Thanksgiving

This Thursday is Thanksgiving Day so I thought that it would be good to spend a little time reflecting on what it means to give thanks. And to guide these reflections I'm going to use something from a Psalm.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. Psalm 136.1

So, what's here? What should we notice? Well, for one thing, it's a command. That makes the giving of thanks something that is not optional. We are commanded to do it. And that's actually really helpful. We live in a culture that is steeped in pride. Everything is about me, how great I am and how I accomplish wonderful things all by myself. Besides being blasphemous, that's silly. Even a moment of honest and knowledgeable reflection will show how goofy such thinking is. God's command is given to you to protect you from such thoughtless pride. And that protection is important because those who are sucked in by such foolishness will either find themselves driven to maintain the myth that they are so great or they will find themselves crushed by the realization that they haven't measured up. God's Law is always for your protection.

Now, when God gave this command He also gave a reason. That is one great difference between our religion and the mystical spirituality of our day. There are good reasons to do what God calls you to do. And here He is quite explicit. The key is a little word: 'for'. It is pointing to a reason to obey. ‘Give thanks to the Lord for (because) He is good.’ God is good to you. So, as you experience His goodness it only makes sense to respond with a 'Thank You'.

Did you notice that there's another 'for'? This is the reason why He is good to you. 'For His steadfast love endures forever.' This is one of the great benefits of being in the Body of Christ. To be sure, God loves the world. That's why He sends the sun and the rain. But that love is not the same as the love that God has for His Church. This love goes way beyond things like sun and rain. This love will never come to an end. The love that God has for the people of the world will end when they die outside of Christ. There is no love in hell. But the love of the Father for His Church 'endures forever'. So, because of this enduring love, God does good to you. And it is in response to this that you give thanks.

So, let me urge you to take the time to consider the different ways that God is good to you and then to respond with an honest 'Thank You'. And one place to work at developing this habit just might be the prayers that you say before a meal. Spend just a little time reflecting on God's goodness to you and incorporate that into that brief prayer. As that develops I think that you will find that your eyes will be opened to more and more of God's goodness to you and that will result in more thank yous.

Now, that was the easy part. You see how good God is to you because of His love, and you respond with a 'Thank You'. Not complicated. But it gets more challenging when the scenario changes a bit. What about those times when it doesn't look like God is being good to you? In fact, life is really hard, really dark and the goodness of God is nowhere in sight. So, what do you do in those situations? Is it okay to gripe or just collapse because it's obvious that God isn't being good to you? What do you do when all that you can see is ugly and evil? Is it even possible to give thanks in that kind of situation?

Well, let's review what we've seen in this Psalm. First, this is still a command. Are there escape clauses? Is there somewhere, either in the rest of this Psalm or in some other Scripture, that says something like, 'But you don't have to give thanks when life gets hard'? Is there? Actually, there is the opposite.

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God for you.

Well, that's pretty clear. Good circumstances. Bad circumstances. In between circumstances. In all circumstances give thanks.

But why? That makes no sense. Well, again, let's review. The Psalm gives a reason why. 'For He is good.' God is good. Is that true all the time, even when life is so dark? Again, what does the Psalm say? What reason does it give? 'For His steadfast love endures forever.' Do you see the logic? God's special love for you isn't off and on. It's always on. And it's always on all the way. And because of that, He is good to you. Always. It's because of that that you are called to give thanks. Saying thank you makes sense, whatever the circumstances, because whatever is going on is an expression of His goodness, an expression of His love.

This is where the problems show up. We live in a culture with notions of love that are so twisted. And that shows in so many ways. And don't think it hasn't affected you. It has affected all of us in one way or other. Here's one way that love has been twisted up. To love someone means to make them feel good, to make them feel happy. So, being loving is all about being nice. Consider what that looks like in parents who 'love' their children by never crossing them, never saying 'No'. Distract, substitute but never insist on 'No'. And what is the result of this kind of parenting? Back in the day we used to call the result 'spoiled brats'. They expect the world to exist for their immediate happiness, and anything less is unacceptable. How many view God in this way? And here I'm talking about how many Christians view God in this way.

God doesn't present Himself to us as a parent who spoils His children by making sure bad never happens to them. Quite the opposite. He is the God who actually brings evil into the lives of His children. There are times in the lives of His saints when life is just awfully dark. God causes that. Think of Job. Why did he suffer so? Sure, Satan had his scheme, but listen to this from the end of Job.

And they showed Job sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him.

And what was the result of that in Job's life? Listen to Job's prayer.

I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.

The evil that Job experienced resulted in his coming to know his God better. And instead of complaining about the evil that God had sent, he repented.

And the best example of this theme is Jesus. He experienced such evil because of the Father’s plan. And yet, what was the result? Well, as Peter preached on Pentecost, Jesus was made both Lord and Christ. Jesus enjoyed good. And as an added bonus, you get to become God's children. Likewise, the evil you experience will result in good for you but not just for you. Your experience of evil can become such a blessing for other saints.

Your experience of that promised good might occur soon after your experience of the evil God sends. Or it might be delayed. Actually, much of the good promised will only be enjoyed later, much later, after Jesus returns. Last week we sang 'Be Still My Soul'. It's a great hymn about waiting on God when life is hard. The waiting is by no means easy. But God has promised. He will bless us with good. Hope, waiting for God to keep His promises, is so important here.

So, what do you do when life is hard and you remember that you are to give thanks? Let me repeat what I've told you before. When life gets hard don't minimize the evil. Don't say, 'It's not so bad' if it really is. Evil is evil. It is ugly and to be hated. It's not supposed to be here. So, don't opt for some myth about life like so many in our culture. But then, review our text.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.

The claim is clear. God is good to you, even in the midst of evil. And He is good to you because of His always-on-to-the-max love for you. That's what the Psalm says. So, when saying 'Thank You' for what's going on isn't making sense, here are some questions to ask yourself. 'Do I believe that God has promised to be good and loving to me?' Simple enough question. And it's a 'Yes' or 'No' kind of question. If you answer 'Yes', there is this second question to ask yourself. 'Do I trust Him to keep that promise?' I find those to be helpful questions.

Now, please understand. It doesn't have to be a resounding 'Yes'. Remember the answer of that father.

Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.

Would I be far wrong to say that in one situation or another we've all been there? We want to believe that God is good and that He really does love us, but it is so hard. But that's okay. He understands our weakness.

For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.

So, come to Jesus, like that father did, and be honest. Tell Him that you do believe and that you want to respond with a resounding 'Yes', but you're having a hard time doing that. And just as He blessed that father, He will bless you.

There is, however, another answer to those questions: 'Do I believe that God has promised to be good and loving to me?' and 'Do I trust Him to keep that promise?' Someone just might answer with a 'No'. 'Life is too hard. I don't see any reason to thank God for the difficulties. So, no, I don't believe that promise. No, I don't trust Him.' I have some suggestions for any person answering in this way. Think real hard about the things that I have told you from this Psalm. Work to understand the ideas. Then, reconsider your 'No'.  I hope that, as a result, you will accept God's ways of doing things and repent of your unbelief. If you do that, Jesus will forgive. If, however, you still will not believe and trust, if you refuse to repent, then at least be honest with yourself. You're not a Christian.

But to those who have a living faith let me say this: keep before you God's command to give thanks and the reasons that He gives. Work hard to obey Him. Pray for the ability to do that. And when you fail, repent and believe the Gospel so that you will be forgiven. Then, return to the fray. And as you work at that whole process you will find yourself not only giving heartfelt thanks to God in the good times and the bad. You will also find yourself being filled with a joyous optimism as you wait for the Father to keep all His promises to do you good.