(The following post was written as the final of 3 5-minute messages delivered at the 2014 Bethany Wesleyan Thanksgiving Service.  To those at that service, if this sounds a little different, these are my notes slightly modified for blog form.)

 

Psalm 100:4-5 (NIV)
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise, give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and His love endures forever, His faithfulness continues through all generations.

Being thankful.  Thankfulness.  Gratefulness.  Thanks.  Praise.  This is one of those safe church topics, right?  We love talking about things we’re thankful for, right?  We’re thankful for turkey, stuffing, the roof over our head, the car we drive, the shoes on our feet, the Philadelphia Eagles, and if you’re an Eagles fan, even Mark Sanchez (although as a New York Jets fan myself – might I say this may not be the best place to put your thanks…just saying).

We like thanksgiving and as Christians we are so comfortable with this topic.  Thankfulness is something we all know we should have, we don’t mind talking about, we love to express, but if it’s not over prioritized it’s not a big deal.  No one’s life is destroyed by a lack of thanks, right?  And we do usually feel thankful in the important things…

• I’m thankful for my wife and of course kids (well except when they’re loud, tired, or smell bad).
• I’m thankful for my work here at BWC.  Thankful for the opportunity to minister with kids and teenagers (well, again…except when they’re loud, tired, and, yeah, when they smell bad).
• I’m even extremely thankful for my awesome co-workers.  Bethany is an incredible place to work and we have a great time everyday.  I am so thankful for those I work with (of course, maybe not so much when they’re uh…loud, and possibly when they’re tired, and uhhh…yeah, you know the rest).

Sometimes we love this holiday because we are thankful.  Sometimes we love it because of the turkey, the break, the laughs, the football.  No reason is necessarily bad.  I guess it’s just that sometimes you feel thankful and sometimes you don’t.  You can’t really force being thankful – it either is there or it isn’t.  We have seasons and that is the natural course of the world, right?  That’s okay, isn’t it?  There are times where thanks makes sense and times where – not so much.

Except that doesn’t appear to be how God works…
For the Lord is good and His love endures forever. His faithfulness continues through all generations. (Psalm 100:5)
No season, no moments, all the time, forever. 

And here’s the deal, we’re encouraged to be the same.  WHAT!?  Keep our thankfulness all the time?  For real?  FOR REAL!
Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise, give thanks to him and praise his name.  (Psalm 100:4)

I wonder…
What if thanksgiving isn’t the way we’re going to enter God’s kingdom?
What if Thanksgiving is the key to entering God’s kingdom?

This scripture doesn’t say this is what we’re going to do.  It more directly says this is how you do it.  You enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.  This is the key.

• Thankfulness is our accountability partner who keeps us in check as we approach heaven.
• Thankfulness keeps life in perspective. It reminds us about all we’ve been given. It focuses the lens of life and brings in to focus all that is important.
• Through thankfulness we can look back, recognize today, and peer ahead – knowing that God is faithful and He endures.

This past Sunday night was fantastic.  I had just finished a full weekend of stuff here at BWC.  A weekend of meaning – Friday, Saturday, and Sunday!  Sunday afternoon was spent as all Wesleyans should spend them – with a fantastic nap.  And now with my wife and kids settled in with some popcorn it was time for a Muppet’s Christmas Carol.

As we snuggled together, wife and kids surrounding me, all pressures of career, finances, housing, life – fell and faded away.  This is what I have – this is what matters.  The things of the past that were important.  The things now that really matter.  The things ahead that will make a difference.  My purpose, my belonging, my reason for being come into perspective.  My mission to entering God’s mighty gates and His wonderful courts became clear.  I had my moment of thanksgiving.

The rest of this holiday is just gravy.  Thanksgiving has come.

Allow yourself a moment of thanksgiving.  If it is alone or with friends, around a dinning table or while shopping, in the midst of activity or in a moment of peace.  Allow yourself a moment of thanksgiving to give your life perspective, focus, and purpose.  To keep you on track to entering God’s mighty gates and finding His glorious courts.