Thanks! - 1 Thessalonians 5:14-24

     To see the full message, scroll to the bottom. 

Let’s look at three prayers of thanks spoken by Jesus during His ministry, and ask what we have to learn from His example. 

______ 

First, Jesus prayed His thanks for something that God had given.  

Jesus had been teaching, healing, ministering to people, and preaching the good news of the coming kingdom of God. A crowd had followed Him out into the middle of nowhere. They were all several Ubers and a plane ride from the nearest restaurant. There's no food anywhere.  

The disciples replied, “Where in this desolate place could we find enough bread to feed such a large crowd?” 

“How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. 

“Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.” 

He instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground. Taking the seven loaves and the fish, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. Matthew 15:33-36 

Matthew goes on to tell us that over 4,000 men plus women and children were fed from those few loaves and fish.  

These people were where they were because of Jesus. They had followed Him, and now they were hungry. Jesus did what would come naturally in a hospitality-focused culture: He acted as host. He told them to be seated, inviting them to His table. Then He took the food that He had. He did what the host at table would do: He gave thanks. ‘Blessed are you, Lord God, king of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.’ 

Then He shared it.  

What Jesus held in His hands was clearly inadequate to the task before Him. But He understood that what was in His hands was also in God's hands, because His hands were in God's hands. He stood in the will of God. He stood in the sight of God, ready to do what God had given Him to do.  

He began by saying, ‘Thank you for what I've got.’ Then He did what He could with what He had.  

Let's join Jesus in that posture of prayer. Hold out your hands in front of you and consider: 

What has God put in your hands? Is it money? Food? Know-how? Creativity? Strength? A social network that has lots of good connections?  

Consider what God wants you to do with what He has put in your hands.  

• What resources can you offer, however small those are?  
• In whose hands do they actually rest?  

We pray our prayer of thanks.  

Our Father in heaven, we thank you. We thank you for what you have given us to hold. Now show us what to do. Amen.  

______ 

Next, Jesus thanked God for the way He had listened and spoken. 

Jesus stood at the tomb of His friend Lazarus.  

He’d known Lazarus was dying. He'd known well in advance what was going to happen. 

Lazarus had been dead now for four days, and Jesus had been accused of coming too late. ‘If you had been here sooner, you could have prevented all of this pain!’ 

Jesus replied, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. Then Jesus lifted his eyes upward and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I say this for the benefit of the people standing here, so they may believe that you sent me.” After Jesus had said this, he called out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” John 11:40-43 

Jesus was not at that memorial gathering to give thanks for Lazarus' life well-lived. Or for what Lazarus meant to the people who loved him. Or for eternal life beyond death. He didn't even give thanks for the power to do miracles.  

Jesus simply gave thanks for having been heard by the Father.  

What did Jesus actually pray that God heard? This my best interpretation of the different teachings that I've encountered on the question.  

Let’s look ahead to Paul’s letter to the church in Rome. 

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know how we ought to pray, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. Romans 8:26-27 

When I picture Jesus in those days of waiting, far away from where Lazarus was lying ill and dying... where his sisters–Jesus' friends and disciples—were suffering and wishing that Jesus would come... I think He must have been restless. Wanting to go. Wrestling with the waiting. I picture Jesus praying (as He prayed at other times in His earthly life) "Father, what is your will?”  

The Father would have heard that prayer. In response, Holy Spirit within Jesus would have said, ‘wait.’ So Jesus waited. Until Holy Spirit within him said, ‘go,’ and He went.  

Jesus, only then, immediately got up and crossed the river and climbed the hill. He made His stand in a group of people who thought He was weird, or possibly even dangerous. He did something that literally made Him look like a fool: He told a dead man to come out of the tomb. Jesus was willing to trust God because He knew that when He prayed ‘What is your will?’ He had been heard. And answered. 

Let's join Jesus in that posture of prayer. Sit tall in your seat. Raise your eyes and open your arms.  

We look upward to ask: God, what is your will?  

What do you want us to do? What do you want us to not do?  

• Do you want us to wait? Do you want us to go?  
• Do you want us to speak? Do you want us to be silent?  
• We pray our prayer of thanks. 

Our Father in heaven, thank you that we have been heard. Now show us what to do.  

______ 

Finally, Jesus prayed a prayer of thanks for what God has done.  

After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.”  And he took the bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” Luke 22:17-19 

Luke records this Passover feast that Jesus shared with his disciples. 

When Jesus gave thanks for the cup and for the bread, He wasn’t just thankful for the sustenance itself, but for what they represented. 

That Passover cup of wine--yes, it represented something that was going to happen in the future, but for those Jewish believers before Jesus' death and resurrection, that cup represented promises that Yahweh God had made and kept. That flat circle of unleavened bread represented the urgent and immediate response by His people to the command of God. The only bread they had time to prepare before God said, “Go” and they went. For generations and generations of Jewish believers up to the point of Jesus' life on earth, and on into today, those elements—wine and bread—represent the day a revolution began. When a nation of slaves stepped out of their chains, and into covenant with the God who promised them that their lives were going to mean something extraordinary! 

Jesus, that night, at that table, was dwelling in that moment. That circle of friends, that little pool of light, was the eye of a hurricane. A bubble of calm. The storm was still out there. Soon they would go out the door and get swept up in the winds.  

But for just that moment, in just that place, with just each other, just sitting still... they remembered. They remembered what God had promised, and what God had done.  

Let's join Jesus in His posture of prayer.  

Turn your head to look over your shoulder, remembering what God has done. Remembering how far He has brought you. What’s back there? 

Days of fear and anxiety that God has brought you through?  

Times of poverty and hunger that God has brought you through?  

Seasons of sickness, or of injury that you needed to recover from? And maybe it was a long road, but God brought you through.  

Remember the things that God has done. Dwell in this moment, and recognise that he has kept his promises. Remind yourself that he will keep his promises.  

And, like Jesus, having remembered...Get up from that table, go out the door, and walk the path God has for you to walk.  

Our Father in heaven, we thank you for what you have done. We thank you that you have brought us this far. Now show us what to do.  

______ 

Our scripture focus this week is from the writings of Paul. It provides us with instruction about how to live together in a life of faith. How do we do this well? There's a whole list of things there that Paul points to. 

‘Okay, you guys, take care of those who take care of you. Make peace with each other. Challenge the lazy. Challenge the troublemakers. Encourage the discouraged. Help the weak. Be patient with everyone. Don't pay back wrong for wrong. Do what is good for each other, and for everyone else. Don't hinder, don't snuff out the Spirit. When someone in your congregation prophesies to you, test those words and make sure you know they are true. Hang on to the good and reject the evil.’ 

In the middle of all that ‘each other’ activity, Paul includes these words: 

Always be joyful [together.] Never stop praying [together.] Be thankful in all circumstances [together.] For this is God's will for you who [together] belong to Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 

Paul is not preaching “you do you.” He’s not preaching a pop-optimism: ‘don't worry, be happy, now.’ He's not preaching a confirmation bias: ‘Something went right! I guess God must love me.’ 

What Paul is preaching is this; gratitude in believers in Christ, gratitude in the Church, is how we live together. Gratitude is our unified statement of an unqualified fact: that we have a Father in heaven, that His name is holy, and that His kingdom is the space in our lives where He rules.  

When we intentionally and expressly pause and say ‘thank you’ to Him, we are making the same statement. 

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we would be a kind of firstfruits of his creation. James 1:17-18 

______ 

In Jesus’ life, thanksgiving was not a reflexive thing, done to be polite. 

It was a declaration of the most foundational reality. We have a Father. His name—His reputation—is the best thing ever. Our lives are His kingdom. 

To hear the full message: