Thanksgiving

[00:00:00] This audio sermon is provided by AnabaptistSermons.com and may be freely copied and distributed. You may not sell or edit this sermon. Our prayer is that you would be blessed by this ministry. I would like to look at what thanksgiving is. Are we a thankful people? I'd just like to consider a few references in God's word that talk about thanksgiving. [00:00:31] In 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 18 we have that verse that we know well where Paul writes, Give thanks in everything. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. We should be a people that give thanks in everything. Even when bad things happen, how do you give thanks when a tragedy happens? [00:01:03] And we recognize, I think, as we face those times that there is something to be thankful for. We should give thanks both in public and in private. In Daniel chapter 6 verse 10, you remember the story when the presidents and the princes came to the king and it was all a plot to get at Daniel and they asked to have a decree signed that nobody could make any petition except to the king [00:01:40] and the king, I suppose, was flattered by this. He signed it into law. Then in verse 10 of Daniel chapter 6 we read that Daniel, when he knew that the writing was signed, went into his house with windows open toward Jerusalem, kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and what else did he do? Gave thanks, it says there, and gave thanks before his God as he did aforetime. [00:02:10] This was not new to Daniel. He had been doing this, and he did it again in this situation. As I think of Thanksgiving, what is it to give thanks? What does it mean to give thanks? And I think we have an idea, and yet, just exactly what is it? So I turned to Webster's and just looked at, and I jotted down a few things that I think help us understand. [00:02:42] And by the way, what is the difference between being thankful and being grateful? I'm not sure. I think they're very close to the same if they are not the same. The definition for thankful is conscious of benefit received. Expressive of thanks is the second one with that. And under grateful, appreciative of benefits received, expressing gratitude. And then there are some others that are given here. [00:03:13] Pleasing by reason of comfort supplied or discomfort alleviated Now, I would like to just simply add a little bit to that And I would like to say that we recognize that except for the goodness of God This would not be our lot This that we are thankful for It is the goodness of God that we have something to be thankful for and we have many things to be thankful for. [00:03:46] I'd like to just simply pose the question. I'd like for you to give some thought to this and at the end of the message I would just like to open it for you and maybe there is something that you would especially like to share that you're thankful for. What kind of condition is most conducive to a person being thankful? I'm going to give you three scenarios. One is overflowing abundance. And we are confronted with that in this land, even today. We are confronted with overflowing abundance, even though we may think we are not. [00:04:28] We are more conscious of the fact that it may not always be this way and we may fall short sometimes. We may be like one person that expressed himself and she said yes. I said himself and I said she said when it was a lady. She told us this way, yes, our paycheck doesn't reach, but then she just simply went on to say why she's grateful, and she had reason to be grateful, but that was what she had to say. [00:05:03] Okay, the first scenario is overflowing bounty. The second scenario is just enough. If you manage very carefully, you're going to be able to get by. And the third one is just simply poverty. Maybe we could say abject poverty, where you do not have enough to meet needs without some outside help. Now, I'd like to just simply spend a little bit of time with each of these. [00:05:34] And I'd like to look at the Bible and look at some examples from the Bible. And I'm not using nearly all the examples that I could, but enough to give us an idea. As I think of overflowing bounty, I just simply went to scriptures, I'm not even going to look at these, you know them well. I think of the rich young ruler. He came to Jesus and he said, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus told him. He gave him the commandments, you know, do this and this and this and this. [00:06:08] I think he gave him four of the ten commandments. And he said, I've done these. He said, what lack I yet? And then Jesus told him, you remember, go and sell what you have and give to the poor. Come, follow me. And you remember his response. He went away sorrowful. Why? Why did he go away sorrowful? He was a very rich man. He was a young man, but he was very wealthy. [00:06:40] and that to him looked like something that he was not willing to do. Let's just leave it that way. There was another man and I think this was a parable. You remember Lazarus and I don't know for sure what the name of the man was. I have heard a name ascribed to him and I don't know how people came up with the name Dives, D-I-V-E-S. I have heard that name ascribed to him. He was a wealthy man. Lazarus lay at his gate but Lazarus lay at his gate [00:07:14] and he was looking for the crumbs that would fall from this man's table and I think Jesus commanded the or said the dogs even had more mercy on Lazarus than the man did I don't know what that man gave or did not give to Lazarus but he did not alleviate his suffering I don't believe because of what Jesus said to him but you remember what happened to that man he was in hell and he could see in heaven [00:07:47] and I don't know if this is actually going to if Jesus is saying this is the way it's going to be but he had a request for Abraham and he asked for Lazarus to come with just a droplet of water on his finger This man did not do what he should have. I would like for you to turn with me to Timothy. 1 Timothy chapter 6. And I'd like to look at that. Meanwhile, I'd like to refer to one other man that Jesus referred to. [00:08:21] And was this a parable? Jesus said that the lands of this certain man brought forth bountifully. And he wasn't sure what he should do. And then he said within himself, this will I do. I will tear down my barns and I will build greater. And you remember what Jesus said happened to that man. He said, this night thy soul is going to be required of thee. [00:08:51] These are three people in the Bible that had responses that we want to learn from. We do not want to follow what they did because we do not want to be where they ended up at. I'd like to just read of the words of Paul in 1 Timothy chapter 6. I'm not going to be reading the first five verses, but I'd like to begin reading at verse 6. He was saying here that people that are like this, you do not want to follow, but this is what you should follow, leaving the negative teaching, let's look at positive teaching now. [00:09:33] In verse 6, but godliness with contentment is great gain. Godliness and contentment, both of those are great gain. for we brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out talking about material things and having food and raiment, having food and clothes let's be there, let's be content with these things is what he is saying, let us be there with content [00:10:03] but they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition for the love of money is the root of all evil which while some coveted after they have erred from the faith and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows but thou, O man of God, flee these things and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness [00:10:39] Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses And we will stop reading at that place We have Paul writing to us and he tells us these are the things that you should strive for You should be a person that is living as you ought to. [00:11:11] You should find contentment in other things. You will not find it in the things of this world. I would like to turn with, if you would turn with me also. I painted a rather one-sided picture, I recognize, as I talked about three men that were wealthy. And I would like, if you would turn with me, to Luke chapter 7. I'd like to read the first ten verses of Luke chapter 7. We have an account here and we aren't told whether this man was wealthy or not. But evidently this was a man of some means. [00:11:44] And I would like to just simply learn from this one man. Luke chapter 7 verse 1. And when he had ended all his sayings in the audience of the people he entered into Capernaum. and a certain centurion's servant who was dear unto him was sick and ready to die and when he heard of Jesus he sent unto him the elders of the Jews beseeching him that he would come and heal his servant and when they came to Jesus they besought him instantly saying [00:12:14] that he was worthy for whom he should do this for he loveth our nation and he hath built us a synagogue then Jesus went with them and when he was now not far from the house The centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself, for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof. Wherefore, neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee, but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed. For I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers, and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth, and to another, Come, and he cometh, and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. [00:12:56] When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And they that were sent, returning to the house, found the servant whole, that had been sick. I don't know, you notice, why do I say this was a man of means? Did you catch that? What gives us the clue? He built a synagogue. Now, did he reach into his pocket, into his bank account to do that? We're not told. Maybe he had enough pull that he could get Roman funds to do that. We're not told that. [00:13:38] But at any rate, he was a friend of the Israeli nation. We see that here. He had access to power, he had access to wealth, and he used it for the benefit of these people. And it's interesting to me what the Jewish elders had to say to Jesus. They said, this man is worthy for whom he should do this. He loveth our nation and he hath built us a synagogue. Not all people that have means are corrupted by those means, is the point that I would make. [00:14:15] I do recognize that what Paul wrote, the words that I read that Paul wrote, They that will be rich, this is reverting back to 1 Timothy chapter 6 verse 9 They that will be rich fall into a temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition But in all fairness, I think we have to look at this ruler And I would have us notice what Jesus said about this ruler [00:14:48] He used him as an example of faith He said, this man has more faith than I have found in all of my own people that I came to. And so we can learn from him. And I would like this morning, I am going to maybe be a little bit unconventional and look at people that normally I would not because I think we have something to learn from these people. Now, the second scenario that I gave you was people that have just enough. [00:15:22] I'd like for you to turn with me to Proverbs chapter 30 and just read a prayer here that we are familiar with. A prayer of a man here that recognized both the folly of having too much and that of having too little. And you probably, some of you already know what verses I am going to read or what these verses say. Verse 7 of Proverbs chapter 30. This is the just enough now. [00:15:53] Two things have I required of thee, and I think this man is talking to God. I think this, I take this as a prayer. Two things have I required of thee. Deny me them not before I die. Remove far from me vanity and lies. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with food convenient for me. Lest I be full and deny thee and say, Who is the Lord? Or, lest I be poor and steal and take the name of my God in vain. [00:16:25] The proverb writer here was recognizing that there is a snare that comes with having wealth, but also there is a temptation that comes with abject poverty, if you please. And he is saying, it seems to me that the safe course, God, would be just having enough, just enough to reach. I don't know what you think of, what scripture you would turn to in the New Testament to give us the same idea. But if you would turn with me to Matthew chapter 6, I would like for us to look at familiar words here that most of us could say by memory. [00:17:05] Just read all of the Lord's Prayer beginning at verse 9 here, where in the Sermon on the Mount, here Jesus was teaching them to pray. Verse 9, After this manner therefore pray ye, Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven. I'm in Matthew chapter 6, verse, I'll read 10 again. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven. [00:17:39] Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. What is the one sentence that relates to what I said? Give us this day our daily bread. Enough for all week? No. Not all month? Not for the year? This day. Give me enough for today. [00:18:11] Just enough is what Jesus is saying is what we should pray for. There is much that could be said. I'm going to leave that. And as I think of what people have to say, when people desire to have more, I think of what one man said. A person asked a man who was wealthy, he said, how much is enough? [00:18:43] and the man answered I don't know whether he had given this thought I don't know who this man was I guess this actually happened but the man said just another dollar and you stop and think about that that's just like saying tomorrow well tomorrow never comes and then if you have another dollar you always want more that is something that is never satisfied Now, how about the people that are poverty stricken? [00:19:16] Turn with me to Luke chapter 21 for an example here. And you probably know what I'm looking at. Luke chapter 21, verse 1, And he looked up, this is Jesus with his disciples, and he looked up and saw the rich men cast their gifts into the treasury. and he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites and he said of a truth I say unto you that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all [00:19:48] for all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had. I have to use my imagination just a little bit here to understand what it was that Jesus was saying. We know that she didn't put in more monetarily than the rich people did. But if I understand correctly, what Jesus is saying is that her reward is going to be greater. [00:20:23] because she didn't just give of her excess, she gave the money that she had for the food for that day. I don't know for sure, but I believe that woman suffered hunger because of what she gave. I don't know when she got her next meal, when she got money. As I thought about this and as I pondered, I thought, Well, she probably had to wait until she could work to earn some money and then I remembered that women in the day of Jesus didn't have it the way they have it today that they could go out and find work and earn money and I don't know just how that was. [00:21:07] Was she at the mercy of people that were going to need to give her alms? I'm not sure. But I believe this woman suffered hunger because she gave, because of the way that she gave. And I recognize what Jesus was saying. There is a gift, there is a recompense for giving as she did, sacrificially. Instead of just giving of the excess, she gave that which cost her dearly. [00:21:38] She had a place, she had that all budgeted if you please, just enough to eat. But she gave it up to give to God. And Jesus commanded her for that. Now, does living below poverty level ensure that people are right before God? No, I think we recognize that it doesn't. It is possible for us to be covetous, living below poverty level. If I look at other people that have it better than I do, I may covet what those people have, just as the Proverbs writer wrote. [00:22:19] However, let me say this, it is easier for us, when we are depending on God for our daily food and we do not have excess, It is easier for us to remember who is the giver of the good things that we have. And I think that is why it is good for us to not desire to be in somebody else's shoes. I would say this, I recognize that some people are just simply what I call good managers. [00:22:55] And I don't know how that is. And circumstances vary. I recognize that. But if God has given you the gift of managing your resources wisely, be sure that you do that then. And give to those that need. God is going to hold me accountable for the gift that he's given me. He's going to hold you accountable for the gift that he has given you. And if you use that wisely, then you will hear a blessed at that day when we stand before God. [00:23:34] I said I was going to do something a little bit different. We get the Goshen News, and I don't often use the Goshen News as a springboard, as an example. But Jesus used real life issues, and I'd like to just simply refer back. If you get the Gorshin News, you may remember that on Thanksgiving Day, there was a front page story, a picture of a lady, and I forget what the title was, Always Thankful or something to that effect. I'd like to just simply share with you a little bit about this lady who is taking care of six grandchildren because her daughter was killed in an accident four years ago, I think it was. [00:24:10] If I get some of the details incorrectly, you can go back and check me up on this. I don't know where the husbands of these two people were. If there were none, I don't know. It didn't say anything about that. But this lady is, as I remember, 54 years old. She has six grandchildren from ages 9 through 16, as I recall. And I don't think they're any twins. I'm not quite sure. That seems rather close together. But at any rate, that is what she has to take care of. [00:24:43] And it was interesting to hear what this lady had to say. I am going to say this, lest you come to me later. I recognize she never gave, God was not mentioned in the article at all. But she said, I do try to keep an upbeat attitude. I try to be thankful for what I have. And she just simply shared some of the things that she does. The grandma herself has congestive heart failure, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, COPD. [00:25:23] And I'm not familiar with that disease as well as I am of the others. She is not able to work. She worked before, but she is not able to work. But when people ask her, do you need help? Can you use a turkey? Okay, she said, I often think about the people that are without jobs more than I do about myself. And I wonder if that statement doesn't tell us something about this lady. She is focusing on meeting the needs of her grandchildren. [00:25:56] She admitted that my time is after my children leave for school in the morning and until they come back. That's my time that I may use for myself. She said, I never thought of the fact that I was living below poverty level until a friend pointed that out to me a year and a half ago. She said, once in a while, I do ask friends for help, but I try to keep that to a minimum. Now, if we can focus upon other people and meeting the needs of other people, it will do a great deal about how we view our lot in life. [00:26:35] And that's one truth that this lady learned. I can't tell you about her faith because it doesn't say anything about her faith. But I was blessed by reading that. A cousin of mine was working at getting a family, a nicely family book together and this past week received a copy of that. And I'd just like to reflect on some things here. I'd like for you, I'd like to learn some lessons from this book, if you please. [00:27:11] One of the lessons that I want to learn, one of the reflections that I would like to share with you is my gratitude for my grandparents. This book goes back to my grandpa and his descendants. I would like to just simply express gratitude for a godly grandfather and godly parents who were wanting to pass on their faith to those who come on behind. And they were not perfect. My parents weren't perfect, but they wanted to do God's will and they wanted God's will in their life. [00:27:46] And that is something that we should not take for granted. Not perfect, but they were godly nonetheless. I'm also grateful for a window that I got into the lives of my grandparents. I never saw my grandmother. She died in 1950 when my mother was 10 years old. My grandfather died when I was 9 months old in 1946. So you may say I never knew either one of them. [00:28:16] But my cousin took some of the things that my parents and their siblings remembered about our grandparents And I just simply got a little bit of a window I feel as though I knew this man whom I call my grandpa Daniel Knisley Daniel A. Knisley And my mother and my grandmother were both Elizabeth But I don't know about you But last Sunday, when Brother Daryl Chupp was up here and shared some statistics, that spoke to me. [00:28:51] I can't share with you those statistics. I don't think Brother Daryl is here, so he can't share them here this morning with us. But the importance of passing on our faith to those who come on behind is what I am referring to. That's why those statistics blessed me, although they were just kind of an aside, they were just kind of a preface to his devotional. But when I thought of that, and then I read about my larger family, and then I read through there, and I saw some places where there was a blank where the wife of a certain man should have been. [00:29:32] and I knew why that was blank because they chose to just leave all information out of there because she divorced her husband. She left my cousin. I looked at the family of one of my cousins that perchance lived in this area. They had four children. Of three of the children it says they divorced and married another partner. Friends, I don't know what this says to you, but I am also writing a family book. [00:30:10] You are writing a family book, and it is important that we write this family book the way we want it to read when we stand before God. I am not here to try to tell you that you should write or buy a family book. But there are some statistics that speak to us. Just a few statistics, then I'll leave the Knisley family book. My grandparents got married in 1892. [00:30:46] That's 116 years ago. Now, since that time, my cousin who wrote this up didn't specify whether she included all the step-grandchildren and the in-laws, but I am assuming that she did. But from those two people in 1892 till today, there are 2,511 people in that family. There have been 785 marriages, there are 285 different surnames [00:31:22] and there's another statistic that she gave that I'm not going to give because I don't think it's accurate or either it's not accurate or I don't understand it. She named the number of generations and I went back and looked at the number of generations and my number is different from hers so I'll leave that. Now I'm going to share one other thing. There were many occupations listed, from farmer to carpenter to doctor. There were many different occupations. Teachers, but there was one that caught my attention. [00:31:53] This person said he was an editor, but some people it gave two occupations. The second occupation of that man was church planting. And that caught me. It's the only person that I saw. Well, I didn't look at all the people who were listed, but one man had as his occupation church planting. May God increase his number. We need some of those people here among us. And leaving that book, and if you're interested in knowing more, I will be glad to share with you more. [00:32:32] But I am grateful for a godly heritage this morning. I really am. But I'm going to share something with you that I am more grateful for than a godly heritage. I am glad this morning that God is in the business of starting a godly family heritage wherever you are. Whether you're godly or whether you're not godly. And I think especially of Brother Terry Ghiselli when I say that. Terry Ghiselli was not given the kind of heritage that most of us who are sitting here this morning have. [00:33:04] But I think he's interested in doing God's will I am grateful that there is room for all the Terry Ghiselles in the world And Jens, if you please, Jennifer, his wife If you want to look at this side of the house I am just reminded this morning of the importance of being sold out to the cause of church planting, kingdom building and I don't know if you would want to put church planting as your secondary vocation or not [00:33:40] but to me shouldn't that be behind all of our vocations or church building at least if it's not church planting if we're not involved in planting a new church I would like for us to be involved in church building I trust that you and I, as we go from this place, can be resolved to being all that we can be through Jesus Christ. [00:34:14] It doesn't depend on my ability. It doesn't depend on yours. It depends on how much we rely on God. You heard what Brother Daniel said this morning about prayer. If we are people of prayer, if we are people who lift up our families, who lift up others to the throne of grace, we will be more influential than if we have a bank account that knows no bounds. That's all going to burn. [00:34:46] I was blessed when I was with a man one day and I've known this man for probably 40 some years and he said something that kind of dispelled any doubts that I might have had about him, how he looks at the material things of this life he was talking about the things of this life and then he said this, he said You know, there is only one thing that we can do with that bank account or those resources we have that's going to be lasting, and that is help others. [00:35:28] And that blessed me. I hope that that's the way we look at that bank account, and I hope that we have another bank account that we are more set at filling up. That will not burn.