This week our nation celebrates Thanksgiving.
In addition to
getting ready for the big dinner,
or to have company over,
you also need to be ready
to tell people
what you're thankful for, right?
Whether that's something formal
where you go around the table,
or a casual conversation
with friends,
or even something you just share
on social media,
I'm guessing at some point,
you're going to have an opportunity
to tell someone
something you're thankful for.
This week,
I want to talk about some things
that probably don't always make the list.
In fact, maybe things
that you never even thought
to say "Thank you" for.
And today I want to talk about
giving thanks for when
God says, "No."
You've probably had that happen
to you at some point, right?
Maybe you're praying that
God would help you land that dream job,
that a loved one would
recover from an illness,
that strife within the family
would be healed.
would be healed. And yet as much as you
And yet as much as you
pray and pray and pray,
God says, "No."
So why would you say,
"Thank you" for that?
Well, in his letter to the Ephesians,
Paul says this,
So when God says, "No,"
we can be confident that
it's because he's saying, "Yes"
to something even better.
In fact, it might even be something
so great that we never even thought
to ask for it.
If you're looking for a case in point,
look no further than Jesus.
You see, far more
than you and I need
good health, good jobs
and good relationships,
you and I need our broken relationship
with God to be fixed.
And left to ourselves,
the only things that we would ever think
to ask for from God,
would be things that would help us
fix it ourselves.
"God, could you send down
a set of instructions
to show me what to do
step by step?"
"God, could you give me a role model
to pattern my life after?"
"God, could you give me
an inspiring pep talk
to really fire me up?"
If that's what we're looking for
from God,
God's answer would be,
"No."
Instead of a role model,
God sent a substitute - a savior.
Instead of a set of instructions,
God sent his son.
And that son,
our Savior, Jesus,
is living, breathing proof
that when God says, "No,"
it's because he's saying "Yes"
to something even better.
Living, breathing proof
that when God says, "No,"
we can say, "Thanks."
Let's do that.
Heavenly Father,
we give you thanks that when
we come to you with our requests in prayer,
you often lovingly say, "No."
Give us the patience
to wait for whatever
even better "Yes"
you have planned.
In Jesus' name,
Amen.
Has God ever left you
wondering why?
"God, why did you take away
my loved one so soon?"
"God, why can't I seem to catch a break?"
"Why are there hurricanes
that cause such massive destruction?"
"Why mass shootings
that leave dozens dead
and hundreds mourning?"
"Why, God?"
Do you know what God often says
in response to those questions?
Nothing.
He just doesn't give us an answer.
As we celebrate Thanksgiving this week,
we're talking about some things
that maybe you've never thought
to give thanks for.
And today, I want to talk about
giving thanks
for when God doesn't say why.
Why would we give thanks for that?
Let me illustrate it this way.
This past fall,
I helped coach my son's
fifth-grade football team.
As you can imagine,
the plays that we ran
with that team weren't very complicated.
with that team weren't very complicated. In fact,
In fact,
the coaches got to be right there
in the offensive huddle
to be able to say,
"You stand here.
You run over there."
Now imagine if those same fifth-graders
got to listen in on the huddle
of their favorite NFL team
and heard a quarterback
call a play like,
"Green right.
Strong slot.
Spider 2 wide banana.
On 2.
Ready. Break.
I think it goes without saying
that those fifth-graders
wouldn't understand the play.
But even more than that,
what do you think their reaction
would be?
Do you think they'd be bothered
by the fact that it,
it far surpassed their understanding
of football?
Or do you think their reaction
would be a little bit different?
At the risk of insulting your intelligence,
the gap between a
fifth-grader's understanding
of football
and an NFL quarterback's
is actually microscopic
compared to the difference between
God's understanding and ours.
The bible tells us
that God's thoughts are
above ours as far as
the heavens are above the earth.
And if that's the case,
then even more important
than having an answer
to each one of our questions
is knowing
who has those answers.
God has certainly proven himself
worthy of our trust.
I mean, think about it.
If you were to draw up
the play for Operation Rescue Mankind,
would that play include
a savior who is born
in poverty
and anonymity?
Would it include a nomadic life
followed by a small group
of disciples tagging along?
Would it include
being betrayed by his own people
and enduring a criminal's execution?
That's the play the father called.
That's the play
Jesus ran.
If we didn't know how it all turned out,
it would no doubt
leave us scratching our heads
and wondering, "Why?"
And yet because we know
how it did turn out,
we can respond
to all of our unanswered questions
exactly the way that Paul does
in his letter to the Romans.
He says,
Even more important
than having an answer
to all of our questions
is knowing the one
who has the answers.
And so even when
God doesn't say why,
we can say, "Thanks."
Let's do that.
Heavenly Father,
we give you thanks
that your ways are so wise
that they often leave us
wondering, "Why?"
Give us confidence
and contentment
with our unanswered questions
knowing that those answers
lie securely with you.
In Jesus' name,
Amen.
If you could just snap your fingers,
and instantly have the ability
never to commit
one specific sin
for the rest of your life,
what would it be?
If you're anything like me,
I'm guessing
there's a specific sin that
immediately comes to mind.
Because if you're anything like me,
there's probably one
or more sins that you really
struggle with.
Sins that you are well aware of.
Sins that you have tried
so hard to beat.
so hard to beat. But sins that you keep committing
But sins that you keep committing
over and over again.
I'm guessing the last thing
that you would ever do
is give thanks
for that sin.
And yet as we celebrate
Thanksgiving this week,
we're talking about
things that you've
never thought to give thanks for.
And today we're talking about
giving thanks for
ongoing struggles
with sin.
Why would we give thanks
for that?
Well, just to be clear,
ideally, of course,
we would never sin.
Every single sin
upsets our God.
Many of our sins
harm other people.
And so yes, anger is bad.
Gossip is toxic.
Drunkenness is destructive.
All of that is true.
But do you know what's worse?
Pride.
Self-righteousness.
Living under the delusion
that we can clean up our lives
to the point that God would look at us
and on the basis of our own behavior,
be completely
and perfectly pleased.
God's big goal for us
during our time on earth
is not to give us the ability to just rid
our lives of sin.
Rather, it's that we
completely and constantly
cling
to our savior, Jesus Christ.
And one of the ways that
God accomplishes that in our lives
is through our ongoing struggle
with sin.
In fact, God has
quite a track record with this.
You read through the pages of the bible,
and it's the murderers,
the adulterers,
the drunkards,
the thieves, the cowards.
These are the people
that God chooses for hugely important roles
in his saving purposes.
In fact, there's maybe no better example
than Paul.
Arguably the greatest missionary
that the world has ever seen.
In his letter to the Corinthians,
Paul talks about a thorn in his flesh -
something that afflicted him
that just would not go away.
Over and over again,
he prayed that God would remove it.
And yet God simply responded
by saying this,
That thorn in Paul's flesh was a constant
reminder of his own weakness.
But it constantly magnified
God's grace and God's power.
One day, we'll know what it's like
to live without any sin.
In the mean time,
God wants nothing more
than for us to completely trust
the one who already has.
And so even when we struggle with sin,
we can say, "Thanks."
Let's do that.
Heavenly Father,
we give you thanks
that you use all things for our good,
even our ongoing
struggles with sin.
Until our dying day,
keep us in humble faith,
boasting only in your grace
and in the work of our savior, Jesus.
In his name,
Amen.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
If you're anything like me,
one of the things on your agenda today
is to try and be
as comfortable as possible.
After the dinner is done,
and the table is cleared,
you're going to go look for your
comfy pants and sit on your comfy chair,
put your feet up, kick back, relax,
watch some TV.
Of course, being comfortable
isn't just our goal for Thanksgiving.
We work pretty hard to be comfortable
each and every day.
And yet, I'm guessing
that in spite of your best efforts,
you don't always succeed.
Are you struggling with an illness?
Are you recovering from an injury?
Are you daily reminded that
you're not as young as you used to be?
If so,
do you remember to give thanks?
All week long, we've been talking about
things that you've maybe never thought
to give thanks for.
And today I want to talk about
giving thanks
for pain.
Why in the world would we
give thanks for pain?
Well, one of the most
well-known stories in the bible about
giving thanks, a story that's
read in many churches on Thanksgiving,
is a story about ten men
who suffered from a disease
called leprosy.
One day, all ten of them
saw Jesus walking by.
All ten of them called out
to him for mercy.
All ten of them were healed by Jesus.
Just one of them
bothered to stop
and give thanks.
What was that one man
thankful for?
Well, within the last century,
a doctor by the name of Paul Brand,
discovered that the real essence
of this disease known as leprosy
is that it destroyed
the sensory nerves in your skin.
So leprosy made you numb.
And so in addition to thanking Jesus
for giving him his health,
and really giving him his life back,
you could say that the man was
thanking Jesus for
enabling him to once again
feel
pain.
It's not hard to imagine
why it's important
for us to feel pain.
Without pain,
you would pick up that burning hot pan
on the stove today
and rather than instantly pulling back,
you would just
hang on.
Pain has spiritual benefits, too.
Pain keeps us from thinking
that where we are right now
is the place we want to stay.
Pain reminds us that
we're not home yet.
Pain constantly drives us back
to the one who bore unspeakable pain
for us and promises us
promises to deliver us
from all pain for all
eternity.
The bible describes the
spiritual blessings
of pain this way.
Pain was never God's
intent for his creatures.
And yet God can and does
use pain
for his ultimate purpose for us -
his purpose of bringing us home
to him in heaven.
And so even when we feel pain,
we can say, "Thanks."
Let's do that.
Heavenly Father,
we give you thanks
that the pain we experience in this life
causes us to long for
the pleasure of the life to come.
Give us
perseverance and fill us with hope
as we wait
for the paradise you have prepared.
In Jesus' name we pray,
Amen.
Today is the day
that we Americans have dubbed,
"Black Friday."
Depending on what time zone you're in,
some of you may be
watching this video while standing
in a checkout line.
Some of you might have your shopping
already done and be back at home
in your pajamas already.
Whether or not you do any
shopping on Black Friday,
this is a time of year
when we often buy
and give and get
things that we don't really need.
Nonessentials,
luxuries, you might say.
And that's not in any way a criticism.
It's simply
acknowledging the fact that
I don't think anybody's up
at the crack of dawn today
because they found some killer deal
on bread or milk or toilet paper.
It's good for us to give thanks
for those luxuries.
It's good for us to give thanks
for the television or the power tool
that we don't really need.
But if you're standing in line
checking out today,
don't just give thanks
for what's in the shopping cart.
Remember to give thanks
for what isn't.
All week long,
we've been talking about things that
you've maybe never thought
to give thanks for.
And on one of the busiest
shopping days of the year,
I want to talk about giving thanks
for what you can't afford.
Why would we give thanks for that?
Well, right at the end of the book of Proverbs,
there's this prayer.
There are serious
spiritual temptations that
come both with having too much
and with having too little.
If we have too much,
we're tempted to become arrogant.
We're tempted to think that
we don't need God.
We're tempted to become so
enamored with the little paradise
that we have prepared for
ourselves here that
we lose focus
on the paradise God has prepared
for us up there.
Thankfully, God knows
exactly how best
to bless us.
God knows exactly how much
is too much.
God knows exactly how much
to give us
so that we keep Christ
as our true
treasure.
Christ who though he was rich,
yet for our sakes
became poor
so that we through his
poverty might become rich.
Anytime we
pray that prayer,
"give us today our daily bread,"
we're not just asking that
God would give us enough,
we're actually also asking that God
wouldn't give us
too much.
And so even when we look at something
that we really want,
but just can't afford,
we can say "Thanks."
Let's do that.
Heavenly Father,
we give you thanks
that you give us
our daily bread.
Fill us with hearts
that are content,
knowing that you know
how best to bless us.
In Jesus' name,
Amen.