1 A Heart Filled With Thanksgiving The Thanksgiving season is upon us. We Americans have a lot to be thankful for. Our freedom, our freedom to worship, our freedom to choose our leaders was exercised earlier this month. As Christians we are most thankful for Jesus Christ and the sacrifice he made that will enable us to join Him in Heaven for eternity. Yes, the Lord has blessed America above all other nations in history. I m afraid however, that we, as a nation take that blessing for granted. That is the pitfall that so many of us fall into. The new generations especially don t realize what this country had to go through to get to where we are today. We had to take on and do battle with the mightiest nation on Earth just to overthrow the tyranny and found the United States. The tiny Continental Army, a bunch of rag-tag farmers and tradesmen took on and beat the most powerful army and navy on the face of the globe in the Revolutionary War. Soon after that, in 1812, we had to fight that same country when it began kidnapping our sailors on the open seas. Then there was the Civil War, where our country was torn apart and brother fought brother in combat that stretched from California to Texas to Florida and all along the East Coast. 620,000 soldiers died in four years during that epic struggle. We survived two world wars and came out of them better off than any of the other combatants. I believe that God has looked after the United States because we were always identified as a Christian nation. Sadly, there are those who are trying very hard to change that. Just recently, I spoke at the school board forum held at the high school. I mentioned Jesus in my opening remarks to the crowd of about 200. I ended my speech by saying that the greatest teacher in history was Jesus Christ and that because he had been
banned by law, from the classrooms, we were left with a mess. Not long after that some one said on Face book that the Perry County Republican Party was made up of a bunch of Jesus freaks. Yes, that s me folks. I am a Jesus freak and I wear that title proudly. Back to the point of this sermon; thanksgiving. Psalm 100: 4 says, enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise. Do we do that? Do we do that daily? Do we express our thankfulness, or do we just assume that God knows that we are grateful? Have you ever done something for someone and they fail to say thank you. I have many times. It kind of makes you mad. You go out of your way to do something for someone and they don t even say thank you. One time I saw a woman walking down the street with a mattress on her head. I know that sounds absurd, but it happened right here in Tell City. She had it balanced up there and she was walking down the street that way. I got in my truck and followed her and asked if she needed a ride. Well, obviously, she did. Turns out she was moving and had no vehicle and so she was moving one piece at a time. I wound up moving her furniture and all her stuff for free and when it was all over she didn t even thank me. Wow, lady just one little thank you would have done it but no, nothing. Kind of left a sour taste in my mouth. How do you think God feels after all he does for us and we don t thank him? You know, when we have a close call in traffic and almost have a wreck. Your legs are shaking and you know that it could have put you in the hospital or worse. You can t thank God enough, right. Thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus. That s all well and good, but try this one on for size; how about all the times that the good Lord saves you from even having a close call. How about the times that some inner voice tells you to turn left instead of right and you miss having an accident and don t even know it because God had you turn away from danger. Do you thank God for those times? I mean, that could have happened 2
hundreds of times in our lives when God saved us from wrecks, or heartaches or financial ruin and we aren t even aware of them. Mathew 10:30 says that even the hairs on our heads are numbered, I ve heard that we have between 100,000 to 150,000 hairs on our head. I mean, there are about 15 million hairs in this room right now. If God knows that seemingly trivial fact, do you think He doesn t know when we are in danger? In other words, whatever is going on in the world, in every place, at all times, everywhere, God knows all about it. Everything that happens God knows and God cares. Did you ever think to thank him for all of the bad things that didn t happen? Thanksgiving. Psalm 92:1 says, it is a good thing to give thankfulness to the Lord. King David had a tender and grateful heart toward his creator that endeared him to God. He regularly expressed his thanks and praise to God. What do we have to be thankful to God for? How about his righteousness and holiness? Psalm 7:17 says, I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness; and will sing praises to the lord most high. Can I get an amen? The lord god is righteous and holy and he has taught sinful men how to be righteous and holy if they will read his beautiful instructions and be willing to learn. We should be especially thankful that we have the Holy Bible. You know when we pray we are speaking to God, but when we read the bible, God is speaking to us. You ever notice that you can read a passage in the Bible and then read the same passage the next time and get a whole new meaning form it? That is because the Bible is alive and has been since it was written through inspired hands all those years ago. It s not some tired old storybook like the unbelievers think. Let me ask you this, when you talk to someone do you say the same thing to them every time you speak? Of course not and neither does the Bible. That is how we know that it is alive. It 3
speaks to different people in different way and to the same person in different ways at different times. Let me ask you something. Suppose you were at a yard sale and you purchased an old piece of furniture there, say maybe an old roll top desk. You got it for a good price and you got the perfect spot for it along the wall in your living room. I have a desk like that and I like it a lot. You struggle to get it into your truck and gently, ever so gently, you move it into your house, being careful not to damage it or the walls as you move it to that perfect spot next to the window that looks out into your side yard. Standing back, you and your spouse look at it as it sits there brightening the room with its rich oak finish. Later, curiosity drives you to go through the drawers and in the back of one of the lower ones you discover an old letter. Looking at the date you smile in amazement. It was written a very long time ago. You open the envelope and after reading a few paragraphs you realize that it is a love letter written years and years ago. Folks, that is what the Bible is to believers. It is a love letter written by God to his people years and years ago. Now if an unbeliever picks up the Bible it means little to him because it wasn t written to him. It was written to those who love God. To the unbeliever it is like reading somebody else s love letter. It has little meaning. But to the believer it is precious, it is wonderful, it is heart warming and full of deep loving passages that we hold dear. Of course, that unbeliever can become a believer and then that letter will be written to him as well. But as long as he is a heathen it has no meaning to him. That is why unbelievers can read a few passages and throw the bible down and say, I don t get it. They don t understand what we know in our hearts to be true. That God loves us and considers us so precious that he was willing to die for us in the form of Jesus Christ. What else do we have to be thankful for this Thanksgiving? 4
Well to tell you the truth Christians should be thankful every day that we have a savior who has delivered us from sin and has prepared a place in Heaven to be with him for eternity. In 2 Corinthians 7:4 the Apostle Paul wrote, I am exceedingly joyful in all tribulation. Imagine that joyful in tribulation. Who but a Christian could be joyful in times of trial? As long as we keep the grand scheme of things in mind, as long as we know how this all turns out, as long as we know where we will be when the roll is called up yonder, brothers and sisters, we too can be joyful in trial and tribulation. As long as we know that we have an all powerful God who is working things out for us even in the midst of our trials we can be happy, not just happy, but exceedingly happy. Can I get an amen? Don t be fooled, problems will come our way. We will be tempted and tried. That is necessary for growth. If our master Jesus Christ was tempted and tried don t think that his servants, you and I, are going to have it any easier. But the thing is, the most holy and righteous thing is, we have a savior, we have a God, we have the most powerful being in the universe on our side; God almighty himself. He s in our corner. How about the elders and deacons in our church? Do you ever thank them for all that they do? Go to 1 Thess 5:12. It says, to honor those who are your leaders in the Lord s work. You know, during the Thanksgiving holiday, we focus on our blessings and express our gratitude to God for them. But thanks should be on our lips every day. We can never say thank you enough to parents, friends, and leaders and especially to God. When thanksgiving becomes an integral part of your life, you will find that your attitude toward life will change. You will become more positive, gracious, loving and humble. As we praise and thank God for material and spiritual blessings, we should also thank him for answered prayer. Remember when you ask God for protection, strength, comfort, 5
6 patients, love or other special needs, and he supplied them. Always beware of taking God s provision and answered prayer for granted. Turn with me please to Luke 17:11 thru 19. Read 11 thru 19. Jesus healed all 10 lepers, but only 1 returned to thank him. Is it possible to receive God s great gifts with an ungrateful heart? 9 of the 10 men did so. Only the thankful man, however, learned that his faith had played a role in his healing, and only grateful Christians grow in understanding God s grace. God does not demand that we thank him, but he is pleased when we do so. And he uses our responsiveness to teach us more about himself. Problems are going to come our way there is no way around that after all this is not heaven. God will see to it personally that we grow. He will allow the storms to send our roots deep into the soil of his word. We often pray more in the midst of our problems, but it is said that we can see more on our knees than while standing on tiptoes. A man once watched a butterfly struggling to get out of its cocoon. In an effort to help it he took out a razor and carefully slit the edge of the allowing it to escape. It immediately fell to its death. It is God s way to have the butterfly struggle. It is the struggle that forces its tiny heart to beat fast, and sent the lifeblood into its wings. Trials have their purpose-they make us struggle; they bring us to our knees. They are the cocoons in which we often find ourselves. It is there that the lifeblood of faith helps us spread our wings. If we are truly thankful then we are more willing to help others, because when we see the downtrodden we realize that but for the grace of god there am I. I came across a short little story that reflects this very idea well. It is called WHY? On the street I saw a small girl, cold and shivering in a thin dress, with little hope of a decent meal. I became angry and said to God: Why did you permit this?
Why don t you do something about it? For a while God said nothing. That night he replied, quite suddenly. As my heart heard the answer I sat bolt upright in my bed. I did something about it my son, God said, I made you! Yes, folks God made us to do something about it. God made missionaries and churches and missions and His people to do something about it. And if you consider yourself to be God s people then brothers and sisters you d better be doing something about it. You are the light of the world; a city upon a hill, and your light had better be shining brightly if you plan to enter his gates with thanksgiving in your hearts. I have a short story I d like to share with you about thankfulness and sharing what you have. This was a letter to the editor in a newspaper years ago: Is there any place where we can borrow a little boy 3 or 4 years old for the Christmas holidays? We have a nice home and would take wonderful care of him and bring him back safe and sound. We used to have a little boy, but he couldn t stay, and we miss him so when Christmas comes. Signed N. Miller. As I read the appeal something happened to me. For the first time since my husband s death, I thought of grief as belonging to someone else. I read and reread the letter. Several months earlier I had received word that my husband had been killed in the service. Grief-stricken I had taken our little boy and moved back to my small hometown in Ohio. I went to work to help support us and time had helped to erase a few of the scars in my heart. But there were special times when the ache would return and loneliness would engulf me- birthdays, our wedding anniversary and the holidays. This particular Christmas, the old pain was returning when my eyes caught the appeal in the newspaper column. We used to have a little boy, but he couldn t stay and we miss him so 7
I, too, knew what missing was, but I had my little boy. I knew haw empty the sparkle of Christmas is unless you see it in the joyous eyes of a child. I answered the appeal. The writer of the letter was a widower who lived with his mother. He had lost his beloved wife and his little son the same year. That Christmas, my son and I shared a joyous day with the widower and his mother together we found a happiness that we doubted would ever return. But the best part is that this joy was mine to keep throughout the years and for each of the Christmases since. You see the man who wrote the letter, months later, became my husband. Thanksgiving was the subject of this sermon but before I finish I want to touch on something else. In order to be thankful we have to be attached to Jesus. We need to be in contact with him. Earlier this month Leonna and I went to the movies and saw Secretariat. The movie about the race horse that won the Triple Crown back in 1973. After you buy a ticket you present it to the ticket taker and he tears them in half and returns the stub to you. It used to be like that when you traveled by airplane or bus or train. Whatever type ticket you have the attendant will tear it in half, returning half back as your receipt. Its called a stub. Now, we are not supposed to tear the ticket ourselves. There is a warning on the ticket: void if detached. It means if we tear the ticket ourselves it is no good any longer. Only the ticket taker can tear it at the proper time. They do this so you won t use the ticket more than once. When the attendant tears it, it becomes void. Some things just have to stay together if they are to be of any value. Jesus said, for without me you can do nothing. He meant that we belong to him and he belongs to us. If we become separated from Jesus we become null and void. Whatever you do folks, don t let that happen. 8