A lifestyle of thanksgiving – Jonah 2
An old man was always thankful every time he put on his shoes. When someone asked him why, he replied, "When I was a boy, my parents couldn’t afford to buy new shoes for me. I put cardboard in my shoe bottoms whenever they got holes. When I walked through rain and snow, I had to keep replacing the cardboard. I’ve always been thankful for shoes because I've never forgotten wearing those shoes with holes in the soles.” His reference point for thankfulness was his childhood memory of worn-out shoes. If we think of times when we did without, or what it would be like to be without, we would be thankful, for what we have, if we are not already. That’s why God told the children of Israel to remember how He brought them out of the house of slavery (Deut. 8:14). He wanted that experience to be a reference point in their minds for thankfulness. This morning I would like to look at the theme of thankfulness as we continue our series on a lifestyle of worship. There are three things I want us to think about: Thankfulness for the cross; Thankfulness in all circumstances; Thankfulness as a lifestyle.
Thankfulness for the cross
The first and most important thing we should be thankful for is the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. The cross is our reference point for thankfulness. When we accept and receive all that Christ accomplished on the cross we can never be the same. Think about it for a moment – the difference between pre-cross and post-cross:
· Pre- cross we were enemies of God – post- cross we are adopted sons and daughters
· Pre- cross we were aliens and strangers of God – post- cross we are counted friends of God
· Pre- cross we were slaves of Satan’s – post- cross we were eternally free, sealed with the Holy Spirit guaranteeing our inheritance of life in all its fullness
· Pre- cross we lived lives that was cursed by the headship of Satan – post- cross we live lives blessed by a Father God who lavishes his grace out upon us
· Pre- cross we were hampered by the poverty of our resources – post- cross the riches of heaven are at our disposal
· Pre- cross we were stained with sin – post- cross we are covered by the righteousness of Jesus Christ
· Pre- cross we hid because of our shame – post- cross we bask in the glory of God
· Pre- cross we were wounded by thoughts, words and deeds and lived traumatised lives because of them – post- cross we experience healing at every spiritual, social, emotional and physical level
· Pre- cross we were going to be punished for what we had done wrong – post- cross we rejoice in the forgiveness that is ours
· Pre- cross we were objects of rejection unable to effect our reconciliation to God – post- cross we were accepted, healed, restored, forgiven
· Pre- cross our pathway led to the punishment of death – post- cross we are inheritors of the promise of eternal life
· Pre- cross our noblest deeds were filthy rags – post- cross every good thing is credited to us as something that will not perish, spoil or fade.
· Pre- cross we were lived anxiously wondering if we were loved by God – post- cross we revel in knowing we were the apple of his eye
· Pre- cross there was nothing in us to rejoice over – post- cross God rejoices over us with singing
· Pre- cross we were eternally forgettable – post- cross we were engraved on the palms of God’s hands
· Pre- cross we were pitiful, powerless and poor – post- cross we are more than conquerors through him who loved us
· Pre-cross we were clothed with filthy rags – post-cross we are endowed with splendour
· Pre-cross all we could hope for was a visitation from God – post-cross he has come to abide in us forever
· Pre-cross we were harassed and helpless with little purpose – post-cross we have a tailor made mission that excites and fulfils.
· Pre-cross we were full of fear and intimidated - post cross we are as bold as lions
The cross is the reference point from which our thankfulness should flow. If you do nothing else this week I would encourage you, just as I have done here, to write down 20 things the cross has changed and let your thankfulness flow. Thankfulness should spontaneously flow from us in light of the cross.
Yet there are times when we might not necessarily be thankful. We might in our heads want to do what is right yet in our flesh we are weighed down by the pressures of this world, the responsibilities that burden us, the circumstances that surround us and the people that conspire against us. At that moment we have a choice. Which side of the cross are we going to live from? Satan would deceive us and make us believe that we live this side of the cross and when we believe the lie we empower the liar in our lives. When we refuse to believe the lie and instead believe the truth of God’s revelation and allow thankfulness to flow our view of life begins to change.
Thankfulness in all circumstances
This leads us on to consider being thankful in all circumstances. This is what we are told to do in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, “give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.” Jonah was not in a particularly good situation. He had tried to outrun the God who is everywhere because in his loving kindness God wanted to warn Ninevah of their impending disaster so he could save them and Jonah wanted Ninevah wiped out. Jonah ends up inside a big fish, the text says there was seaweed wrapped round his head, smelly, dark and dangerous, he was entombed in a place no-one wants to be. Jonah was not a happy man when he went into the fish, you can begin to imagine what he was like inside the fish. Kicking, screaming, moaning, am I allowed to say wailing, it takes him three days to come to his senses and starts to give thanks to God. He starts to sing while at the bottom of the sea in the belly of a fish because he realises that it is only his flesh and bones that are entombed but his spirit is free. It is his relationship with God that matters most. Jonah declares his confidence in the goodness of God to save him from his situation. It hasn’t happened, Jonah in the natural can’t see a way out of it, but he gives thanks that God’s hand is not too short that it cannot save. He declares in verse 9 that he will sing a song of thanksgiving – salvation comes from the Lord. He declares in verse 8 that he will not cling to worthless idols like self-pity and his woe-is-me attitude because you forfeit the grace that could be yours. A lack of thankfulness misses out on the goodness of God. He declares that God has heard and will answer his prayer though he has no idea of how that will come about. In the midst of turmoil it is best not to advise God how to get you out of the situation – it is best to let God be God. He managed to create the world without your advice so I don’t think he needs it to save you from the mess you have got yourself into. Let him get on with it and be thankful that he is our deliverer.
God hears Jonah’s attitude of gratitude and speaks to the fish telling him to throw Jonah up onto dry land. When we give thanks to God he speaks into our situations to change them for the better. If we develop a life of thankfulness it will ensure that when we land in the ribcage of a fish then there will still only be thanksgiving coming from our hearts and past our lips. It took Jonah three days to come to his senses and start giving thanks to God. Think about your life for a moment – how long would it take you to respond in all circumstances with thankfulness.
A minister was visiting another church. A man came up to him and said he was angry with God. He had lost his job. He was at that age when companies didn’t want to hire you and if he found work he would have to take a substantial pay cut. The minister asked if he really liked his old job. Did he like the people he worked with? Did he find the role fulfilling etc. The man said he did not like his previous job, or the people he worked with, or the way the job made him feel. The minister resisted the temptation to ask why he was so angry, instead he asked if he would have ever given up that job to try and find a job that he really enjoyed in a situation he found fulfilling. The man agreed that he had not really tried. The minister then went on to suggest that God loved the man so much that even though he wouldn’t do anything about his job God was going to bring something about for his good – what he needed to do was be thankful that in all circumstances God works for the good of those that love him. God does not cause bad things to happen in our life but he can use those bad things to prosper us. When bad things happen the devil wants us to resort to this side of the cross thinking, yet when we declare the truth that God will prosper us and respond with thankfulness we disempower the circumstance and it’s hold over us. When we believe the truth about God we can’t help but be thankful in all circumstances.
Thankfulness as a lifestyle
This moves us on to think about thankfulness as a lifestyle. Thankfulness is a lifestyle choice. As in the above story it involves a decision, a deliberate, conscious decision, to choose to be thankful on all occasions and in every circumstance. At the heart of this choice is belief about our relationship with God. Ultimately it is about which side of the cross we view our relationship with God from. Ephesians 4:22-23 reminds us, “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds.” The old self will see the impossibility and hopelessness of our situation and at worst resign itself to making the most or at worst throwing a pity party. The new self with its renewed mind will see ourselves as loved by God, our situation as more than conquerors through him who loved us and our God as able to do immeasurably more than we ever dared imagine. What is there not to be thankful? Yet for so much of our life we are condition to think and live from the wrong side of the cross.
If thankfulness is to be a lifestyle of worship then we need to think differently. Satan wants to fill us with fear and doubt and worry and anxiety and low self-esteem and bad habits of thinking. He wants to fill our minds with dis-ease. The Holy Spirit wants to fix our eyes on Jesus so we see things and he sees them and we naturally want to be thankful. This is what it might look like. A minister was having a meal and was sat next to a woman who had just been offered the dream job. It was what she had worked her entire life for. It was with a fantastic company that looked after, trained and remunerated their staff very well. However, she was a little apprehensive about starting. Actually, she confessed to being full of fear. She physically felt sick. She had feared failure all her life and the thought of not being able to handle the job was etched on her face. The minister suggested that, perhaps rather than being full of fear, she was a little apprehensive. That was normal. A new job, new people, would she fit in. It was not fear, just a little apprehension. The woman thought about it and agreed that perhaps she was a little apprehensive. It was alright to be apprehensive. She thanked the minister for his encouraging words. The minister then said, what happens if you are not a little apprehensive. Sure, your a little anxious, but you are also intrigued. This company is a great company, it is not run by idiots but people who know what they are doing, they must have seen something in you. You’re a little anxious but also very intrigued. She thought about it a little and said, yes, you’re right. This is a smart company and they must have seen something in me, I’m a little apprehensive but really intrigued. Then the minister said, what if you are not? What if you are mildly apprehensive but actually quite excited. This is your dream job and God was with you all the way through the interview process. He’ll be with you in the job. In fact it’s his dream job for you. It’s what he has been training you for all your life. God is really excited about this opportunity for you to reach your potential. You’re actually mildly apprehensive but really excited. And the woman was visibly getting really excited. She said, that’s right. I’m a little nervous but I’m also really excited. Then the minister said. “What if you’re not. What if you are quietly confident and really joyful. God has given you this dream job. What if he is quietly confident in his own ability to bring out the very best in you in this job. What if he is really excited and joyful about how you are going to blossom and flourish in this job? Actually, you are confident and joyful. The woman looked at the minster and her whole face had changed. She responded, That’s going to be my identity from now on. Confident and joyful. If we try and be thankful from our old nature we will always struggle to cultivate a lifestyle of thankfulness but when we realise who we are through the cross we can be confident and joyful and cultivate a lifestyle of thankfulness. From our relationship and through our relationship we can be thankful at all times and in all circumstances.
