The Thanksgiving List
“Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. 2 Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. 3 Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his[a] ; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. 5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” Psalms 100:1-5
Intro: One of the most beautiful Psalms of thanksgiving is the 100th Psalm. I am convinced that we are a people who have been truly blessed by God. And of all those who "give thanks to Him and praise His name" our name should be at the top of the list!
It is pretty common to make a Christmas wish list. But today I want us to think about a Thanksgiving Day list of all the things that we are thankful for.
10. A house – many people in this world today who have no place to live. Even in small towns people often live with their family two and three in the same apartment or home.
9. Food - we always have plenty to eat at our house. Many people don’t. We have all seen people standing beside the road holding a sign that says, “Will work for food.”
8. Clothes – I never have to worry about whether there will be clothes in my closet for me to put on each day. Many people only have the clothes that they are wearing.
7. Health – I am thankful that I am blessed with good health. Many people have a serious illness which keeps them from enjoying a full and happy life.
6. My country – I am thankful that I live in a country where I enjoy great freedom. In many countries you can be put in prison, or even put to death, for telling others about Jesus.
5. Churches – I am thankful for the Churches that I have pastored in 30 years of appointments.
4. Friends – I am thankful for my many friends. I have friends in every church I have served. Some I count my closest and best friends for life that are a support system. I have always had friends who were there to help me.
3. Family – I am thankful for family. That is likely near the top of all of our lists.
2. Parents – I am thankful that God blessed me with a father and mother who loved me, cared for me, and taught me about Jesus and his love.
1. Jesus – Jesus is number one on the list of things for which I am thankful.
No one ever loved me like Jesus. He loved me so much that he was willing to die on a cross so that I can have everlasting life. Thank you, Jesus.
With Jesus we have so much for which to celebrate on Thanksgiving!
But has it ever occurred to you that no Americans were more underprivileged than that small handful from the Mayflower who started the custom of setting aside a day of Thanksgiving to Almighty God?
They had no homes. No government agency to help them build homes. They had no means of transportation but their legs. Their only food came from the sea and the forest, and they had to get it for themselves. They had no money and no place to spend money if they’d had any. They had no amusements or entertainments except what they made for themselves, no means of communication with their relatives in England, no social security or Medicare. But anyone who dared to call them underprivileged would probably have ended up in with a black eye and a bloody nose.
For they did have 4 of the greatest human assets: initiative, courage, a willingness to work, and an endless faith in God. Our forefathers had "an endless faith in God." That almost sounds strange to us here today.
We live in a time when powerful forces are at work to strip us of every reminder that the very foundation our nation was built on was the conviction that we are "one nation, under God."
Our hallowed "Declaration of Independence" proclaims,
"We hold these truths to be self evident,
that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights . . ."
And it ends with these words, ". . .with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence,
we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."
Thanksgiving Day is more than turkey day. It is NOT a day that celebrates anyone’s birthday or commemorates a battle fought on some field. Thanksgiving is a day set aside to express our nations thanks to our nation’s God.
In 1789, George Washington made this public proclamation. That proclamations says and I quote:
"By the President of the United States of America. A proclamation:
Whereas, it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor, and "Whereas, Both Houses of Congress" (Did you hear that, "Both Houses of Congress?") "have by their joint committee requested me `to recommend to the people of the United States a day of Public Thanksgiving and Prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God. . .’
But how many people even know what Thanksgiving Day really means?
I think that the 100th Psalm was written to deal with that attitude, to remind us of our need to be thankful, and to maintain an attitude of gratitude.
The 100th Psalm was written for the people of God. "When you set down at the table, in your warm homes, and you have plenty, don’t forget God. He has blessed you with everything you have. But it doesn’t take very long to realize that the people today need to be reminded of this truth.
I believe God had even us here today in mind when the Psalmist David wrote this verse, Did you notice to whom it is addressed? The first verse says it is addressed to "all the earth," and the last verse says that it includes "all generations."
This message of thanksgiving is so deep and wide that it applies to every person in every here today. It’s sad, isn’t it, that we are the only country in the world, except for Canada and the Philippines, that even has a Thanksgiving Day? I wonder how our world would be changed if suddenly all nations would begin to observe Thanksgiving?
I think there is something about giving thanks together to God that breaks down barriers between people. It is a lot like Christian Communion. We might not be at the same table but when we as Christians say the table grace and give thanks for the meal we are as close to God and as close to being in one accord and a unity as possible in the body of Christ.
Do you have enough turkey to be in one accord?
Do you have enough turkey to live in harmony with one another?
Do you have enough turkey to be in unison in the body of Christ?
Do you have enough turkey to be at peace with God?
Alex Haley, the author of "Roots," had an unusual picture hanging on his office wall. It was a picture of a turtle on top of a fence post. When asked, "Why is that there?" Alex Haley answered, "Every time I write something significant, every time I read my words and think that they are wonderful, and begin to feel proud of myself,
I look at the turtle on top of the fence post and remember that he didn’t get there on his own.
He had help."
That is the basis of thankfulness to remember that we got here with the help of God, and that He is the provider of every blessing we have.
Now, as we look more carefully at this Psalm, we find that there is a series of 5 commands given.
The first command is in vs. 1, "Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth."
It means to "shout with the force of a trumpet blast," There are times to be quiet and solemn in the life of the church.
We most often think of being quiet during prayer time.
But there are over 60 times in the bible where it says I cried with a “loud” voice!
What about singing in the bible? They sang with loud instruments and trumpets and cymbals and praise making a joyful noise.
What about preaching. The prophet stood and cried with a loud voice even Jesus at the ninth hour cried with a loud voice.
The point here isn’t just about volume but what comes from the very depths of your being. There is no such phrase as silent praise. Or quiet Thanksgiving in the bible
There is not enough room in the believer’s heart for love and hatred.
There is not enough room at the table for discord and bitterness.
So Jesus solved the problem. Jesus gave you a blessing. Jesus provided you with a blessing and you realize that it has come from God. So from the depths of your being you proclaim your praise.
Roland Allen tells about a missionary who came up to him one day after he had delivered his sermon. The missionary introduced himself and said, "I was a medical missionary for many years in India. And I served in a region where there was progressive blindness. People were born with healthy vision, but there was something in that area that caused people to lose their sight as they grew older." But this missionary had developed a treatment which would stop progressive blindness. So people came to him and he performed his treatment,
and they would leave realizing that they would have become completely blind, but because of him their sight had been saved. He said that they never said, "Thank you," because that phrase was not in their dialect. Instead, they spoke a word that meant, "I will tell your name." Wherever they went, they would tell the name of the missionary who had cured their blindness. They had received something so wonderful that they eagerly proclaimed it.
And that is what the Psalmist is saying. "Suddenly you realize that God has been so good to you that you can’t keep it inside any more. From the depths of your being you shout your joy unto the Lord."
The second command is, "Serve the Lord with gladness."
It doesn’t say "serve the church."
It doesn’t say "serve the preacher.”
“It says, "serve the Lord with gladness."
I’m not sure that the average Christian will grasp that.
This is about whatever you do.
Sing with gladness.
Pray with gladness.
Show hospitality with gladness.
Do it because you know Jesus loves you. So whatever you do the command is to Serve the Lord with gladness.
The third command is, "Come before Him with joyful songs."
Psalm 98:4 says, "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord." And that I can do. Have you noticed? In these first 3 commands, God has said, "I want you to be happy. Shout with joy, serve with gladness, and come with joyful songs."
Take a moment and think about whether or not you are happy. Is there joy in your heart?
Is there celebration in your soul? Is there delight in your spirit? Is there thrill in songs?
The Psalmist says, "Come before Him and serve Him and sing His praise with joy in your heart."
The fourth command is, "Know that the Lord is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture."
God took every bone, every joint, and He welded them together with sinews and muscles and covered them with skin and gave us eyes that see, ears that hear and brains that think, and fingers that can pick things up. God made us, inside and out. He made you the way He wanted you to be. And He made me the way He wanted me to be. That is a mystery, isn’t it? I don’t understand why, but somehow in God’s providence He decided that
He wanted me to have a receding hair line. Eyes that without glasses I can’t see 10 feet in front of my face.
He didn’t make me a doctor or an engineer, or give me a brain to invent a new innovative appliance.
No, but he made me to be a writer, a speaker, a motivator, a teacher, a caregiver, a pastor. And he is still making me. He is not satisfied with me. He is still working on my weakness. He is still fine tuning my gifts. I am still an unfinished product.
What is he making you to be?
God is still making each of us. He’s still working your life. God is your maker, and you are created in His image.
Therefore give Him thanks for what you can become.
Then He says, "We are His people, the sheep of His pasture."
Most people don’t want to be sheep.
I remember as a kid in the Christmas play. Everyone wanted to be one of the wise men. Or Joseph or a shepherd. But no one volunteered to be the sheep. "It’s not any fun being sheep," we say. But the problem is, we don’t know where the green pastures are. And every time we go out searching for them, we invariably end up lost in the wilderness.
He is saying, "You be the sheep. Let me be the shepherd, and I will lead you beside the still waters and the green pastures. Just let Jesus lead."
The fifth command is this, "Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the Lord is good and His love endures forever. His faithfulness continues through all generations."
In the O.T. the temple symbolized the presence of God. So whenever the people came to the temple and entered the courtyards they knew that they had come into the presence of God. Now that temple no longer exists. But the place where we meet to worship God is called a "sanctuary," indicating that God is there.
But God is everywhere. You know that. He is with you as you drive on the highway. He is with you when you work. He is with you as you at home. He is with you every moment of your life.
That is the real source of our thanksgiving, isn’t it?
But I have often wondered what if God began to treat us like we so often treat Him? What if God met our needs to the same extent that we give Him our lives? What if we never saw another flower bloom because we grumbled when God sent the rain? What if God stopped loving and caring for us because we failed to love and care for others? What if God took away His message because we wouldn’t listen to His messenger? What if He wouldn’t bless us today because we didn’t thank Him yesterday? What if God answered our prayers the way we answer His call for service? What if God decided to stop leading us tomorrow because we did not follow Him today?
Psalm 10:3 O Lord, help us to be thankful that you do "not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities"
Closing: I pray that this will be a meaningful Thanksgiving season for you. Take time to read the 100th Psalm again. And if you’ll heed those commands, your heart will overflow with thanksgiving to the Lord.
This morning the invitation is: If you have a decision on your heart, will you come and make it today, that you’ll come forward, confessing your faith or joining this church in membership or requesting to be baptized, or whatever your need might be that you would come to the altar in thanksgiving and prayer.
