Last year, through the month of November, we worked to answer that question. I'm republishing these messages. During these four days before Thanksgiving Day, we'll consider four simple ways to express our thanks to God.
Well, here we are. We’ve passed the mid-point in the month November. We’re less than two weeks away from Thanksgiving. And right now, there are thirty-seven days before Christmas. Kind of gives you a warm feeling inside, right?
And since we’re now at Sunday number three in November, this is the third message in our series entitled Thanksliving, you know, how we can live our thanks. Now, we’ve already covered two ways we can do that. And as I hope some of y’all remember, in the first message, we talked about how we can say “thank you” by returning to God some of the blessings he’s already given to us, and we focused on three areas: our stuff and our talents and our time. That was the first message. And then last week, we looked at how we can express our thanks to him through our worship and prayer, two things that really come down to action, making the right decision, and ability, being in the right context, the right place, and attitude, having the right mind-set. Now I think those are two ways to offer thanks to God.
And this morning we’re going to consider another way to get our thanks out, namely by intentionally thanking the people God has led into our lives. Of course, I recognize that there are plenty of folks who aren’t exactly thinking in those terms right now. I mean, I kind of doubt that President Trump is going to be thanking Congresswoman Pelosi any time soon. Nor do I think Mason Rudolph feels all warm and fuzzy about Myles Garrett. And I think I’m very safe in saying that Spider Man isn’t going to invite the Green Goblin over for left-over turkey and stuffing. Man, that’s not going to happen. Still, I think we all know folks who’ve moved in and out of our lives who are special to us in some way, you know, either by what they’ve done or who they’ve been. You see, through the things they did or the values they held, these men and women have changed us for better in some way. And since, as Christians, we believe that God is in control; therefore, we can’t dismiss these situations as the result of chance or luck, it would seem to be important for us to thank God for leading these individuals into our lives. And to do that, well, I think we really need to thank them. And that’s what we’re going to talk about this morning. And to do that, we’re going to focus of three things. First, we’re going to identify who these folks are. And then, second, we’re going to consider why it’s important to thank them. And third, we’ll spend a little bit of time thinking about how we might do it, you know, how we might thank them for what they’ve done and been for us.
And to get that started, first, we need to identify who these folks actually are, you know, the ones who deserve our thanks. And I’ll tell you, the person in the Bible who was really good at doing this was the Apostle Paul. You know, in every one of his letters he took the time to thank God for the people to whom he was writing. For example, just listen to what he wrote to the Thessalonians: “We thank God for you and always mention you in our prayers. Each time we pray, we tell God our Father about your faith and loving work and about your firm hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. ...You became an example for all the Lord’s followers in Macedonia and Achaia. And because of you, the Lord’s message has spread everywhere in those regions. Now the news of your faith in God is known all over the world, and we don’t have to say a thing about it. Everyone is talking about how you welcomed us and how you turned away from idols to serve the true and living God. They also tell how you are waiting for his Son Jesus to come from heaven. God raised him from death, and on the day of judgment Jesus will save us from God’s anger.” [1 Thessalonians 1:2-3, 7-10, CEV] And when we wrote to his friend Philemon, he said “Philemon, each time I mention you in my prayers, I thank God. I hear about your faith in our Lord Jesus and about your love for all of God’s people. As you share your faith with others, I pray that they may come to know all the blessings Christ has given us. My friend, your love has made me happy and has greatly encouraged me. It has also cheered the hearts of God’s people.” [Philemon 4-7, CEV] And in his letter to the Philippians, Paul identified a specific person that he particularly appreciated. He wrote, “I want to be encouraged by news about you. So I hope the Lord Jesus will soon let me send Timothy to you. I don’t have anyone else who cares about you as much as he does. The others think only about what interests them and not about what concerns Christ Jesus. But you know what kind of person Timothy is. He has worked with me like a son in spreading the good news. I hope to send him to you, as soon as I find out what is going to happen to me. And I feel sure that the Lord will also let me come soon.” [Philippians 2:19-24, CEV] And those are just three examples. I think you can take this is the bank; Paul definitely knew the people he needed to thank.
And I’ll tell you so can we. Of course, each situation is a little different. I mean, some deserve our thanks for what they’ve done in general and in particular, what they’ve done for us. It’s sort of like what we considered when we talked about returning some of our blessings to God. These folks may have offered some of their stuff or some of their talents or some of the time to us when we needed it. And that’s always been important to me personally. Although I’m not wild about admitting this, I’m kind of mechanically challenged. And because of that, I can’t tell me how much I’ve appreciated someone, anyone will to help me repair something that I broke generally when I tried to fix it. Those are the people I really need to thank. And I think that same sort of thing applies to all of us.You see, we need to thank those who’ve done something for us. Just like we need to thank those who’ve been important to us just by being who they are. These are the ones who, through they’re lives, are examples of faith and hope and love, right along with all those qualities Paul called “fruits of the Spirit.” He wrote, “God’s Spirit makes us loving, happy, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled. There is no law against behaving in any of these ways.” [Galatians 5:22-23, CEV] You see, we need to remember those special people for what they’ve done and who they’ve been. They’re the folks we need to thank. That’s one.
And second, I believe there are two excellent reasons to do that. For one, they need to hear to it. You see, they need to hear how they were used by God to help us. I mean, remember those passages we just read from some of Paul’s letters. Wasn’t that what he was doing for his audience? Wasn’t that why he reminded the Romans and the Ephesians, man, even the Corinthians why he was thankful for them? I believe it was. As a matter of fact, by him writing what he wrote, he was doing exactly what he challenged the Thessalonians to do, “God doesn’t intend to punish us, but wants us to be saved by our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ died for us, so that we could live with him, whether we are alive or dead when he comes. That’s why you must encourage and help each other, just as you are already doing.” [1 Thessalonians 5:9-11, CEV] You see, when we thank someone for what they’ve done or who they’ve been, we’re offering them the kind of encouragement they might need to keep doing and to continue being. They now know that they have value and their lives have meaning. And because of that, they really need to hear our words of thanks. But that’s only one reason for us to do it.
Reason number two actually has to do with us. You see, we really need to say it. In other words, we need to express our thanks. We need to show our appreciation to others. We need to able to recognize that we’re not complete in and of ourselves. Everybody, including the children of God, need a little help from our friends every now-and-then. And when we thank someone else, we acknowledge that truth. As matter of fact, I think it actually moves us toward the kind of attitude about which Peter wrote: “In fact, everyone should be humble toward everyone else. The Scriptures say, ‘God opposes proud people, but he helps everyone who is humble.’ Be humble in the presence of God’s mighty power, and he will honor you when the time comes.” [1 Peter 5:5b-6, CEV] You see, when we thank someone else, they need to hear it and we need to say it, and I’ll tell you. that’s why we should do it. And that’s two.
And with that said, we’re left with the third thing we need to consider, and I’m talking about how, how can we show our appreciation to the men and women who’ve helped us? How can we say thank you to all those people God has led into our lives? Well, unfortunately, I really don’t think that’s hard at all. I mean, on one hand, there are a specific things we can do. For example, we can be like Paul and express our thanks through our words, you know, what we say. I mean, give me a break, who doesn’t want someone simply to say “thank you” or something they’ve said or done? And you know, this is something that’s really easy to do. And if we’re a little shy, there’s no reason we can’t send a card or a text or an e-mail. As a matter of fact, sometimes I think they may be the best way to express our thanks. I mean, once said, words are gone, but something written down can be read over and over again. But along with using words, we can also say thank you through actions. I can tell you, back when I was a young, single minister far from home and family, being invited for a meal was the kind of thank you I really appreciated. You see, on one hand, we can express thanks to others by something we say or do.
On the other hand, we can also show that we’re thankful for others by how we choose to live. For example, what better way to show our thanks to a person who radiates love than to be more loving ourselves? And I believe it would mean a lot to those who value service if we became a little more giving in our own lives. As a matter fact, this is like that idea of “pay it forward.” In other words, when we receive help from another, we can show our thanks by helping someone else. You see, we can decide to follow their example. And isn’t that what he challenged all Christians to do when “...Jesus said to his disciples: If any of you want to be my followers, you must forget about yourself. You must take up your cross and follow me. If you want to save your life, you will destroy it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find it.” {Matthew 16:24-25, CEV] But whether it’s through words and actions or values and life-styles, that’s how we can thank those whom God has led into our lives. And that’s number three.
And I’ll tell you, making sure we do this kind of thing, man, that’s another part of what I think you can call thanksliving. You see, we’re surrounded by people who’ve either helped us or given us examples that we can follow, in other words, people who deserve our thanks. And you know, that’s something they really need to hear and that we really need to express. And we can choose to do just that by what we say and do and by how we live. You see, in the ten days or so before Thanksgiving, we can offer thanks to God by intentionally thanking the people God has led into our lives. And next week, we’ll bring this series to a close by looking at how we can do the same kind of thing by becoming the kind of people for whom others are thankful.
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