11/19/23 “Is Thanksgiving in Your Heart?”
“Is Thanksgiving in Your Heart?”
Psalm 100
What are the 3 things in your life you are most thankful for?
Think about that question for a moment – in your mind, rank them in order….#1, #2, #3.
Since we are primarily a group of believers here this morning, I’m willing to bet that many of you have as your #1 answer something to do with your faith….yes?
Maybe its your relationship with Jesus. Maybe its what Jesus did on the cross for you by paying the penalty for your sins. Maybe its God’s grace and mercy displayed in your life over the years. Maybe you’re thankful for His Holy Word.
All of these would fall into the category of your faith in God, ok?
As for your #2 thing in life you are most thankful for, I’m willing to bet that a lot of you would say your family – or relationships of some kind.
Those of us who are married are (Hopefully!) very thankful for our spouse – someone there to walk through life with you.…what a blessing that is!
Those of us who are parents or grandparents (Or Great-Grandparents) certainly are thankful for those precious children and grandchildren, right?
Maybe you don’t have a lot of family, so you are extremely grateful for those close friends that are just a phone call or visit away – or those co-workers who know you very well and always want the best for you.
Do you recognize something familiar about these 2 answers?...the topics of God & other people?
What if I called your attention to this passage of scripture from the gospel of Matthew chapter 22 where Jesus responds to a Pharisee’s question concerning the greatest commandment: (Beginning with verse 37) “Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the prophets hang on these two commandments.’” (Matthew 22:37-40)
It follows, then, that we ought to be thankful for the two things that Jesus tells us should be the most important things in our lives, right?
So, for many of us, our #1 and #2 answers are probably very similar.
But, if you recall, the question was “ What are top 3 things in your life you are most thankful for?
This is where it gets interesting. This is where we all tend to veer in different directions.
Maybe your #3 answer is a material item, like your house…or your car…or your boat…or your toy tractor collection – that was my #3 as a kid!
Maybe your #3 is your health. They say that one never truly appreciates good health until it’s lost to some degree…that’s very true, isn’t it.
Maybe your #3 is your dog…or your cat...or your horse…or some other pet.
Maybe your #3 is an experience, like an exciting vacation, or a music concert, or attending a camp when you were young.
Maybe your #3 is a hobby like deer-hunting!...or fishing…or music…or cooking…or crafting…or sports…or woodworking.
Maybe your #3 is your job….others of you might be thinking “I hate my job, it would be at the bottom of my thankfulness list!”
I hope not. A job, no matter how undesirable it may be, is still a blessing from God. It allows you to make money….and money allows you to survive.
Our number #3 answers can be as varied as the number of people here this morning.
Is anyone here brave enough to let all of us know what your #3 is?
I once asked a friend of mine what his #3 answer was, and he gave me a response that simply blew my mind!
You have to know my friend, he’s one of those heavy thinkers who is always swimming in the deep waters of philosophy and theology.
His answer was this: “My #3 would be that I am thankful for the wisdom to understand the importance of being constantly thankful.”
Whaaat??? Who comes up with an answer like this right on the spot?
This guy is kind of like a Christian Yoda, so I really shouldn’t be too surprised.
I LOVE his answer though…because it’s an answer that begs yet another question.
And that question is: “Do we fully understand the importance of being thankful all the time?”
Or, to put it another way, “Is Thanksgiving always in your heart?”
Our passage for this morning from the book of Psalms is a beautiful song that speaks to the importance of giving thanks – and how we ought to go about giving thanks to God.
Many theologians believe that this particular psalm was well-known song that would have been performed as a call to enter the temple - a reminder to everyone that it was time to gather and worship God.
Similar to what we do every Sunday morning with our praise songs….these songs are placed at the beginning of our service for a reason – they’re meant to move our hearts into a position of submission, servitude, and thankfulness to God for His continual faithfulness!
When I read this Psalm, I see the first 4 verses telling us HOW our thankfulness ought to manifest itself, then the fifth and final verse reminds us WHY we ought to continually give thanks to God.
The first 6 words of the first verse of this Psalm (Psalm 100:1) set the tone for the rest of the chapter.
“Shout for Joy to the Lord”…
What does that first word say?....Shout! Shout? Really?
We can’t shout in church!….it’s supposed to be like a library in here, right?...nice and quiet.
When I read verses like Psalm 100:1, my reaction is usually one of ‘knee-jerk historical contextualization’.
What I mean by ‘knee-jerk historical contextualization’ is that I’ll naturally think to myself….“Ok, so in ancient Jewish culture it was more appropriate to praise God with shouts of joy from time to time – but in our stoic, northern European tradition of worship, shouting would simply be dishonoring to God and distracting to my fellow worshippers….and to some degree, that may be true.
But folks, the problem with that line of thinking is that God’s own word says that He doesn’t change over time….therefore, If God doesn’t change, why would he accept loud shouts of praise a few thousand years ago, but would find it to be unacceptable or irreverent today…..?
Folks, This is why we need to be very careful when we are tempted to pass judgement on other Christian communities who engage in a worship style that’s different from our own.
A few years ago, Lisa & I had the opportunity to host a husband and wife who are medical missionaries to people in the country of Cameroon – Cameroon is in West-Central Africa and shares a border with Nigeria.
I remember asking them how worship services were different in Cameroon as compared to here in the states.
They told me that in Cameroon, if you are not up on your feet and dancing during the worship songs, people look at you and wonder “what is wrong with you”…?
whereas, here in our church, if…say…Marlene started dancing around during the worship songs, we might assume she’s been eating some wild mushrooms over there in Bundy Hollow!
You may remember a little over a year ago, Lisa & I had the opportunity to attend a 3-day conference at Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, TX.
If the name of that church sounds familiar, it’s because the senior pastor there is a man by the name of Tony Evans…you may have heard of him.
Now, worship at Oak Cliff is very different than worship at LaValle Advent.
The music is louder, the preacher is louder, and the congregation is definitely louder!
During the sermon, there are numerous shouts of ‘Amen’ and ‘Ok’.
When Dr. Evans would touch on a particularly sensitive topic, you would hear people shout….“Ouch!”
Now, If someone here in our congregation suddenly burst out with “Ouch”! our first reaction would be to call the paramedics, right?
Even though this more vocal, interactive, worship style was not something that Lisa & I were necessarily used to….we still felt right at home….because we were surrounded by fellow brothers and sisters in Christ – and Jesus was receiving all of the glory!
Our differences in skin color, ethnicity, and worship style were far overshadowed by our commonality in Christ.
There is something about expressing and vocalizing one’s faith that invites the Holy Spirit to commune with us…and it serves as a reminder that we are ALL taking part in the worship service – not just the pastor and the musicians.
So – if any of you feel the need to be more expressive during our worship service, by all means, do so….no one’s going to think you’re weird.
In the world’s eyes, we’re all weird anyway….we follow the teachings of a 2,000 year-old Jewish Rabbi who instructs his followers to love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them….now That’s some strange, counter-cultural stuff right there!!
So, If you’re one of those people who likes to lift your hands during the hymns or worship songs, go for it.
If you want to shout an ‘Amen’ during a sermon – do it….I don’t mind….It might actually wake some people up!...And by ‘some people’, I mean my Mom! 😊
Expressively & vocally praising God demonstrates that we are excited to be here and that we are Thankful for Him and for what He has done for us.
Verse 3 (Psalm 100:3) also conveys to us a way in which we are told to be thankful.
Look at the first word of verse 3…. Most translations have the word “Know.”
“Know that the Lord is God….”
This carries with it the idea that to properly worship God, we have to understand who we are worshipping, in other words, we need to be in the Word!
We can generate the most beautiful, expressive, interactive worship service you’ve ever seen, but if it isn’t accompanied by a knowledge of God’s truth and His character – we fall short of worshipping Him appropriately,
Jesus says in John 4:24 “God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”
Proper worship involves our emotions – but it also involves our brains!
In Mark 12:30, Jesus says that we are to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”
Peter tells us to “…Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ…”(2 Peter 3:17)
The prophet Hosea warned that “My people are destroyed from a lack of knowledge.” (Hosea 4:6)
Christians ought to be deep thinkers…Satan has deceived many people outside the church into thinking that Christianity somehow involves checking one’s brain at the door….nothing can be further from the truth!
Ask these world-renowned scientists who also happened to be Christians: People like Rene’ Descartes, Blaise Pascal, Isaac Newton, Gregor Mendel…and more recently, people like: John Lennox, Stephen Meyer, Michael Behe….as well as great Christian apologists such as CS Lewis, Tim Keller, Josh McDowell, William Lane Craig, John MacArthur, RC Sproul, Frank Turek, Norm Geisler…..the list goes on and on.
Also, Remember, that many of the “Highly educated” people who laugh at Christianity are the same folks who claim that there are hundreds of genders, they claim that human life begins sometime after conception, and they claim that life on this planet somehow popped into existence from non-life….that we are all one big cosmic accident with no Divine purpose or moral standard in which to live.
If anyone is checking their brains at the door, it is people who espouse such nonsense!
They have been deceived just as Eve was deceived in the garden – they choose to reject God and His authority because they want to live by their own authority….You see, to the human heart, sin will always be more alluring than submission.
We also, as believers, need to constantly remind ourselves that we are slaves to righteousness, we are bond-servants to Christ – not to our fleshly desires.
Our worldview needs to be firmly rooted in the knowledge of God and His Word – not in the shifting landscape of cultural norms or the unstable ground of modern scientific interpretation.
At the ‘Unshaken’ apologetics conference a couple of weeks ago, one of the speakers revealed some disturbing survey results concerning cultural worldviews.
A 2023 Barna survey revealed that only 6% of Americans today hold to a biblical worldview.
…And as disheartening as that may seem, it gets worse.
Of people who identify as evangelical, bible-believing Christians, only 20% of them hold to a truly biblical view of the world!
My prayer is that our knowledge of God and His Word here at LaValle Advent Christian Church would translate to a much higher degree of people who hold to a biblical worldview than just 20%...
Whatever the case may be, in light of these alarming statistics, get ready to hear quite a few sermons about biblical doctrine in 2024.
We need to be thankful to God through the use of our brains as well as through our emotions!
Look at verse 4 of our passage for today. (Psalm 100:4)
Notice that we are told to enter His gates with Thanksgiving.
Did you enter this sanctuary this morning with a sense of thanksgiving to God in your heart and on your mind?....or did you enter thinking something like “Man, I’d rather be in my deer stand right now”…or “Wow, that is one hideous outfit”…or maybe you were thinking something like “If Jordan Love can just move outside the pocket a little more, maybe he could find some open receivers”
We are told to enter His gates with thanksgiving….and His courts with praise.
Folks, when we enter this sanctuary, our thoughts, feelings, emotions, and meditations all need to be centered around our savior, Jesus Christ.
Now, there is nothing magical about this specific building of wood and brick that we are in right now – its construction is that of everyday materials.
But, whenever and wherever the body of Christ congregates to worship – it is a sacred assembly. We gather to give thanks to God for the indescribable gift of His son Jesus Christ.
In 2 Corinthians chapter 9, the apostle Paul begins writing about how our generosity and benevolence ought to be motivated by thankfulness for what God has done for us through the work of Christ on the cross.
The chapter ends with these words: “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15)
Did you catch the exclamation mark at the end of that sentence…?
It’s not: ‘thanks be to God for His indescribable gift’...No!!!
It’s “THANKS BE TO GOD FOR HIS INDESCRIBABLE GIFT!”….Amen?
Can we all say this verse together?...with genuine thankfulness in our voices?
THANKS BE TO GOD FOR HIS INDESCRIBABLE GIFT
Now THAT, brothers & sisters, is shouting for Joy!... Mom – you awake? 😊
I hope all of you on Facebook were shouting as well…
Lastly, verse 5 of Psalm 100 reminds us again of why we are to consistently have thankfulness in our hearts.
“For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.”
We are to be constantly thanking God because of His love and faithfulness shown to us through Jesus Christ.
Now, the words of this psalm were written well before Jesus walked the earth but the Old Testament saints knew that God was good, and they knew that He loved them, and they knew that he was faithful to them….they just didn’t yet know the name that is above all names….the name of the Messiah….the name of Jesus.
Folks, whatever you may be going through right now, this week, this month…first and foremost, fill your heart with thankfulness.
Maybe everything is going well for you right now – your health is stable, your relationships are positive, your bank account is strong, you have plenty of food on your table……then give thanks to God for these bountiful blessings!
Or, maybe things are not going so well right now. Perhaps you feel depressed or full of anxiety. Maybe your health isn’t the best right now or you are experiencing a broken relationship of some kind….THIS is the time when having a heart full of thanksgiving is the most important.
It seems counter-intuitive to thank God in the middle of a trial, but expressing gratitude in the midst of the dark times is what brings true spiritual deliverance from the trials of life.
Don’t believe me?....just give it a try.
The next time you are walking through the valley of the shadow of death, shout your thankfulness to God! Praise him out loud - at the top of your lungs!
I guarantee you that you will then be comforted by the rod and the staff of the good and loving shepherd…and you will be reminded that He continually provides blessing upon blessing until your cup runneth over.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 tells us to “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
We are to give thanks in ALL circumstances – not just in the good times.
In fact, it is in the valleys where we grow the most in our faith…and that growth is something, in itself, that we should be thankful for.
Many of you know the story of Joni Eareckson-Tada.
Joni was involved in a diving accident at the age of 17 that left her in a wheelchair the rest of her life.
If anyone can speak to the importance of having a heart full of Thanksgiving through trials and discouragement, it would be her.
I’d like to close today with an excerpt from one of her radio programs from February 2019”
“Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada. As I battle stage 3 cancer right now, I’m holding onto Psalm 50, verse 23 ‘The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me.’ I could be anxious right now, but my husband Ken and I are choosing to be happy in Jesus, to trust him, keep looking on the bright side, and be thankful. Yes, it’s a sacrifice to do that because it would be so easy to be anxious about the future. But ours is a sacrifice of thanksgiving and nothing glorifies God more. He is glorified when we say thank you from a heart that’s broken; a heart that through trials willingly yields to the Lord. So, whatever tough time you are going through right now, perhaps cancer in your family, let God turn your anxiety into glad submission. Give God thanks. Jesus took the burden of your anxieties when he was on the cross, and there’s no need to try to take that burden back.”
Well, said, Joni….well said.
Let’s Pray.