Thanksgiving is a time here in America that once a year we set aside time to remember the things that we are grateful for and as a Christian the concept of thanksgiving should not be foreign to us. We see examples of thanksgiving shown all throughout scripture. It was shown as a sacrifice of thanksgiving that was established in the Mosaic law recorded in the book of Leviticus. We see the theme of thanksgiving portrayed throughout the Book of Psalms where it is presented as an individual experience, as well as a corporate exercise. Jesus offered thanksgiving before eating throughout the Gospel even during His final meal on earth. Thanksgiving is something we are all called to participate in as Christians. However as a Christian, our call to thanksgiving is a greater call than just a once a year holiday that we spend with friends and family gathered around a table of delicious food. Our call is a call that’s often not as fun as eating your favorite desserts while watching football with your kids. A Christian’s call to thanksgiving is much more than that. It’s a call to sanctification and sanctification can be tough.
1 Thessalonians 5:18
Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
Last week we looked at our freedom from sin that was bought with the blood of Jesus. What we are supposed to do with that freedom and we saw that we are to choose the things of God with the freedom He gives us - we are to choose life! This choosing of life is a part of the sanctification process, a process that makes us look more and more like Jesus every day. In this verse we see another step in the sanctification process which on the surface seems like it’s an easy step. To “Be Thankful”- what can be so hard about that? We all do that at least once a year. Maybe we do it before most of the meals we eat. So what’s the big deal about giving thanks?
When Thanksgiving isn’t easy...
As Paul closes out his first letter to the church in Thessalonica, we see there are three commands that he gives to all believers. He commands them to be joyful, to pray, and to give thanks. Those seem easy enough to carry out. Paul even says these are God’s will for those who are saved therefore that fact should give us the motivation we need to carry these commands out along with the fact that these seem extremely simple. We need to really see what Paul is saying here because when we notice the adverbs that Paul added to these commands, we see that these seemingly easy tasks are now seemingly impossible. ALWAYS be joyful, NEVER stop praying, be thankful in ALL situations - these are the commands that the Christian lives out within the will of God. Someone once said these are standing orders for all Christians’. No matter where they find themselves carrying out the Great Commission and the Great Commandment, they are always called to carry out these three things in their lives. Let’s be realistic, these are all very hard. Probably most difficult is the command to be thankful in ALL situations. Sure it’s easy to give thanks for a couple of things once a year surrounded by loved ones and good food, but what about the rest of the year? What about when times are tough? What about when we can’t see any reason to give thanks for the situation you find yourself in? Why do we have to give thanks in those times? We need to look carefully at what Paul is saying here. He says we are to give thanks IN all circumstances NOT FOR all circumstances. There is a big difference between the two.
To help us understand the difference, let’s take a look at the lives of two figures in the Old Testament. They are perfect examples of what it means to give thanks IN all circumstances and NOT FOR all circumstances. First there was Joseph. He was sold into slavery by his own brothers due to their jealousy. He was purchased by a man named Potiphar and was faithful in service to him. He was doing a great job because the Lord was with him. Then he was falsely accused by the master's wife of sexual misconduct and was thrown into prison where he almost died. It isn’t until the end of Genesis and the end of his story we see him give thanks despite his circumstances when he says in Genesis 50:20 “What you meant as harm for me (speaking of being sold into slavery), God intended it all for good.” Then there’s the life of Job. He lost everything yet he still thanked God despite it all. These are not normal behaviors - they are holy behaviors. When God calls us to give thanks in all situations it’s not a call to thank God for the evil and brokenness you experience. It’s a call to look at those situations differently - just like Joseph and Job did. Take Joseph for example. Joseph’s brothers were terrified that he was only being nice to them because of their dad. They were terrified of what was going to happen to them when their father died. Joseph saw the situation differently. He saw what God did through that brokenness. God used all of the pain that Joseph went through and used those circumstances to save many other lives in the end. Job had a different view of his suffering. It wasn’t what God was doing, but rather who God was. That’s why he was able to be thankful. The key to carrying out this step of sanctification is the lens in which we view our circumstances. In our scripture this morning it’s very clear who that is. It’s seeing every circumstance through the lens of Christ. We have His promise in Romans 8:28 that “God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” It’s IN Christ that we can be thankful IN every circumstance. How does that actually look? What are we supposed to be thankful for in moments we don’t feel thankful?. Scripture tells us what we need to be thankful for. Let’s take a look at the Word to help shine some light on this.
What do we thank Him for?
We must remember we live in a broken world - a world prone to sin, and one that will one day pass away. It’s in this environment that we must make the choice to live a life of thanksgiving. Sometimes it is easy for us to look around and be thankful for our kids, our jobs, and the possibilities that are endless. Those aren’t the ones we are really talking about this morning. We are talking about the times that thankfulness is the furthest thing from our mind. It is those times when you lose someone close to you, or when you get bad news that you didn’t expect, or times when everything around you is seemingly falling apart - those are the times we are talking about this morning. How can we not be thankful for those moments? It is in those moments. scripture tells us many things that we can be thankful for even in the midst of turmoil in our lives.
God’s Peace - Colossians 3:15 tells us to be thankful for the peace that passes all understanding. This is the peace that Jesus promises in John 14:27-30, a peace that is not of this world but can be felt even in our hardest trial - a peace that is only found in Jesus Christ.
God’s Love - 1 Chronicles 16:34 tells us to thank God for his love that his love endures forever. That even in our most broken state, God still loves us despite anything and everything that we have done.
God’s Purpose for You - 2 Corinthians 2:14 tells us to be thankful that we are needed by God. He wants to use us to carry out the greatest mission ever given to mankind - The Great Commandment.
God’s Future for You - 2 Corinthians 9:15 tells us that we need to be thankful that what we are experiencing now is not the end. We have a future that is full of love, hope, life, and things we cannot even imagine.
God’s Gospel - Colossians 2:6 tells us we need to be thankful for the Gospel that saved us. The fact that we were sinners and enemies of God and God sent His Son to die in our place to give us a chance to be made right in God’s sight and have eternal life with Him.
God’s Strength - Psalm 28:7 tells us that we are to be thankful for the strength that we need to get through the hard times in life. It’s not our strength that we trust, it’s His and He never fails.
God’s Character - One of the hardest things for us to grasp in life is the fact that God is due all honor, glory, and praise despite our circumstances. Usually we show thanks when we receive something, but God is different. We need to thank Him for who He is because even if He never gave us a single thing, He is still worthy of it all.
Scripture goes on and on about what a Christian is supposed to be thankful for - it’s all through Jesus Christ. What exactly does our thanksgiving supposed to look like if we are supposed to be giving it in all situations?
How do we thank Him?
How we actually go about offering thanks to God starts with the actual words we translate as thanks or thanksgiving in the Hebrew and Greek. In the Hebrew the word thanksgiving is tied closely to the word “to bless”, the Hebrew word most commonly used for thanks means “to praise”. In the Greek most words that have a form of “thanks” in them are closely tied to “grace” or God giving us that which we don’t deserve. We see that played out and commanded in different ways all throughout scripture. It was a sacrifice that was made in the Old Testament. It was expressed as worship in 2 Corinthians 4:15. It was offered through prayers in Philippians 4:6-7, expressed with instrumental music and with songs in Psalm 95:2-3, and shown through sharing God’s Good News with people in 1 Chronicles 16:8. All of this we can do in all situations, however it’s a choice we have to make.
It’s hard! It’s a step we all must take in our walk with God. It’s to see things that God is doing in the midst of our suffering and make the choice to thank him despite our circumstances.
Psalm 100
1 Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth!
2 Worship the Lord with gladness.
Come before him, singing with joy.
3 Acknowledge that the Lord is God!
He made us, and we are his.
We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
go into his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the Lord is good.
His unfailing love continues forever,
and his faithfulness continues to each generation.
