Many years ago Oprah did a show on giving thanks and she encouraged people to keep a thanksgiving journal and everyday write down 5 things for which we are thankful. That year some friends and I decided to do this via email and each day we would email the group 5 things for which we were thankful. I was amazed at how long we were able to keep this going. Instead of running out of things to thank God for after a week or two, it seemed like each day we found more. Some things were quiet simple, like a favorite food we suddenly thought of like clam chowder, and some things were quite profound like the love of our family and friends or the forgiveness of God, but what amazed me was that we never ran out of ideas. It was like once we started to taste the goodness of the Lord, we couldn’t stop eating! I am convinced that deep inside all of us is the book, 10,000 things to thank God for; we just need to take the time to write it. When I read David’s song of thanksgiving in 1 Chronicles 16, I had the sense that David just started giving thanks to God and once he started he just couldn’t stop.
Give thanks to the Lord, David begins, call on his name, make known his deeds among the peoples. David just starts thinking about God when the flood gates open. In 16:9-13 David is thankful for God’s strength and for presence. He celebrates God’s miracles and his judgments and his words and his offspring and his children. Then in verses 15-18 David remembers God’s covenant, the promise God made with Abraham, Isaac & Jacob and a promise that extends to David and his family and to all the people of Israel. And then in verses 19-22 David remembers and gives thanks for how God helped the people of Israel as they wandered in the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land. David remembers how God watched over the people during this time and how God kept them safe as they made their way through foreign and dangerous lands. And then in verses 23 – 30 it seems like David is simply overwhelmed with thanksgiving as he remembers who God is and what God has done and so his heart just pours out praises to God. Look at the words David uses to thank God, Sing to the Lord, Declare his glory, Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength, worship the lord, tremble before him. It’s as if David can’t contain himself and he can’t hold back his thanks and praise to God, and then as if all that isn’t enough look at the end of this psalm. In verses 31-33 David looks out at all of creation and not only sees God’s handiwork in the world, but he sees and hears all of creation giving thanks and praise to God. The seas roar, the fields exult, trees sing and the people give thanks because the steadfast love of the lord endures forever.
As we read through this psalms it’s as if David’s heart begins with just a nibble, just a taste of giving thanks to God but it quickly becomes a full blown meal of thanks-giving that extends course after course as David celebrates who God is, what God has done and what God has promised to do in the future. It is this heart of thanksgiving that we see in David that we need develop and it is the meal of thanks-giving that David eats that we need to share in today and everyday.
Now the meal of thanksgiving I’m talking about isn’t our Thanksgiving Day dinner, it has nothing to do with turkey, stuffing or pumpkin pie, the meal I’m talking about is our ability to give God thanks and praise and it is a meal that has only 2 ingredients. If we want hearts that are filled with thanks and praise like David’s then the first ingredients we need is awe or wonder. Look at 16:9, David says, tell of all God’s wonderful works. God’s works are full of wonder and for us to really thank God for all he has given us we need to see that wonder and be filled with awe, but I’m afraid that we have lost our ability to be amazed by God. When was the last time we just stood in awe because of the beauty of a sunset or stood under a starry sky and felt a chill because of how small we seem in comparison to the vastness of space? This past week there was a news story about a new planet that formed beyond our galaxy but was pulled into the Milky Way by another star. While I found this news interesting, it did not fill me with awe and wonder. In our science-filled world where it seems like we can explain everything away we have lost some of the mystery of life. For example, when we have 24 hour weather forecasts available to us, we lose the sense of awe and mystery that comes when we wake up in the morning to the first frost, and are we never taken by surprise at the first snowfall or do we simply prepare for it?
And with all our advances in medical science – we lose any sense of amazement when our broken bones heal or when we overcome sickness and disease. With all the medicine we ingest and rehab we go through we forget that ultimately it is God who brings healing and restores wholeness and life. And volcanoes and earthquakes don’t fill us with awe anymore, like a new planet they just become news stories that we read or a crisis that we respond to. What we lose in our scientific world is the sense of wonder at the miracles of God’s creation. To really be able to give thanks we need to just stand and be amazed by the snow, awed by our bodies and overwhelmed by the majesty and the mystery and the sheer size and power of God’s creation.
The author Joseph Campbell said, Awe is what moves us on. Awe moves us on in our faith because awe and wonder are invitations to go deeper with God. What happened when Jesus calmed the storms or walked on water? The disciples asked themselves who is this that has such power. What happened was the disciples wanted to know more. Those moments of awe awakened in them a curiosity that helped them look deeper into the heart and mind and words and actions of Jesus. If we want a heart like David’s that really knows how to gives thanks and if we want a faith that hungers to know more, then we need to develop a sense of awe and wonder at the works of God. Twice David talks about God’s wonderful works (16:9, 16:12). Whether it is the miracles David has seen, or remembering how God’s hand guided the people of Israel through the wilderness or just looking around at the beauty and power of creation, David is filled with wonder when he thinks about God and we need to be filled with that same sense of wonder when we think of who God is and what God has done for us and how God has created us and the world around us.
I’d like us to do that for just us a moment. I want us to look at one of the most wonderful things God has created – look at your hands. Look at how amazing they are. Notice how each finger moves. Notice how the thumb is different. It is in a different place and because it is we are able to do so much. From creating music to building skyscrapers, our hands enable us to do so much. And look at the lines and fingerprints – remember that they are unique in all of the world – no one else has hands like yours, no one ever has and no one ever will. And no one else has done with their hands what you have done. If your hands have some wrinkles on them, then think of all the work they have done, all the hands they have held, all the children they’ve helped, all the love they have shared, all strangers that they have welcomed. Our hands are wonderful – literally they are full of wonder and we need to give thanks for that.
Wonder is an invitation into mystery; it is what awakens our hearts to God and to the fullness of life around us. Without wonder the world becomes sterile and rigid and when everything is explained away we find very little for which to give thanks, so wonder is essential to giving thanks, and wonder is key for a deeper faith, but for us to recapture this sense of wonder we need the second ingredient of our thanks-giving meal and that is leisure.
Leisure is a rare commodity today. We feel like we need to fill our days with constant motion and activity and many of us feel guilty if they aren’t working every moment of every day. We feel like we are depriving our children if they aren’t involved in every sport and activity that is offered to them, and yet what we have scheduled right out of our lives is rest and without rest we have no time to reflect. Webster’s dictionary defines leisure as the freedom from hurry. Wouldn’t we all like some of that in this season of the year? Freedom from hurry, and an ancient Chinese definition of leisure says it is the space in which we let the sun shine. In the bible this kind of leisure time is known as Sabbath – a day of rest, but it is not a day to do nothing – it is a day to remember and reflect. After God created the heavens and the earth it says on the seventh day God rested, now I don’t think God did nothing on that day, I think God spent that day of leisure remembering all he had done and looking out over all of his creation and saying, this is good. I think God was filled with wonder and awe and joy at what he saw. We have a wonderful God, which means we have a God full of wonder himself and the only way we can experience that wonder and the only way we can experience the fullness of God and really be able to give thanks to God is if we are willing to take the time to do it.
Leisure is absolutely necessary if we are going to have a heart like David. David took the time to think about God. David took the time to sing praises to God; he took the time glory in God, to seek God, and to remember God’s wonder-full works, and God’s covenant and God’s faithfulness. David took the time look out at all of creation and see in it and hear it in the praise of God. David took time to reflect and remember and it was because he did all this that he was able to rejoice and give thanks. David not only took the time but he shows us that if we want to truly give thanks then we need to take the time as well. This whole psalm is a call for us to take some time to reflect and remember who God is and what God has done. Through David God calls us to sing and remember and declare and worship and tremble before God. Through David God calls us and take a look at all of his creation and be amazed. If we don’t take this time to reflect on who God is and what God has done and what God is doing in our lives, we will never cultivate a heart like David’s that is able to really give thanks to God.
It’s interesting that we seem to take pretty seriously some of the 10 commandments like thou shalt not kill or steal or worship false gods, but we don’t take seriously the call to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. We tell ourselves that we are just too busy to rest and there is simply no time to reflect and as long as we live that way, we will not experience the fullness of life that God wants for us. God took a Sabbath rest, not because God was tired but because wanted to reflect on his wonderful works and God simply wants us to do the same thing. Please take some time to rest and reflect and take note of God’s works that are full of wonder. When you do, your heart will be filled with thanks and praise to God.
My hope is that in the next few days, in between all the chaotic schedules of families, food and football games that you will carve out some leisure time to rest and remember with family and friends. Make some space in your heart and life to reflect on the way God’s love is shining in your life. Remember the awesome ways God has provided for you; come up with five ways in which God has shown you that he cares for you. There is a thanksgiving meal that won’t leave you feeling bloated and full at the end of the day, in fact, it is a meal that once you start eating you will never be able to stop and it is the meal of thanks-giving. It is a meal which requires us all to take the time and create the space to rediscover all the wonder of God.
