good…yes, it is. Do we feel grateful when money is taken out of our paycheck for retirement? No. But is it good…when it comes time to retire we will be glad for the circumstances we grumbled about.

We give thanks because we affirm, trust and even celebrate the character of God even when the circumstances make no sense. We give thanks that God is good. He is not evil. He is not arbitrary. God has a reason for everything He does…whether we understand it, or not. We give thanks that the world is not as chaotic as it often seems.

David said that we should give thanks because, “The Lord is good and His love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” (Ps. 100:5) The Lord is good. What an important statement this is. The world is often evil. But God is good. His love never wavers. We may waver in our love for Him but He never wavers in His love for us.

Max Lucado has written, “How wide is God’s love? Wide enough for the whole world. Are you included in the world? Then you are included in God’s love.

            It’s nice to be included. You aren’t always. Universities exclude you if you aren’t smart enough. Businesses exclude you if you aren’t qualified enough, and sadly, some churches exclude you if you aren’t good enough.

            But though they may exclude you, Christ includes you. When asked to describe the width of His love, He stretched one hand to the right and one to the left and had them nailed in that position so you would know He died loving you.

            But isn’t there a limit? Surely there has to be an end to this love. You’d think so, wouldn’t you? But David the adulterer never found it. Paul the murderer never found it. Peter the liar never found it. When it came to life, they hit bottom. But when it came to God’s love, they never did. They, like you, found their names on God’s list of love.”

We give thanks for a sure hope beyond the grave.

We give thanks for the Savior who made this hope possible.

We give thanks for a supernatural strength to get through devastation.

So when should we give thanks? We should give thanks ALWAYS. For what should we give thanks? We should give thanks for EVERYTHING.

III.              HOW ARE WE TO BE THANKFUL?

We are to give thanks IN THE NAME OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.

That is, I ought to give thanks consistent with who Jesus is; and I ought to give thanks the same way HE gave thanks.

The fact is that no matter what happens, I can always give thanks for who Jesus is and for what Jesus has done for me. No matter what happens in my life, I know that it will turn out for my ultimate good and for His glory. I could not be thankful apart from Christ.

It is because of Christ – it is what He has done for me as He died on the cross for me – that even in the bad and trying things of life become a part of conforming me into the image of Jesus Christ. So, because of this, I have cause to be thankful for all things.

Grumbling is forgetfulness. Maya Angelou, African-American poet, tells of whiners who would come into her grandmother’s store in Arkansas. Her grandmother would always quietly beckon Maya to come closer. Then she would bait the customer with, “How are you doing today, Brother Thomas?” As the complaining gushed forth she would nod or make eye contact with her granddaughter to make sure Maya heard what was being said. As soon as the whiner left, her grandmother would ask Maya to stand in front of her. Then she would say the same thing she had said at least a thousand times: “Sister, did you hear what Brother So-and-So or Sister-Much-to-Do complained about? You heard that!” Maya would nod.

Her grandmother would say, “Sister, there are people who went to sleep all over the world last night, poor and rich and white and black, but they will never wake up again. Sister, those who expected to rise did  not…And those dead folks would give anything, anything at all for just 5 minutes of this weather or 10 minutes of plowing that person was grumbling about. So you watch yourself about complaining, Sister.”

Then her grandmother would conclude. “What you’re supposed to do when you don’t like a thing is change it. If you can’t change it, change the way you think about it. Don’t complain. Grumbling is forgetting the blessing of life itself and of life’s simple benefits. Grumbling can become a habit of life. We can make a habit of ignoring or forgetting God’s goodness.”

We are to give thanks the way Jesus gave thanks to God. Jesus had everything in glory, but He came to this earth and became a servant. The Bible says that ultimately Jesus was spat upon, rejected, ridiculed, despised and crucified on a cross. He didn’t deserve any of that, yet He was thankful to God.

Though He was worthy of glory, He got humility.

Though He was worthy of love, He received hate.

Though He was worthy of worship, He received rejection.

Though He was worthy of praise, He received scorn.

Though He was worthy of riches, He was poor.

Though He was worthy of holiness, He received our sin.

But in the midst of all that trial and testing of life, Jesus never lost sight of thankfulness to God because He would see the end. The Bible says, “For the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross, despising the shame.” (Heb. 12:2)

When you consider Christ, look at yourself. Look at us.

·         I am worthy of humility; I receive the glory of God.

·         I am worthy of hate; I receive the love of God.

·         I am worthy of rejection, but God make me His son.

·         I am worthy of scorn; God gives me affection.

·         I am worthy of poverty; God gives me His riches.

·         I am worthy of sin’s curse; God gives me His righteousness.

And then, if everything doesn’t work out the way I want it to, I gripe and complain. I confess that doesn’t make sense! It is pride. It is sin that we deal with. We are so long on our request and so short on thanksgiving. It ought to be the reverse. We ought to be long on gratitude and thanksgiving and short when it comes to the requests of God.

So when do we give thanks? We give thanks always. For what? Everything. How? In Christ’s name.

IV.              TO WHOM DO I LIFT UP MY PRAISE?

A fourth grader stood up in his public school class, giving a report concerning the origins of the Thanksgiving holiday. Here’s how he began: “The pilgrims came here seeking freedom of you know what. When they landed, they gave thanks to you know who. Because of them, we can worship each Sunday, you know where.”

I am to give thanks TO GOD THE FATHER. It is always to God the Father. I think Paul used this word, Father, because God is the gracious Father who is always giving us gifts. He is always giving us gifts!

The Bible says, “Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift comes from the Father.” (James 1:17) So the Father should be thanked for all things because He has given all things. Even those things that come through others come from God. We should be grateful for what anyone does for us and we should thank them for it. But thankfulness to others will be little more than flattery if we don’t acknowledge the true source of the gift is God. Being filled with the Spirit means you will sing, you will worship, you will get out of your heart through your mouth expressions of love and admiration to God.

So being filled with the Spirit means that we are a thankful people. As a way of life, we are abounding, we are overflowing with gratitude.

This is so revealing as it indicates where our heart really is in terms of being filled with the Spirit of God.

Romans 1:21 is a sad verse. It characterizes the attitude of most people. “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.”

It tells me that if we fall into this pattern of ingratitude, we run the risk of our thinking becoming very warped and futile and our foolish hearts becoming darkened to the goodness and grace of God.

CONCLUSION – Henry Frost served for many years as a missionary to China. In his journal, he wrote of a very difficult time in his life. He said, “I had received sad news from home, and deep shadows had covered my soul. I prayed but the darkness did not vanish. I summoned myself to endure, but the darkness only deepened. Then I went to an inland station and saw on the wall of the mission home these words: TRY THANKSGIVING. I did and in a moment every shadow was gone, not to return.”

Yes the Psalmist was right, “It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord.”

Sometime when you are alone slowly look around your home and notice the things you have to be thankful for. Look at the pictures and thank Him for the memories that those pictures represent. Notice the possessions and thank Him for the ways He has provided for you. Notice the things others have given as gifts and thank Him for the blessing of friendship. Notice the things that remind us of those who have already gone on to their eternal reward, and thank God for the way you were enriched by those lives. Look at the stains on the carpet and furniture and remember the things that caused them. Notice the wall where you marked the height of your children and give thanks for them. Notice the things left lying around and give thanks that signs of life surround you.

In some quiet night, sit in the dark and list as many things as you can in God’s character that you can be thankful for. Remember where you were when He changed your life. Remember the times of crisis you thought you could not survive, but did by His strength. Recall some of the life changing lessons you have learned or some of the Bible passages that have become your foundation for living. Dare to think about the place that He is preparing for you and thank Him in advance for the riches He gives.

Make it a point to say thanks to those you cherish. Be specific. You may need to write it down. You may need to make a phone call. You may need to go to a gravesite, but make it a point to be grateful. It will mean a great deal to your soul and even more to those who receive your words.

Before you sit down to Thanksgiving dinner, look around the table. Really see the faces that are there. Focus on those who share the meal with more than the food. Thank God for the food and for your family.

And if this is a hard Thanksgiving. Take the time to talk about the Lord. Remind yourself and those around you that He is good, His love endures forever, and His faithfulness will never cease. Remind yourself of when days were better. Tell stories of the past. Remind with fondness and maybe with tears…and then look forward to the future day when the tears will be dried, the pain will be gone and the smile of Jesus will bring a joy this world has never known.

John MacArther, Commentary on Ephesians

Gary Harner, sermon, “Don’t Sit on the Thorns”

Bruce Goettsche, sermon, “Being Grateful in Good Times and Bad”

Illustrations from Reader’s Digest and Timothy Report