Thanksgiving day -How Can I Thank Him? and An Un-Thanksgiving Day

How Can I Thank Him? and An Un-Thanksgiving Day

Summary: A Thanksgiving message and How NOT to celebrate Thanksgiving!

Scripture Reading: Psalms 116:1-19 and Luke 12:16-21

series: Thanksgiving day

Date: 27 December 2015

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Introduction

It seems somehow extraordinarily appropriate to me that our thanksgiving day should fall right in the middle of this season. I find myself humbled before Him as I consider and reconsider in my preparations the mind blowing thing that God has done for me/us in Christ. Grace, freedom, and laughter, have never been more dear to me. I find myself asking repeated; “How can I thank Him? and An un-Thanking day” and that question has become the title to this message.

Scripture Reading

Let’s begin today by reading Psalm 116 and Luke 12:16-21.

116 I love the Lord, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications.2 Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.3 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.4 Then called I upon the name of the Lord; O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.5 Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful.6 The Lord preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me.7 Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee.8 For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.9 I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.10 I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted:11 I said in my haste, All men are liars.12 What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me?13 I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord.14 I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people.15 Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.16 O Lord, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds.17 I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord.18 I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people.19 In the courts of the Lord's house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the Lord.

Luke 12:16-21

"And He told them this parable: "The ground of a certain man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ’what shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ Then he said, ’this is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, "you have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.’ "But God said to him, ’you fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."

This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. May the sweet Holy Spirit add His manifold blessings to our text this morning... in our hearing. Amen! You may be seated in God's Presence.

Sermon

When you “count your blessings”, what does the list consist of? Tonight I want us to think about God, I want you to think about what we have “in Christ”. I want us to escape from our cultural definitions of blessing and think about eternal issues.

Reflecting on Psalm 116:

1. Note what is thank worthy.

Is it possible that we have been placing thanks in the wrong place for the wrong things?

Some time ago I read a time magazine article on CNN.com that was titled; “Maybe We Should Blame God for the Sub-prime Mess”. For sure we should not blame God, but has bad theology and Christian greed played a role? These are questions we need to seriously consider.

Look at the things the Psalmist is grateful for:

Psalm 116:8-9

For you, O LORD, have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before the LORD in the land of the living. 

As we face the possibility of a long and hard economic crisis… all of these things remain constant.

Changing economic conditions do not effect what God has done in delivering our souls from death, if the economy tanks it does not change or at least it should not change our degree of joy, of having our eyes delivered from tears. Why not? Real joy does not come from things purchased or accumulated, from temporary things that are passing away. Changing economic circumstances do not affect our stability, our security, our ability to stand and walk sure footed knowing we are delivered from stumbling. Our security in this life does not come from solid investing and well stocked retirement portfolios.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying it is a sin to have things and enjoy them, I’m not saying it is wrong to invest and plan for retirement. I am saying that you MUST NOT give these earthly things a place in your life that belongs to God alone. Jesus is the one who said it is hard for the rich to enter heaven… not because heaven is anti-rich folk,but because it is hard not to trust in your riches instead of trusting in God.

Proverbs 18:10-12

The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe. 

The wealth of the rich is their fortified city; they imagine it an unscalable wall. Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.

Matthew 6:19-21

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Think about what you are thankful for this morning and reflect on what that says about your heart, about where your treasure is, and about whether it is stored safely or vulnerable to loss. In times of economic prosperity it easy to identify worldly wealth as an identifier of Godly blessing, to equate monetary hardship with a lacking of God’s blessing; but this is not the truth.

Let’s be thankful for what matters, for what is eternal, let’s give thanks for salvation, for grace, freedom and laughter, for the cross and the sacrificial lamb. Let’s be thankful this morning that although Jesus could have called 10,000 angels and stopped the crucifixion; for our sake, He did not! Let’s be thankful that God has given us the Holy Spirit, filled us with His presence, welcomed us into sweet fellowship, and told us to come boldly to the throne of grace in our time of need. Let’s rejoice this morning in the fact that He has removed the stain of sin from us and taken its required penalty for us. Let’s be thankful for the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, for love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self control, absolutely none of which have any dependence whatsoever on earthly markets or economies.

Let us take note to night of the many thank worthy things that God has done for us in Christ, and let us be truly thankful for each and every one of those things.

Which brings me to the half title of this sermon and point number Two; “How can I thank Him”, or:

2. What is an appropriate response?

Psalms 116:12

How can I repay the LORD for all his goodness to me? (NIV)
What must I give you, LORD, for being so good to me? (CEV)What shall I render to the LORD For all His benefits toward me? (KJV)What do I return to Jehovah? All His benefits [are] upon me. (YLT)

I like all of these although Young’s Literal stands out in my mind because it places everything in God’s hands. No matter what I give Him, He has given it to me first. It is like Christmas when you we were children, we buy our Dad a gift with money he has given us. None of it is from us; all of it depends upon Him. Even my faith ultimately comes from Him.

Romans 12:3

Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.

Should we even be raising this question?

Should we be looking for a way to thank God, to repay Him, to render something to Him?

I think this is a personal question. 

Luke 7:36-50

Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.
When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner."
Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to tell you."
"Tell me, teacher," he said.
"Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?"
Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled."
"You have judged correctly," Jesus said.
Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little."
Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."
The other guests began to say among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?"
Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

Both cannot pay, one knows he cannot pay; the other thinks perhaps eventually he can cover the spread. The need is equal but the awareness differs. How aware are you? How grateful are you?

It is a personal question, and I think it is an appropriate question. Gratitude requires this response, logic requires this response; and honor pursues an answer.

What does the psalmist say? How does he answer the question of thanksgiving?

Psalm 116:13

I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD.

In gratitude the psalmist says he will take what God has offered. I think we should respond the same way. Our salvation is a free gift; it does not come with strings attached; however how can we not respond by embracing this gift and walking with God as much as we are able to?

Don’t turn walking with God into a chore, don’t fall into thinking that you are earning His favor, do keep on getting up and walking when you fall down.

1 John 2:1-2

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for [Or He is the one who turns aside God’s wrath, taking away our sins, and not only ours but also] the sins of the whole world.

Psalm 116:14

I will fulfill my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people.
In thanks for what He has done, the psalmist says, “I will fulfill my promises to God.”

Matthew 5:33-37

"Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ’Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.’ But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your ’Yes’ be ’Yes,’ and your ’No,’ ’No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

I think it is possible to keep our promises to God without falling into some sort of legalistic perversion of the faith. I am not talking about swearing or taking oaths or earning favor, I am talking about hearing God and saying “Yes” and then doing it.

Will you be the faithful husband of one wife? “Yes”

Will you follow me and feed my sheep? “Yes”

In gratitude for what God has done in Christ walk before Him in the land of the living.

James 2:18

But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.

According to James faith has corresponding actions. Does yours?

Psalm 116:17

I will sacrifice a thank offering to you and call on the name of the LORD.

Have you ever given a sacrificial thank offering? That is when we are giving thanks at a time when there seems from our perspective to be no reason to be thankful.

If you are there tonight let me encourage you that human perspective is in constant flux but God’s thank-worthiness is always the same.

3. Love is contagious.

1 John 4:19

We love because he first loved us.

He first loved us, but once we are infected with that love, it consumes us, it changes us, it rearranges our priorities; we become carriers!

Romans 5:1-5

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

Now let us see Luke 12:16-21

If this story doesn’t sober a materialist up, nothing will. Why did God call this man a fool? I can find at least Four reasons in this text:

1. HE WAS A FOOL FOR THINKING HE WAS IN CONTROL OF HIS OWN FUTURE!

When I look to the whole counsel of God’s Word, I don’t find that God called this rich man a fool for planning or projecting his future. God praises the lowly ant that gathers in the summer for winter stores and works all day long (Proverbs 6:6-11). God blesses hard work and there is nothing wrong with having money in your hand. Having it in your heart can be deadly! This rich farmer was a fool for believing that he was master of his own destiny. The book of James also addresses this issue. James 4:13-16 brings to mind:

a) THE ARROGANCE OF THIS BELIEF. Vs 13, 16.

The scenario before us is that of businessmen planning ahead and bragging on a future they know nothing about. Their attitude was: "I can make it on my own and I can control the events in my life. I can stand four-square against the winds of circumstance and make it, no problem!"

To boast on the future, however is to play God and the Bible calls it evil arrogant pride!

b) THE UNCERTAINTY OF LIFE. Vs 14a

The only thing we know for sure is that things change. A thousand things can come along to change our well-laid plans. 

Proverbs 27:1 reminds us: "Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth." The rich man in our story was soon to find out just how uncertain life can be!

c) THE BREVITY OF LIFE. Vs 14b

Life is short and the older I get, the shorter it is! Look at Psalm 39:5: "You have made my days a mere hand breadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you." 

d) GOD’S WILL. Vs 15

Everything; our hopes and dreams and plans must come under the Lordship of Christ. We can’t see the future nor control it. Only God can. Doesn’t it make a lot of sense to commit your future to Him?

2. HE WAS A FOOL FOR THINKING THAT ACQUISITIONS OF MATERIAL GOODS ARE LIFE’S HIGHEST AIM! Luke 12:15

We can sense from verse 19 that he was a worshipper of the god of materialism. The KJV tells us that he said to his "soul" that he had plenty of things stored up and that he could relax and enjoy life for many years to come. "SOUL"? The soul has no interest in the things of this world, but hungers for God to fill our lives, but this man filled that "God-shaped vacuum" with things. He believed that his wealth would bring him ease and for this God calls him a fool! A multitude of things could easily rob him of this ease: loss of his wealth, run-away inflation, loss of his health, family troubles and the list could go on and on.

Someone was asked the question what he would be leaving when he dies. "Everything" was the wise and swift answer. I have yet to see a U-Haul truck following a hearse out to the cemetery. It is only half true, however that you can’t take it with you. You can send it on ahead by investing it in the Lord’s work (See Matthew 6:19-21).

3. HE WAS A FOOL FOR NOT GIVING GOD THE GLORY FOR HIS BLESSINGS!

In all of his considerations, he reckoned God out of he plans. We see no mention of God coming from his lips even though he enjoyed all of his wealth at the hand of the Lord. There is no offering, no alms giving, no care for those who have nothing, no glory for our Heavenly Father what so ever. Consider this verse from Deuteronomy 8:10, "When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you." 

We see none of that and for this, God calls him a fool!

4. HE WAS A FOOL FOR HAVING NO THOUGHT OF ETERNITY!

Everything was just here and now. Isn’t it interesting that the rich man of this story is not named? It puts me in mind of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. Again, the lost soul was not named, as was Lazarus, but only referred to as a rich man. He was nameless, like a non-entity. His name was not found in the Lambs Book of Life. Such is the plight of the lost that ignores God’s invitation to receive His amazing grace. It appears that the man died as he lived, with no regard for his standing with God. 

Ill. There is a neat little story which is only fiction and yet can be real and it goes like this: The devil called in his four highest ranking lieutenants to confer with them on the best strategy for keeping souls out of heaven. The first lieutenant suggested the lie that there is no God. This idea was quickly shot down, however because they all agreed that such a lie would never stand up. People only need to look around and see how nature itself is like an outstretched finger pointing to the God of creation. God has left too many clues of His existence for such a lie to really hold water. Lieutenant number two came forward with his suggestion. "Let’s tell the world that there is no heaven!" "Nope. That lie wouldn’t work either. Most people know that there is something beyond their lives on earth. Almost every religion in the world teaches about a heaven of some kind." Number three had a great idea of his own: "Let’s tell people that there is no hell!" "Wrong again! God put a conscience in people that tells them that sin must be judged. People just wouldn’t truly believe that one enough." The fourth lieutenant came forward with his suggestion. "Lets tell them that there’s no hurry!" "That’s it! The ultimate lie! Why think about eternity now? After all, the road to hell is paved with good intentions!" 

Invitation and The Final Challenge

We are not thankful because we fear the wrath of God; Christ has removed that from us. We are not motivated by a cold sense of responsibility or duty. We do not give thanks in an attempt to win favor or to “bribe God” as it were. We are not trying to boast of God’s goodness to us as though that somehow were a reflection of our own holiness or Godliness.

No pure gratitude wells up within us as human love responds to the divine love that has been given to us.