Thanksgiving
Perspective
It’s
Thanksgiving already. It always seems to
sneak up pretty quickly, doesn’t it? And
it especially did this year because we were all so occupied with the building
project throughout the summer and everything that went along with it. We were pushing and pushing to have an
October 30th dedication date, we made it there, but now less than a
month later Thanksgiving shows up. I
hope you’re ready for it! Because if
it’s Thanksgiving Eve tonight, that means a month from tomorrow we will be
celebrating Christmas Eve! There is no doubt that this is a busy time of
year - a hectic time involving family and presents and meals and decorations. Thanksgiving almost seems to be the starting
line of a frantic race with frenzied pace that picks up speed all the way until
the end of the year.
But the
actual celebration of Thanksgiving itself serves well to bring things back into
perspective as well. The day of
Thanksgiving or, in our case, the evening before Thanksgiving when we gather in
God’s house to “thank” him for all that he has done, gives us a chance to slow
down a little bit, to reflect back on the year in a way, to recall what our
Lord has down for us and what he is still doing. A Thanksgiving worship service allows us to
block out all of the craziness of life for a moment and concentrate; it helps
us take a step back from the trees that we are weaving in and out of every day
and gives us a clear picture of the forest; it provides an opportunity for us
to review all of the blessings for which we can thank our God.
Complaining, Grumbling,
Griping
And
there are plenty of those blessings, aren’t there? If we were to take out a piece of paper and
write down all of the blessings that the Lord has given us in these past 11
months, we would be here all night long.
Because there are those big things like our families and this country
and our freedoms and our congregation that we thank God for on a regular
basis. But there are also those little
things we get every day that might not always come to mind: like a heart that
beats and lungs that breathe and eyes that are able to see colors and a body
that is capable of feeling the warmth of a blanket. How often do you thank God for a soft
pillow? Or the ability to tie your
shoes? Or a toilet that flushes? There are so many everyday behind-the-scenes
overlooked gifts that the Lord gives us that it’s nearly impossible to think of
them all.
Of
course, we seem to find no shortage of things to complain about, don’t we? We have millions upon millions of blessings
that we consciously and unconsciously enjoy every day, but instead of thanking
the Lord for those things and being completely happy with what he has given us,
we tend to complain about those things that don’t measure up to our
standards. We might not always thank God
for the sun shining, but we don’t hesitate to complain when it feels too hot or
it seems too bright. We might not always
thank God for the way the thousands of parts of our bodies function all at the
same time, but we certainly complain when one of those parts suddenly doesn’t
work as well as it used to. We might not
always thank God for a healthy Christian congregation and a confessional church
body to be a part of, but it is not below us to complain about one Christian
brother or sister who gets on our nerves.
Most of us like to complain and grumble and gripe about various things
at various times. I know because I’ve
heard you. And you know because you’ve
heard me.
David’s Dance
King
David had plenty of opportunities to complain and grumble and gripe. He was hunted down for years by King Saul,
after all. His best friend Jonathan died
in battle. The commander of his army murdered
in cold blood another general who had switched to David’s side. There were members of the former royal family
that hated him for who he was, there were still enemy nations all around him,
and he had been given the seemingly impossible task of leading a people who
were notorious for rebelling against the Lord.
But here in 2 Samuel 6 we find David dancing. And he’s not dancing here against his will and
he’s not dancing at this moment because he’s expected to; he’s dancing out of
joy with all his might. “David went down and brought up the ark of
God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing. When those who were carrying the ark of the
LORD had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before
the LORD with all his might, while he and the entire house of Israel brought up
the ark of the LORD with shouts and the sound of trumpets.”
David
had something to dance about! The ark of
the Lord was finally being brought into the capital city for the very first
time! The wooden box that held the
original Ten Commandments, the very object that had sat in the Most Holy Place
of the desert tabernacle was now in his possession! What an exciting event! What a monumental day this was in David’s
reign! But realize: David still had some
things he could have complained about.
Because where was he taking this ark of the Lord? He was taking it to the “City of David” which
was Jerusalem. But where was he going to
place the ark when he got there? There
was no temple yet! There was no physical
structure that could house this precious artifact so central to their worship
of the Lord! And so when they did enter
Jerusalem, David had to construct a tent of some sort and use that as a
temporary covering over this sacred piece of furniture. But David didn’t complain; he didn’t grumble;
he didn’t gripe. In spite of the
accommodations for the Lord’s ark, he rejoiced. He danced.
David danced in complete happiness because he was so excited about what
the Lord had done for him. Things might
not have been perfect, but the blessings that David knew his Lord had given him
were enough to make him dance for joy.
Something Worth
Dancing About
We have
something worth dancing about too.
Things might not be perfect in our lives either; we might have plenty of
things we could complain about if we really wanted to, but take a look at what
the Lord has given you: He has blessed you with peace of mind from his presence
on this earth. He has blessed you with
freedom from punishment because of his cross.
He has blessed you with the promise of Paradise through that empty tomb. He has blessed you with forgiveness and
comfort and relief - all free of charge.
That doesn’t mean you won’t have to endure pain or trouble or
difficulties in this life. But it does
mean that you don’t have to worry about them.
You don’t have to complain or grumble or gripe about them. Because the blessings you have received far
outweigh what you have not.
That is
what is worth dancing about on Thanksgiving.
Not so much the food and the family and the pleasant time together -
because those things may not be so good at times, and even if they are, they
won’t last. What is worth dancing about
on Thanksgiving are those blessings that will never go away: your salvation,
your eternal life, your status as a child of God. Those blessings overrule and override
anything else we could ever get. And
with those blessings in mind, how could we ever complain again? They are the only source of our joy. They are the only basis of our
happiness. They might even be worth
dancing about. Amen.
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