Tag: Thanksgiving

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Thanksgiving: A Balm for a Disappointing Year

In 2020, I wrote on Thanksgiving Day, “There’s no question that this has been a challenging year.” 2020 was tough. But, then, like every year, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s came around. I realized in a new and powerful way how helpful these days are to help us reset and find new hope and purpose for the year to come.

The first event of this triad is Thanksgiving. I will talk more about it in a moment, but note that this holiday helps us see the good without ignoring the bad. The second is Christmas. My sermon series in 2020 was “The Weary World Rejoices.” Christmas tells us that there is a source of joy that transcends our circumstances. The third event is New Year’s. The New Year gives us a fresh start. How good it was to get 2020 behind us and move into 2021 Continue reading “Thanksgiving: A Balm for a Disappointing Year”

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The Utterly Crucial Act of Giving Joyful Thanks to the Father

Why do we get so discouraged? For one, the world is discouraging!

But there are also good things, and we don’t see them in the way that we should. I wrote about this in my post last week that you can see here. In this post, I want to speak about the thing for which we should be most thankful. I want to speak to Christians for a moment about giving thanks to the Father for all that He has done for us in Jesus Christ.

I have studied a lot of theology in my life. I’m glad that I have. However, several years back, the Lord reminded me in a powerful way not to forget the simplicity of the message of good news in Jesus Christ. He called me to remember three things.

  1. Whatever we have done and wherever we’ve been, God offers free forgiveness and eternal blessedness and happiness to all as a free gift, if they will only accept Jesus as their Savior.
  2. If someone has accepted Jesus, however else they may differ from me, they are fundamentally at the same place as me and worthy of my special affection.
  3. If someone has not accepted Jesus, then they are only one act of faith away from fundamentally being at the same place as I am. So, I am not that far from anyone I meet.

So, I started preaching the simple message of the good news of Jesus Christ, the simple Gospel, week after week.

Then, one woman came up to me and said, “I appreciate what you are preaching, but how long are we going to go on with this? What difference does it make? I want help living a better life.”

I thought that was a great question. What difference does the simple Gospel make? I began to think about it.

The conclusion that I came to was that it made a huge difference. To the degree we could see all that we have through a relationship with Jesus, to that degree we could live more joyful and peaceful lives that glorified God in the world.

What do I mean?

  • Sometimes we feel shame, but then we remember that God has qualified us to participate in the kingdom of light.
  • We feel guilty, but we can remember that God has forgiven all our sins!
  • We feel alone, but we can give thanks that God is with us!
  • We feel like we don’t belong, but then we remember that we belong to the people of God.
  • We feel like we can’t get ahead, but then we give thanks to the Father that we have an eternal inheritance far surpassing anything we will ever have on earth.

I realized that this has the power to radically change the way we view and live our lives. The good news about what we have in Jesus is life altering!

That’s why it’s utterly crucial to give thanks. Thanksgiving is seeing the good we have and acknowledging God as the source of it. Joyful thanks blesses and transforms us and gives glory to God. And there is nothing for which we should be more thankful than the good news about what Jesus Christ has done for lost people like you and me.

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Renewal in an Organization with a Long History of Hurt and Failure

The temple, the glory of the people of Israel, was in complete ruins. The Babylonians had destroyed everything and taken many of the people into captivity. Now, thousands had returned but returned to devastation.

In spite of the disappointment, those who returned from exile did not give up. They saw the place where the altars had been, and they rebuilt them. There, with no walls or temple, they held a feast to the LORD, the feast of tabernacles, where they remembered how God was with them in the wilderness when they came out of Egypt.

Then, they got to work. In the 2nd year of their return, they began building the foundation of the temple.

When the foundation was complete, the people began to praise the Lord: “He is good; his love toward Israel endures forever” (Ezra 3:11). They all gave a great shout to the Lord.

But shouts of praise were not the only sounds. “Many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid” (Ezra 3:12). The result was that “no one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise” (Ezra 3:13).

This reminds me of many churches, families, and organizations I have observed. When renewal begins to take place, good things are happening, but it is hard for those who have experienced disappointment or hurts in the past to see the good. This makes it hard for the work of renewal to move forward.

So, what should we do? For those rejoicing in the present, it is important to remember:

  1. Understand that the organization has a history.
  2. Understand that good things have been lost.
  3. Understand that there have been hurts.
  4. When people express pain or longing for the past, don’t get defensive. Ask for stories.

For those who are grieved at the losses of the past, it is important to remember:

  1. Remember that new didn’t experience those earlier times.
  2. Remember that people are there because they see good things.
  3. Remember that there are challenges in the present to even carrying out the work, and people need encouragement.
  4. When you hear the good things, ask them to share them without bringing up your bad experience. Just let them give thanks and rejoice with those who rejoice.

So, who goes first? Who reaches out? The person who is more emotionally mature. Someone has to step up and say, “I understand my own emotions and sympathize with the emotions of others. I will step outside myself to consider what others need.” Whoever has the strength to do this should do it.

In all of this, we should remember that this is God’s work. He is the one who is at work in the church and in creation to bring about good things. That should encourage us, and that’s why the prophet Zechariah encouraged the people of that day: “What are you, mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel (the Israelite’s civic leader) you will become level ground. . . . The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; his hands will also complete it. Then you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you” (Zechariah 4:7-8).

Zechariah reminded them that whatever their personal feelings, the temple needed to be built. He encouraged them that it would be built, and he promised a glorious future. These same considerations can help us to move forward with the work of renewal in ourselves, our families, our churches, and our governments.

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Struggling with Greed

Struggling with greed. It’s something that most of us do not do. For most of us it’s probably just sitting there unnoticed.

I thought of this as I considered Ephesians 5:3: “But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.” As a Pastor, I’ve had a lot of people talk to me about issues related to sexual immorality, but I’ve had very few (if any) come to me and say, “I’m struggling with greed.” It just doesn’t seem to be on our radar.

As I think of my preaching, I think that most Christians on the right of the political spectrum would resonate with my affirmation of traditional Christian sexual ethics. However, if I spoke on greed, I would probably have to do it very carefully to avoid misunderstanding.

On the other side, if I spoke to Christians on the left, they might resonate with what I’m saying about greed, but I would be very careful in my explanation of Christian sexual ethics.

The Bible teaches that both are serious issues. Paul insists strongly that there must not be “a hint” of these things and that the wrath of God is coming because of greed. In light of that, it seems that we would should be struggling quite a bit more against greed than we do.

In speaking with a friend, I realized that one issue here is that greed is more difficult to define. Sexual immorality refers to any sex outside of the commitment of marriage. But what is greed? Is it greed to want a better car? A bigger house? A bigger savings account? It’s hard to say. These things are certainly not wrong in and of themselves. Money, houses, and cars are not evil things. But can we want them too much? How do we know?

Let me suggest a few diagnostic questions that can help us know if we are being greedy.

1. Does the desire for or plans for obtaining new things consume our thoughts? If we are thinking about these things all the time, then greed is probably present. Having a vacation is not a bad thing, but if all our thoughts are, “When I get on vacation, I’ll be OK,” then we probably have a problem.

2. Is anxiety over not obtaining the things we want consuming our hearts? We not only desire to have good things, we worry about not having good things. For example, if we are worrying all the time about whether people will like us or want to be with us, then we are probably wanting it too much. Acceptance by others is a good thing, but it’s not ultimate.

3. Is thought of what we don’t have keeping us from enjoying what we do have? For example, is thought of a better house keeping us from enjoying the neighborhood or home that we actually presently live in?

4. Are our desires keeping us from our other obligations? For example, are we so consumed with work that we don’t spend time with our children, wife, or God? If so, perhaps you are wanting these things too much.

5. How do we feel when we don’t get what we want? This is perhaps the best indicator of a problem. When we get frustrated, worried, or unhinged when we don’t get what we want, then we probably wanted it too much. This is indicative of the presence of greed.

Let me turn now to consider how we can overcome it. If we see that greed and misplaced desires are an issue, what can we do to overcome it?

1. We need to let the Bible challenge us. It’s easy even for Christians to treat the Bible as an affirmation of our own behavior. We all need to be humble before God’s Word and let it challenge us where we are, even if change may be difficult.

2. Focus not just on reducing our negative desires, work on strengthening positive ones. The opposite of greed is thanksgiving. The more we can enjoy the many good things God has already given us, the less we will be greedy for more.

3. Speak to someone about your struggles. Ephesians 5:13 says, “But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light.” This means that we need to let in the light in order to experience healing. If you don’t have someone with whom you can share your deepest struggles, it’s imperative that you find someone. Conversations with a trusted friend bring light and healing to the darkest corners of our lives.

4. Let Christ shine on you. “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you” (Eph. 5:14). The more and better we get to know Christ, the less power our destructive desires will have.

The darkness of unbridled desire does not have to dominate our lives. We don’t have to stay in the darkness. Christ, the light, is risen, and we can be healed through His light!

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