LANGUAGE:
In case you didn’t realize this, thanksgiving is just around the corner. As I was thinking about the season we are in a while back, it dawned on me that I was to speak the Sunday before Thanksgiving Day when we all gather around the table with family and friends. Our noses will be filled with the sweet smells of turkey, mashed potatoes, and green bean casserole, at least at our house. Afterwards everyone will complain about over eating, maybe taking a walk to help the food settle, do some TV parade gawking, and armchair football coaching and refereeing. It’s a wonderful time with lots of redeeming memories.
As I contemplate the holiday, I began to wonder about our gatherings. I wonder if our focus on thanksgiving is too small—like a pin point vs the broad beam of a flashlight. In light of that, I thought it would be good for us to do a little thanksgiving pre-thinking.
I like how Alistair Begg lays it out for us: thankfulness is a response to the Spirit’s work in our lives. Because our thankfulness is rooted in God’s great gift of salvation, the content of our thanksgiving communicates both our priorities and how we view God’s indescribable gift. So I need to ask: What does your thanksgiving say about our response to God’s favor and blessing?[i]
What I want to do this morning is give us some principles as to how to have a thankful heart in the midst of the harshness of life.
Let’s bow in humility to our God: Heavenly Father, We thank you for Jesus, who is at your side and knows my heart, struggles, and world. May we get a handle on the joy, wonder and mystery of what it means to give thanks that abounds to Your Glory. Amen.
This morning we’ll forego our study in Mark’s Gospel. Our focus will be on two passages of scripture--1 Thessalonians 5:18, and 2 Corinthians 4.
For starters, let’s open our bibles to 1 Thessalonians 5:18.
If we are honest, I think most of us will agree that this year’s Thanksgiving Celebration does not seem as celebratory as we remember pre-covid days. Today the celebration seems to be marred by bitter political rhetoric, mask mandates, covid fears, and the hammering tsunami waves of inflation. It’s almost comical when we come to the Bible and read such passages as 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NASB95) In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Think about that for a moment:
What that means is, a thankful attitude in the midst of everything is God’s desire for us. I take it to mean that having a thankful spirit or attitude is not so much the experience, as it is an active expression of it. I think the point is that the basis for having a thankful attitude is based on God’s activity among His people. One writer states it this way: The ability to give thanks with a joyful heart begins with us recognizing God as the source of all good things and that God is always faithful toward His children. Remembering what God has done, made possible, or in mercy prevented, doesn’t just provide us with a sense of self-satisfied gratitude, but rather it teaches us to remember and marvel at God’s inter action in our lives. We are to remember the God who is faithful and provides for us. To give thanks is an important corrective to our egos.[ii] Colossians 2:6-7, “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”[iii]
That brings us to 2 Corinthians 4.
Without a doubt our world is in great trouble. Nightly News blares out government incompetence, climate change catastrophes, covid mutations, China’s human rights issues, North Korea’s missile tests, missionaries kidnapped in Haiti, Iran’s growing nuclear arsenal, random shootings in our neighborhood, LGBTQ+ agenda in our schools, and the list goes on.
In the recent Glasgow summit World Leaders turned up the heat on end-of-the-world ideology by bringing to the forefront the iconic Doomsday Clock. The Clock is a symbol for measuring our move to self-annihilation. According to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, "We are now one minute to midnight on the doomsday clock. We need to act now."[iv]
The gloom and doom reminds me somewhat of Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 4:8–9 (GW) 8In every way we’re troubled, frustrated, persecuted. Yet in v16 he says we do not loose heart. Though outwardly we are wearing out, inwardly we are renewed day by day. Boxed in on ever-side, and yet Paul doesn’t lose heart! That’s amazing.
We should note that when Paul wrote the words that he was troubled, frustrated, and persecuted, they were written in the midst of life’s harshness. He gives us a picture in chap 11 of life’s harshness: beaten with rods, stoned, shipwrecked, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; sleepless nights, often without food, cold and exposure.[v]
The point being, every one of those experiences were costing him a piece of his life (v12a). He was wearing out. Yet in v16 he says, despite life’s brutality, he doesn’t loose heart, and he is being inwardly renewed day by day. I want you to know that those are powerful words in light of his circumstances. What I want to know is this, in the midst of life’s brutalness, how can Paul say that he is inwardly being renewed day by day?
I think most of us understand the outwardly wearing-out-business. When I was in school, I was a self-supporting-bill-paying-family-man. We had four little ones, I was full time in school, running a paint contracting company. My schedule went something like this—get up in the morning, eat breakfast, dash off to school, then dash off to work, then home, eat supper, study, go to bed. The next morning it started all over again. Each day was the same, each week was the same. I was emotionally drained, physically worn out, feet tired, energy depleted. There was no time for renewal. You ever feel that way?
It’s my guess that everyone of us long for the power of renewal that Paul speaks about here in chap 4. As John Piper states it: no-one wants to be left in the valley of depletion and emptiness and discouragement. If there is a secret to being made strong, hopeful, joyful, and loving again and again and again day by day, I don’t know about you, but I’m interested;[vi] and I bet there are a few of you that are interested also.
So what did Paul mean when he said that despite life’s harshness he was being inwardly renewed day by day. How does he do it?
Let’s take a closer look. First, notice how v16 starts. It starts with the word ‘therefore’. The word therefore tells us that something occurred previously that was the foundation of the renewal of his inner man. The word therefore is meant to make us look back to the preceding verses. By looking back at the preceding verses we are able to flesh out why Paul could say that despite life's roughness, he was still being renewed on a daily basis.
First, I want us to note that Paul was not overwhelmed by the harshness of life because he stayed focused on the out workings of God’s Glory.
Look back at vs6–7(NASB95) 6For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. 7But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves;
In context, the phrase earthen vessels is in reference to his physical body which is weak and wearing out. In Paul's words his body was decaying, v16, from all the abuse which he highlights in chap 11. But despite the wearing out, he is being renewed. How can that be? His answer comes in V7--Because of the surpassing greatness of the power of God. In other-words, Paul does not lose heart because God’s power was at work in his wearing out, in the decaying of his body. V11 (NASB95) For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
So the first reason for renewal of his inner man was because the power of God making the life of Jesus more evident despite his growing weakness, lost of energy, tired feet, sleepless nights, and life’s weariness. That’s what he says in v7, Because the surpassing greatness of the power of God is clearly on display, Therefore, V16, we do not lose heart.
Paul gives us the second reason for inner renewal in the midst of life’s harshness comes in vs8-9 (GW) 8In every way we’re troubled, but we aren’t crushed by our troubles. We’re frustrated, but we don’t give up. 9We’re persecuted, but we’re not abandoned. We’re captured, but we’re not killed. Again V16, Therefore we do not lose heart.
Here Paul is highlighting God’s sustaining presence in the midst of life’s brutalness. His testimony is this, life is rough, mean, and malicious, but get this--we’re not dead yet. What Paul points out for us is this, God is not allowing the harshness of life to overcome him to the point of death. In the midst of the harshness of life he had firsthand experience of God’s sustaining power. And when he took God’s sustaining presence/power into play, his inner man was daily being renewed. God’s faithfulness was real. We need that kind of focus
The third principle for his inner man renewal comes in v14 (GW) 14We know that the one who brought the Lord Jesus back to life will also bring us back to life through Jesus. He will present us to God together with you. Don’t miss what Paul is saying. This is huge. He is saying that the gravestone doesn’t have the final word.
Notice what he says--He, that would be our heavenly Father, who raised the Lord Jesus from the grave will also raise us!!![vii] Life might be brutal, but it has no power over survival. As Jesus said in John 11:25 (NASB95) “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies. Therefore, v16, knowing this, I do not lose heart. I don’t lose heart because death does not destroy my story. For the follower of Jesus, death is not a bad ending. As a follower of Jesus, the wonder of my relationship with Him does not end at the grave.
Paul fleshes this out in vs17-18(GW) 17Our suffering is light and temporary and is producing for us an eternal glory that is greater than anything we can imagine. -- 18We don’t look for things that can be seen but for things that can’t be seen. Things that can be seen are only temporary. But things that can’t be seen last forever. --V16, Therefore I do not lose heart.
But there is a forth reason for not losing heart, and I want us to really get a grip on this. It comes in v15 (GW) All this is for your sake so that, as God’s kindness-over-flows in the lives of many people, it will produce even more thanksgiving to the glory of God.
What Paul is telling us is this: In the midst of life’s harshness God was at work, extending His grace to more and more people, which in turn increases thanksgiving to God, which magnifies God’s glory. Can you handle that? Paul is telling us that in the midst of the brutalness of life, God was using it to show forth His grace and power, putting His salvation on display. And when people took God’s gift of salvation, thankful hearts ensued, bringing about a grand thanksgiving celebration to the glory of God (4:14).
I take that to mean, if we really want to have a grand thanksgiving celebration, we need to get our praise on, and our testimonies going. The more people who come to faith, the greater the thanksgiving celebration that magnifies the glory of God.
Now how does this all apply to us?
As we look over this passage, we need to keep in mind that God’s power and glory are not abstract theological ideologies, but realities that are to be experienced in the warp-n-woof of life. Life Transformation can only happen when we encounter the Living God Himself in the flow of life. It can only happen when we come face to face with the presence of God’s Spirit. And where does that really happen? In the midst of life’s twisted harshness.[viii] That is what Paul is telling us. And he ought to know, because he lived it.
Let me wrap up this study with a couple of applicational truths.
Giving thanks is not always easy, particularly when life is in turmoil, but still Paul reminds us in 1 Thessalonians 5:18. This is the very thing we must do in order to see God’s will accomplished in our lives, give thanks. As one writer points out for us, this is how we move into higher realms of faith. When we give thanks in the midst of difficulty, we bring pleasure to God’s heart. God is looking for people who live in a realm of praise and thanksgiving where the enemy no longer has an ability to hold or manipulate us.[ix] Psalm 22:3 alludes to this fact when it says, “But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.” Thanksgiving is one of the ways that God works His way into our hearts and minds. A thankful heart is a God centered heart. It ascribes to God that He is worthy.[x]
In the midst of the warp-and-woof of life’s ups-and-downs Paul saw that God’s kindness was overflowing in his life in such a way that many people were coming to faith, which in turn was producing a bountiful thanksgiving to the glory of God. This truth renewed his inner man in such a way that he got up every morning and went at it again. In the midst of life’s hardball game, how is your faith expression?
At the age of 77 I need to keep the word of God in my mind and in my heart daily more than I ever have, keeping our eyes on the finish-line. Paul give us his biblical strategy-- v14 (GW) 14We know that the one who brought the Lord Jesus back to life will also bring us back to life through Jesus. He will present us to God together with you. 1 John 3:2 (GW) Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. That’s when we receive an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, unfading, which is being kept in heaven for us (1 Peter 1:4).
How’s your spiritual eyesight? Are you focused? Paul looked through life’s harshness to the end result. It carried him through life’s harshness, its unfairness; it will carry you also.
During difficult times it would be good to ‘check’ your tongue before you speak. Instead of complaining about life’s harshness, it’s unfairness, be like Paul and think of all the ways God is sustaining you through it all, and using you to advance the gospel by word and deed. Give a verbal offering of thanksgiving.[xi]
Philippians 2:14–15 (GW) 14Do everything without complaining or arguing. 15Then you will be blameless and innocent. You will be God’s children without any faults among people who are crooked and corrupt. You will shine like stars among them in the world.[xii]
It is so easy to complain. It is so easy to point the finger and find fault. But to come with the opposite attitude and give thanks brings breakthrough and joyful contentment. The best thing we can do with our words is to offer praise to God. So let each of us seek to have an attitude of gratitude and thanksgiving, and rise to a new level of holiness.
James 1:2–3 (NASB95) 2Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 3knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
The point is, there is power in having a thankful heart attitude. An attitude of thanksgiving accepts and embraces God’s will; That’s what James is talking about, and that is what Paul is telling us to do
Ray Stedman writes: Paul is talking about people who have gone through great sorrow, deep hurt, real heartache, but in the midst of it they have looked to God for strength and have found his comfort. They have known and trusted his love, and the result has been there has been such an inner joy and peace and strengthening in the midst of the trial that they cannot help but give thanks to God that the whole thing came about.[xiii]
From Billy Graham’s Decision Magazine comes this testimony:
"For a long time I had been bitter about life. It seemed to have dealt me a dirty blow. For since I was 12 years old I have been waiting for death to close in on me. It was at that time I learned I had muscular dystrophy. I fought hard against this disease and exercised hard, but to no avail. I only grew weaker. All I could see was what I had missed. My friends went away to college, got married and started having families of their own. When I lay in bed at night thinking, despair would creep from the dark corners to haunt me. Life was meaningless. Then in March of last year my mother brought home from our public library Billy Graham's book World Aflame.
I started reading it, and as I read I realized that I wanted God. I wanted there to be a meaning to life. I wanted to receive this deep faith and peace. All I know is that now my life has changed and I now have joy in living. No longer is the universe chaotic. No longer does life have no goal. No longer is there no hope. There is instead "God who so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."
I continue to grow weaker. I am close to being totally helpless and am in pain most of the time, but sometimes I am so glad I am alive that it is hard to keep myself from bursting at the seams. I can see for the first time the beauty all around me, and I realize how very lucky I am. Despair is such a waste of time when there is joy; and lack of faith is such a waste of time when there is God."[xiv]
That is the kind of thanksgiving that glorifies God. Out of the midst of the pain, the pressure, the heartache, and the perplexities there comes a joy, a strength, a faith, and a love that makes clear that the power is not coming from us, but from God. That is what impresses the world.
Don’t allow your afflictions to have the last word; because as a follower of Jesus you will be raised from the dead with Jesus and with the church of God and live in joy forever and ever. There might be an element of truth with the Dooms Day Clock—that day may be sooner than we think. If you are not a Follower of Jesus, today is the day you want to cry out to Him for salvation from sin and eternal death.
To the Followers of Jesus, let’s not live despairingly, but triumphantly, declaring the work of the Lord as those before us have done. Let’s close in prayer--
Lord, I know that there are many people here who are going through struggles and pressures, dangers and trials. How our hearts long to cry out to you to deliver us from them, to take them away, to not let us go through them. May we rather learn, Lord, that wonderful attitude of our Lord Jesus, "If it be possible, may this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done." We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.
[i] https://www.truthforlife.org/resources/sermon/meditation-on-thanksgiving-a/
[ii] Jane Riecke, Give Thanks with a Joyful Heart: A Sermon for Thanksgiving (Deut 26:1-11), https://www.seedbed.com/give-thanks-with-a-joyful-heart-a-sermon-for-thanksgiving/
[iii] Cf., https://excellentorpraiseworthy.org/2010/11/half-empty-or-half-full/
[iv] Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Doomsday Clock now 100 seconds from midnight, https://phys.org/news/2021-11-doomsday-clock-seconds-midnight.html
[v] 2 Corinthians 11:23–27 (NASB95) 23. . . I speak as if insane—imprison, beaten times without number, often in danger of death. 24Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. 25Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. 26I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; 27I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.
[vi] Cf., John Piper, For An Eternal Weighty Of Glory (2 Corinthians 4:7-18), https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/for-an-eternal-weight-of-glory
[vii] Romans 1:3–4 (NASB95) 3concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, 4who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord,
[viii] Scott J. Hafemann, 2 Corinthians, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2000), 195. (1 Cor. 1:26–31; 2:5, 12–16; 3:16; 5:4–5; 6:19; 2 Cor. 3:17–18; 4:6; 5:17).
[ix] Debbie Przybylski, The Power of a Thankful Heart, https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/prayer/the-power-of-a-thankful-heart.html
[x] Romans 1:22–30 (NASB95) 22Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. 24Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. 25For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 26For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, 27and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. 28And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, 29being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, 30slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,
[xi] Steve Singleton, Offering ‘the fruit of our lips’ Offering “the fruit of our lips” – DeeperStudy. Hebrews 13:15–16 (NASB95) 15Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. 16And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. The writer of Hebrews is calling on us to focus on the words that we use. Are these words, coming from lips that have confessed Christ’s lordship and so belong to him, yielding the “produce” that He expects and deserves?
[xii] Philippians 4:7–8 (NASB95) 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.
[xiii] Ray Stedman, Your Pot – His Power (2 Corinthians 4), https://www.raystedman.org/new-testament/2-corinthians/your-pot--his-power
[xiv] Ibid.