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"Why Give Thanks?"

November 30, 2003
Pastor Cliffe Knechtle (29:59)

1 Chronicles 16:8 - 17 is David's Psalm of Thanks in which he says "Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name; make known among the nations what He has done. Sing to Him, sing praise to Him; tell of all His wonderful acts."

Why give thanks to God? Because of a particular world view of reality that God is good and generous; therefore, it is appropriate and natural for us to thank Him. How can we thank God in light of pain and suffering and the unfairness of life? Job understood that life is unfair but God is fair. That is a radically different view than the world view that there is no god so I have no one to thank but myself.

In I Thessalonians 5:16 - 18, Paul says to give thanks in all circumstances. Paul understood God's character is good and generous. God created life and our bodies
Pastor Cliffe Knechtle
with senses so that we can enjoy life. When we begin to understand the generosity and goodness of God, we begin to thank him. Genuine gratitude is one of the greatest gifts we can give God.

Why is it so difficult to say thank you to God and to other people? Because of cynicism, believing that everyone has a hidden agenda. God doesn't call us to have a naïve view of reality. It is crucial in life to remember that we are sinful. This protects us from a naiveté that leads us to being burned, ripped off and totally disillusioned with people and life. Jesus Christ doesn't allow us to slip into cynicism but rather reveals that God's character is good and that we as human beings are capable of doing that which is amazingly good. As we do that which is just and kind, we feel gratefulness towards each other. Self-centeredness also hinders us from being thankful. If we expect and demand more for ourselves, the „more monster‰ has a ravenous appetite and we lose our ability to say thank you.

What should we thank God for? We should thank God for His grace and generosity; for Jesus Christ who through the Holy Spirit gives us the power to become the beautiful people that we are intended to be.

Our response to God's grace should be generosity with our time, work, and money. In 2 Corinthians 9:7, Paul says God loves a cheerful giver. Paul had lost his ability to say thank you and was changed by the grace of God from a greedy, grasping man into a man who was generous. Paul understood that there is no way that we deserve Christ's death on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. Our response should be thankfulness to God.

People's lives are changed by seeing God's grace. When we accept the forgiveness and generosity of Christ, we are more forgiving and generous towards others. When we are comforted by Christ, we learn to comfort others. When we understand how Jesus feels about us, talks about us and treats us, we want to do the same for others. That is living a life of being thankful.

Summary submitted by Karen Walsh