“An Attitude of Gratitude”
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen. Our text for Thanksgiving Day is from today’s epistle reading in the
4th chapter of Philippians. St. Paul writes, “Do not be anxious about
anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present
your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all
understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” What comes to mind when you think of Thanksgiving Day? Turkey and
dressing; time off from school and work; parades and football games on TV;
family feasts and overeating? Thanksgiving Day is more than just turkeys and ball games and family
get-togethers. Thanksgiving Day is a special day set aside by proclamation
of the president of our nation for all citizens of this land to give thanks to
God for the many great blessings we enjoy. But, instead, many of us,
perhaps even most of us, will spend this day as we do many other days:
Instead of giving thanks for what we do have, worrying about the things we do
not have. Ever since Adam and Eve fell into sin, it has been part of our
sinfulness to be dissatisfied with what we have, and to worry about what we do
not have. Adam and Eve lived in paradise. Everything was perfect:
no illness, no hunger, no hurting, no fighting, no anger. A perfect
couple, a perfect marriage, a perfect world. What more could they ask for?
What more could they want? But even they fell into the devil’s trap called dissatisfaction.
The ONE thing they could not have, the forbidden fruit, THAT the serpent
convinced them, was the one thing they MUST have to be truly happy. And,
so instead of giving thanks and being happy with the surpassingly great
blessings they did have, Adam and Eve yearned for that which they did not have.
In the process they ruined their perfect lives, ruined their perfect marriage,
and brought sin and evil into our world. Trying to obtain what they did
not possess they lost the greatest earthly blessings anyone ever did possess. Still today, the devil tempts us into that old trap called:
dissatisfaction. Still today, instead of giving thanks for what we DO
have, we worry about the things we do NOT have. Still today, we go so far
as to ruin our lives, ruin our marriages, fall into all sorts of sin and
evil—just to get our hands on the forbidden fruit. A few years ago there was a story on 60 minutes about a special minimum
security prison in Florida. It is sometimes called the country-club
prison, because most of the inmates were once successful businessmen or
politicians. Many of them are still worth millions of dollars. One
man said that at one time he had made as much as two million dollars a day.
What more could a person want? These men had it all, but even they threw
it all away to reach for the forbidden fruit. What they had wasn’t enough.
They even broke the law to get more, in the process ruining their lives. What percentage of divorces do you think are blamed at least in part on
disagreements over money? According to the experts, money problems are at
least partly the cause in over 90% of all divorces. And most are not poor
people. They are people with good jobs and nice homes, comfortable people
who already possess all the little luxuries of American life. And yet,
instead of living together in love and giving thanks for what they DO have, many
couples fight and argue and worry about the things they do NOT have, in the
process ruining their relationship in the quest for more and more things.
That’s why Proverbs says: “It’s better to eat a simple meal in a house filled
with love, than a fancy feast in a house full of hatred.” It is part of our sinfulness to be dissatisfied. To forget the
blessings we DO have to always be worrying about the things in life we do NOT
have. Our materialistic society makes it even worse. Like the subtle
temptations the serpent whispered in the garden, we are subtly trained
throughout our lives in our society, through advertising and the media, that our
main purpose in life is to acquire things, to be the ultimate consumer.
Advertising leads us into the trap of believing we cannot be truly happy with
what we have, that happiness comes from acquiring things—and it is exactly the
things we do not yet have that finally will bring us happiness. But, then
the fashions change, or a new and improved model comes along, and once again we
worry that we do not have it all. Do you have in your mind a short little list of things you think you
must have? And once you get these things, then you will finally be happy,
finally be satisfied, finally be thankful, right? Wrong. An attitude
of dissatisfaction sticks with you; you will simply move your sights and worry
yourself about other things. How can we put an end to this vicious cycle of dissatisfaction?
How can we learn to be happy, satisfied and thankful? St. Paul gives us
the answer in our text: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in
everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to
God.” Instead of an attitude of dissatisfaction, live life with “An Attitude
of Gratitude,” giving thanks to God for his many blessings, especially the
greatest blessing of all: Sending his Son to pay the penalty for your
sins, forgiving all your sins for Jesus’ sake. God does forgive all your sins because Jesus shed his blood on the
cross for you. God even forgives your sins of thanklessness and
dissatisfaction. God promises to hear and answer your prayers, to provide for your wants
and needs. Jesus said, “Ask, and it will be given you, seek and you will
find, knock, and the door shall be opened unto you.” St. Paul puts it this way in Romans: “If God did not spare his
own Son, but gave him up for us all, will not also, along with him, graciously
give us all things?” As Jesus says in today’s Gospel Reading from the
Sermon on the Mount: “Therefore, do not worry about your life, what you
will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Look at the
birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your
heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you
worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do
not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his
splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the
grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire,
will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry,
saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that
you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all
these things will be added unto you.” A little baby is totally dependent upon its parents. They provide
for all its needs because they love their child. You are the beloved child
of God. God made you his child in Holy Baptism, when he washed away your
sins and implanted faith in your heart to trust in Jesus as your own, personal
Savior. God your heavenly Father will provide for your needs. “Cast
your burdens upon the Lord, for he cares for you.” “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and
petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Live life with
“An Attitude of Gratitude.” “And the peace of God, which surpasses
all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Return to Top | Return to Sermons | Home | Email Church Office
|