Benefits of A Grateful Heart
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
By Dave Redick

"If we asked many of our neighbors, they would probably agree with the common notion that we are a sophisticated people. Our technology has no equal. We know more today than any other nation or people in history before us and project increased knowledge into the future. Yet our great knowledge and sophistication sometimes works against us. What I mean by that is that many of us no longer see the need to concern ourselves with some of the fundamental issues of life. It just isn't fashionable anymore to talk about the basics of character like honesty and trustworthiness and justice and mercy and, my topic today, thanksgiving. Yet these basic building blocks are necessary both for individual and national happiness and stability."

Introduction

William Bradford, governor of the Plymouth Colony in 1623, read this proclamation to the citizens of the colony:

"Inasmuch as the great Father has given us this year an abundant harvest of Indian corn, wheat, beans, squashes, and garden vegetables, and has made the forests to abound with game and the sea with fish and clams, and inasmuch as He has protected us from the ravages of the savages, has spared us from pestilence and disease, has granted us freedom to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience; now, I, your magistrate, do proclaim that all ye Pilgrims, with your wives and little ones, do gather at ye meeting house, on ye hill, between the hours of 9 and 12 in the day time, on Thursday, November ye 29th of the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred and twenty-three, and the third year since ye Pilgrims landed on ye Pilgrim Rock, there to listen to ye pastor, and render thanksgiving to ye Almighty God for all His blessings." (1)

That humble proclamation, on the eastern shore of this continent, two years after that winter when the colonists nearly starved to death, was the beginning of what would ultimately become our national Thanksgiving holiday.

When the observance was first inaugurated, only a few eastern states participated. However, through the effort of one woman, Sarah Hale, it would grow to encompass the whole country. This woman, fired with determination, conceived a plan that the whole nation should join together in setting apart a national day for giving thanks. She sent an endless flow of letters and articles to the various newspapers and journals of her time. In addition, she pleaded long and hard with three Presidents: Fillmore, Pierce and Buchanan. In 1852, her campaign succeeded in uniting 29 states to mark the last Thursday of November as "Thanksgiving Day."

She continued her campaign right into the dark years of the Civil War. Who would listen to a lone woman with her persistent plea for "just one day of peace amid the blood and the strife"? One man did. Her persistence won the ear of President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. The President officially proclaimed the last Thursday of November as a day set apart for the national giving of thanks to Almighty God. Lincoln lived to see only two of the observances, but Sarah Hale lived on into her late 90's, a woman content with the results of her persistence.

This morning, in honor of the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday, and the need to be a thankful people, I am going to divert our attention away from the series we have been considering on the life of Abraham. I want us to contemplate this issue of gratitude and thanksgiving.

If we asked many of our neighbors, they would probably agree with the common notion that we are a sophisticated people. Our technology has no equal. We know more today than any other nation or people in history before us and project increased knowledge into the future. Yet our great knowledge and sophistication sometimes works against us. What I mean by that is that many of us no longer see the need to concern ourselves with some of the fundamental issues of life. It just isn't fashionable anymore to talk about the basics of character like honesty and trustworthiness and justice and mercy and, my topic today, thanksgiving. Yet these basic building blocks are necessary both for individual and national happiness and stability.

What's the big deal about thanksgiving? Why bother to cultivate a grateful attitude? Why insist on teaching our children to be thankful and appreciative? If we choose not to be a thankful so what? It won't hurt us, will it?

I want to mention three benefits that thanksgiving provides for us. There are others that could be cited, but I'll limit myself to these three.

1. Thanksgiving Anchors Our Attitude.

Discouragement and depression are not uncommon emotions these days, are they? The sale of anti-depressants is big business for stock holders in huge drug companies. So is life really that much tougher today than it has been in the past, or are we just losing our ability to cope?

I suggest to you that what we're seeing comes as the result of forgetting those basic issues of character that I mentioned earlier – one of which is a thankful attitude.

Colossians 4:2 says, "Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving…"

A certain man was driving in the country when he had a flat tire. He thought, "Great! This is just what I needed!" But there was nothing to do but get out, change the tire and drive on. However, when he opened the trunk, he discovered that his jack was broken. "Oh, this is just wonderful!" he muttered. "Just what I needed for a perfect day!" He began to think of all the problems that flat tire would create. Though he had been perfectly happy until that moment, he quickly became disgruntled, irritated and angry. He thought himself into a foul mood.

In life, we are often faced with situations like this – unexpected setbacks that alter our plans. Complaining and bemoaning our situation doesn't change a thing with our circumstances, but it surely can do a number on our attitude!

As the man lamented his situation, he remembered that he had seen a farmhouse a couple of miles back up the road. He was sure that farmers, having all that equipment, would have a jack. So he set out walking. Surely he would find a source of help.

As he walked back toward the farm house, he began thinking, "I'm a stranger here. Nobody will want to loan me a jack. Maybe I ought to offer a $5 deposit." Then he thought, "Well, $5 would hardly cover a jack; he'll likely want $10 or $20. Actually, he probably won't even want to loan me a jack. Maybe I'll have to offer to buy it. I wonder how much a jack costs? I'll bet it's at least $40." He kept muttering to himself as he walked along. Then he thought, "Boy, it's getting late. Farmers go to bed with the chickens. He'll probably be mad because I woke him up and then he'll want $50 for the jack." Pessimistically, he thought himself into a dither. When the man got to the farmhouse, it was late. There were no lights on in the house. They'd obviously all gone to bed. But by this time he had worked himself up so much that he picked up a handful of gravel and tossed it at what he thought was a bedroom window. When it opened, he hollered, "I just want you to know that $100 for a jack is highway robbery. You can just keep the stupid thing!"

See how our attitude can shift, depending upon what we think about in less than desirable circumstances.

So is there an anchor to keep our attitude from drifting into such sour results as anger and frustration and depression? Yes there is. It's thanksgiving. It's finding something to thank God for in every circumstance of our lives.

Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, "Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

No, he didn't say "for everything give thanks." We don't have to thank God for flat tires and broken jacks, though perhaps a case could be made for the benefit of doing that, too. What we do need to do is to find something to be thankful for in each difficult circumstance.

That's what is behind the verse I read earlier in Colossians 4:2: "Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving…"

An attitude of thanksgiving, a determined discipline to give God thanks in everything, anchors our emotions and keeps us from the downward trends we're so accustomed to when things aren't going our way.

John Miller wrote, "How happy a person is depends upon the depth of his gratitude." (2)

Could it really be that simple? I believe that it is. Very often, special benefits and blessings are hiding in what appear to be setbacks and disappointments.

"I've never seen that to be true," someone says.

Well, is that because it isn't true or because you've been too busy escalating the cost of the jack in your mind to notice? So many people, focused on what is wrong with their lives from their own jaded perspective, wouldn't recognize a blessing if it hit them in the face!

What did that farmer do when the man with the broken jack yelled at him? He told him to wait a minute. He dressed, found out what was wrong and then took him back to fix the flat. The traveler went on his way.

Thanksgiving anchors our attitude. It keeps us from swerving into the deep roadside ditches of anger, discouragement, and depression.

2. Thanksgiving Builds Good Relationships.

We read in Colossians 3:12-16,

"And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. And beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful."

An attitude of thanksgiving toward God in looking for blessings in our circumstances helps keep our personal attitudes on track. An attitude of thanksgiving toward one another is also important.

Suppose a young man, wishing to propose marriage to a young woman with whom he has been developing a relationship, goes to the jewelry store and picks out the most expensive diamond ring he can afford. In an evening of romantic surroundings, after a marvelous dinner, to the sound of soft music, he pulls out the ring and pops the question. She takes the ring without a word, excuses herself from the room, calls her uncle who is a jeweler, and asks him to come down. He arrives, takes the ring, and carefully examines it with an eyepiece pulled from his pocket. He whispers something in her ear and leaves. She then returns to her suitor and gives him back the ring. "I'm sorry," she says. I can't marry you. The ring is not as valuable as I was expecting."

What advice would we give to that young man?

We would probably say, "What a selfish, ungrateful person!" We would probably tell the young man to find someone worthy of his love – someone who wasn't so self-centered.

True thanksgiving places value on the giver over the gift. That doesn't render the gift meaningless. It simply says that people and intents are more important than things. We say, "It's the thought that counts." And it is.

I don't know what you said to your children when they were growing up – or what some of you are saying to them now or may say in the future about saying "thank you." When ours were small, whenever they received a gift, no matter how large or small, either Kathi or I would say, "What do you say?" They would chime back, "Thank you." Why? Because we didn't want them to grow up and be ingrates.

It is very important, as Paul says in this passage in Colossians, that we be thankful toward one another in the church. The expression of appreciation and the speaking of thanks builds good relationships.

Do you express gratitude to those in the church whose lives benefit yours or are you more like the woman who couldn't see beyond the value of the ring?

Thanksgiving it one of the key practices that makes the church what it is supposed to be.

3. Thanksgiving Limits Our Presumption.

Few things are as poisonous to relationships and detrimental to our own persons as presumption, that is, taking people and things around us for granted.

Our term "take for granted" is based on the word "grant" which means "to transfer ownership."

If you are a young person preparing for the high cost of college, or you have helped someone else with such preparation, you probably have learned something about loans and grants. What is the difference between a loan and a grant? You are expected to pay back a loan. A grant, on the other hand, is money that is "granted" or given with no expectation of its return. The ownership is transferred from the "grantor" to the "grantee."

When we take something for granted, we are taking or presuming ownership of something that is not rightfully ours. We are taking it as though it were "granted" to us, when it actually hasn't been.

You might remember the story of the "rich fool" in Luke 12. The man was successful in his business. His barns were full. So what did he do? Give God thanks and share some of his blessings with someone in need? No. He built bigger barns and became selfish and secure in what he presumed he owned, only to learn that he didn’t even own his own life. Jesus' words to him in that passage reflect this issue of assuming ownership of things that really aren't ours: "You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?" Yes, he prepared it. He thought he owned it. But he didn't. He took it for granted.

James had this taking for granted or assuming ownership of what is not rightfully ours in mind when he wrote in James 4:13-16, "Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow, we shall go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.' Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we shall live and also do this or that.' But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil." Why is it evil to boast about what we're going to do tomorrow? Because tomorrow doesn't belong to us. We are not to "take it for granted" or act like we own it when we really don't. Instead we need to acknowledge that God owns tomorrow and we will do what we wish only "if the Lord wills."

Of course, many never learn the principle of not taking things for granted. We've already mentioned the rich fool. The people who lived before the great flood should also be mentioned. They took God's mercy for granted, ignoring the preaching of Noah for 120 years. Speaking of them in Matt 24:39, Jesus said, "they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away." They learned only too late that God's mercy and patience with them was not to be taken for granted.

Where does all of this fit us? Well, we surely shouldn't take ownership of our possessions for granted. We shouldn't take the continuance of our lives for granted. We shouldn't take our future for granted. But it goes beyond that because:

How do you go through life without falling into the trap of taking things for granted? You cultivate thanksgiving.

Before you got here this morning you experienced literally hundreds of blessings that you probably took for granted.

Need I go on? I think that with a bit of consideration, you could add many things to this rather short list.

Suppose these things were suddenly missing from your life for a month. Would you appreciate them a bit more? Would you be more thankful?

Don't be presumptuous. Don’t take things for granted. Become a person of gratitude so that God doesn't have to step in prematurely and remove the blessings you have because you don't appreciate them. Consciously acknowledge that the things you enjoy and use are there because someone takes the time to provide them, not because they are your right and possession.

How long has it been since you expressed your gratitude to those people in your lives who are most important?

How long since you had a thanksgiving session with God?

No one wants to be taken for granted. God doesn't. Our loved ones don't. I'll bet that not even you want to be taken for granted.

Husband, you don't own your wife. God does. Don't treat her as though ownership of her soul is granted to you. It isn't. You'd better treat her with gratitude and respect. Wife, the same goes for you and the treatment of your husband. You don't own him. Teenagers, your taking your parents for granted is something that God hates. Your parents hate it, too. God wants you to honor and respect them. It grieves God to see selfishness in these areas. If you're doing it, you need to stop it. How? By cultivating an attitude of thanksgiving and gratitude for them. Tell those around you how much you appreciate them. Thank them for the things they do for you.

G. K. Chesterton said it well: "When it comes to life, the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude." (3)

That's very good advice.

Conclusion

Abraham Lincoln said in his thanksgiving proclamation in 1863,

"It has seemed to me fit and proper that [the gifts of God] should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged with one heart and one voice by the whole American people. I do, therefore, invite my fellow citizens . . . to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens."

Thank you, Mr. President. We will.

Footnotes: Use your "back" button to return to your place.

1. James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988) pp. 263-264.
2. John Miller (1923-1961)
3. G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936)

Dave Redick is Minister of the Hwy 20 Church of Christ in Sweet Home, Oregon and Editor of The Preacher's Study. He may be reached at pstudysupport@comcast.net.

Copyright © 1996-2008 by The Preacher's Study. Permission is granted to subscribers to use this document in total or in sermon preparation in the context of the local congregation only. Publishing it in a book, on the Internet, or anyplace beyond the local congregation is prohibited.

All Scripture quotations and references are from the New American Standard Version unless otherwise stated.

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