The Secret to Being Thankful
It’s time for our Thanksgiving tradition— RiverLife’s annual Thanksgiving message. How is it that a holiday centered around giving thanks often leaves us feeling stressed, tired, shopping-obsessed, and even resenting our family? Take a breather with Pastor Kong and learn how to survive the holiday season--the secret to being thankful.
Transcript
INTRO
This weekend may be one of the most important weekends for you to be in church. Because, today, you can make a decision that’ll not only change your holiday season, but maybe even your whole life. This week, most of you will gather with family and friends and celebrate Thanksgiving. Some of it will be fun, sentimental, even wonderful. And as soon as you’re done with Thanksgiving, the craze for Christmas goes off. Well for some of you, it’s already gone off.
You’ve gotta buy gifts
You have to decorate your house
You have to go to parties. So, not only do you buy more, but you eat more.
Some of you work more because this is a busy season. End of year stuff, maybe you’re putting in overtime to afford a special gift for a loved one.
And, as if that wasn’t enough stress, the kids are out of school.
While many of us look forward to the holidays, research also shows that we are entering into the most stressful time of the year. So, I want to ask you: What do you want the condition of your heart to be at the end of all this? Do you want it to be exhausted, depleted, stressed? Or do you want a sense of wonder and peace, where you can say, “This Christmas, I felt like a did it right.”
HOW CAN YOU MAKE A DIFFERENCE THIS SEASON?
Today, we’re going to talk about the one thing you can do to make the difference. If you decide to do this one thing, it can change your whole holiday season. I love this sermon because I first heard it from Pastor Greg a couple years ago. And he heard it 30 years ago from his pastor, Kenton Beshore, and it has stuck with us ever since. It’s fun, it’s got a little attitude, and it even has audience participation in it. This sermon has become a Thanksgiving tradition at RiverLife. And, we’re bringing it back today!
NEVER HAVING ENOUGH IS SATAN’S LIE
What’s the one thing that nobody has? Enough. Some of you have more. Some have less. But none of us seem to have enough. We always want more.
More money
More success
More likes
More stuff
But more does not equal enough. More just makes you want more. Why is it that we always want more? The Bible answers that in the very first stories about creation. It says that when God created us, the world was perfect. We lived in a world of yes, where God provided everything we needed. However, at the very center of the Garden, there was one place where God said no… because he wanted us to trust him. And then the Tempter came and said,
“Did God really say…”
Satan wants us to doubt God’s truthfulness. Can we really trust God to tell us the truth? But the second question was even more hideous:
“Is God really good?”
He’s withholding something from you. The one thing you don’t have is the one thing you need. And if you could have that one thing, then you would be significant. You would be powerful. You would be like God.
Then the third temptation is,
“You can’t trust God.”
You should not live in humble dependence on him. Just take it yourself, because then you will become everything you want to be.
Do you see Satan’s diabolical plot? Satan’s great temptation every day is for you to take your eyes off the many things your loving, heavenly Father has given you and to focus on the one thing that you don’t have. And nowhere is that more true than during the Christmas season.
THE CONSEQUENCE OF GETTING WHAT YOU WANT
So, what if you got everything you wanted? What would it do for you? Well, you’d probably say, “I would be happy. I would finally have enough.” No! You’d have more, but you wouldn’t have enough. God went out of his way to answer this question, “What would happen if we got everything we wanted?” It’s right there in the Bible says and it’s terrifying. God tells the story of his people, the Israelites. Around 1,500 BC, they were slaves in Egypt. If you were a slave, what is the one thing that you would want more than anything else? Freedom. “If we could be free, then we would be happy.” So, God freed them. But they weren’t happy; they weren’t content. They said, “If we could have wealth. We’ve been living in poverty and slavery.” So, God enriched his people with money, livestock, and possessions. Even then, they weren’t satisfied. They said, “If we could have hope, a promise that good things would come to us, then we’d be happy.” So, God said that he would give them a promised land and a promised life. But they still weren’t content. Then, in the desert, God provided food and water for 2 million people. He gave them manna, which was the perfect traveling food.
Now, I love Hmong chicken wrapped in tin foil served with rice and Pepsi served at room temp, but this stuff was perfect. Manna was a thin nutrient-rich, wafer that would just show up on the ground every morning. But they complained about the manna. They whined, “If you would just give us meat…then we would never want for anything else.” So, God literally had quail fly into the desert. They are knee-deep in quail—a total miracle. And still, they weren’t grateful, and they complained. And that complaining attitude created a plague in their body, and it killed them. This is what is says in Numbers 11,
“Therefore, the place was named Kibroth Hattaavah which means ‘Graves of Craving’, because there they buried the people who had craved other food.”
Some translations refer to it as graves of lust. What happens to us when we get everything we want? We die in a grave of craving. You may have more, but you never have enough.
THE SOLUTION IS THANKFULNESS
Do you know how to save yourself from a grave of craving? The answer is simple. It’s actually one of the most repeated phrases in Scripture. Let’s read this together.
“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.”
Let’s read it again.
“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.”
Why is this one of the most repeated phrases in the Bible? The obvious answer is because we need to see it all the time! Because look at what it does against Satan’s great three lies.
“Did God really say that? He’s not telling you the truth.” The solution is give thanks to the Lord.
“God’s not really good. He’s withholding from you.” The solution is, he is good.
“You can’t trust him. Trust in yourself.” The solution is, his love endures forever.
One of the best things you can say during this season is “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” Let’s say it all together again. “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.”
SAYING THANK YOU
Now, we move into the audience participation part of the sermon. Are you ready for that? Loosen up. Shake it out. Get ready. I want to teach you how to be a thankful person. First, look at Psalm 100:4
“Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.”
We can actually enter into God’s presence using thankfulness. What do I mean by that? Take a look at this verse in the Message paraphrase Bible,
“Enter with the password: Thank you!”
You literally enter into God’s presence by saying thank you. So, we’re gonna practice it right now. I’m gonna give you a scenario, you’re gonna say out loud “thank you”.
When you taste something that’s really good. God didn’t have to give you tastebuds, but he did. And you just enjoy it, you say…Thank you!
When you want to do something, and your body reacts and does it. You can’t help but look to God and say…Thank you!
When you go to work, and you can do things and receive a paycheck, you say…Thank you!
When your heart beats 100,000 times a day, you say…Thank you!
When it’s the middle of November and you haven’t had to shovel snow or fire up the snow blower or salt the sidewalk, and you can walk outside to enjoy the blue skies and sunshine you say…Thank you!
Complaining
Now, what happens when we don’t thank God? Take a look at this verse in Romans 1:21:
“For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”
When we are thankful, we walk into the presence of God. But when we complain, when we whine, when we don’t thank God, we literally become dark-hearted fools. So, how many of you have complained or whined this week? We’re gonna do a mass confession here because it’s good for the soul. How many of you have complained or whined about:
The weather, your job, or politics?
Complained about money or how everything’s more expensive these days?
Complained about your weight or your in-laws or your in-law’s weight?
Have you complained about your spouse that you have or don’t have?
Your kids that you have or don’t have or wish you didn’t have?
How many of you have complained this week? When you complain, you move toward hell and you smell like smoke. And worse than that, you damage everything.
You damage your family.
You damage your workplace.
You damage your church.
And you damage your own soul.
DEFINING THANKFULNESS AND CONTENT
There is an alternative. Let me give you two definitions.
First, thankfulness is wanting what you have.
So, let’s practice this. I’m going to say something, and you’re going to say back to me, “I want my “BLANK”. IT couldn’t be better!” Ok, ready?
When you walk out to your car after church… And it’s a little beat up, something dripping from the bottom, and it has a strange smell.
You say, “I want my CAR. It couldn’t be better!”When you look at your clothes, and they’re a little out-of-date, and they make you look frumpy, you say, “I want my CLOTHES. It couldn’t be better!”
Then when you go to your job and get frustrated by your boss & the turkeys you work with, you say, “I want my JOB. It couldn’t be better!”
When you look at your body in the mirror, the body God gave you, you say, “I want my BODY. It couldn’t be better!” Really? Yes, even that.
When you want what you have, you are living a thankful life. You are rejecting Satan’s lies, and you’re abiding in God’s presence.
Now, let me give you another definition:
Contentment is not wanting more. Contentment is difficult because we always want to be there. We think we’ll be happy there. “I’m not content here, but if I could be there… If I could have that job, that income, that house, then I’d be content.” But, you know what? There are people who are there, and they would tell you “I’m not content here. But if I were there, then I’d be happy.” If you can’t be content here, you won’t be content there. So, we’re going to do some contentment training right now. I’m going to show you a picture of something, and you’re going to say, “I don’t need it!”
Are you ready?
When you see amazing Black Friday deals, you say, “I don’t need it!”
When you see the new iPhone 15 Pro with titanium, you say, “I don’t need it!”
When you want a fifth eggroll or slice of pumpkin pie, you say, “I don’t need it!”
When you see that gas prices are dropping, you say, “I don’t need it!” Oh no, you totally need that!
Thankfulness is wanting what you have.
Contentment is not wanting more.
APPLICATION: A HARVARD STUDY
I want to wrap up by giving you an opportunity to practice thankfulness. A few years back, Harvard did a study on gratitude and here’s what they found out. First, they figured out what makes a person grateful. They discovered one habit that was common to all grateful people. They would sit down, and twice a day every day, and write a list of at least 3 things for which they were thankful. And then they say it out loud. Three things, twice a day, say it out loud. Here’s the amazing thing they discovered. People who did this were:
More creative
More energetic
More optimistic
More socially connected
They earned more money
They’re more forgiving
They’re more generous
And they’re better looking. (Ok, I made that last one up.)
So, let’s do that right now. You’re going to write something down. So, pull out your phone or an envelope in front of you, and write down 3 things you’re thankful for. Do it right now. Do you have your three? Now, say it out loud to someone next to you. Go ahead. Now, you all are half-way to being more grateful people. And you’re 50% better looking already.
CONCLUSION
At the end of December, what do you want the condition of your heart to be? Practice thankfulness, and God says you enter into his presence and resist Satan’s lies. Be thankful. Be content. And get ready for a different kind of holiday season.