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Thanksgiving! What are you thankful for today? Have you ever thought about being thankful for automatic dishwashers. They make it possible to get out of the kitchen before the family comes in for their after-dinner snacks. How about being thankful for husbands who attack small repair jobs around the house. They usually make them big enough to call in professionals. Or for the bathtub…the one place the family allows Mom some time to herself. Or for children who put away their things and clean up after themselves. They're such a joy that you hate to see them go home to their own parents. Are you thankful for gardening? It's a relief to deal with dirt outside the house for a change. Are you thankful for teenagers? They give parents an opportunity to learn a second language. And how about being thankful for smoke alarms. They let you know when the turkey's done. Thanksgiving. We gather in this special sacred place to praise and thank the God who offers us life through Jesus Christ. We're not talking today about turkeys and football. We're talking about the essence of the Christian life. An attitude of thanksgiving is a great deal more than a human nicety. It is at the very heart of the Christian experience. A poem by an unknown author puts it this way. Though I keep Thanksgiving in November, but forget that every day brings cause for giving thanks I am at heart ungrateful; And though I praise Thanksgiving as a noble custom and urge it upon others as a duty, but show by careless living no concern for God or others, I am not really thankful. And though I provide a great family feast, and toss a bit to charity, while my heart cries, "I deserve all this!" I am still ungrateful. Thanksgiving in the heart sees all creation...wheat and water, home and work, friendship and faith...as God's unbounded mercy. Thanksgiving in the heart enlarges the gift until it fills the needs, and unveils as best of all the loving motive of the giver. Thanksgiving in the heart never fails the thankful, but single holidays fail. So thanksgiving will abide, the thanksgiving which is natural custom, the thanksgiving which is family celebration, and the thanksgiving of the heart. But the greatest of these is THANKSGIVING OF THE HEART. Thanksgiving is not a liturgical observance. It is a national holiday. Like Christmas and Easter, Thanksgiving has its roots in spiritual soil. The first Thanksgiving observed by the Pilgrims in 1621 was actually born out of suffering. Many things had gone wrong. 47 of the original 102 had died. Severe winter weather had been cruel and hard. Sickness had brought much strain. But through all of this the people gave thanks to God. It may not make sense but it is entirely possible that a Christian may suffer and yet still give thanks to God. Not only is this possible but it is God's will for God's people. There are those of us who are hurting right now because a loved one is sick, because worry and anxiety has control of us, or because loneliness is our constant friend. God is saying to you and me, "Learn to fill your heart with thanksgiving." Even if you don't feel thankful, give thanks anyway. For a heart full of thanksgiving has the power to lift us above our suffering. It was a dreary, drizzly, depressing kind of day when I flew out of the Dayton, Ohio airport. The moisture-laden clouds hung low over the gray winter landscape. I peered out my window as the airplane wings rose through the thick clouds. After several minutes of climbing we finally broke through the top of the clouds. What a fantastic difference! Sunlight cascaded into the cabin. Looking out the window, I squinted my eyes at the brilliant, glistening white blanket of clouds below me. They were the same dark clouds I saw while on the ground. It was from this new perspective that I once again realized a simple truth. The sun is always shining on the other side of a dark cloud. Life is not always good. There are tough days and tough things we must face. On the other hand there are plenty of good things if we care to look for them. The clouds of life will always be with us this side of heaven, but like the airplane, thanksgiving can put us above them. Breathing a prayer of thanksgiving in the middle of a difficult situation can lift us to warm rays of the shining sun. No matter how much hurt is in your life there is always something for which to be thankful. There was a preacher who found herself greatly discouraged as she was going to the church to deliver a message. On the way she decided to visit with a parishioner who had been confined to a bed for a long time. The elderly woman greeted her pastor with joy in her heart. The pastor asked her, "What makes you so happy today?" She replied, "Because the doctor tells me that if I continue to improve, and if the weather stays fine, and if nothing unusual happens, in two weeks I may be turned over and lie on my other side." For years she had been forced to lie helplessly in bed on one side. A transformation had taken place in the heart of this pastor. Instead of leaving discouraged and depressed, she left encouraged and ready to endure anything. In no way do I wish to minimize the depth of the hurt that afflicts people today. Suffering is a reality and if it hasn't struck your life, it probably will. But I also know that the power of God is a greater reality. If you are a Christian...if you have the power of the Spirit in your life...if you have a heart full of gratitude to God............then you have the resource within you to refuse to allow suffering to overwhelm and destroy you. Giving thanks...for the Christian who wants joy in her heart, peace in his soul, it is a way of life. But it's not easy to live this way, especially in our consumer culture. I’m sure you have noticed that the stores are already selling Christmas toys, displaying Christmas decorations, and playing Christmas music. Every year merchants keep pushing us into Christmas earlier than before. When I was a boy Christmas did not start until after Thanksgiving. But now Christmas overshadows Thanksgiving. The reason has nothing to do with Christmas being a more important religious holiday. It has everything to do with the fact that people spend a lot of money on Christmas gifts. It wouldn't take much to convince me that people are still more thankful at Thanksgiving than Christmas. In most post offices around the country there is a "dead letter office," where all letters are placed that cannot be delivered. At Christmas many children write to Santa Claus. One employee of a post office was interested to see how many people ask for things and how many people thank others for giving them things. In the three months before Christmas, there were thousands of letters asking for something. But in the months after Christmas, there was only one card addressed to Santa Claus thanking him. Perhaps it is easier to be thankful during Thanksgiving than Christmas. Without the distraction of gifts maybe we can truly realize all that God has given us. A little girl went out with her father one crystal clear night. Lifting her eyes she was amazed to see how many stars were in the sky. So she counted and counted and counted until she reached 225 stars. Then she turned to her father and said, "Shall I keep on counting?" Her father answered, "You can, but you will never be able to count them all." My guess is that those who live their lives with hearts full of thanksgiving will find it difficult to count all of their blessings. For you and I have so much for which to be thankful. And sometimes it becomes necessary that we DO something to demonstrate our gratitude. For example, the parents of a soldier killed in WW II felt that it would be an act of great remembrance if they gave a large check to their church in memory of their son on Thanksgiving. As the check was being presented to the church, it stirred up a conversation between another mother and father in the congregation. The mother said to the father, "Let's also give a gift for our boy." The dad said, "What are you talking about? Our son did not die." "That's the point. We ought to make our check bigger because our boy did not die. Let's make it a living gift instead of a memorial gift." Nearly every one of Paul's letters begins with a declaration of thanks to God! Whether you feel thankful or not, giving thanks is a sign of a healthy Christian. One of the ways you can tell if you are spiritually sick with little or no energy to live the Christian life, is to check your heart for an attitude of gratitude. This past October I celebrated my 50th birthday. I guess I should say that my friends celebrated my 50th birthday. I was just there for their benefit. Certain realities begin to set in when you turn 50. One of them has to do with the fact that your body cannot do what it used to do. I like to play basketball. And one of the problems for me is that I cannot keep up with the younger players. I realize there are leagues where you’re not allowed to run a fast-break. I'm waiting for a league where you are not allowed to run! I think I’ll start one in our new multipurpose room next year! The problem is not just physical, but mental. In my mind I know what my body should be doing to play basketball. But I'm getting so old that my body won't do what my mind tells it to. Perhaps there are those of you who can identify with this. We all know that our bodies must be in proper shape if they are to function the way we want them to. A story is told at the turn of the century when blacksmith's shops were common and patronized by those who owned horses and depended upon the artistry of the smith to repair worn tools. One spring morning a man invited his small son to go with him to Old Man Trussel's shop to pick up a rake and hoe that had been fixed. Entering the shop the father and son saw them standing in the corner, fixed like new. The father handed over a silver dollar for the repair work, but the blacksmith refused to take it. "There's no charge for that little job." The man insisted that he take the pay, still extending him the dollar. The young boy, watching the entire transaction, later commented, "If I live to be a 100 years, I'll never forget that humble man's reply to my father." He said to my dad, "Ed, can't you let a man do something now and then, just to stretch his soul?" This is a part of what Thanksgiving is all about. It is a time to be thankful for all God has given us. It is a time to give thanks for the ability to give out of our abundance to others. But like playing basketball when you are not in condition, it is hard to keep it up if your soul is flabby and out of shape. Like this blacksmith, you and I need to look for opportunities to "stretch our souls." My prayer for all of us is that this Thanksgiving will be more than turkey and football. May it truly be a THANKSGIVING OF THE HEART. |
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11.24.02 - Thanksgiving of the Heart (Colossians 3:15-17)
