Enter His Gates with Thanksgiving

November 19.2006

Rev. Eddie Smart

Psalm 100:1-5

A Psalm of thanksgiving.

Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth.

2Worship the LORD with gladness;

come into his presence with singing.

3Know that the LORD is God.

It is he that made us, and we are his;

we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

4Enter his gates with thanksgiving,

and his courts with praise.

Give thanks to him, bless his name.

5For the LORD is good;

his steadfast love endures forever,

and his faithfulness to all generations.

      Back in the very early thirties, William Stidger was seated one day with a group of friends in a restaurant. Everyone was talking about the depression: how terrible it was, the suffering people, rich people committing suicide, the jobless, the whole thing. The conversation got more and more miserable as it went on. There was a minister in the group, and he suddenly broke in and . said, "I don't know what I'm going to do, because in two or three weeks I have to preach a sermon on Thanksgiving Day. I want to say something affirmative. What can I say that's affirmative in a period of world depression like this?" And as the minister spoke, Stidger said it was like the Spirit of God spoke to him: "Why don't you give thanks to those people who have been a blessing in your life and affirm them during this terrible time?"

      Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. (Ps. 100:1-2)

Out of the 150 Psalms, seventeen of those have been classified by Dr. Toni Cravens as Psalms of Thanksgiving and Trust. She also classifies 15 Psalms as Hymns of Praise, including Psalm 100. Praise and Thanksgiving-we are called to praise and thanksgiving. Praise and Thanksgiving are two important elements in our prayers.

Many of us introduce our children to prayer through giving thanks. We say blessings at meal times. We teach them to pray before bed time. Those prayers often are prayers of thanksgiving.

Often children teach us about prayer and giving thanks. Sometimes kids offer us a very simple wisdom.

When Ryan was 5, he offered the following prayer during his family devotions: "Dear Jesus, sorry for the mess we made in the yard today." After a slight pause, he concluded, "Thank you for the fun we had doing it." Sometimes we need to be thankful for such simple things as fun.

      Know that the Lord is God ]t is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. (Psalm 100:2)

      Scripture tells us to give thanks in all circumstances. Sometimes God cares for our needs in ways that don't seem to make sense.

Corrie Ten Boom in The Hiding Place relates an incident which taught her this principle. She and her sister, Betsy, had just been transferred to the worst German prison camp they had seen yet, Ravensbruck. Upon entering the barracks, they found them extremely overcrowded and flea-infested. Their Scripture reading that morning in 1 Thessalonians had reminded them to rejoice always, pray constantly, and give thanks in all circumstances. Betsy told Corrie to stop and thank the Lord for every detail of their new living quarters. Corrie at first flatly refused to give thanks for the fleas, but Betsy persisted. She finally succumbed. During the months spent at that camp, they were surprised to find how openly they could hold Bible study and prayer meetings without guard interference. It was several months later when they learned that the guards would not enter the barracks because of the fleas.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. (Psalm 100:4)

   Rudyard Kipling at one time was so popular that his writings were getting ten shillings per word. A few college students, however didn't appreciate Kipling's writings; they facetiously sent him a letter enclosing ten shillings. It read, "Please, send us your best word." They got back a letter from Kipling, "Thanks."

Many years ago, I went to hear Doctor Martin Luther King, Sr. King said his mother had told him to always thank God for what was left. And that was something to think about: if you've got enough breath left to complain, you have something left. I thought that was very impressive, and I really made a mental note of it.

   Some years later I went back to Atlanta to Ebenezer Church, and by this time Dr. King had lost A. D. and M. L., his two sons, and his beloved wife had been shot to death right before his eyes at the organ in that very sanctuary. Guess what the old man was saying? 'Thank God for what's left.' There's always enough left in life to make it worth living.

     Giving thanks does wonders for us. Henry Ward Beecher give us even

more reason for having a thankful heart.

He says, "If one should give me a dish of sand, and tell me there were particles of iron in it, I might look for them with my clumsy fingers, and be unable to detect them; but let me take a magnet, and sweep through it, and it would draw to itself the most invisible particles. The unthankful heart, like my finger in the sand, discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day, and as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find some heavenly blessings. "

For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. (Psalm 100:5) It is in response to the Lord's goodness, faithfulness, and love that we give thanks to God for others and give thanks to others.

After making his suggestion to the other minister, Rev. William Stidger began to think about what he might do. The thought came to his mind of a schoolteacher very dear to him, a wonderful teacher of poetry and English literature from years ago who had gone out of her way to put a great love of literature and verse in him. It affected all his writings and his preaching. So he sat down and wrote a letter to this woman, now up in years. It was only a matter of days until he got a reply in the feeble scrawl of the aged. "My Dear Willy"--Stidger says at that time he was about 50 years of age and was bald, and no one had called him Willy for a long time, so just the opening sentence warmed his heart. Here's the letter:                                                                               .

"My Dear Willy: I can't tell you how much your note meant to me. I am in my eighties, living alone in a small room, cooking my own meals, lonely, and like the last leaf of autumn lingering behind." Listen to this sentence, will you? "You'll be interested to know that I taught in school for more than fifty years, and yours is the first note of appreciation I ever received. It came on a blue, cold morning, and it cheered me as nothing has done in many years.”

Stidger says, "I'm not sentimental, but I found myself weeping over that note. Then he thought of a kindly bishop, now retired, an old man who had recently faced the death of his wife and was all alone. This bishop had taken a lot of time, given him advice and counsel and love when he first began his ministry. So he sat down and wrote the old bishop. In two days a reply came back.

"My Dear Will: Your letter was so beautiful, so real, that as I sat reading it my study, tears fell from my eyes, tears of gratitude. Before I realized what I was doing, I rose from my chair and I called her name to share it with her, forgetting she was gone. You'll never know how much your letter has warmed my spirit. I have been walking around in the glow of your letter all day long.”

So in this time of thanksgiving, we can give thanks for those people who have been a blessing in our lives. Our lives can be a living sacrifice for. others-a sacrifice of thanksgiving to a good, faithful, loving God.