Inviting Job to Thanksgiving Dinner
What would it be like to have Job (you know, the guy from the Bible) over to your house for Thanksgiving Dinner?
That's a question that intrigued me this past week as I prepared to preach our Thanksgiving Sunday sermon on Psalm 136. Here are are few thoughts, and then a link to the sermon if you're interested in hearing how Psalm 136 fits in the discussion . . .
First, think about what Job would do if he came to your house for Thanksgiving Dinner BEFORE he lost everything. I would expect him to be the life of the party, jumping at the chance to carve the turkey and say the thanksgiving prayer. You’d get tired of him counting all his blessings, naming them one by one! And none of us, not even Satan, would blame Job for being so thankful . . . after all, look how much God has blessed him!
And biblically speaking, that response is right and good because gratitude is the response to grace. The Greek word that in our Bibles is translated GRACE is charis means “gift”. Grace is God giving you the gift of His favor and love when you don’t deserve it. As one author put it, "Grace is the face that love wears when it meets the undeserving." But the Greek word that is translated THANKSGIVING or GIVE THANKS also comes from that word charis . . . the word eucharisto means “give thanks.” Gratitude ou response to receiving a gift! God’s grace and our gratitude are inseparably linked.
So, yes, gratitude is the right response to God’s gracious gifts . . . But what do you do when all of God’s blessings have been taken away? . . . when it seems God has withheld His grace?
What would Job do if you invited him to Thanksgiving Dinner AFTER he lost everything but his miserable life and his miserable wife? Job just might change that old gospel song to: “Count my many blessings? I can’t think of one.” What would Thanksgiving mean to a guy like Job? What’s Job got to be thankful for? Would you blame Job for not fully engaging in the festivities? Would Job wear his “Too blessed to be stressed” t-shirt to the party?
But this is how Job responded after he lost all of his wealth and all of his children: “Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.” (Job 1:20–22, ESV)
And this is how Job responded after he lost his health and his wife told him to curse God and die: “But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.” (Job 2:10, ESV)
Now, I know what you’re thinking . . . yeah, he started off well, but he spent the whole rest of the book griping and grumbling to God, not grateful to Him. Yes, I’ll admit, the man struggled to hang on to his confession of gratitude, but be patient, I’ll come back to that. Besides, we need to get to Psalm 136 . . .
Psalm 136 will tell us there’s a DEEPER GRACE still . . . a deeper grace for which we can still be grateful even when we’ve lost all else.
And since there exists a GRACE that is deeper than the graces of good food, friends, family, finances, and physical health, God wants to equip you by His Spirit with Psalm 136 for a GRATITUDE that is deeper than the gratitude you have for all the many blessings God has given you. There just may come a day when you are the Job who’s been invited to Thanksgiving Dinner . . . and you need to be ready for it. For some of you, this Thanksgiving already feels that way . . .
Hear the sermon for more: Grace and Gratitude
That's a question that intrigued me this past week as I prepared to preach our Thanksgiving Sunday sermon on Psalm 136. Here are are few thoughts, and then a link to the sermon if you're interested in hearing how Psalm 136 fits in the discussion . . .
First, think about what Job would do if he came to your house for Thanksgiving Dinner BEFORE he lost everything. I would expect him to be the life of the party, jumping at the chance to carve the turkey and say the thanksgiving prayer. You’d get tired of him counting all his blessings, naming them one by one! And none of us, not even Satan, would blame Job for being so thankful . . . after all, look how much God has blessed him!
And biblically speaking, that response is right and good because gratitude is the response to grace. The Greek word that in our Bibles is translated GRACE is charis means “gift”. Grace is God giving you the gift of His favor and love when you don’t deserve it. As one author put it, "Grace is the face that love wears when it meets the undeserving." But the Greek word that is translated THANKSGIVING or GIVE THANKS also comes from that word charis . . . the word eucharisto means “give thanks.” Gratitude ou response to receiving a gift! God’s grace and our gratitude are inseparably linked.
So, yes, gratitude is the right response to God’s gracious gifts . . . But what do you do when all of God’s blessings have been taken away? . . . when it seems God has withheld His grace?
What would Job do if you invited him to Thanksgiving Dinner AFTER he lost everything but his miserable life and his miserable wife? Job just might change that old gospel song to: “Count my many blessings? I can’t think of one.” What would Thanksgiving mean to a guy like Job? What’s Job got to be thankful for? Would you blame Job for not fully engaging in the festivities? Would Job wear his “Too blessed to be stressed” t-shirt to the party?
But this is how Job responded after he lost all of his wealth and all of his children: “Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.” (Job 1:20–22, ESV)
And this is how Job responded after he lost his health and his wife told him to curse God and die: “But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.” (Job 2:10, ESV)
Now, I know what you’re thinking . . . yeah, he started off well, but he spent the whole rest of the book griping and grumbling to God, not grateful to Him. Yes, I’ll admit, the man struggled to hang on to his confession of gratitude, but be patient, I’ll come back to that. Besides, we need to get to Psalm 136 . . .
Psalm 136 will tell us there’s a DEEPER GRACE still . . . a deeper grace for which we can still be grateful even when we’ve lost all else.
And since there exists a GRACE that is deeper than the graces of good food, friends, family, finances, and physical health, God wants to equip you by His Spirit with Psalm 136 for a GRATITUDE that is deeper than the gratitude you have for all the many blessings God has given you. There just may come a day when you are the Job who’s been invited to Thanksgiving Dinner . . . and you need to be ready for it. For some of you, this Thanksgiving already feels that way . . .
Hear the sermon for more: Grace and Gratitude
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