Those two words, thank you, can bring needed refreshment to one who has worn himself or
herself out in doing good deeds.
Thank you.
Someone has said a grateful life is both great and full.
The one, however, who rarely expresses gratitude is both small and shriveled in its arrogance.
Henry Ward Beecher, a preacher of another century, said, Pride slays thanksgiving, but
a humble mind is the soil out of which thanks naturally grow.
A proud man is seldom a grateful man, for he never thinks he gets as much as he deserves.
I'm glad we have a day in our nation for thanksgiving.
It began with Abraham Lincoln over a hundred years ago as he announced that there would
be a day of thanksgiving in this nation.
Most presidents since then have followed his example.
We who know Jesus Christ as Savior, however, understand that every day is Thanksgiving
Day.
The very fact that we have something to be thankful for implies someone to be thankful
too.
Even though we observe every day as Thanksgiving Day, it doesn't come naturally.
As we heard sung earlier, what is more natural is a human nature that takes for granted the
blessings that we enjoy.
The Apostle Paul understood that as he wrote to the Ephesians, and so he tells them to
be thankful.
I invite you to turn with me to Ephesians 5 and to our text for today in verse 20.
It is a parallel passage with Colossians 3.15 which says, And let the peace of Christ rule
in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body, and be thankful.
You see, he's talking to us as a body of people.
And he says to us, as he said to the Colossians, you're called in one body, be thankful.
Now in Ephesians 5 and verse 20, he says, Always giving thanks for all things in the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to God, even the Father.
A community of obedient and healthy saints is one of joyful thanksgiving.
For we have come to know and to understand that all of life is a gift from God to us.
Thankfulness in a community of saints tells you something about that community.
In the first place it says that their thankfulness defines them as a spiritual community.
Thankfulness defines a spiritual community.
The context of the verse that we have read is a paragraph that deals with the fullness
of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit.
Do not get drunk with wine, he says, for that is dissipation.
But be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks.
When the Holy Spirit is in control in a community of believers, there is a thankfulness that
is present.
When we talk about being filled with the Spirit, we're not talking about increasing our volume
of the Spirit.
For we have as much of the Holy Spirit as we ever can receive.
But being filled with the Spirit actually deals with how much the Spirit has of us,
how much control He has in our lives.
What he says here is that when the Spirit is in control, when the Spirit of God dominates
us, then there is a gratitude about us.
He contrasts it to drunkenness.
Paul may well have had in mind a festival that was observed at that time in the pagan
world called the Festival of Dionysus.
Dionysus or Dionysius was the wine god of the pagan panthology.
When people gathered to worship Dionysus, they would get drunk and revel.
In the mythology of that day, it was the revels of this wine god with his nymphs and satyrs
that gave birth to activity out of which our word orgy arises.
The worship of Dionysus practiced in Ephesus and in other major cities of that day was
actually the worship of demons.
For behind these gods and goddesses of their pantheon were demons who accepted the worship
and promoted it.
They were involved in the drunkenness and the orgies that went along with it.
These frenzied orgies are why Paul calls drunkenness dissipation.
The word means to act out of profligacy, to act out a debased kind of life, to live according
to your Lord lusts, to hold nothing back.
Paul says, do not be drunk with wine in the festivals of Dionysus, for that is waste.
It amounts to nothing.
It is debased activity, but rather, he says, be under the control of the spirit.
Just as wine can take over the control of a person and cause him to be something that
he is not naturally, so the Holy Spirit likewise can control us and cause us to act unnaturally
and to live supernaturally.
Part of that supernatural living is thankfulness.
Thankfulness defines a spiritual community, one that is filled with the spirit.
When you find a church that is dominated by the spirit of God, then you find a people
that is filled with gratitude.
Not only gratitude, but also with speaking to one another, as he says, and singing and
making melody in your hearts.
You notice the one another's and the heart.
There is a certain balance here that the fullness of the spirit brings.
There is ministry to others that arises out of what is going on inside.
He says that when we are filled with the spirit of God, we will speak to one another.
The word there means to speak, to talk.
Undoubtedly it means to encourage, to share your own life's journey with others, to share
the word of God with others, speaking to one another and singing.
What this word really means is to sing.
Is that tough?
There is no hidden meaning here.
There is nothing you can't figure out from the English word.
It means that when the spirit of God is dominating us, there is music in our lives that has to
be expressed some way by singing and making melody.
Obviously the word there means to pluck the strings as you would play a harp.
So the spirit of God plucks the strings of our hearts inside and the result of that is
music in our lives.
That doesn't mean we are all great musicians.
I wish that were true.
I wish I had practiced harder when I was taking my piano lessons.
I might be a better musician than I am.
The fact is that all of us will have music in our lives when the spirit of God is in
control.
Out of that speaking to one another and that music that arises from within the heart, there
is also gratitude that takes place.
That is why thankfulness defines a spiritual community.
Because thanksgiving inevitably accompanies the control of the Holy Spirit.
When you see a church that is a thankful church, you know something about it.
It is a spiritual church.
Secondly, thanksgiving denotes a faithful community.
Thanksgiving denotes a faithful community.
There are two all-inclusive expressions in this verse.
Always giving thanks for all things.
In order to do that, you have to trust the Lord.
When you find a group of people that are always giving thanks for all things, you find a community
of saints that is faithful.
It is full of faith.
We are to thank the Lord on every occasion.
It is all-inclusive.
Whether we are alone or with others, whether it is morning or night, every day of the week,
not just once a year, always we are to be giving thanks to God.
We are to do that for all things.
All-inclusive in circumstances we see.
Peace or health, poverty or wealth, demotion or promotion, life or death, whatever our
circumstance, in all things we are to give thanks.
When we do, it says something about us.
It not only says that we are full of the Holy Spirit, but it says that we are full of faith.
I will tell you why.
Because you have to be full of faith to give thanks to God for everything.
I say that to those of you who are in pain this morning as you sit here in the chairs,
hopefully not because the chairs are uncomfortable, but some of you are here in pain because of
your physical bodies and disease or problems that you have.
I say this also for those of you who are here today with tears in your heart because of
wounds that you bear in relationships that are uncertain or fractured, of marriage that
is in trouble, problems between you and someone you love.
You have to be full of faith to give thanks to God for everything.
Just a moment, we will see what we have to believe in order to give thanks to God, to
be a faithful community.
Let's remember that when we observe a community of saints, we are called to one body.
We are to be thankful.
When we see a group of saints that is thankful, it tells us something about them.
It tells us they are filled with the Holy Spirit.
It is always a sad spectacle to find a saint who is a whiner, a complainer, a griper, because
that tells you something too.
It tells you they are not filled with the Spirit.
How wonderful to be around people who are filled with the Spirit and who are grateful.
When you see a group of people who are trusting the Lord in all things, giving thanks for
every circumstance of life on every occasion, it is fun to be around people like that.
It tells you that they are full of faith as well as the Spirit.
Thirdly, I notice that thankfulness describes a worshipful community.
He says, giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father.
Those phrases seem to me to be rather liturgical.
They express to us a spiritual duty, an acting out, a carrying out of religious function,
giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father.
Our thanks are presented to God, the Father.
He is sovereign.
That's why on every occasion and for everything, you and I can, if we are filled with faith,
give thanks.
However much we hurt, we can still give thanks to God, and there is nothing that strengthens
us more than praise when we are hurting.
We can give praise to God because He is our Father and He is the sovereign one, overseeing
all of the circumstances of our lives, every one of them.
There is nothing that occurs in our lives but that God does not approve it and allow
it.
Even things that we cannot understand or explain, even those things that seem to be inconsistent
with who we know God to be.
He is still shepherding, superintending all of those affairs, and we can give thanks because
He is in control.
Not only is He the sovereign God, but we call upon Him as Father.
That tells us that we have a relationship with Him, that we are His children.
Just as you tenderly care for your child, and you see for his welfare, looking out for
where he is walking, helping him to make decisions as he grows, pointing him in the right direction.
So God, the sovereign God, is our Father and we as His children receive His nurturing and
His care through the pilgrimage of life.
We present our thanks to Him.
We present our thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, which means that we come to
God with our thanks through Jesus, through Him, because He has been accepted by the Father
to His own right hand in the heavenly places.
Because He is exalted there, you and I have the privilege to come to Him at the throne
of grace.
We can enter into His presence in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, not because of who
we are in ourselves, but rather because of who we are in Him.
We are accepted as priests by God.
The whole language here is very liturgical.
We are priests unto God.
The end of the book of Hebrews, it tells us that we are to bring our sacrifice of praise
to Him as priests.
And we come clothed in the robe of Christ's righteousness to bring our sacrifice of praise,
our words of thanksgiving to Him to offer them up.
Thanksgiving describes a worshipful community.
As the psalmist said, enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.
Give thanks to Him.
Bless His name.
So thanksgiving tells you something about a community of saints.
The thanksgiving that arises from within that body tells you that they are spiritual, that
they are faithful, and they are worshipful.
But there may be someone who would say this morning, what have I got to be thankful for?
Someone has said there's always something to be thankful for.
If you can't pay your bills, you can always be thankful you're not one of your creditors.
Just looking at it from a positive way.
Someone has suggested perhaps we ought to name April 16th as Thanksgiving Day because
a person doesn't realize how much he has to be thankful for until he has to pay taxes
on it.
All of us have something to be thankful for.
Let us be aware of becoming shriveled souls, turning sour, ungrateful, and complaining
with age.
Let us be aware of our souls atrophying so that there is no gratitude in our hearts to
God.
Let us repent of all of our tendency to take things for granted.
Let us repent of our greed that just takes in and doesn't give out.
Let us repent of ingratitude to God as well as to man.
Let us dare today to lift our hearts to God and to say to Him, thank you, thank you.
Dare to praise Him for what He has done.
Dare to praise Him for those things that you find hard.
Dare to praise Him for what distresses you.
Dare to praise Him today for your pain.
You will find that the load of that trial will be lifted from your shoulders.
It will still be there, but the heaviness of it will be gone.
Put on the garment of praise.
Take off the spirit of heaviness and lift your heart to God.
As He says to us, be thankful.
Be thankful to Him.
To whom do you need today to say thank you?
I suppose all of us would agree that God is number one on the list.
Surely there is something that we can lift our hearts to God with today and say, Father,
thank you for this.
Thank you for this in my life.
Thank you for these people.
Thank you for what has happened to me.
But let's not forget to say thanks to others.
When was the last time that you took your wife's hand or your husband's hand and said,
thank you.
Thank you for being my spouse.
Thank you for all that you do for me.
Thank you for being the mother of our children.
Thank you for being the father of our family.
Thank you for the joy that you bring to my life.
When was the last time that you wrote a note to a friend of yours, even someone you see
all week long, but you take the time to write a note and you say, I want to express my thanks
to you.
You've been a friend to me and then explain what that person has meant to you.
Maybe it's someone at work.
Lo and behold, it may even be your boss or it may be your secretary or it may be that
person who works across the hall from you.
Could it be that some of you who are teachers need to go to your class tomorrow, if you
have class tomorrow, and say, students, I want to thank you.
Now surely you can find some things to thank your students for.
Just think what a great teacher they've made you.
Just think how much they've taught you about what it means to be a teacher.
Maybe there are some that ought to have a special note.
Let us learn the grace of gratitude and understand that when the Spirit of God is in control
in our lives, we're going to find all kinds of occasions to be grateful and to express
our thanks to God as well as others.
I invite you to bow with me in prayer for a moment as we think about this.
What is it that you would like to thank God for today?
Would you tell them right now in your own heart, Father, our Father, I am grateful for
your power, and then name it.
What you have just done is a sacrifice to God.
You as a priest offer that to Him in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
It is well pleasing to Him.
He delights in your thanksgiving.
Allow Him now to place two or three names on your heart, people that you need to express
gratitude to.
You may want to take time to jot them down on a piece of paper so you don't forget them.
Just in the quietness of this moment, think who it is that needs that word of thanks.
Then determine by the grace of God to follow through, whether it's a phone call this afternoon
or a note that you mail tomorrow or a word that you give as you see the person the next
time.
Determine by God's grace to follow through.
A community of saints that is healthy is a community of saints that knows something about
thanksgiving.
Father God, I give thanks to you for the opportunity to be here today and to speak your word to
this great congregation.
I thank you that they have come, that they have heard.
Now unite our hearts together, for we are called into one body.
Receive from us as a united congregation the thanks that is due to your name.
We have so many pieces to give thanks for, but just now we offer thanks to you for the
total ministry of the body in our lives.
Thank you for calling us into a community.
Truly we are so blessed.
Today we speak to you this word of gratitude from our hearts as a congregation.
In Jesus' name, amen.