Dear Christian friends:

The President of the United States has again proclaimed this day a special day of thanksgiving. President Reagan has urged our people to offer thanks to God for the many blessings given our nation this year.

Therefore we have gathered here today on this special day with our Christian friends to thank and praise God for His blessings on our nation.

To guide us in this special thanksgiving I have chosen a text from St. Paul's letter to the Ephesians. Paul writes: "Give thanks always for all things unto God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." (5:20) In this verse St. Paul presents the basic ideas of thanksgiving. So I want to preach to you about the topic today:


"Give thanks always." Christians should thank God everyday, "always," not only once a year on Thanksgiving Day. Daily we Christians thank and praise our wonderful God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Also every Sunday we thank and praise God in church worship service. When we come to the Lord's Supper we thank and praise God for Jesus our Savior.

Another name for the Lord's Supper is "Eucharist." That means what? It is a Greek word meaning thanksgiving. Before we eat the bread and wine we say a prayer of thanksgiving. (Read it!) Yes, we Christians thank God everyday and every Sunday, but today we have a special thanksgiving day to thank God chiefly for the good crops, the bountiful harvest and other blessings He has with great mercy poured down on our nation again this year.

Christians thank God "always" and on special days like today. This is the first basic rule of thanksgiving from St. Paul here in our text. And now we take up the second basic rule of thanksgiving. What is that?

Paul says, "Give thanks always for all things." Christians thank God for all things, both the good and the bad things. Christians thank God when sick and when well. We thank God for good things, but do we thank Him for the bad? Hard times are God's way of strengthening His children so that they grow stronger in faith. God often permits hard times to happen to us because He loves us.

Often we think God doesn't care or that He hates us in bad times. But the Bible says, "The Lord corrects him whom He loves and chastises every son whom He receives." (Hebrews 12:6)

George Matheson wrote this:

"My God, I have never thanked Thee for my thorn. I have thanked Thee a thousand times for my roses, but not once for my thorns. I have been looking forward to a world where I shall get compensation for my cross, but I have never thought of my cross as itself a present glory . . . . Teach me the glory of my cross, teach me the value of my thorn. Show me that I have climbed to Thee by the path of pain. Show me that my tears have made my rainbow."

Paul was a better Christian because God gave him a certain sickness in his body, his "thorn in the flesh." (2 Corinthians 12:7) From "Understanding Suffering," by B.W. Woods, "So we Christians thank God for "all things," good things and bad things. We thank God for our "thorns" as well as for our "roses."

This year in our nation many people were laid-off from their jobs. Now unemployment is almost 11%. Our nation is in a deep depression. We are suffering a "thorn" in our nation, an economic thorn. God wants to teach us something by letting us have economic problems. Maybe God wants to teach us to be more humble and rejoice in Him and not so much happy about riches. Thank God today for our depression! In poverty our faith and spirit can look to God easier then in good times!

Yet God has not forsaken us. Again this year our U.S. farmers have a large harvest of crops: wheat, corn, soy beans, beef and hogs, turkeys and fruits and vegetables. Our stores are full of plenty fine foods. We have a huge surplus of wheat, corn, milk and cheese. That is a "rose." Thank God for that "rose"!

Yes, thank God today for "all things" that have happened to our nation this year. Thank Him for our nation this year. Thank Him for the good as well as for the bad. We need both.

Let us today also thank God for His blessings on our congregation Pilgrim Lutheran Church for the Deaf. God has permitted us to gather here each Sunday and on special days to hear His Word and join in the Holy Supper that our faith and love can live and grow. Also He gave us a special blessing in the Pony Express program which we have just finished. Let us give thanks for every Route Rider, every Trail Boss and every worker in the Pony Express. Let us give thanks to God for every person who had love and faith and wrote their estimate for 1983. Let us give thanks for this growth of faith, love and service in our congregation!

Yes, give thanks always for all things. Those are the first and second basic rules of thanksgiving. Now we see the third and last rule. What is that?

Give thanks unto God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Many people today will thank God, but some will not thank Him in "Jesus' name." Why? They don't believe that Jesus is the Son of God and only Savior for sinners. They don't believe in the Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God will not accept their thanksgiving.

God accepts our praise and thanks when we pray in Jesus' name. Why? We are sinners and can't pray to God or go near to God with our sins. But in Jesus God shows mercy to us and forgives all our sins. If we believe in Jesus, then God accepts our prayers, praises and thanksgiving. Through faith in Jesus God is our dear Father and we are His dear children. Therefore He is pleased to hear our prayers and to receive our praise and thanks. Give thanks in Jesus' name! That is the third basic rule of thanksgiving.

"Give thanks always, for all things. Give thanks to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Amen.