Holidays can be brutal, can’t they? Ask any therapist, any counsellor and
they will tell you that the holidays continue to be a time when people are
depressed, brought low and made to feel guilty and glum.
It’s as if there are two warring parties at work within us during these
festive times. One voice within us says, “It’s thanksgiving. A time for
celebration. A time to show your gratitude for all that is yours.”
But another voice within us says, “Life seems to hold no blessings for
me. What do I have to be thankful for?” And at our most cynical we say
this is simply another time for Hallmark cards to make a few more
dollars. And we have a spirit of despair instead of joy, a mind that is
disturbed instead of a mind that is at peace.
Thanksgiving is something like Christmas in that you are told by a date on
the calendar what disposition your spirit should be in. At Christmas you
are told to be merry, joyful, cheerful. At thanksgiving you are told to
be thankful. And this is the difficult part of Christmas and thanksgiving
for many people. You can’t program thankfulness. We cannot turn on a
switch and say, “Today I will be thankful.” That is why for many people,
untouched by the love of God, our Christian celebrations have become so
shallow. People are saying, “Hey, it’s time to be thankful,” and they try
to turn on the switch. But they can’t. The mind says, “It’s thanksgiving”
but the heart says, “Sigh”.
The Psalmist speaks to us this morning in Psalm 107, for this psalm lays
out for us the basis of thanksgiving in the midst of difficult times, the
reason why we Christians are able, in the words of the New Testament, “to
give thanks in all circumstances.”
Give thanks to the Lord for He is good. In effect the Psalmist is saying
there is no time, there is no circumstance there is no heartache, there is
no situation in which God’s goodness toward you has weakened or
diminished. Give thanks to the Lord for He is good.
In each case the Psalmist calls us to remember God’s unchanging character
in the midst of our distress. And this is the basis of our thanksgiving.
Now you will notice that in each scenario the psalmist follows a pattern,
he describes the problem. Then this phrase – it’s one of two that he
repeats in each case, “They cried out to the Lord in their trouble and
he delivered them from their distress.”
Then the Psalmist describes how God delivered them and then repeats this
phrase, “Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and
his wonderful deeds for men.”
God’s goodness toward us is demonstrated toward us in His attentiveness to
his people. “They cried out to the Lord in their trouble and he
delivered them from their distress.” There are all sorts of gods that
have been created down through the ages who are distant and far off,
uncaring and unable to help in any situation, but our Creator, redeemer
God has chosen to be beside us, to be part of our world to be attentive to
our plight and situation – not as a cosmic bellhop who gets whatever we
want when we ring the bell of prayer – but as a loving heavenly Father who
pays attention to the real needs of His children and provides for them.
Give thanks for God’s goodness toward you – then give thanks to God for
His enduring love.
Many complain that God is too much of a mystery to them. But really what
God did makes perfect sense. It makes sense that God would create us for
His glory as we depend on Him and look to Him so that His strength and
might is demonstrated. It makes sense that God would use the old law to
tutor Israel on their need for grace. It makes sense that He would come
Himself in the flesh and fix the mess we made through our desire for
independence. It makes sense that Jesus would be our sacrifice because a
sacrifice is needed to cleanse us and to justify us in God’s presence.
What God did makes sense. It can be taught, charted, and put in books on
systematic theology.
However, why God did it is absolutely absurd! This type of love
isn’t logical. It can’t be neatly outlined and packaged. It is
illogical. Even after generations have turned their back on Him, Israel
makes a golden calf and worships it. David commits murder to have a woman
he lusted after. Later God’s messengers the prophets will be ignored and
even killed and when He comes in the flesh people will spit Him in the
face, strip Him naked and rip apart His flesh. And even today billions of
people prostitute themselves before the false gods of power, fame and
wealth.
And all the while God’s love endures forever. It’s extraordinary – it
doesn’t have a drop of logic nor a thread of rationality.
And yet it is that very irrationality that gives the gospel its greatest
defense, for only God could love us like that. The Psalmist knew that,
and he calls us to give thanks to the Lord for His unfailing love.
O how we need men and women who will stand up and with the eyes of faith
say in the midst of people’s depression, in the midst of people’s
imprisonment to sin, in the midst of people’s rebellious ways in the midst
of the world’s chaos and pain say with a voice so clear and distinct that
there can be no misunderstanding, “Give thanks to the Lord for he is
good, his love endures forever.”
This is what the Psalmist asks of us verse 2: “Let the redeemed of the
Lord say this. Let those of you who have experienced is redeeming love
stand up and testify to the truth. You, who have been released, revived,
and renewed by God’s love tell the world.”
Clearly gratitude, thanksgiving is a mark of soul touched by the grace of
God.
Do you know there are words that should never go together – jumbo shrimp –
adult children – original copy – advanced beginner – open secret …
Microsoft Works?! … and “ungrateful Christian.”
Why? Because gratitude is the attitude of a soul touched by the grace of
Christ, it is the mark of a mind renewed by the love of Christ, it is the
character of a heart redeemed by the sacrifice of Christ.
Ingratitude – is the mark of a soul turned from God. It is a sign of a
mind blinded to the work of God. It is the character of a heart hardened
to the love of God. Scripture describes a lost world in Romans 1:21 it
says “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God or
gave thanks to him.”
Gratitude is the mark of heart touched by the grace of God.
Mind you, it’s not a one-time thing, where you say “thank you” on this
weekend and now you know how to say thank you. You could be a grateful
person today, but be an ungrateful person tomorrow. It is not something
that you experience once and then you have it – it is a daily disposition
of your heart.
But again, what are we to do with those times when life is so hard that we
find it difficult to give thanks? The answer is, give thanks to God for He
is good; His love endures forever.
But some reply – what about those times when the love of God and the
goodness of God is not evident? To be fair we could say that the Psalmist
is calling the Israelites to give thanks only after they have been rescued
and released and revived.
So the question may remain, “How can we give thanks in the middle of hard
circumstances?”
One of my favorite Prophets is Habakkuk – the first series I ever preached
was on Habakkuk – and at the end of his book he says this remarkable
thing: “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on
the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls.”
Habakkuk 3:17
Do you know what he’s describing here? An economic meltdown. “Though
the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines.” –
that’s Fannie Mae. “Though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle
in the stalls.” – that’s Freddie Mac.
An economic melt down – and look what Habakkuk says – even if and when
that happens, “yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God
my Saviour.” The strength of that text is lost a bit in the
translation – because it really says I will spin around with joy in God my
Saviour.
Was he nuts? Perhaps. But maybe he knew something that we don’t. Maybe
he had a different understanding of God’s goodness and love.
We are used to believing that God is good toward us and loves us when we
are blessed – when life is wealthy, healthy, and lovely. A blessed life
is one that has God’s favour. Clearly God loves that person – look how
blessed they are. A blessed life is one that can give thanks to God.
A life that is not blessed – not wealthy, healthy or lovely - is a life
that God has abandoned. There may be some sin in your life, there may be a
lack of faith, but to go through any kind of difficulty is a sign of a
life that God has abandoned. And in that circumstance we should be
praying a prayer of repentance, not a prayer of thanksgiving.
Our tendency is to call God good when we things are going well in our
lives. And doubt God’s goodness when things are not going well. But this
is wrong thinking – God is always good. Your situation does not change
His goodness. His goodness, just like His love endures forever. The
reason we can thank Him is that His goodness never changes.
And don’t you think that this is the kind of people God delights in?
Don’t you think that the Psalmist is calling us to give thanks to God
because this is what pleases God? It pleases Him for His people to say,
“Lord I don’t understand this, I don’t like this, this is against
everything that I expected of you – but still I will thank you, I will
trust you, I will trust that your goodness is in this and your love for me
endures forever.”
Sometimes what we see as a curse may be a blessing
I wonder too if part of our difficulty is that we don’t see the whole
story. I love the classic story by Corrie Ten Boom. She was raised in the
Netherlands where her family hid Jews from the Nazis. They were
eventually caught and taken to concentration camps. All of Corrie’s
family died except her. After World War II she wrote this, “Conditions
in our barracks and concentration camp in Ravensbruck were terrible. When
we first arrived, I told Betsie that I couldn’t bare the lice that lived
in our filthy mattress and blankets. Betsie replied, “You must thank God
for everything, even the lice.” Corrie was to discover later that Betsie
was right. Because of the bugs that infested our barracks, the women
guards and officers kept their distance, and we were able to hold our
Bibles studies without fear. God had a use for the vermin after all.”
Sometimes what we see as a curse becomes a blessing the next day. How
much more simple it would be if we learned to thank God for everything
instead of using our own judgment.
Hans Peter Royer, the principle of the Capernwray school in Austria speaks
of his grandfather who in 1913 had a good life. He had a farm, a wife,
and three little children. But then his wife got sick and died. The next
year 1914 World War I stared and he had to go to war. They just took him.
He had to leave his children - they were then 4,6 and 8 at home alone.
And the neighbours came and picked up the three children - - thinking oh
well, he’ll be home in a couple of months. But he didn’t come back for 6
years. He ended being captured and taken to Russia – Siberia. He wrote
a book during those 6 years. It really is astonishing, because only one
out of 10 survived what he went through. But he wrote a poem – in German,
and Hans Peter tried to translate it.
He wrote:
In this world I
am deserted.
Brothers and
friends I’ve left behind.
My wife has died
so have my parents.
No comfort in
this place I find.
What presses
tears out of my eyes
are my three
children they are alone.
Their mother’s
love they have no more.
Their father’s
care is not at home.
Yet, no reason to
despair
because I have a
God who cares.
Every burden he
helps me carry.
He alone is my
hope and share.
Since my early
childhood days
he was my shelter
year by year.
He helped me
through in all my ways
In my misfortune
he still is here.
As I walk through
the valley dark
my guide is here,
next to me he stands.
I see the light,
so wonderful.
My life is safe
in God’s good hands.
