Genesis 23 "Lessons from the Death of Sarah"

About 17 years have passed between Chapters 22 and 23, the sacrifice of Isaac and the death of his mother, Sarah. In Genesis 22, Abraham reached the pinnacle of faith and obedience as he takes Isaac to Mount Moriah to sacrifice him there. Now in Genesis 23, Abraham descends into the depths as we watch him  grieving, saying goodbye to his wife, Sarah. 

Chapter 23 is about the death of Sarah, the wife of Abraham, but it contains much more than the death of Sarah. Here we learn lessons about grieving, about  true values.  We learn about our ultimate home.  

23:1 The death of Sarah. Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. Sarah is the only woman in the Bible whose age at death is recorded. Another interesting   fact is that nowhere in the Bible are we told to look to Mary the mother of Jesus as an example of a godly woman (and doubtless she was), but  twice we are  told to look to Sarah as such an example (Isa. 51:1-2 ; 1 Pet. 3:3-6).

23:2 Abraham grieves over Sarah. And Sarah died in Kirjath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. Sarah was 127 years old when she died. Isaac, her son Isaac would now be thirty-seven. She died before she would see her son Isaac married, but   God was gracious to allow her to see her son to be a man.

Abraham mourned and wept over Sarah. What a hard day it is when a man must bury his wife- his best friend!  Grief is a good and proper, God given emotion to man. Every emotion in proper proportion  and  measure   (e.g. joy, sorrow and even anger) is good. At the grave of Lazarus Jesus wept (Jn. 11:35) and it was commented upon by the Jews, ‘See how he loved him’ (Jn. 11:36).

But Christians ought never to be overtaken by   their grief to the point in which they become emotionally crippled and hopeless, unable to function.  There is a distinction between grief and despair. Grief is proper and good according to the Scriptures. It is important to grieve and to shed tears. There is, after all a real sense of loss. The death of Sarah is a very hard experience for Abraham. But that sense of loss must not lead to despair. Despair is grief without hope.   Paul, in writing to the Thessalonians makes this point,   “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope” (1 Thess. 4:13). The death  of a loved one can be a very soul- crippling  experience  and it can be  a distracting factor to our  living,   and some  people never properly  recover from grieving. They grieve without hope. Abraham does not. In Chapter 25 we shall see that Abraham will remarry, and Keturah his second wife will bear him 6 more sons (25:2).  Remarriage was no betrayal of Sarah. Sarah would always have a special place in Abraham’s heart.

So then, as was customary in those days, and being nomadic people, the body of Sarah was placed in a tent, and Abraham is with her and it is here that we find him weeping. The memories that flood his mind are many.  He probably remembers when they were first married, when they were first called by God to leave their family in Ur and go to an unknown land- the land of promise. Sarah had shared everything with him - his uncertainty, his hardships, the unsettled life and the sinful decisions. He remembers how Sarah cried bitter tears over her barrenness. In her desperation to give him a son, she even offered her servant girl Hagar to him and Ishmael was born. He remembered too, how finally Isaac, the son of promise was born. And now she is dead. We can scarcely imagine the impact of Sarah's death upon Abraham. They had had been married, perhaps, for well more than a 100 years. And now Abraham must carry on this life without her.

23: 3-9 Abraham buys land for Sarah’s burial from the Hittites. “I am a foreigner and a foreigner among you”.  Abraham was a foreigner among these Hittites, but that was not what made him feel as a foreigner. Hebrews 11:8-10 helps us to understand.  He wasn’t ultimately looking for a piece of earthly real estate. “He was look for that city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.”  He recognized his real home and abiding was not here on earth.  David knew this truth (1 Chron. 29:14 and   Ps. 39:12).  And that is one of the great reasons why Abraham did not despair when Sarah died, and why David did not despair when his little son died (2 Sam. 12:15-23). Their hearts were not in the hands of death and grief. Their hearts were in God’s hands.  

The commentator Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse  illustrates this  in a moving story.[1]  He told of a young woman whose husband had been killed in action during the war. When the telegram came, she read it and then said to her mother. "Mother, I am going up to my room and please don't disturb me." Her mother called the father at work and told him what had happened. He came home and immediately went up to the room. He opened the door quietly.  He saw her kneeling beside her bed. The telegram was spread open on the bed before her as she was bowed over it. And as he stood there,he heard her say, "Oh, my heavenly Father, Oh, my Father, my heavenly Father." Without a word the man turned around and went back down the stairs and said to his wife, "She is in better hands than mine."

And now Abraham asks for a place to bury her. “Give me property for a burial place among you” (23:4). He had a particular place in mind – the cave of Machpelah.  It was situated on the land owned by Ephron the son of Zohar. Abraham had earlier lived in this area and here he had built an altar to God (Gen. 13:18).

23: 10-16 Abraham negotiates with Ephron the Hittite for the land of Sarah’s tomb. This is one of few places in the land of Palestine that has been authenticated today. One can visit the cave of Machpelah- the cave of the Patriarchs.[2] This is also where Isaac and Ishmael would bury Abraham (Gen 25:9). Isaac and Rebekah were both buried here (Gen. 49:31). Jacob buried Leah here (Gen.49:31); Joseph buried Jacob here (Gen. 50:13). Joseph did not want to be buried in Egypt. He wanted his bones brought back to the land of Canaan and buried with the patriarchs (Gen. 50:25). It is located in the old city of Hebron. A  mosque has been built above it.

Ephron says to Abraham, “I give you the field and the cave”.  He did not mean it literally. This was apparently  a typical way of negotiating  in ancient cultures.  First, the seller offered to give the item free of charge – confident that the buyer would refuse the ceremonial offer. When the buyer refused ‘the gift’, the seller would suggest a price, which in our case he claimed was modest but was really very high. Abraham paid 400 shekels (23:15). By comparison, Jeremiah paid 17 shekels for a field (Jer. 32:9) and  David paid only 50 shekels to buy a site on which the temple  in  Jerusalem  was built. (2 Sam 24:24). This was a rip off!

23:17-20 Abraham buys the field and buries Sarah. The text emphasizes that this property was Abraham’s land by title deed.  It was the only piece of land Abraham ever owned, in the land promised to him. Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) was a famous Russian writer of short stories and novels. He wrote a short story entitled, “How much land does a man need?” 

The central character of this story is a man called Pahom, a greedy man. He complains that he does not own enough land. He says: "if I had plenty of land, I shouldn't fear the devil himself". Unbeknown to him, Satan is sitting behind the stove and listening. Satan accepts his challenge and also tells him that he would give Pahom more land, and then to snatch everything from him.   I will omit a lot of detail of Pahom’s greedy pursuit of land, but at the end of the story he is introduced to a family, the Bashkirs, who own a huge amount of land.  Their offer is very unusual.  For a sum of one thousand roubles, Pahom can walk around as large an area as he wants. He starts early in the morning, marking his route with a spade along the way. If he reaches his starting point by sunset that day, the entire area of the land which he has marked will be his, but if he does not reach his starting point as the sun goes down, he will lose his money and receive no land. He is delighted as he believes that he has hit upon the bargain of a lifetime. The day comes. He stays out as late as possible, marking out land until just before the sun sets. Towards the end of the day, he realizes that he is far from the starting point and runs back as fast as he can to the waiting land owners, the Bashkirs. He finally arrives at the starting point just as the sun sets, but he has utterly exhausted himself from the run, and as he arrives Pahom drops dead.

His servant buries him in an ordinary grave only six feet long and three feet wide. This answers the question posed in the title of the story, “How much land does a man need?”  

From Abraham’s perspective this was the only land that he needed on this earth to bury the mortal remains of his loved ones. The heavenly city was waiting. When you die the only piece of property you will own will be a plot in a cemetery. Everything else will belong to someone else.

There is a lesson  to be learned about the  request for a burial place.  Sarah’s soul is gone, but her body is here, and it is precious to the Lord and to Abraham.  The body- the remains ought to be precious to us too. When Mary discovered that the tomb in which Jesus was laid is empty, she doesn’t say, “They have taken away Jesus’ body and I don’t know where it is.” Her Lord had been taken away. Where was he? Abraham was conscious that this was the body of Sarah and it needed to be shown respect and love. This body must have a proper resting place, and a loving burial.   Burial plans ought to matter to us. Where his dear wife was to be buried was more than a matter of sentiment. Burying his wife was also a statement of faith. Have you considered what is going to happen to your body after your death? Where are you going to be buried? Have you drawn up a will? Do your loved ones know of your wishes? Have you thought of what you want said or sung at your funeral service? Who do you want to take that service?

CONCLUSION:

The big point behind  this story is that  Sarah dies in the land of Canaan, the land of promise, a reminder of the ultimate promise as found in Hebrews 11:13,  “All these died in faith without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.” This chapter is about persevering to the end, trusting in God and his promises,  trusting in  Him  even when our dreams  do not materialize in this world. 

Sarah died. There is escape from death.   In fact, the whole world is a hospital and every person in it is a terminal patient.  The question is ' how will you die?' Sarah  died in  hope and in faith,  even  though  she never   never saw her son’s bride; she never saw her offspring in this life; she never saw her grandchildren . She  never saw  her ultimate offspring – the Messiah in this life.

But  this we know, that when she died, when she left this body, her faith turned to sight, and whatever was unclear  for her on earth is now clear in heaven, as she has become a  citizen of  the eternal city.  

From that perspective you and I stand exactly where Sarah and Abraham stood 4000 years ago. We have not yet received the fulfillment of all God has promised. But we have the down payment, the inner assurance of the Holy Spirit, based upon  the promises in the Word. 

We will die, but the promises of God  continue  and await  the  fulfillment when we get to our heavenly Canaan. He who has been with us so far will not leave us when we depart from this world.

Thank God then  for these lessons  and encouragement from the life of Sarah. 

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[1] Told by Ray Stedman https://www.raystedman.org/old-testament/genesis/till-death-do-us-part

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_of_the_Patriarchs The Cave of the Patriarchs, also called the Cave of Machpelah (Hebrew: מערת המכפלה,  About this sound Me'arat ha-Makhpela  trans. "cave of the double tombs") and known by Muslims as the Sanctuary of Abraham or the Ibrahimi Mosque , located in the heart of the old city of Hebron (Al-Khalil) in the Hebron Hills.[Gen. 23:17-19][Gen. 50:13]  The site of the Cave of the Patriarchs is located beneath a Saladin-era mosque, which had been converted from a large rectangular Herodian-era Judean structure.

Acts 28:1-10 "Should we expect Signs and Wonders today?"

Following the shipwreck in Acts 27, Paul and the passengers discover that they are now on the island of Malta. Malta isn’t a big island (316 sq.km).  It is located in the Mediterranean, not far from the island of Sicily, located ‘on the toe’ of the boot of Italy.  It is thought that Malta has been inhabited since approximately 5900 BC. Its location in the centre of the Mediterranean has historically given it great strategic importance with a succession of powers having contested and ruled the islands, including the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, Sicilians, Spanish, French, and the  British.[1]

The fact that they came safely ashore (all 276  survived this – cf. 27:37—28:1) is a miracle. They were helped by the native people of Malta. The Greek word for native here is “barbaroi”, from which we get our word “barbarian”.  The Greeks used the word for anyone who didn’t speak Greek. Luke says that these native people ‘showed us unusual kindness for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all, because it had begun to rain and  is was cold’ (28:2).

Three miraculous things happen in this passage: 

1.     Paul  and the  passengers all escape certain death  after being  shipwrecked

2.     Paul  escapes a potentially fatal snakebite

3.     Paul  heals many

Because of these things, I wanted to ask a question. Should we expect signs and wonders in our own day? This is not an easy question, and there is no easy answer. Let’s try though, but before we do that,let us consider  the  story as it unfolds at face value.

Paul escapes the fatal consequence of a poisonous snake bite (28: 3-6)

In the process of lighting this fire, Paul also assists and as he takes a supposed stick, he   actually grabs a viper –evidently a poisonous  viper. I checked the internet. There are four species of snakes found in Malta today, but none of them are poisonous.  But this was 2000 years ago.  It is possible that this species could have become extinct.  There are islands in the Mediterranean that were once known to have been infested with such venomous snakes[2].  What is significant in our text is that the islanders knew this kind of snake. It’s so poisonous that they expected Paul to swell up and die.  And what is even more interesting is that they were assuming that this was happening to him because he had done something bad. This is the kind of thinking that many people engage in today. Why does this happen to him? He must be a murderer or something of the kind. The gods will not allow him to get away with this.  But they are equally capable of turning it around, so that when Paul doesn’t die from this snake bite, they ‘changed their minds and said that he was a god’ (28:6). This is not the first time this has happened to Paul. In 14:11, in Lystra, Barnabas and Paul were proclaimed gods after healing a crippled man, and very soon after this they stoned Paul. This is the fickleness of the human heart.  The Hallelujah’s of today very quickly become the ‘crucify him’ of tomorrow.  

Paul heals Publius’ father and many  people of  the island (28:7-10)

Publius[3] the prōtos, the “chief official” of the island is most likely the Governor of Malta. We are not told why he offers them hospitality.  Maybe he offers hospitality to Julius, the centurion in charge of Paul and his group, an officer of the elite Imperial Regiment (27:1), and so has to take care of his prisoners as well. Maybe Paul is known to be some kind of celebrity. Maybe his fame has preceded him.   Whatever the case may be, while Paul is staying with Publius his celebrity status will increase. He discovers that Publius’ father is ill with “fever and dysentery”.  Some commentators believe this to be the  “Malta Fever”. Apparently, this disease was common in Malta, Gibraltar and other Mediterranean islands. A micro-organism, which was finally traced in 1887 to the milk of Maltese goats, caused the problem. It causes a fever which can last for an average of four months, and can persist up to three years.[4]  Whatever the case may be, when Paul found out, he prayed and laid hands on the sick man, and he was healed immediately. News of this spread quickly and soon everyone else who was sick on Malta came to Paul and they were all healed (28:9).

All this leaves us with questions about such signs, miracles and wonders today. Should we expect signs, wonders and miracles today?  One thing is for certain. The book of Acts, at large, leaves us breathless and excited, and we often wished that church was as exciting in our day as it was then. The question is this. Can it be now, as it was then?  The evangelical world is divided on this issue. Some say that signs and wonders of this magnitude were limited to  the apostolic age  and others say  that signs and wonders ought to be the norm today.   The one  view  is called ‘cessationism’, whereas the other  view is known as ‘continuationism’.

Let me give you a very brief synopsis of  how  both positions would argue  their case  before we return to our text  in conclusion.

1.     Signs and Wonders Limited to the Apostolic Age (Cessationism)

This view does not say that miracles don't happen. It just means that they are not normative. The miraculous ministry of Jesus and the apostles was unique. Signs and wonders were not done by Christians in general, but they were the signs of the apostles, and of an apostolic age. When the apostles were gone, this ministry ended. It seems as if    signs and wonders were not the common domain among Christians in general. They were limited  to the special ministry of  Jesus  and the apostles.   Texts which are quoted in support are,  

….With respect to Jesus:  Acts 2:22, "Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs which God did through him."

…With respect to the  apostles:  

·       Acts 2:43 "Fear came upon every soul; and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles" [not through the Christians in general].

·       Acts 5:12  "Now many signs and wonders were done among the people by the hands of the apostles" [not by the hands of all the Christians].

·        Acts 14:3, "So they [Paul and Barnabas] remained for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands."

·        Acts 15:12, "And all the assembly kept silence; and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles" [and not by other  Christians].

All these texts would indicate that  signs and wonders were done  by Christ and  the apostles, and that in the beginning stages of  the church. These were needed  to authenticate the ministry of Christ, the apostles and the early church.

The proponents  of cessationism  would argue  furthermore that  a text  like 2 Corinthians 12:12 teaches this. Here  Paul is writing to defend his apostleship at Corinth against the claim that  others were the true or greater apostles. He says, "The signs of an apostle were performed among you in all patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works." So again it looks like signs and wonders have had a special role to play in authenticating  the work  of the apostles alone  (cf. Rom. 15:19).

The proponents of cessationism also point out that  in church history there  has never been anyone that we know of that regularly healed people the way Jesus and the apostles did—instantly, completely, and always.  This is quite a strong argument. The 20^th century Pentecostal and Charismatic movement which claimed to have revived the ancient apostolic   ministry and practise has failed to convince us that this ministry is indeed normative today. For reasons like these, one group of evangelicals says that signs and wonders ceased as a normative part of the ministry when the apostles finished their work.

2.     Signs and Wonders  continue today (Continuationism)  

This view says that we should see more signs and wonders today than we do.  Continuationists  maintain that sign, wonders and miracles are given both for the blessing of the church and for the spread of the gospel.  This view argues that there seems to be a continuity between Jesus' ministry and the Church's ministry. It was not just limited to the ministry of the apostles.   For instance, in Luke 9:2, when Jesus sent out the twelve, "He sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal." And in Luke 10:9 when he sent out the 70, he commanded them, "Whenever you enter a town. . . heal the sick in it and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near you.'" So it’s not just the apostles, but  also the  seventy!  Furthermore, the preaching of the kingdom seems to be very closely linked with the ministry of healing.  Jesus seems to teach a continuity between his ministry and the ministry of the church. He does not say, "Make healing part of the ministry while I am here, but not after I am gone."

Continuationists furthermore point out that signs and wonders are done  in  the Book of Acts by non-apostles.  Two of the deacons, Stephen and Philip (Acts 6:5) also do signs and wonders as part of their ministry. "Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and signs among the people." (Acts 6:8). And in Acts 8:6 it says, "And the multitudes with one accord gave heed to what was said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs which he did."

Continuationists also appeal  to texts like Galatians 3:5:  "Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith?" The point is that God is supplying his Spirit to the Galatians now, in the absence of the apostles  and working miracles among them.  So the working of miracles does not seem to be limited to the ministry of the apostles in the early church.

Furthermore the  gifts  of healing and of miracles in 1 Corinthians 12  likewise  seem to indicate  that these were for the church and not just the domain of  the apostles. 

What Shall We Say to These Two Views?

1.     God is sovereign in these matters. The Holy Spirit, the Giver of all gifts is able to give whatever He deems best for the church at any given moment.   God is able to withhold gifts and give gifts when and as He pleases. The list of spiritual gifts in the New Testament is not determinative, but illustrative and always subject to the working of the Holy Spirit, who sovereignly gives gifts at various times  and divers manners and intensities. Pentecostals and charismatics have erred greatly in that they have made the ‘spectacular’ spiritual gifts something  subjective (i.e.  to be asked for subjectively), when in fact the text in 1 Corinthians 12-14  teaches  that the Holy Spirit always gives the gifts sovereignly, and unasked for. The question, "Should we expect signs and wonders  today?" ,   must therefore be linked to the doctrine of the Sovereignty of God. In our church God has done wonderful  miracles at our asking in prayer. But  we have not  seen miracles done at  will. They always have been wonderful surprises   and occasions for praise and thanksgiving.

2.     We need  to  recognise the  uniqueness of Jesus and the apostles and of that revelatory moment in history that gave us the foundational doctrines of faith and life in the New Testament. As such this time is unrepeatable. 

3.     We have to be careful to make the Bible  say what we want it to say. This rule  must apply  to both continuationists and cessationists. Cessationists will often ignore those texts that continuationists would stress and vice versa.  

4.     Let us never forget that the greatest miracle is not a healing per se, but a soul  redeemed from hell  and eternal death, now living for  the glory of God and the praise of Christ. The greater works in John 14:12 are  in fact not  signs, wonders and miracles per se, but  the wonder and miracle  of conversion.   

  

Finally, in coming back to  Acts 28  we need to recognise that the first two miracles (the miraculous escape from the shipwreck) and the escape of the poisonous viper  were all situational and  all necessary because God wanted  Paul to testify before Caesar in Rome. And so, in that sense we may say again, “We are immortal until our work is done” (George Whitfield, Diary, p.1).  Even the miracles of the healing of  Publius’ father and the many  on the island was ultimately   for the sake of Paul getting to Rome, so that he could complete his work of the gospel there (see  28:10).  All things serve God, and if a healing  or a miracle or a sign will help to that end, then so be it. And it will not be about us. It will be all about Jesus   and His glory.   

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[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malta

[2] The island of Melita ( Mljed) was so heavily infested with the notorious horned viper Vipera ammodytes that a predatory mongoose was introduced on the island in 1910 to control the snake population. The symptoms of a bite by this viper coincide with those reported in the Acts; immediate ‘swelling’ due to hemorrhagic edema, ‘falling down’ due to faintness/dizziness, followed by circulatory shock, pulmonary congestion and internal bleeding, all of which would lead to death if not treated properly.

[3] A Roman name

[4]  John Stott: Acts ,IVP, p. 395

1 Thessalonians 5:16- 18 – The Attitude of Gratitude

October, the 10^th month of our year is annually remembered as Thanksgiving month at Eastside. We do this deliberately to keep the culture of thanksgiving alive. The Thanksgiving offering built upon the biblical principle of thanksgiving, supplements the ministry and projects of our church. At this time we would ask you to consider giving generously to your  church,  as our financial resources are being  steadily eroded. We trust that you see the value of this church’s ministry, and your generous giving would very much affirm that.  This morning’s  sermon  is not designed to manipulate you, as many prosperity preachers  would  do in our day, but to help you to continuously live  a life of thanksgiving to God.

Our text from Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians reads,   “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”  [vv. 16-18]. The text contains three imperatives:  “rejoice always”, “pray without ceasing” and “give thanks in all circumstances”.   Rejoice always – that is not a suggestion, but a command. Pray without ceasing – not a suggestion, but a command; give thanks in all circumstances – again, not a suggestion, but a command. Paul is speaking about our state of mind, our general attitude in life.  Christians ought to be always  joyful, always prayerful and  always thankful.  God wants us to respond to Him in ways that demonstrate our deep gratitude for what He has done for us and in us.  It arises from the great work of God in our souls. 

• The  Psalmist  in  30:11-12 says: ''You turned for me  my mourning  into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, that my glory  may sing  your praise and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever.'' The Psalmist was quite overcome by the goodness and mercy of God.  

• In a sermon on Psalm 100 (Make a joyful noise  to the Lord all the earth … enter into his gates with thanksgiving)   Charles  Spurgeon  had this to say:  In all our public service the rendering of thanks must abound; it is like the incense of the temple, which filled the whole house with smoke… [the] sacrifices are ended, but those of gratitude will never be out of date. So long as we are receivers of mercy we must be givers of thanks. …Be thankful unto him. Let the praise be in your heart as well as on your tongue, and let it all be for him to whom it all belongs. And bless his name. He blessed you, bless him in return; bless his name, his character, his person. Whatever he does, be sure that you bless him for it; bless him when he takes away as well as when he gives; bless him as long as you live, under all circumstances…

• In Psalm 103:1-5 David preached to himself: " 1 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! 2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, (and he begins to list them)  3 who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, 5 who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. And David's list goes on.

In the context of  Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians  this  joy, this prayerful spirit, this thankful spirit arises out of the fact that  they knew that God had chosen them to be His own  (1:4). The gospel had come to them not only in word, but also in power, in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction (1:5). They had received the word in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit (1:6). They had turned to God from idols to serve the Living God (1:9)

Now as you listen to this you may be tempted to say, “Well, that all sounds all very nice and good, but it sounds somewhat idealistic. This just isn’t a reality for me. Joy regularly escapes me, prayer escapes me and thanksgiving escapes me.”  So, is Paul idealistic or sentimental when he says this? Isn’t this the problem with Christians – they are just a bunch of idealists?   

Well, let’s see. Paul says two  things in this challenging verse

(i)               Give thanks in all circumstances

(ii)             For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus

1.     Give thanks in all circumstances:

This little phrase  requires careful thought. It’s easy to be thankful   when things go well, but when things don’t go well for us, are we still to remain thankful? We need to read this carefully.  Hear then what Paul is not saying. He is not saying “for everything give thanks”. He says, “in everything give thanks”. There are some circumstances for which we cannot give thanks.  I could not say, when my cousin was brutally murdered his home on the 18^th June 2016, "Lord, I thank you for my cousin’s murder”. No one can give thanks for the brutal murder and dismemberment of that little girl, Avihe Cheryl Ujaha, (granddaughter of Pastor Seth Kaimu, an uncle of our Pastor Spencer Tjijenda) in recent months. You may have been at the receiving end of evil in your own life, and for this the LORD God is not asking you to give thanks in itself. That is not what Paul is asking you to do.But Paul is saying that in every circumstance, no matter how catastrophic, you are to acknowledge His presence and sovereignty in and over these things. For His own good reasons, God allows evil things to happen, and we are not always able to see the outcome.  He allowed His Son to be killed on a cross by evil men. We now know and understand the outcome.  It is very important that we maintain an understanding of the sovereignty of God in all things.   This is very important, because we can get so easily lost in our ugly emotions, as we will easily  take ownership of such  a situation and  become bitter, angry and murderous  in our own thoughts. God is perfectly  aware  of everything that happens to us, and He counsels us not to retaliate  (see Romans  12:17-21).

Let me give you an illustration to help us understand. You may have heard this story of Matthew Henry (1662-1714), the famous Puritan commentator  and  preacher  who was once  robbed. In his diary he records the event,

8^th  March 1713. Lord's-day. In the evening I went to London. I preached Mr. [Samuel] Rosewell's evening lecture, Psalm 89:16  -- the joyful sound. As I came home I was robbed. The thieves took from me about ten or eleven shillings. My remarks upon it were, -- 1. What reason have I to be thankful to God, who have travelled so much, and yet was never robbed before 2. What a deal of evil the love of money is the root of, that four men would venture their lives and souls, for about half a crown a piece. 3. See the power of Satan in the children of disobedience. 4. See the vanity of worldly wealth; how soon we may be stripped of it. How loose, therefore, we should sit to it.

Somewhere along the way, his meditations upon the event were reported as a prayer: Lord, I thank Thee first because I was never robbed before; second, because although they took my purse they did not take my life; third, because although they took my all, it was not much; and fourth because it was I who was robbed, and not I who robbed.

This is the spirit of our text in 1 Thessalonians 5:18. In these circumstances, though they were awful, Matthew Henry found reasons for thanksgiving.  Matthew Henry certainly knew how to make lemonade out of a lemon. Now that is how God expects us to react in such times, and we need to train ourselves to think like that, so that we are prepared for such events.  For you see, thanklessness toward God is the first step in backsliding from God. We see this in Romans 1:18-21.  Here Paul describes the path people take in departing from God, and at the heart of it is  an attitude of ingratitude. Paul says, “For although they knew God, they did not honour him as God or gave thanks to him.” (Rom 1:21). A life of  ingratitude or thanklessness  leads to many bad choices. When we take God’s’ blessings for granted and neglect to give him thanks, we slowly have little time for God, little time for worship, and little time to help others. We become self-centered. Before we know it, we have wandered far away from God, and we wonder what happened to that  relationship we once enjoyed with God. That is why we must worship and give thanks to God. Gratitude toward God leads to peace, joy, and satisfaction.

You may know the remarkable story of Helen Keller (1880 – 1968) who became blind and deaf through a virus when she was only 19 months old.  Despite her immense disability she went on to become an author, political activist and a lecturer. I am not entirely sure of her  spiritual roots, but when she was  young  she was introduced to  Phillips Brooks,an Anglican clergyman  who introduced her to Christianity, Keller famously saying: "I always knew He was there, but I didn't know His name!" She said, “For three things I thank God every day of my life. Thanks that He has vouchsafed me knowledge of His works; deep thanks that He has set in my darkness the light of faith; deepest thanks that I have another life to look forward to—a life joyous with light and flowers and heavenly song. Helen Keller may not have been thankful for the circumstance of being blind and deaf, but she was thankful in that circumstance. And that is precisely what Paul is saying to us. In every circumstance, we are to give thanks.

2. Why we should give thanks

I draw your attention  now to the second part of that statement: “Give thanks in everything, for this is God's will for you.” That means at least two things.

(i)               God wants you to give thanks in everything, and therefore, you ought to do it. It's just like when your mother says,  “Eat your broccoli”, and you say, “why?”, and she says, “Because I am your mother – that’s why!” God wants you to give thanks because He says so!

(ii)             But there is more to it than that. God wants  to teach us to be a thankful, joyful people, whose delight is in Him. He wants a people  who do not get lost in their circumstances, but  who get lost in in Him! This is who  Paul  is in a Philippian prison. And even though  we live in a fallen world in which there are many things  for which we cannot be thankful, we should  not miss  out on seeing the grace of God extended to us in these experiences.

How to give thanks: Here it is  in just three words, "In Christ Jesus." When  my friend Pastor Roland Eskinazi lost his first wife Sharon, in an accident  with  a taxi in Johannesburg, my abiding impression was that of a brother, friend and pastor,  who as he held his dying wife  committed her to the grace of the  Lord Jesus Christ as he was praying the 23^rd Psalm. There is not a trace of bitterness or anger in my friend today. He committed  her with a thankful heart  to the Lord Jesus in whose presence she now dwells. 

If you have  seen the  face of God in Christ, if you have tasted the love of God and the goodness  of God, you  will know that all that is taken from you  ultimately never was yours. They are His.   And therefore you rest in His grace, and you thank him for what you have. And the greatest treasure we have is Jesus! Amen.