Sermon - Thanksgiving 2023

The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth, Jennie A. Brownscombe, 1914

It’s All A Gift

1. Everything we have is from the Lord and is the Lord’s

2. It’s right that we would therefore treat it all as a gift

Have you ever received a gift you didn’t really care for? What did you do with it? If you have the receipt maybe you returned it, or re-gifted it to someone else, or you just tossed it. But sometimes gifts don’t immediately appear to have value, although they end up having value later on. For instance, that ugly Christmas sweater your mom made you takes on a whole different value after she’s died. Or having to rake your grandpa’s leaves with him seems kinda boring in the moment, and only years later does the grandchild cherish that time spent together.

Usually the absence of something teaches us to appreciate what we have or had. Or great poverty or adversity teaches us what is actually important and of value, and what is just vanity of vanities. Being near death is one of those times of great poverty. When you’re laying there in bed dying you don’t care about your job, your house, your cars, your bank account. There’s only two things that matter at that point: God and your family.

What’s also interesting is what you regret and don’t regret. People will often regret blatant and obvious sins, they’ll regret that they didn’t spend more time with their families, they’ll regret that they didn’t have certain conversations, they’ll regret that they made easier decisions in the moment but didn’t address certain problems that they now can’t fix. But nobody regrets that they didn’t work longer hours, that they didn’t go on some vacation, that they didn’t own some certain toy. When on your deathbed you clearly see God's good gifts for what they are, and you learn to appreciate those things that you previously despised. Often what many people realize is that it’s all a gift, and as Christians we know clearly that it’s all a gift from God.

Everything is a gift from the Lord and is the Lord’s. This is a mindset which is helpful to have before you’re on your deathbed. Understanding that everything is a gift helps shape your entire life and directs how you use things throughout life. This realization of everything as a gift from God is the source of giving offerings or tithes. We heard about this in Deuteronomy. “And the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great deeds of terror, with signs and wonders. And he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. And behold, now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, O LORD, have given me.’”

Everything we have is from God, and when it’s given back to God as a tithe, we do that because we’re recognizing that it belongs to Him first and foremost, and we are just stewards of God’s gifts. My life, my people, my stuff, my money, all belongs to the Lord. It’s all a gift from Him! He supplies the seed for the sower and bread for food. It’s all His! Thus the Giver of the gifts is what matters, not so much the gifts themselves. This is what the rich man in the parable didn’t understand. He lived exclusively for his riches, with no cares for the one who provided him with riches.

But Jesus teaches us: “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” God gives us everything as a gift, including our families, our stuff and our time. These things are all gifts, but they’re all temporary gifts. Life is more than possessions. Life is more than the gifts, because life is about God. God is greater than our many gifts. 

Nevertheless, the great Giver has given us many gifts. The question presented before us today therefore is what is the proper use of these gifts? The simple answer is that we should learn to treat everything as a gift from God. It doesn’t belong to us, we didn’t produce it, but God has given it to us. 

We often think about money as a gift. That’s true, our money, our possessions are a gift from God. So it’s worth reflecting on how we’re using this gift of money. Are we using it selfishly like the foolish rich man from the parable? Or are we sowing our money bountifully with others who are in need of it? Are we giving it to our church, our needy relatives, other Christians throughout the world, and other charitable endeavors? Afterall, God says “Each must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

But money is only one of the many gifts God has given us. Frankly, money is not nearly as important a gift as time. God loves a cheerful giver applies not only to donating money, but to using our time. God loves those who cheerfully give of their time. Time is perhaps the greatest gift that God has blessed us with, since it’s much more powerful.

For example, it’s important that you give an offering to your local church. But your time is more valuable than your money. You can give $100 dollars to church every week, but your presence in worship, in Bible Study, with other christians, in daily devotions at home, is levels of magnitude more impactful. A Christian father who takes the time to talk with his family about God and bring them to church on Sunday, a Christian grandma who reads Bible stories to her grandkids, a Christian friend who prays with elderly members in their homes or nursing homes, is cheerfully giving of their time in a manner far more powerfully than if they’d given millions of dollars away.

Jesus Himself illustrates this for us in His ministry on earth. Jesus spent time with people. Even those people who looked like a waste of time, Jesus stopped in order to spend time with them. Jesus’ earthly ministry only lasted a few years, yet He spent very little of that time with the most powerful people in the world. When He was interrupted by sick, poor, and injured people crying out after Him, Jesus stopped in order to spend a few moments of time with them. When people brought children to Jesus, even babies, the disciples rebuked the parents because they thought that babies weren’t worth Jesus’ time. But Jesus rebuked the disciples and gladly blessed the children.

Jesus gave us His very limited earthly time as a gift for the sake of the ordinary sinful people in His midst. He didn’t just give of His time for us, but Jesus gave up His entire life for us. He gave His life as a ransom for sin. He who is eternal stopped His life short for our sake. He didn’t just give 10 percent, but He gave it all as a gift for us. Such is God’s heart towards you in Christ Jesus! Your life is a gift from God, and you’re only living it because Jesus had to give His life for yours.

So seeing that everything we have is a gift from the Lord and still belongs to Him, let also receive it as a gift. Maybe at first we don’t realize the value of what God has given us, but may it be our prayer that we would learn to value God’s gifts as of utmost importance. This Thanksgiving we give to God our thanks for all of His marvelous gifts, most especially the gift of faith and salvation through our Lord Jesus. Happy Thanksgiving!