Sermon Tone Analysis

So, there you have it: Some good and, maybe, not-so-good reasons to be thankful.

Any of them sound like you?

In one sense, at least, all of us have much to thank God for.

For one thing, we live in America, a country that enjoys unparalleled prosperity.

We don’t have to build walls to keep people in this country, we are tempted to build them to keep people out.

We have many reasons to celebrate Thanksgiving.

BACKGROUND

Kind of reminds me of the nation of Israel.

They, too, had many things to thank God for.

In fact, if you read their “bio,” they’d sound a lot like us.

Moses made the prediction in his last will and testament before he died.

In Deut 8:7 he says,

For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills; 8 a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; 9 a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper.

Kind of sounds like this country doesn’t it?

Moses was predicting that the place God was taking them was an awesome place where they’d “eat bread without scarcity and lack nothing.”

Thanksgiving day, Moses predicted, would be like Thanksgiving day at Grandma’s house: You know, Turkey, dressing, giblet gravy, green beans, homemade bread and pumpkin pie!

But something was expected of these very blessed people.

There was a concrete response they were supposed to have: v 10 tells them, “When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you.

That word, “bless” comes from the root which means “to kneel before” in order to offer praise.

So you could say it like this, “When you have eaten and are full, then you shall Kneel before God in order to offer praise to the Lord your God.”

We are to tangibly prostrate ourselves before God and offer praise for what He has done.

But, I wonder this morning, have you ever asked yourself, “Why?” Have you ever asked why a Holy, righteous God, who is all-sufficient within Himself, would ever desire to be praised?

Obviously, the thanksgiving is about more than making God feel good about Himself.

After all, why would the Almighty need any help with his self-image?

I believe that there is more going on in this thanksgiving thing, and I want you to hear it because

NEED

You may be missing the whole point through your own independence.

Like so many other people, your very own independence may be causing you to trust in yourself.

If so, here’s what we must know: Trusting self offends God.

The audacity of the created to tell the creator “thanks, but no thanks” reveals a heart stuck on “self.”

And those kinds of hearts are not thankful.

If you are independent, you’re probably not very thankful.

Proper thanksgiving is the only antidote for the self-dependent soul.

But some of you may also be missing the whole point of thanksgiving because of the very blessings of God.

One of the most mind-blowing in the Bible is in Romans 1:25 that speaks of those rejecting Christ and says, that (they)exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever.

Amen .

This echoes Deuteronomy 8.

It is possible to get so enamored with the creation of God and the blessings of our Heavenly Father, that we forget about Him.

And, quite frankly, that is the worst possible thing a human being can do.

Forget God.

Why is that such a problem for God?

Why does God always want us to remember?

It’s because God, being the all-perfect Being that He is, still desires a relationship with human beings like you and me.

In fact, I really think that the whole point of thanksgiving really has to do with this relationship.

In fact, in Deut 8:1-10, you get a description of this relationship and how it can be nurtured in the human heart.

You see, this really is the whole point of thanksgiving.

It’s not about stroking God and making Him feel good about Himself, No its about building a relationship with Him.

So let me, right from these verse give you four steps that will lead you to this kind of thankful relationship God wants you to have.

The first step is this:

DIV 1: THIS RELATIONSHIP IS LEARNED THROUGH DEPENDENCE.

EXP

Moses reminds the people of just how God had led them over the last 40 years.

He says in v 2 and v 4

And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not . . .

God had a national development program for the Israelites.

It was a lot like Boot Camp.

They were to wander in the desert while He humbled them and tested them.

But that wasn’t all.

They were to watch as He, time after time, met their needs.

In fact v4 says, Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years.

How’s that for good clothes.

Their britches and their shoes lasted for 40 years!

Wow! That’s better than Levi’s!

What was the point of all of this?

I mean, it wasn’t as if it took 40 years to travel from Cairo to Jerusalem!

Why did God put them through the wilderness.

It was so that they would learn that they had to completely depend on Him if they were going to make it.

They were not to just engage a deity so that they’d have good crops.

They were to intimately depend on Him and learn about Him.

He wasn’t offering them “run-of -the-mill” religion.

He wanted a particular kind of relationship with them.

What kind of relationship was that?

Well, it was a relationship that taught them several things.

First, it taught them God’s priority: They learned this very simple motto: God first, me second.

If I’m making a decision: God first, me second.

If I’m deciding what to offer God: God first, me second.

If I’m handling my money: God first, me second.

If I’m deciding my career: God first, me second.

This relationship taught them God’s priority.

And then that relationship taught them God’s provision.

They learned that God provides, I depend.

If I need clothes: God provides, I depend.

If I need money: God provides, I depend.

If I don’t know where my next meal is coming from, well get up in the morning and go collect some manna: God provides, I depend.

And that relationship taught them God’s leadership.

That one went like this: He leads, I follow.

If I’m deciding whether to go right or left: God leads, I follow.

One commentator wrote:

The wilderness tested and disciplined the people in various ways.

On the one hand, the desolation of the wilderness removed the natural props and supports which man by nature depends on; it cast the people back on God, who alone could provide the strength to survive the wilderness.

On the other hand, the severity of the wilderness period undermined the shallow bases of confidence of those who were not truly rooted and grounded in God.

The wilderness makes or breaks a man; it provides strength of will and character.

The strength provided by the wilderness, however, was not the strength of self-sufficiency, but the strength that comes from a knowledge of the living God.

God took them into the wilderness, knocked all the props out from under them, and said, “Now just depend on me.”

What He was trying to teach them is the lesson that is only learned in the wilderness.

When I must depend on God for everything, then I get to know Him like I’ve never known Him before.

The relationship is learned through dependence.

ILL

When Dick Peterson's wife, Elizabeth, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, he knew many challenges awaited his family.

What he didn't know was just how many lessons he would learn along the way about love and service in the name of Christ.