In Everything with Thanksgiving

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on the Sunday before Thanksgiving Day, the 20th of November, 2022, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Our YouTube streaming channel is: 

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.]

The psalmist tells us to give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.  Last week we heard where the Apostle Paul added that we should give thanks in everything for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for us.  But just what does it mean to “give thanks”?  Can we just say, “Thank You, God!” and that’s good enough?

Many times when we receive a gift, we show our appreciation by giving something in return, especially at Christmas time.  But what could we possibly wrap up in bright, shiny paper and a pretty bow to give to God that He doesn’t already have, or that He couldn’t make for Himself?

The Apostle Paul founded a number of churches in the region around the Mediterranean Sea, and he tried to stay in contact with them by sending them letters.  Paul even wrote to a few churches that he didn’t establish but that he had served at and loved.  These letters, though perhaps addressed to a specific church, were usually passed around and read by all the churches in the region.  In this way, Paul kept ties with the people he had grown to know and love.  

They also allowed him to extend the Gospel message throughout the area.  And as we’ve seen, that message included encouragement to be thankful to God for all His many blessings, along with reasons why we should be thankful and ways to show our thankfulness.  Please listen and follow along to the instructions Paul gave to us and to the church in Philippi in the 4th chapter of his letter to the Philippians, verses 4 through 9, and I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible this morning…

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!

5 Let your graciousness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.

6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy — meditate on these things. 9 The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.

--Philippians 4:4-9 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for being in control.  Because You are Sovereign, we need not be anxious or worry over anything.  Thank You, loving God, for watching over us and listening to our prayers.  Forgive us, please Father, when we spend more time in our prayers asking for what we want to happen rather than praising You and thanking You for all You already do for us.  Forgive us when we don’t stop long enough to realize just how truly blessed we are, when we fail to show our thankfulness in our daily lives.  Please help us tangibly express to You just how much we love You and how we appreciate all You’ve done and continue to do for us.  And Father, please protect us from Satan and from those who do his work.  Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and one purpose in our love, worship, and service, and healthy and safe through these trying times.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better understand the message You have for us this day.  Let Your graciousness be known to all men through us and the love we share.  May our thankfulness show in all we do.  This we pray in the glorious name of Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

The first American Thanksgiving didn't occur in 1621 when a group of Pilgrims shared a feast with a local tribe of friendly Native Americans.  The first recorded thanksgiving took place in Virginia more than 11 years earlier, and it was not a feast.  The winter of 1610 at Jamestown had reduced the colony of 409 settlers down to only 60.  The survivors prayed for help, without knowing when or how it might come.  When help did arrive, in the form of a ship filled with food and supplies from England, a prayer meeting was held to give thanks to God.

The colony had suffered food shortages ever since its establishment due to a long drought.  The harsh winter only made matters worse.  So the people that were left prayed to God for help.  When relief finally arrived, they gathered together and offered prayers of thanksgiving.

We may never ourselves experience the kind of struggle those colonists endured, because God is our ever present and constant help.  Even in our toughest times, we can always find something, some little thing, to be thankful for, if we only pause long enough to look around and think.  As Paul says, “whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy — meditate on these things”, and give thanks to God.

How many of you remember Alfred E. Neuman?  Alfred was the mascot, the face, of “Mad” magazine.  His catchphrase was, “What, me worry?”  He was kind of a goofy-looking yet average guy.  You’d think he would have plenty to feel anxious about, but he said he wasn’t worried about anything.

We should try to be more like Alfred.  If we truly trust in God, if we believe in everything He has told us, then we have nothing to worry about.  I’m not saying that we won’t have difficulties in this life, and neither did Jesus; He actually promised that we would have trials and tribulations.  But this life is short, especially when compared to eternity, and God has promised us an eternity of happiness and bliss - no crying or pain, no troubles or turmoil, no illness or suffering.  And all we have to do is to believe in Jesus as His Son and our Lord, repent of our sinful ways, and follow His commands to love and to serve.  So why worry?

Well, it seems to be pretty much common human nature to worry.  We worry about big things, we worry about little things, and those little things probably consume the most of our worry time.  But Paul tells us to just pray; pray and rejoice in the Lord always.  If we just give our worries over to God, offering to Him our humble thanks in everything, then He will cover us with His peace, a peace only He can give.  Pray with thankfulness in our hearts, and the God of peace will be with us.

I mentioned last week that we can always just say, “Thank You, Father”.  It’s easy to say, “Thanks”, even when we don’t really mean it.  Like when we receive a gift from a relative or close friend that we fully intend to re-gift to someone else just as soon as possible.  We don’t want it, but we still smile and say, “Thanks”.

But we can do so much more than utter a few words to show God how thankful we truly are.  And as usual, Paul gives us a few examples we can try.  Please listen to what the Apostle wrote to the church in Rome, in the 12th chapter of his letter to the Romans, verses 9 through 21…

9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. 10 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; 11 not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; 12 rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; 13 distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. 16 Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.

17 Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. 18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. 19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 Therefore

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;

If he is thirsty, give him a drink;

For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”

21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

--Romans 12:9-21 (NKJV)

We can best show our thankfulness by our love.  This is what God commands; this is what Jesus orders us to do, to love our God and to love others as we love ourselves.  We show our thankfulness to God by showing Him our love, and we show Him our love by loving others.  And while it is true that some people seem downright impossible to love, we need to remember that we don’t have to like them to love them.  One way to think of this is that if we love them as we love ourselves, then we would want them to be spared eternal pain and suffering, to be saved, just as we are saved.

Paul tells us to love without hypocrisy, to be honest in our love, with no expectation of any reward or personal gain.  This is the start of showing thankfulness, and then he goes on with so much more.  Hate what is evil but cling to what is good.  Be kind, putting others first in our life.  Be patient during hard times, praying continuously, and rejoicing in our hope, our promise.

Bless those who hate us, who persecute us, who would do harm to us, and do not repay evil with evil, but instead with love.  Do not let evil overcome us, but overcome evil itself with good, with love.  For this, too, is the will of God in Christ Jesus for us.

I pray that all of us will be able to enjoy at least part of Thanksgiving this coming Thursday with family and friends, sharing a meal, staying warm.  Sadly, there are many in our community that won’t have the chance, the blessing, to do so.  There are some who have no family nearby.  There are others who are homeless.  There are many with food insecurities.  Each one of these less fortunate among us represent an opportunity to show God how thankful we are for the blessings we receive.

We may not know someone personally who is struggling right now, but there are organizations that do, and we can help support them, either through a donation of food or money, or by volunteering some of our time.  Putting our love into action is how we overcome evil with good.  And it’s the best way to say, “Thanks, God, for all You do for me.”

In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, the Founding Fathers of this great nation were very aware of Your hand at work in securing our freedom from tyranny and the right to govern ourselves.  Our first president even called for a nation day of prayer on November the 26th in 1789.  Around 80 years later, the third Thursday in November was set aside as a national day of giving thanks for Your many blessings over our land and our peoples.  Thank You, Father, for helping us survive, from our very beginnings.  Thank You for seeing us through harsh winters and devastating droughts.  Thank You for friends and complete strangers who freely offer aid and assistance in our times of trouble and need.  Forgive us, please Father, when we fail to see all that You give us, when we don’t pause long enough to notice.  Forgive us when we focus our time and energies on the wrong things.  Please help us show our thankfulness, in all things, by showing our love to the world, by helping others who are in need, by loving them as we love ourselves.  And Father, please help us remain strong, faithful, and true through all that we face in this age.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your commands, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, thank You for showing us what love looks like through the example of Your own life.  You came to this world that all might be saved, to show just how much God loves us all.  Thank You, Jesus, for showing Your love through Your words and Your works.  Please help us do the same with our lives.  Help us show the world our love, and in doing so, show God how thankful we are for the blessings He pours out on us each and every day.  And Jesus, please heal the hurts that separate and divide us one from another.  Help us remain trusting and obedient no matter what we go through.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this life might offer.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.