Thanksgiving: "PAUSING FOR THANKS AT THE CROSSROADS OF LIFE"

by Pastor Paul Naumann

Then Jacob prayed, "O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, O Lord, who said to me, 'Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,' I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two groups." 

— Genesis 32:9-10

In the name of Jesus, our Savior-God, dear Fellow Redeemed,

Today our nation celebrates the holiday of Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, I'm afraid that a lot of people in America today associate Thanksgiving more with a day off work, a turkey dinner and a football game...than the actual giving of thanks. The act of showing appreciation for something received isn't very popular in our culture, I'm afraid. In other cultures it is, though! A missionary from the African country of Zimbabwe Rhodesia tells of an interesting custom the people have there: in Zimbabwe, whenever you receive a gift from an acquaintance or friend, the recipient has to extend two hands to receive it. Even if it's just a match to light a fire, two hands are socially necessary to grasp it. If you don't hold out two hands, it means you're not thankful for the gift.

Our text today is an example of a man who held out two hands, in prayer, to thank God for all the blessings God gave him. The man was the Old Testament patriarch Jacob. Jacob was standing at a crossroads in his life, facing a crisis, uncertain what his future would be. But even at this critical point, he found a moment to lift up his hands in a prayer of thanks to God. I hope that we Christians can do the same on this day of Thanksgiving. Our theme today is:

"PAUSING FOR THANKS AT THE CROSSROADS OF LIFE"

I. Reminding ourselves of God's promises. II. Remembering our unworthiness. III. Realizing God's blessings.

I think you know what I mean when I talk about "crossroads." We all have them in our lives. They can be milestones, like marriages, births, anniversaries, or graduations. Or they can be crises, like the death of a loved one, the loss of a job, a terrible financial turnaround. Each is a crossroad. Jacob found himself at a crossroad that day as he stood facing the Jordan River, about to return to the land of Canaan, the land of his birth. He was returning from 20 years of exile. During those 20 years he had worked hard on the estate of his great-uncle Laban, and had gone from a poverty to riches. He had gained huge herds of livestock. He had gained servants. He had married and had children. And now he was returning to his homeland. Why, you ask, did he leave his homeland in the first place? Because, years ago, he had cheated his brother Esau out of his birthright. Esau had sought to kill him, and he fled. Now, twenty years later, Jacob new that he would be meeting Esau and his army of servants the next day. Would Esau still seek revenge? Would he kill Jacob and his family and take his wealth for his own? Jacob was at a crossroads, facing a terrible crisis. This just might be his last day alive! And at that moment he did what a lot of us would never think of doing - he said a prayer of thanksgiving!

It's interesting to see the words he uses to preface his prayer, "O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, O Lord, who said to me, 'Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper...'" It's almost as though he's reminding God of His promises! "Remember, God - you promised! You said that you'd prosper me! You said that my descendants would be like the sands on the seashore!" But Jacob knew God's faithfulness. He knew the Lord never forgets a promise. I think what Jacob was really doing was reminding himself of God's promises! Standing there, facing what looked like certain death at the hands of his brother, he was trying to remember, in his fear, that God could not possibly abandon him. He couldn't, because He had promised to prosper him.

Have you faced a crossroads in your life recently? Is there one coming up in the near future? Then it's a good time for you to review the promises God has made to you. "But what promises has God made to me?" you might ask. What has God promised you? What hasn't God promised you?! In Mathew chapter six God promises to provide for your wants and needs, "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." — Mt 6:33. In Psalm 34 He promises to deliver you from trouble, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the lord delivers him out of them all." — Ps 34:19. In Isaiah 44 He promises to forgive the sin that's been weighing on your conscience, "I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your sins. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you." — Isaiah 44:22. In the fourteenth chapter of John Jesus promises you a place in heaven, "In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you." — Jn 14:2. Once in a while, when we reach a crossroads, it's good to remind ourselves of these promises. Because God never goes back on a promise. In the uncertainty of our day-to-day lives, there's one thing we know for sure...these promises will come true in our lives!

The next step in Jacob's prayer of thanks is sort of surprising - he admits to his own unworthiness. He says, "I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant." The word Jacob uses to describe himself means, "Lord, I am small. I'm way too small for you to have expended all this mercy and grace on me; there's nothing inherent in me that deserves all these blessings!"

We should pray that way too; but boy, is it ever hard! We live in a society of Donald Trumps and Ted Turners - self-made superstars who figure you don't get anything in life that you didn't work hard for and earn for yourself. And they teach us to say right along with them, "Yes, I made this ranch." "I trained for this job." "I built this house." "I put this food on the table." "I've done pretty well for myself!" That's how our society trains us to think of ourselves. But I can tell you right now that if this day of Thanksgiving is going to mean anything at all to us, we've got to break out of that mold!

A young man once confessed privately to his pastor that he didn't really feel very thankful toward God. He was having trouble seeing God's hand in his life. "I can tell you your problem right now," the pastor said. "You're not nothing enough!" What he meant was this: to be thankful, a Christian has to be humble enough to admit God's greatness. He has to be weak enough to admit God's strength. He has to be nothing enough...to admit that God is everything!

Jacob was. In his prayer he humbly admitted his unworthiness. And then he went on to the next step of his thanksgiving prayer - by realizing God's blessings. He says, "O Lord...I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two groups!"

We've got an expression we use about thankfulness. Whenever someone is complaining about something, we tell them, "Count your blessings." Well, at the moment Jacob couldn't count his blessings - it would have taken him all night! When he left Canaan his worldly possessions amounted to the clothes on his back and the walking stick in his hand. Now God had given him a large family, scores of servants, and herds of livestock that stretched to the horizon. So many, that he had to separate the mass into two groups to face the coming danger. From one stick...to two groups so huge he could hardly count them!

I really don't think you and I can count our blessings, either. It would be impossible! The material things are the easiest for God to provide; Jesus calls them "things". He simply says, "...All these things shall be added unto you." The job that God has given you, the paycheck He puts in your hands, the roof He puts over your head and the food He puts on your table. We even murmur a prayer of thanks for these from time to time. But what about the bigger things, infinitely more valuable? How often do you pause to realize the blessings of your family - your parents, your spouse, your children? How often do you stop to thank God that you live in one of few countries of the world where religious persecution is against the law? How often do you thank God for establishing your church right here in this town where His Word is taught in its truth and purity?

And while we're on the subject of realizing God's blessings, let's not forget the big one. In three days, the Advent Season begins. It's a time, especially, when we remember God's greatest gift to us - the gift of His Son. "God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." — Jn 3:16. To a wretched, ungrateful world of humans, lost in sin, He sent His Son. The everlasting King became a pauper, and made his sinless life into a gift of righteousness for us. He shed his innocent blood for us, and died the shameful death of a criminal to bring us the peace of forgiveness. Praise God with me! We're going to heaven, and Jesus bought the ticket!

This Thanksgiving, let's say thank you to God the African way: with both hands! Let's extend our hands to heaven in a prayer of heartfelt thanks for all His gifts, and especially the gift of his Son. And let us remember the year round, when faced with joys or crises, to pause for thanks at the crossroads of life! AMEN.