In Everything Give Thanks
1 Thessalonians 5:18
Introduction.
Scottish minister Alexander Whyte was known for his uplifting prayers in the pulpit. He always found something for which to be grateful. One Sunday morning the weather was so gloomy that one church member thought to himself, “Certainly the preacher won’t think of anything for which to thank the Lord on a wretched day like this.” Much to his surprise, however, Whyte began by praying, “We thank Thee, O God, that it is not always like this.” ~Daily Bread, Aug. 26, 1989
That might be how we would describe this year, and it promises to get worse before it gets better.
“We thank Thee, O God, that it is not always like this.”
Even when this year, this pandemic is over, what is life going to be like?
Current projections, now that two highly effective vaccines have been developed, show that the vaccine will be widely available for us all mid-spring.
That’s great news! But what happens between now and then?
We certainly live in uncertain times, but Paul gives us an exhortation in 1 Thess. 5:18 – “in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
Give thanks?! What do we have to be thankful for this year?
Well, I can’t speak for you, but I have several things.
Certainly friendships and relationships that have gotten stronger through this crisis.
And in times like these, it gives us as the Lord’s people, an opportunity to do good! To be there for people when they did us. It’s not the same way we would do so in a normal crisis, but it’s something to hold onto.
I’m grateful for all of you, here in person and online, who are sticking with us and with the Lord during this time.
And most importantly I’m thankful for the promise of a new addition to our household, not to mention the joy I receive from my toddlers—sure, they can be frustrating at times, but they bring much joy every day.
This word for “give thanks” is found throughout the Bible.
It is found 39 times, and in 16 other places we see other forms, with a total of 55 times.
The words for it are a little more difficult to discern since the word that’s primarily translated as “thanksgiving” is not limited to that idea.
The word is also translated as “praise” and “confession.”
This shows the connection that all these concepts have in OT thought.
One of the words in question is found 32 times, while another 114, with a total of 146.
It is an idea that is sprinkled throughout Scriptures, so there’s no way to have a comprehensive lesson on it, so here are a few thoughts.
Preview.
What – give thanks.
When – in everything.
Why – will of God.
Body.
What? Give Thanks!
What does it mean to give thanks?
Ultimately it means we are grateful.
We teach our kids that it’s a special word, showing courtesy and respect.
Words like “please” and “thank you” are so very important.
I don’t know if this idea is getting across, but I want them to know they are not entitled to anything in life.
It’s a sad realization for a child to have to learn, but one thing I’ve discovered is that an attitude of entitlement kills an attitude of gratitude.
Of course, I also want them to learn that simply being polite doesn’t automatically entitle them to things either, but one step at a time.
Entitlement vs. Thanksgiving.
Think about it, if you believe you are entitled to a particular thing, are you grateful for it?
You might be given it, and you might even say thank you, but instead of feeling grateful, well, turns out you only said “thank you” because that sort of behavior is ingrained.
At your job for instance, are you grateful for your paycheck? I don’t mean grateful for your job, but for the money you earned.
You have worked a certain number of hours, so you are entitled to whatever pay you and your employer have agreed on.
But what happens if they stop paying you? Or they pay you less than what you agreed on? Are you going to be grateful then, or try to find another job, one that pays?
Many promises were made to my generation, which for many of us were taken as entitlements.
“We are entitled to a well-paying job if we go to college. We are entitled to this, that, or the other.”
But the truth is, we are entitled to nothing.
The ten lepers whom Christ healed may have had this attitude (Luke 17:11-19).
Jesus had healed many people by this point.
I wonder how many people, after three years of miracles, felt entitled to a healing just for approaching Jesus and asking Him for help.
We know many didn’t feel that way, but this event tells us there may have been some.
Now, I don’t know why the nine didn’t come back, but perhaps they felt entitled to Jesus and His miraculous gifts of healing.
This one Samaritan leper, however, did not, for he was so very grateful for what Jesus had done for him.
Humility and thanksgiving.
There also seems to be a connection between humility and gratitude.
If one feels entitled to something, doesn’t that show a certain level of pride and hubris?
Some of the most humble people are also the most grateful.
You see, they recognize they aren’t owed anything, and that anything they receive is essentially a gift.
I do enjoy visiting with all our members at our nursing homes and other shut-ins, and I hate that I can’t do it like I used to these days.
But I’d like to make mention of our Sis. Alice Smith right now, because every time I visit her, her language is dripping with love and gratitude and humility.
She encourages me so much, and it makes me so very grateful for her.
She recognizes the things she’s been blessed with, and is so very thankful for them.
This leads into the idea of when we should be thankful …
When? In Everything!
Grateful in the good times and the bad.
You’ve heard it said that it is easy to be grateful in the good times.
I’m not so sure that it is.
In the great times, it is easy to forget to be grateful for what we have.
How many of the wealthiest people are thankful to have a toilet, for example?
2 billion people in the world don’t have one—it’s easy to forget.
You see, it’s easy to be grateful in the good times when you have had bad times.
If you are wealthy now, but grew up with a dirt floor, you can better appreciate the things you have.
But it’s always easy to look at someone else and wish you had it better.
Perhaps you’ve seen the cartoon.
A man is sitting on the highway at a red light in his rusted, beat-up old car and a brand new car pulls up in the lane next to him. He thinks, “Look at that new car!”
A cyclist rides by, looks at that old car, and says, “If only I could afford a car.”
The cyclist rides by a bus stop, and a man who just got off the bus says, “I wish I had a bike.”
The pedestrian walks by an apartment complex, and a man looks on from his balcony sitting in a wheelchair, saying, “He can go wherever he wants.”
You see, we are not always aware of the blessings we have until we stop and think about them.
We tend to think on the negative, forgetting the positive, taking it for granted, as if we are entitled to it.
That’s why when we stop and think about all we have, it helps us to be more grateful.
Should we be grateful for 2020?
I know it’s hard to see with all that’s happened this year.
I told you earlier some of the great things that have happened to me this year—what great things have happened to you?
I know several couples who got married or engaged this year, including Nick and Brianna.
Many babies were born, including Kasen Greenway, son to John and Hope.
And in a way, we should also be grateful for the bad things that have happened this year.
While this pandemic has changed the way we do things, it also increases our influence for Christ by increasing our online presence.
Our online services started off rocky, but it is turning out well. It may even be something we continue doing for the foreseeable.
I want you to think about how, through all the difficulties of this year, how has the Lord blessed you in 2020?
I know, as Alexander Whyte prayed, this year has made me thankful for the way things were, helped me to appreciate what life was like before, and hopefully how it will be again.
The bad times help us to appreciate the good. They humble us and make us realize that Solomon was right, “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity” (Eccl. 1:2).
Let us focus on what’s right, do what’s right, and be right before God.
Why? It is the Will of God!
In the OT, Leviticus outlines five types of sacrifices to offer.
Burnt, grain, peace, sin, and trespass.
If you recall from our series on Leviticus, the peace offering is better understood as a praise offering or an offering of thanksgiving (Lev. 7:11-12).
When times were good, they were to offer a sacrifice, allowing the priests and anyone who was nearby to partake of the food from that sacrifice.
It was a great and joyous time!
At such times, it was customary to “declare His works with rejoicing” (Psa. 107:22).
Recognizing our dependence upon God is such an important concept for us to understand, just as it was important for the ancient Israelites.
We have a notion in this country of being self-sufficient, but we really aren’t.
We depend upon one another, and especially on God, so let us declare His works with rejoicing!
You see, praise and thanksgiving was not limited to the OT.
It is the will of God to give Him thanks, not to be entitled but grateful and humble before Him.
David writes: “And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me; therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord” (Psa. 27:6).
Last week we talked of the Psalms as prayers, and very often we find the giving of thanks within.
So if David was to offer these same sacrifices of joy, don’t you think we should, too?
No, we’re not going to kill a goat or a sheep as David did, but we are to offer the “sacrifice of praise” (Heb. 13:15-16).
And what does the writer here call the sacrifice of praise? The fruit of our lips!
He adds on, saying we need to give thanks to His name, to do good and share—God is pleased with such sacrifices.
We give thanks in prayers, in songs, and in good, benevolent works.
You see, while Christ was the ultimate sacrifice for us so that we no longer have to make animal sacrifices, we are still to offer other kinds of sacrifices.
Animal sacrifices were accompanied by prayers and songs and good works.
Since Christ was the ultimate sacrifice for us, that doesn’t mean we can neglect prayers, songs, and good works.
In fact, we are told throughout the NT to do these things! It is the will of God.
There is a benefit for us, too.
While it’s easy to focus on the commands to do the will of God, it is easy to overlook the benefits we gain from this.
Paul did write that it giving thanks is “the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
Being thankful for what we have makes us happier people!
As Paul said, “I have learned in whatever state I am to be content” (Phil. 4:11).
Whether he has plenty or he has little, he is content!
How can this be unless he is thankful for what little he does have?
And even if we have nothing, we have Christ and a hope of being in heaven with Him—that is something to look forward to, isn’t it?
There’s only one way to be sure of that hope, however—becoming a Christian!
Conclusion.
George Mikes tells of a man in Budapest who went to his rabbi and complains, “Life is unbearable. There are nine of us living in one room. What can I do?”
The rabbi answers, “Take your goat into the room with you.” The man is incredulous, but the rabbi insists. “Do as I say and come back in a week.”
A week later the man comes back looking more distraught than before. “We cannot stand it,” he tells the rabbi. “The goat is filthy.”
The rabbi then tells him, “Go home and let the goat out. And come back in a week.”
A radiant man returns to the rabbi a week later, exclaiming, “Life is beautiful. We enjoy every minute of it now that there’s no goat—only the nine of us.”
As we see, our perspective often changes when we truly begin to appreciate what we have.
Let us learn to thankful for what the Lord has blessed us with, even in 2020.
We have talked about being thankful for things material, but what of things spiritual?
As we have seen, we are to be thankful in everything, including and especially what we have in Christ.
Our souls are our most precious possession, and giving it to Christ for safe-keeping is the best decision we could ever make!
The only way we can do that is through Christ, and by submitting to His will, doing what He said to do to be saved.