Naylor CommunityChristian Church
26 November 2023
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to 1 Thessalonians
5:16-18
1
Thessalonians 5:16-18
New
International Version
16
Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for
this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
-- I have, on occasion, mentioned stories
and illustrations from the life of Corrie ten Boom, one of my heroes of the
faith -- as you probably remember, Corrie was a courageous Dutch woman who
helped harbor Jews from the Nazis in Holland during World War II -- she was
eventually arrested, along with all of her family, and Corrie and her sister Betsie
were imprisoned together at Ravensbruck, the infamous German concentration camp
-- this morning, I want to share with you
another story about Corrie from her book, “The Hiding Place,” that I think
really speaks to our call to be thankful people in all circumstances
-- when Corrie and Betsie first
arrived at Ravensbruck, they were shown to their barracks -- walking in, huddled
together, they saw a series of massive square wooden platforms, stacked three
levels high and placed so close together that people had to walk single-file to
pass between them -- Rancid straw was scattered over the platforms -- and the
platforms were literally filled with bodies lying next to each other and packed
in tight -- Corrie and Betsie realized that this was to be where they slept,
along with the hundreds of other women held captive in that camp
-- they found their place and climbed up
-- the platforms were so low that they could not sit upright on theirs without
hitting their heads on the deck above them -- so, they laid back, struggling against
the claustrophobia and the nausea that swept over them from the reeking straw
and the smell of the other captives
-- no sooner had they laid down,
then Corrie jumped up, hitting her head on the platform above -- something had
bitten her -- she cried out, “Betsie, there are fleas! -- this place is
swarming with them!”
-- they climbed down and made there way to
a spot of light shining in the narrow aisle and examined each other -- there
were fleas all over them -- Corrie cried out, “Betsie, how can we live in such
a place?”
-- although we know Corrie to be a hero of
the faith -- a woman of strong Christian character and spiritual maturity --
she portrays her sister in “The Hiding Place” as the more spiritual of the two
-- the one closer to God than she -- Betsie immediately responded to Corrie’s
cry by saying, “Show us -- show us how we are to live here” -- Corrie realized
that Betsie was praying
-- almost immediately, Betsie exclaimed
excitedly. “He’s already given us the answer! Before we asked, as He always
does! In the Bible this morning. Where was it? Read that part again!”
-- the sisters had managed to
smuggle a Bible into the concentration camp, and Corrie pulled it out and read the
same passage we just shared together -- 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
-- as Corrie read those words, Betsie
beamed and exclaimed, “That’s it! That’s
His answer -- ‘Give thanks in all circumstances!’ That’s what we can do. We can
start right now to thank God for every single thing about this barracks!”
-- Corrie wrote that she stared at her
sister incredulously, then around at the dark, foul-smelling room. “Such as?”
she inquired. -- “Such as being assigned here together.” -- Corrie bit her lip,
but prayed, “Oh yes, Lord Jesus! Thank You!”
-- “Such as what you’re holding in your
hands.” -- Corrie looked down at the Bible. “Yes! Thank You, dear Lord, that
there was no inspection when we entered here! Thank You for all the women, here
in this room, who will meet You in these pages.”
-- “Yes,” agreed Betsie. “Thank You for
the very crowding here. Since we’re packed so close, that many more will hear!”
-- when Corrie didn’t respond, Betsie poked her and Corrie reluctantly prayed, “Oh,
all right. Thank You for the jammed, crammed, stuffed, packed, suffocating
crowds.”
-- and then Betsie continued on -- “And
thank You for the fleas and for the…” -- Corrie cut her off -- “Betsie, there
is no way I am giving thanks to God for fleas”
-- “But we must,” Betsie said. “We
must, for He tells us to in His word -- it says, ‘Give thanks in all
circumstances -- It doesn’t say, ‘in pleasant circumstances.’ -- Fleas are part
of this place where God has put us.”
-- so, even though Corrie thought Betsie
was wrong, she stood beside the stacks of bunks in the German camp of
Ravensbruck and thanked God for the fleas
II. Thankful for Fleas
-- last week, as we were looking
forward to our Thanksgiving holiday, we looked at the passage of Jesus healing
the ten lepers -- and we talked about the one leper who returned to give thanks
and praise to his Healer and the importance of remembering to stop and give
thanks in our lives for the blessings that He has given us
-- this morning, I wanted to carry
this thought of thanksgiving a little farther -- to not only thank God for what
we see as blessings in our lives, but to also thank God in the midst of the
things we may not really want, like beds filled with fleas
-- I fully understand Corrie’s
reluctance to pray and thank God for the fleas -- push come to shove, I could
pray like her for the little blessings they enjoyed in the midst of that German
camp -- being put there together -- being able to bring a Bible with them --
little things -- little blessings in the midst of the pain and suffering they
endured
-- I believe that sometimes God
blesses us in special ways like that with little things that remind us of His
care and His goodness in our lives no matter what we’re going through at the
time
-- how many times have you been
going through a particularly dark time in your life, and God sent the most
perfect sunset to brighten your day -- or you noticed a flower blooming in a
place where you didn’t expect -- or the smile of a stranger at the very moment
you were losing hope
-- these little blessings are like
diamonds hidden in the dark that God sends to give us hope and to help our
hearts in the midst of our pain
-- but fleas? -- who would ever
thank God for sending fleas? -- that would be like thanking God when the diagnosis
wasn’t what you wanted -- when all your hopes and dreams crashed around you --
when you lost someone you loved -- how can you thank God in times like that?
-- blessings? -- yes -- absolutely
-- I would hope to be like the leper who turned back and thanked God for His
grace -- but fleas? -- especially fleas when I’m living in a German concentration
camp? -- just as Corrie expressed, that’s hard -- that’s not normal -- but, as
Betsie pointed out, that is exactly what God desires from us
-- let’s continue with our story
about Corrie and Betsie ten Boom
-- as the weeks went by in Ravensbruck,
Betsie’s health began to suffer -- it reached the point that the Germans even
showed a kindness to her by letting her stay in the barracks to knit socks
together there with the other seriously ill prisoners -- and when her work was
done, Betsie used her time to go from platform to platform, reading from the Bible
and sharing God’s word with her fellow prisoners -- miraculously, the Germans
never stopped her because they never came very far into the barracks, but remained
right near the door
-- one day, Corrie came back to the
barracks to find Betsie literally gleaming with joy -- almost bouncing up and down
in excitement -- “What’s with you?” she asked.
-- Betsie explained, “This afternoon
there was confusion in my knitting group about sock sizes, so we asked the
supervisor to come and settle it -- But she wouldn’t [come in] -- She wouldn’t
step through the door, and neither would the guards -- And [do] you know why?”
-- Betsie could not keep the triumph from
her voice as she exclaimed, “Because of the fleas! That’s what she said: ‘That
place is crawling with fleas [and I will not go in there]’”
-- and as Corrie looked on dumbfounded,
Betsie once again thanked God for the fleas and the freedom their presence
provided
-- look back at verse 16 and let’s
read the words that God gave Corrie and Betsie as they begin their time in
Ravensbruck
1
Thessalonians 5:16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all
circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
-- there are three commands for us
in this passage: 1. Be joyful always; 2.
Pray continually; and, 3. Give thanks in all circumstances
-- “Be joyful always”
-- joy is not the same thing as happiness
-- happiness is external -- it is based on circumstances -- happiness is
fleeting because when things are not going good -- when you’re walking in the
storm -- when dark clouds have come against you -- when you’re forced into a crowded
barrack filled with fleas in a German concentration camp -- you cannot be happy
-- you just can’t
-- but that’s when joy comes in --
joy is internal -- it is the byproduct of a relationship with God -- it is knowing
that you are safe with Him, regardless of what might be going on around you --
it is knowing that you are loved, even in situations where you don’t feel love
-- it is knowing peace, even as the world swirls chaotically around you -- it
is a sense of well-being -- of being safe and secure in the arms of our Creator
-- it is, as Rick Warren puts it, “…the
settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life -- the
quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be alright and the
determined choice to praise God in every situation.”
-- where happiness can not survive,
joy abounds -- and Paul exhorts us here to be joyful always -- always -- in
every circumstance -- in every situation -- to look past the external and the
temporal and into the eternal promises that we have in Christ
-- “Pray continually” -- “Pray
without ceasing”
-- this is a call for relationship
-- this is a call to abide in Christ, as He commands -- to be in Him as He is
in us -- to be connected to Him as the branch connects to the vine -- and to
receive our sustenance and our survival from the life that flows from Him to us
-- to pray continually is to become
so attuned to Christ and His ways that we are in constant communion with Him --
our praying -- our connection -- our hearts beating as one -- praying as we
breathe -- breathing in His life and His love and His goodness and exhaling our
doubts and despair and discouragements
-- to pray without ceasing is to
live in prayer with Christ -- to sense Him -- to know Him -- to love Him --
with all our hearts and minds and souls -- to be one with Him as He is one with
us
-- and, finally, “give thanks in all
circumstances”
-- this was the phrase that gave
Betsie hope in those first few moments in the barracks of Ravensbruck -- this
was the phrase that led her to give thanks -- not only for her sister -- not
only for the Bible -- but also for the fleas
-- notice that this command says to “give
thanks in all circumstances” -- not “for” all
circumstances -- there is a big difference between the words in
and for
-- life is tough -- we live in a
fallen world where bad things happen to good people -- we live in a world where
sin and death still hold sway -- where disease and sickness are common -- where
crime and violence are daily events
-- and God doesn’t expect us to be
grateful for these evil things -- He doesn’t expect us to be thankful for the
pain and suffering we experience -- these are not from Him -- they are not part
of His plan -- they are part of living in this fallen world
-- that’s why we pray in the Lord’s
Prayer, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” -- it’s
because God’s will is not always done here -- His Kingdom is not fully manifest
here -- Satan still has strongholds in this place -- and many choose to follow
him or their own evil desires rather than following God -- and the consequences
of their actions and sins affect us all
-- so, this verse doesn’t say, “Give
thanks for all circumstances,” for that would be to thank God for
the evil that is around us -- Betsie did not lead Corrie to offer thanks for
being put in Ravensbruck -- that was not a good situation
-- this verse tells us to “Give
thanks in all circumstances” -- not for them, but in them -- in
the midst of what we are going through, we can thank God for His grace and His
mercy -- we can thank God for His joy and His abiding peace -- we can thank God
for His presence and His salvation -- we can thank God that He is with us and
will never leave us or forsake us
-- we can give thanks in the midst
of the storm, because God is there -- and we can give thanks for the fleas, because
God will use them for good, just as He did for Corrie and Betsie
-- one of the most quoted verses in
the Bible is Romans 8:28, “For we know that in all things God works for the
good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purposes” --
it is also one of the most misunderstood verses in the Bible
-- this verse is not saying that everything
that happens was brought about by God for our good -- if that was the case,
then we would be commanded to thank God for all circumstances, even those times
of evil that come upon us
-- no, this verse says that “in all
things” God works for our good -- in other words, God takes the things that
come upon us -- both good and bad -- and works them for His good and our good
-- to meet His purposes -- to fulfill His will
-- He redeems the bad -- He brings
beauty from the ashes -- He causes flowers to bloom in the desert
-- it was not God who brought the
storm -- it was not God who sent the Nazis and put Corrie and Betsie in
Ravensbruck -- but God allowed it and He turned the evil of that situation into
blessings of joy for them and those around them, for in all things God works
for the good of those who love Him, so that we can thank God in all
circumstances
-- but, if we’re honest with
ourselves, we find ourselves more like Corrie than Betsie on
most
days
-- how can we thank God when the
doctor has just diagnosed us with a terminal disease?
-- how can we thank God when someone
we love has died?
-- how can we thank God when the bank
takes our home and our car?
-- how can we thank God when we’re left
holding a pink slip at the door to the office?
-- as Rick Warren asks, “how can you
be thankful even when you don’t feel like it?”
-- even on our worst days -- even when the
storms come and the pain overwhelms and the fleas bite -- there are five things
we can still thank God for in the midst of our circumstances1
-- first, God’s grace — Everything that we
are -- everything that we have -- is a gift from God -- it is part of His grace
-- God giving us what we don’t deserve
-- our salvation -- the forgiveness of our
sins -- is only through His grace -- as Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:8, “For it is
by grace that you have been saved, through faith, and this not of yourself --
it is the free gift of God”
-- God’s grace never takes a vacation,
even when the storms are around us -- and we can thank Him for His grace and
His mercy at all times
-- next, God’s plan -- God loves us and He
has a plan for our life -- as it says in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans
I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future.”
-- God is constantly working in our lives
to align our spirits and our will to His -- He takes the circumstances of this
life and turns it to good -- working everything for our good and according to
the purpose that He has for us
-- even when it feels as if you are out of
control, give thanks because you know that God is working His purposes through
you
-- third, God’s presence—You are never
alone -- God is with you all the time, no matter what you’re going through --
Psalm 145:18 says, “The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on
him in truth” -- and Hebrews 13:5-6 says, 5 Keep your lives free from the love
of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I
leave you; never will I forsake you.” -- So we say with confidence, “The Lord
is my helper; I will not be afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?”
-- when Peter was walking on the water
towards Jesus, he took his eyes off Jesus and began to sink -- he forgot that
Jesus was with him, and the waves gained power over him again -- remembering
that God is with us, no matter how high the waves or how many the fleas, is
something to be thankful for
-- fourth, God’s sanctification -- as we’ve
said, God doesn’t send evil into our lives, but He does allow it and He does
use it for our good -- as painful as trials are -- as painful as our
circumstances may be -- it is in them that we grow in grace and become mature
in our faith
-- C.S. Lewis wrote, “God whispers to us
in our pleasures, but shouts to us in our pain -- it is His megaphone to rouse
a deaf world”
-- God redeems our circumstances and our
pain to mold us and make us into the people He wants us to be -- remember, God
always works eternally -- God’s will for us is always with eternity in view --
and though we may suffer through the circumstances of this fallen world, we can
thank God because He is using those circumstances to sanctify us and make us
holy as He is holy
-- and, finally, God’s home -- we can
always thank God for the promises we have in Christ and for our eternal home
with Him -- regardless of what we walk through in this life -- regardless of
how bad the pain or how hard the circumstances -- we hold fast to the hope that
we have in the empty tomb and the risen Savior
-- Jesus told us in John 14 that He has
gone to prepare a place for us and that He will come back and take us to
Himself -- so that we can be with Him in eternity
-- no matter how hard it may feel, this is
not the end -- the pain and the suffering we experience now are just preparing
us for our eternal home with Christ -- and for that, we can always give thanks
-- I think
Dave Black sums it up quite well -- he wrote on his blog this week,
“Have faith
my friend. Find gratitude even when life gets hard, real hard. -- Think about
what you love about life, right now. -- Then pause and thank God for that.
-- “Stop
thinking that life should be a certain way. -- Do your best to accept the way
your life is unfolding for you right now.
-- “Start
the day with gratitude and end it with affirmations of all the things that went
right.
-- “Remember:
We value what we notice. Try to notice the little things every day.”
-- or, as
Paul would say, “Be joyful always -- pray without ceasing -- and give thanks in
all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus”
III.
Closing
-- let me close by sharing with you some
final thoughts from author and blogger Chris Winfield about gratitude2
-- Chris writes:
“Why did this have to happen to me?” It
didn’t matter if it was something big (my dog gets cancer, good friend dies) or
something little (flight is delayed, spilled something on my shirt). I was in a
constant state of “poor me.” This all started to change once I began writing a
gratitude list every single day for the past 34+ months and it has changed my
life profoundly. Here are the 4 most important things I’ve learned on my
gratitude journey:
1. It’s Hard at First: My mentor told me
to text him three things that I am grateful for every day. Sounds pretty easy
right? Well, it wasn’t. When you’ve lived most of your life not focusing on
gratitude, it’s not so simple to change that.
2. There Is Always Something to Be
Grateful For: No matter what was going on in my life (business problems, I was
sick, someone cut me off in traffic) there was always something that I could
find to be grateful for (my health, my daughter’s smile, etc.).
3. Gratitude Grows the More You Use It: My
gratitude lists started off very basic and I struggled to find things to be
grateful for (especially on the really tough days). But once I consistently
took action, it became easier and easier.
4. It Can Help Stop Negative Thought
Patterns: According to the Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, the average person has
about 70,000 thoughts each day! There’s one big problem with this — the vast
majority of these thoughts are negative. Gratitude can work to stop these
negative thought patterns by replacing it with something positive.”
-- as we close our service today and
share together in the sacrament of Holy Communion, let us remember to be joyful
always, to pray without ceasing, and to give thanks in all circumstances -- let
us replace the negative thoughts by remembering what Christ has done for us
-- receive the body and blood of
Christ -- and thank Him for His grace, His plan, His presence, His sanctification,
and His home
-- thank Him for the cross and the
empty tomb -- thank Him for the forgiveness of sins and for the promise of
eternal life with Him -- thank Him in all things, even for the fleas
-- and, with that, let us close in
prayer
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1
Outline from email devotion by Rick Warren
2
Source: Chris Winfield, “13 Things I’ve Learned Writing 1,024 Gratitude Lists,”
Chris Winfield Blog (1-24-15)
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