A Proper Perspective on Thanksgiving
“A Proper Perspective on Thanksgiving”
11/19/06 – PPHC – Eph. 5:19-20; 1 Thess. 5:18
Three things that we learn about thanksgiving from the Bible.
I. Our Thanksgiving Should be Expressed
· (To show or REFLECT a) - We should express our thanks 1 to God and 2 to others.
A. Ps. 100:4 “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving…”
B. Ps. 107:1 “O give thanks unto the LORD, for [he is] good…”
C. Lk. 17 - The 10 lepers were healed – only one came back and gave thanks to Jesus
1. Jesus said, “Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.”
2. Why did he say that? He was already healed…He was talking about a total healing.
3. Illust. - We are healed by our thanksgiving. Psychologists today tell us that sincere
gratitude, thanksgiving, is the healthiest of all human emotions. Hans Seleye, who is
considered the father of stress studies, has said that gratitude produces more positive
emotional energy than any other attitude in life. b
· Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. ...Marcel Proust
D. A thankful heart endears others to us and us to others (it bonds us – 1st Thanksgiving)
1. A thankful heart is not only good for the giver, but good for the receiver.
a. God appreciates our thanksgiving.
1. It lifts Him up and glorifies Him.
2. It draws us closer to Him (endears Him to us).
2. However, if we are not thankful to Him…it can have the opposite affect.
a. Rom. 1:21 “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified [him] not as God, neither
were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”
1. Implies: people who are ungrateful are in danger of falling away from God…hearts hardened.
b. How can we say thank you to God?: “Spend time with Him; Forgive others; Serve in the church; Share His plan of salvation with others; Reach out to hurting people; Praise Him enthusiastically from the heart.”
· Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it. ... William A. Ward
II. Our Thanksgiving Should be Expansive
A. As our thanksgiving enlarges, it should include three things:
1. The Blessings of Life
a. A sink full of dirty dishes at night (2/3 of the world goes to bed hungry every night)
b. When we pray, we are so general (“thank you for your blessings”) COUNT THEM
· Elizabeth Barrett Browning - “How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Ways…”
2. The Burdens of Life (The tough one)
a. Paul suffered from a thorn in the flesh; he had been run out of town, whipped, imprisoned, betrayed by friends, naked, cold, hungry, shipwrecked, and stoned for his faith.
1. 1 Thess. 5:18 “Give thanks in ALL circumstances…” – Eph. 5:20 “always giving thanks”
2. Rom. 8:18 “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing to the glory
that will be revealed in us…”
3. Phil. 1:12 “Now I want you to know brothers that what has happened to me has really
served to advance the Gospel…”
4. When we, like Paul, have the proper view, we can offer thanks in ALL circumstances
a. We don’t have to be thankful FOR the problems, but we can be thankful IN them.
3. The Benefits of Life
a. When the Israelites focused on what they DIDN’T have, they failed to see what they DID have.
b. Illust. – An experiment was done in New York’s Central Park where an advertising firm
dressed a man up as a blind man and gave him a cup to collect money. One day they put a
sign around his neck that read, “I’m blind.” On that day he collected $4.00. The next day
they dressed him the same way, placed him in the same place but changed the sign to read,
“It’s Spring, and I’m blind.” That day he collected nearly $40.00. That day, those people
realized how blessed they were by the beautiful flowers, birds, the sunrise and the sunset.
III. Our Thanksgiving is Expected
A. This is the mark of a Growing Christian.
1. The baby that has the colic has to held for hours…yet they do not say, “thank you.”
2. The child has to learn to say, “thank you.” …almost forced to say thank you…
3. When we learn how blessed we are and express it to others, we are growing.
B. This is the mark of a Giving Christian.
1. When we see how much God has given, we should be more than happy to give in return
2. James 1:17 “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above,..”
3. When we go to a restaurant, we have no problem giving a good waitress 15%, but many
have a problem giving God 10%.
4. Remember…God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Cor. 9:7
C. This is the mark of a Glowing Christian.
1. If you are thankful to God, you will not be constantly critical and pessimistic…but eternally
thankful.
Harry Frost served for many years as a missionary to China. In his journal, he wrote of a very difficult time in his life. He says, “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.”
Have you been going through some difficult times?
Have you prayed, but you’re still there?
Have you told yourself to keep on going and some day it would disappear – but it got deeper?
Then why not try THANKSGIVING?
a Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary / Thesaurus