Title: The Only Response to Thanksgiving

Date: 2009-11-15

Reference: Psalm 105: 1-5

A young girl was given two five dollar bills by her grandfather. She was told she could do anything she wanted with $5.00 but the other five belonged to God. She must give it to the church the following Sunday. The child happily agreed. Soon she set out for the candy store. On her way there she tripped, fell and the wind blew one of the bills away. She got up, dusted herself off and said: “Well Lord, there goes your $5.00.” Sadly, even at Thanksgiving, many of us have the same attitude. First me and then God.

We sometimes forget to give thanks. The victim of our forgetfulness is the source of our blessings, god who makes thanksgiving possible. This memory lapse is often a traveling companion with prosperity. There is a warning for God’s people recorded in the 8th chapter of Duet. The Bible says: “When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land He has given you. Be very careful not to forget the Lord your god. Otherwise, when you eat your fill, build fine houses, settle and enjoy your wealth you will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God who has provided for you. History records Israel did forget. But we don’t have to. When we make an effort to trace our abundant blessings back to their source, we will want to share those blessings.

I believe the only real and lasting response to Thanksgiving is sharing what we have with those who need our help. Giving to God, and in God’s name giving to others is not something we just do. Giving is a result of who and what we are. Jesus said we are the branches and he is the life giving vine.

When the branch is receiving life from the vine, the branch cannot help but give. The branch exists to give. For the branch living and giving are synonymous. To live is to give..to give is to live. Believers cannot, must not selfishly try to hold on to whatever material possessions God has given us. If we are abiding in the vine we are thankful people and we cannot help but share. We thankfully receive and gratefully share.

Thanksgiving is more of an attitude than an observance. Thanksgiving is more a way of life than a single day set apart. Thanksgiving is more habit than holiday. Thanksgiving is a spirit of gratitude not just a time of feasting. I’ve heard it said that Thanksgiving is thanks living. Thanksgiving is not just empty talk. The very best way to say Thank you is by the way we walk. The only response to all God has done is sharing.

If anyone here want to turn life around try Thankfulness. An attitude of gratitude will change life mightily. We have all been blessed. It’s not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them ,that is the true measure of our Thanksgiving.

We need to remember God owns all we possess. God provides the resources for our lives, and through us the resources for God’s work in the world. We are managers or overseers of what God has provided for our lives. And we are accountable for all God has placed into our lives. God has made each of us a steward. God has given each of us abilities and talents that are unique. We should use these abilities, talents, and all our gifts to serve God. Everything we have is given to us by God. Time, health, environment, relationships, talents, property, our faith. We serve God out of love and gratitude for the gifts, knowing it’s not how much we have but what we do with what we have that is most important. Our giving is always an act of love and gratitude.

Peter the Apostle said: “Each of you has been blessed with one of God’s many wonderful gifts to be sued in the service of others. So use your gift well.” (I Peter 4:10)

A farmer was famous for raising a superior strain of wheat in his fields. Each year he would share seed from his crop with his neighbors. He was asked why he shared the benefits of his research with his competitors. “Aren’t you afraid your neighbor’s wheat will end up being as good as your own? He knew when his neighbors crops thrived so did his own. Their grain pollinated his corps and he reaped the benefits.

His crops just kept getting better and better. Thanksgiving works the same way. When we share and give freely to God and to others we always have a residual benefit that comes back to us.

A Christian was asked how he could give so much away and still have so much left over. He replied: “I shovel out and God shovels in. And God has a much bigger shovel than I have.” Jesus himself said: “We should give according to our income lest God adjust our income according to our giving.” Jesus also said: “Everyone to whom much is given, of him will much be required.” (Luke 12:48) Jesus taught life is a test and a trust. The more God gives us the more responsible God expects us to be.

Former Senator Bob Dole was seriously injured as a young soldier during World War II, and he required countless operations. In his biography he says: “During all the years I served in the United States Senate I kept on my desk the original cigar box in which the people of Russell Kansas collected donations to help pay for my many medical procedures. That cigar box and those donations reflect the culture that produced me. That’s why I try to help others. To try and pay back my neighbors.”

Bob Dole was thankful and he knew the only real response to thanksgiving was sharing.

The problem is we love what rusts and God loves what endures.

It’s easy to become enslaved by money, wealth, possessions, those things we think we cannot live without. We allow those things to dominate our lives. Many, over the years, have neglected their families in pursuit of more money. Others have made themselves miserable by comparing themselves to others who might have more. We know wealth has a great potential for both good and evil.

This Thanksgiving we pray for great wisdom in the way we regard our wealth, how we get it and how we spend it. May we be grateful for what we have and never believe the accumulation of wealth is the goal of life. We remind ourselves that we brought nothing into this world and we take nothing out of it. Everything we have while we are here comes as a gift from God. In appreciation we choose to use our many gifts wisely and to share a portion of these gifts.

We do have much to be thankful for. Years ago an Irish girl wrote: “God must listen to the prayers of Americans real close..God has given them so much to be thankful for.” By now we have learned wealth without enjoyment is little consolation. The real riches of life are riches of head and heart. Satisfaction comes when we appreciate what we have. While success is getting what you want, true happiness is wanting what you get and sharing it with others. It’s not how much you have but how much you enjoy that truly matters. True riches lie within us and not in our material possessions.

The only response to thanksgiving is our willingness to share our blessings. The late Pope John Paul II used to say: “There none so poor that they have nothing to give.

And there are none so rich that they have nothing to receive.” The best things in life are free. We are thankful for God who has given us so much. When we examine our lives, we see blessings everywhere. We know all good things come from God..faith, family, friends, food. We pray god will always help us to be grateful.

At the same time we know how impossible it is to reach out to others if our hands are full. Half of the world’s six billion people live on less than $2.00 a day. Over a billion live on less than $1.00 a day. That is a basic survival level. This Thanksgiving and always, God is calling on us to help.

Our faith revolves around Grace, the Wonderful, amazing Grace of God. God created us and God sustains us and provides for our needs. The proper reaction for all God has done and continues to do is one of thankfulness. Gratitude results in a life of service. When we live out our faith and share what we have with others in need we are saying thank you to God. Our gratitude to God can be shown by the way we honor God and by the way we serve God’s people.

Over the years many of the greatest expressions of Thanksgiving came from people who did not have a lot of material things. Jesus had no place to lay his head. Martin Luther was in hiding for his life. Francis of Assisi was voluntarily poor. Helen Keller was blind and deaf. Mother Teresa lived in the slums. The Pilgrims were hungry and cold. They all knew that unconditional gratitude is gratitude with no strings attached. They all knew God was with them and that was all that mattered. They also understood the only appropriate response to Thanksgiving is sharing. As John Wesley wrote: “Give your life to this. Give all the money you can. Give all the service you can. Give all the prayers you can. Give whatever you have to give because for all eternity you will look back over your shoulder and be glad you did.” Wesley himself lived a life of grateful service. At the time of his death Wesley continued to share. In his will he requested that neither hearse nor coach take part in his service. He desired that six poor men in need of employment be given a lb each to carry his body to the grave.

Wesley was so grateful to God and he knew the proper response to Thanksgiving was to share. May we as Christians today share what we have as well. This act of giving will be a great sacrifice of praise.