A Lifestyle of Thanksgiving-1 Thess 5:18

“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Happy Thanksgiving! The gathering most Americans think of as the first Thanksgiving happened 403 years ago. The year was 1621. But did you know that almost 3,000 years before that, God told the nation of Israel to establish a thanksgiving festival called the Feast of Weeks. Deuteronomy 16:10 “Then celebrate the Festival of Weeks to the Lord your God by giving a freewill offering in proportion to the blessings the Lord your God has given you.” This was the original thanksgiving celebration!

This thanksgiving offering has been practiced by God’s people for thousands of years. Thanksgiving is not just one day in a year. According to the key verse, it is a daily, moment by moment attitude. You could say Thanksgiving is like breathing! In today’s sermon, let’s think about what it means to live practically a life of thanksgiving. First, let’s pray to give thanks in all circumstances. Second, give thanks that God is good and third, give thanks for His salvation through Jesus Christ.

First Give thanks in all circumstances

Since 2020 to the present, we’ve had a series of global storms from covid-19, wars and natural disasters. We’ve had experienced economic insecurities. Millions were out of work due to shutdowns, displaced due to war and natural disasters. Personally, many of us have also experienced all kinds of storms from health issues, lost jobs, passing of loved ones, etc.

It’s extremely hard to be thankful. Many people feel tapped out, shut out, stressed out, worn out, rung out and down and out this Thanksgiving.

An attitude of thanksgiving is a matter of life and death. The opposite of thanksgiving is ingratitude. Ingratitude is the root of a multitude of sins. Romans 1:21-22 says “21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools”. The result of ingratitude goes downhill in this first chapter of Romans.

Socially, ingratitude as attributed to a host of health issues. Recently, I read about another global epidemic-loneliness. Over 60% of adults in the United States report feeling lonely. About 1/3 of the world has been depressed. In order to combat this plague, some have resorted to AI robots for companionship, countries investing millions to combat loneliness. They even started some government positions such as Minister of loneliness (UK).

We can understand it’s easy to become unthankful and depressed. We can all agree Life is hard. This is why the Bible says much about giving thanks. There are over 400 verses about praise and thanksgiving. God is our maker. He knows what can truly make us happy and content. God tells us that thanksgiving or a heart of gratitude is the healthiest single emotion. Proverbs 17:22 “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” Gratitude actually reduces stress, increases happiness, lifts our spirit and a sense of peace. There are actual medical studies that say gratitude is actually good for your physical health. In a recent Harvard health study, they concluded that Gratitude was associated with better cardiovascular health and overall longevity. We cannot force ourselves to be thankful. It is a gift of God. One of the byproducts of thanksgiving is joy. Nehemiah 8:10b: “…for the joy of the Lord is your strength” May God bless each of us to live a life of thanksgiving.

Second, give thanks for He is Good.

Look at 1 Thess 5:18 “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Giving thanks is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus! Many of us ponder, what is God’s will? As a young college student, I asked who will I marry? Where will I live? What should be my major in college? Some questions cannot be answered immediately. This verse states one thing clearly about God’s will. God’s will is that we give thanks whatever life throws at us. At first glance, this verse seems cruel. Why is God telling me to be thankful for all the bad things in my life and the world? Why should I be thankful for cancer, for injustice, for war, for failure, death? The answer is of course not!

God does not expect you to be grateful for the evil, bad and broken things of this world. It doesn’t say, “Give thanks FOR everything” It says, “Give thanks IN all circumstances.” That’s a big difference!

Forrest Gump says, “Life is like a box of chocolate, you don’t know what you are going to get.” Another analogy is life is like a railroad track. It has two rails. One rail has the good, exciting and happy things in life, the other is the bad, sorrowful, and disappointing things in life. Both are parallel to each other. We can agree that our daily life consist of good and bad things in life. It is not always good or not always bad. What is most important is what is running on both rails of the track! Is it the locomotive of thankfulness or ingratitude? People think the ‘good life’ consist of abundant wealth and pleasures. But it is deception. Look at the lives of the rich and famous. The actor and comedian, Jim Carrey is known for saying, “I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer” What can enable us to maintain our joy and peace of mind in the good as well as the bad times? It is the locomotive of thanksgiving!

We can be thankful, when we realize God works for our good. Romans 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Psalms 107:1 says, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.”

God in his infinite wisdom can use hardship and pain for our salvation. There are 3 ways God works for our good. God saves you FROM the problem. God saves you THROUGH the problem. God saves you BY the problem. In all things, God works for our good. God saves you FROM the problem, by thwarting a disaster from happening. A month ago, my daughter was in a car accident that totaled her car. It would have been a terrible disaster if her friend didn’t yell “Stop!” We thank God He saved our daughter FROM the problem. God also saves us THROUGH the problem. This means, God walks alongside us as we walk through dark valleys through the problem. Henri Nouwen once said, “When we are crushed like grapes, we cannot think of the wine we will become.” This quote is from his book Can You Drink the Cup? His intent through the trial is to build our character, strengthen our faith and depend on him. He walks and sometimes carries us through the hardship. We feel crushed at times like grapes, but with faith and perseverance, we become sweet wine. The other way, is God save you BY the problem. God allows the problem to save you from a deeper problem. Jesus let his good friend Lazarus die, to solve their problem of the fear of death and to believe that Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25)

In this year has been a trying time for my family. I experienced job loss, the passing of my mother-in-law, our car totaled, the failing health of my father, and my wife tearing her Achilles tendon. It has been hard seeing the deteriorating health of my father. He was always, strong, hardworking and fiercely independent. Now he is helpless. It was hard to hear him moan and groan due to severe pain. It was difficult to be thankful. At times, there was no locomotive of thankfulness running on my tracks. Instead, the locomotive of fear, anxiety, anger and sorrow ran through my track of life. God helped me get out of myself by remembering my 2024 Key Verse, Psalm 1:2,3 “but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—Whatever they do prospers.” God helped me memorize and rebuke my negative thoughts through the word of God. I had to preach and rebuke myself. I repeatedly said, “Thank you Jesus!” In this way, God revived my spirit and soul.

Third, Give thanks for He is our salvation

The word “Eucharist” comes from a Greek word that means “having given thanks”. The Eucharist is the sacrament of the Body and Blood of Jesus, which he established at the Last Supper on the night before his crucifixion. We give thanks through communion for Jesus who is our savior. We give thanks for Jesus who offered his body and blood for our salvation.

God is a righteous judge. He has to do something with sinners because he is just. How does God administer justice upon us? Through punishment? No! Through love! Isaiah 53:5 reads, “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.” God’s love was revealed when Christ took that penalty, we fully deserved on Himself on the cross. How did he do this? Jesus experienced condemnation, I received salvation. He experienced death, I receive life. He received justice, I received mercy. Jesus was sinless and perfect and he is God. He died not for his sins, but for each of us. Because of what Jesus did, God’s wrath was satisfied. Because of what Jesus did, we can stand before the presence of a Holy God.

Ephesian 2:8 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God” The best gift we can ever receive is God’s salvation. Praise God for this gift of salvation. We don’t deserve this gift. This is grace! Because of this gift of the blood and body of Christ, all we can do is respond in thanks. God gave us Christ as a gift, what you do with that gift is your gift to God!

I thank God for Jesus who is my savior. Praise God who saved me from sin and death. As a young college student, I was directionless and a slave to all kinds of vices. My hope was to be a rock musician and leeching off my parents. God saved me from the darkness into his marvelous light. God solved my identity problem. I had a victim’s mentality. I thought I would not amount to much because of my race, was not rich, not hardworking, etc. But these were all Satan’s lies. Through Genesis 1:31, “God saw all that he had made and it was very good.” For the first time, I realized I was good and through Jesus Christ, I realized was deeply loved. This began my transformation and sanctification as a child of God! God healed me of many sins when I accepted God’s gift through Jesus Christ. May God help us to be thankful of the gift of Jesus’ blood and body for each of us this Thanksgiving!

Practically, how can we overcome an unthankful heart? What do we do when we face disappointments, painful trials, etc.? By default, we tend to gravitate to negative thoughts. We wonder what sin have I committed? 2 Cor 10:5 gives us good advice, “5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” They say in sports, a tough mentality is just as important as skills. Living a thankful life requires more than that! It takes a daily, moment by moment life of discipline. We have to take any pretension (‘false claims’) and make it obedient to Christ! We should train our hearts and minds to remember the 1000 things God has done for us through Christ rather than only dwell on 1 or 2 things that makes us miserable.

At these difficult times, God helped me not to look inward rather look at my savior. In spite of many trials, God helped me to count his numerous blessings. In spite of hardship, I could focus on his many blessings. God helped me to look at God’s gift of salvation. In this year, I became a grandpa. Ramon and Sarah welcomed Yasmin into the world. She was a comfort to my wife and I. She is a ball of energy like her mom. In addition, I have a new son in law Julio who married my daughter Becky. He is the kindest person I know, next to Jim Cook. We could also open our lake house to many church members to have food, fun and fellowship. Life is both happy and sad. In all things God works for our good! I can learn to be thankful in all circumstances!

In summary, let’s pray thanksgiving may become like spiritual breathing for each of us. I pray we not let ingratitude invade our hearts. May we deeply realize being that being thankful is a matter of life and death. Let’s also give thanks that God works for our good. He uses hardship to build our faith, character and perseverance. Finally, let’s thank God who saves us from the power of sin and death. Let’s celebrate the Eucharist remembering what Jesus did for us on the cross.

Questions

1. Why is giving thanks a matter of life and death (Rom 1:21-22)? How is gratitude and thanksgiving a health emotion (Prov 17:22)? How does ingratitude contribute to a multitude of sins and health issues?

2. God’s will is mysterious and unknowable, but what is one thing for sure about God’s will (1 Thess 5:18)? What is the difference between Give thanks FOR vs Give thanks IN? What does Romans 8:28 teach us about God’s mysterious will upon our lives?

3. The word Eucharist in Greek means “having given thanks”. Why should we give thanks for the body and blood of Jesus (Isaiah 53:5, Ephesians 2:8)?

4. Practically, how do we overcome a heart of ingratitude (2 Cor 10:5)? What personal disciplines do you practice to promote a lifestyle of thanksgiving?