Preacher Ko Lingkang

Thanksgiving

1Thessalonians 5:18 "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

The Celebration of Thanksgiving

It is Thanksgiving in the United States this week. For Singaporeans, we pay scant attention to it, aside from noticing Turkeys being on sale at NTUC, or seeing more advertisements for the online sales of Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving). Over here, it is a very big event for the Americans, celebrated in a manner not too differently from our Reunion dinners before Chinese New Year.

Historically, Thanksgiving was a tradition that began with the early Pilgrims who migrated to Plymouth, New England in the early 17th Century. After their first harvest in 1621, they held a feast with the Native Americans to give thanks to God and to celebrate the first year in the new land. Other colonies also held similar observances, and over time, it became a tradition that was nationally legislated as a Public Holiday in 1863. Then, it was proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln to be a day of "Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens". While there were certainly religious roots to this day, it is no longer regarded as a Christian holiday today, but just seen as an occasion to meet up with family and friends, and kick start the year-end holiday season.

For Thanksgiving, many Americans will travel home, gather around a Thanksgiving meal and enjoy time with friends and loved ones. The attention nowadays is focused very much on the food, and perhaps more importantly the sales which begin as early as the evening of Thanksgiving, with shops opening all through the night. Yet there is one meaningful practice that many families still do observe, and that is around the meal table, they will often share what they are thankful for through the year, and for the Christians, to give thanks to God.

For Christians, we do not need to wait for an annual event before we start counting our blessings and remembering to give thanks to God. As Paul teaches in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, giving of thanks should be for all things, at all times, at every occasion. Because we have a good and gracious God, we should be able to constantly give thanks for all things that happen to us.

The Scope of our Thanksgiving

The scope of the command given in this wonderful verse is all encompassing. ‘In everything’ basically means in all things, all occasions, all events. This means that no matter what happens, in every circumstance, we must thank God! This would necessarily include both the good things, and the so-called ‘bad things’ that happen in our lives – things that do not go the way we expect it to be; crisis in our lives that we loathe to go through; sickness or death of loved ones; unexpected setbacks in school or at our workplaces etc. In everything, we must give thanks.

Sadly, in good times, we are often too busy enjoying ourselves to give thanks. When things do not go the way we expect them to, we become angry and blame God, and fail to see His good sovereign hand guiding our lives. We overlook many of the blessings that come our way, and fail to see His providence working out all things for good.

As Christians, the phrase ‘thank God’ may be a sort of lingo that rolls easily off our tongues, and we say it constantly. However, we must ask ourselves – is this truly a sentiment of our heart? Do we really worship God with exuberant praise, as the Psalmist criest "O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever" (Psa 107:1). Do we really acknowledge with heartfelt gratitude, that all that we are and have comes from God? When we truly understand the goodness and mercy of God, we shall and we must!

The Reason for our Thanksgiving

Paul just gives a simple but comprehensive reason as to why we must give thanks. It is because this is the will of God in Christ concerning you. This is our duty and what we have been created for – the glory of God! As Christians we know that God has done so much for us all. We know of the great sacrifice made by Jesus Christ in paying the price of redemption for our sin. Our Lord is indeed worthy of our praise and adoration. He has blessed us with this life, and salvation so rich and so free. Despite the fact that we were unworthy sinners, rebels and enemies of God, yet He chose to save us, all by His grace. He has made it such that we can have life, and life more abundantly (John 10:10). He is the God who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think (Eph 3:20). He is a great God, and greatly to be praised!

To give thanks in all things will really help us to have perspectives in our lives. We would do well to remember that all things, whether good or apparently bad comes from God. He is always in control, but yet we have the assurance that all things will always work out for good to them who love God and are called according to His purpose (cf. Romans 8:28). All believers are called by God to fulfil the purpose of being a holy witness to sinners and saints alike. We must have the confidence to know that God is sovereign, but at the same time also all wise and all loving. Everything that happens in our lives is worthy of our thanksgiving to fulfil the purpose of a holy witness.

This is how we stay close to God, for in our constant and consistent thanksgiving, we can have things in its proper perspectives. We will know that it is certainly the will of God for anything happens in our life. When we give thanks to God, we acknowledge Him as the Creator and Sustainer in all things. God is pleased when we do so. It is His delight when His children acknowledge Him and render our tribute of praise and thanksgiving to Him. This is His will, will we not do it?

The Hindrances to our Thanksgiving

Yet at the same time, we know that it is not always easy to give thanks. Yes, it is natural to give thanks when everything goes smoothly and all is well. However, when life’s trials come our way, when things do not turn out the way we think they should, we become bitter and discontent. Instead of thanking, we keep questioning, we keep murmuring, we keep asking. In short, we sin! There are times we might even blame God, and lose our faith. Like the people of Israel wandering through the wilderness, we are never content, but at each simple difficulty we encounter, we murmur and complain, and never seem able to realize that our good God is constantly with us every step of the way.

In the midst of all that, our communion with God is affected. We may think we are indeed ‘praying without ceasing’, but what we are really doing is complaining and asking without ceasing, without a single word of thanks or gratitude for what the Lord has done for us. Instead of giving thanks, we are very discontented people. We spend more time asking than giving thanks. We may be well mannered and give thanks to the people around us, yet we seem to acknowledge everyone except God. We often forget that God is the source of all things.

We are also very ungrateful and forgetful people. We seem to have this mind-set that expects a lot. We think that just because we are children of God, and we think that we are good Christians, therefore God must certainly bless us and give us what we want. Like Jonah we get angry with God when creature comforts like the shade of a plant is taken away from us, so quickly forgetting that God was the one who had given us everything that we have, and it is His divine prerogative to do what He wants, according to His will.

All these things, our pride, our discontent, our greed, our self-centeredness and our ungratefulness will rob us of the joy in Christ. They will prevent us from giving thanks and cause us to turn away from God.

The Joy of Thanksgiving

In order to have this heart of thanksgiving, we must understand the wisdom and sovereignty of God. We must realize that His providence is all encompassing, and that He always does what is the very best for us. He is in control of all things, and always ‘meant it unto good’. We read the accounts of Joseph, of Daniel, and Esther, and we witness the amazing providence of God. We see that in every situation, God’s will is always the best. When we come to such an assurance in God’s Word, thanksgiving will come naturally. Thanksgiving will be a joy and not an obligation. It will be something we yearn to do, in humble submission to His will.

As is the Psalmist’s constant refrain in Psalm 136:

"O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever. O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth for ever."

Therefore, in every prayer we make, always begin with thanksgiving, where we spend time to think of the many ways in which we have been blessed by the Lord, and indeed ‘it will surprise you what the Lord has done’. We will be buoyed up with the comfort and assurance to know that God is constantly watching over us. When all of us pray in such a manner, Paul says "the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God" (2 Cor 4:15).

Likewise, in our praise and worship, thanksgiving must always be the theme of our songs. For we are told in Ephesians 5:19-20 "Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;"

We are not Americans, and so we do not have the tradition of a once a year thanksgiving feast, but as Christians, we have so much more to be thankful for, and we know who to direct the thanksgiving to. We worship an almighty loving God, and we would do well to give thanks to Him every day of our lives.