How do you give thanks? Do you shout to God, "O GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD!!" or as an afterthought, is it
"oh . . . give thanks to the Lord?" Now I could stand up here this evening and tug at your heartstrings with an emotional story of how we have all been blessed with countless material gifts. I could recount an inspirational tale of someone who received a very special Thanksgiving through some incredible miracle. I could use these tactics to shake your hearts into appreciation this Thanksgiving Eve. And I am sure this will be done from many pulpits this holiday. But rather than use those heartwarming analogies and stories, I want to go to our most important source of inspiration. I want to use God's Word this evening to tug at the strings of your soul. God has given each and every one of us, without exception, amazing gifts. And the most important gifts God has given us will be our focus this evening. I pray that the Holy Spirit will work in your hearts through the Word and move you to shout your appreciation with "O GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD!"

In the opening verses of Paul's letter to the Corinthians, Paul says he continually gives thanks. This evening let us look at Paul's example. Let us give thanks first and foremost for three things - for being chosen, for God's grace, and for God's gifts.

The Apostle Paul opens the letter to the Corinthian congregation, as was the custom of the time, first naming the sender, Paul, and then naming the receiver. He then spoke a blessing. In this standard greeting from Paul, we can see how joyfully he gave thanks to Lord for being chosen to be a child of God. Not only this, but Paul is also giving thanks to God for choosing the Corinthians. The Apostle recognized what a beautiful and impressive act this was on God's part.

Just think about Paul. Paul is identified for us in the Bible as a Pharisee. He was a leader in the Jewish religion. He was a slave to the law and its formalities. The book of Acts describes the scene at the stoning of the first martyr, Stephen. Paul, then named Saul, stood there approving of the crowd's actions as they killed one of God's faithful, thus making himself just as guilty of murder as if he had thrown the biggest rock. Then imagine Paul hunting down Christians as if they were animals, and having them thrown into prison. He would travel all over to persecute the followers of the "Way." Paul was a sinner. He did not deserve God's blessings. However, what does Paul write in the opening verse of I Corinthians? "Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God." He didn't deserve it, but he was called. He didn't earn it, but he was chosen. God picked him to be his child. God picked Paul to serve him.

The Apostle continues on in the greeting by writing in the same manner concerning the Corinthians. "To the Church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy." The Holy Spirit was guiding Paul to write to the church in the city of Corinth. If you know anything about the city of Corinth, you know that this was THE city. Corinth was the lap of luxury. They had everything in Corinth and they had a lot of it. It was a bustling city and enormously prosperous. However along with the abundance of wealth and culture came a severe lack of standards and morals. Corinth was known the empire over as the lap of debauchery. The attitude of anything goes was very prevalent. In fact the Greek language contains a verb "to Corinthianize," which means to practice sexual immorality. I won't go into details about the sinfulness of the people of Corinth, but you can take my word for it.

The point is that the people of Corinth were sinners just as Paul was a sinner. The Corinthians were no different. They needed a Savior from their sin also. Paul shows who their Savior is, "to those sanctified in Christ Jesus." The Corinthians were sanctified, or made holy, through God's Son. The blood of Christ shed on the cross washed their sins away and made them clean. Paul also says they were "called to be holy." Just as Paul was called to be a child of God, these sinners living in Corinth are called to be adopted sons and daughters of our heavenly Father.

Verse 2 continues with, "together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." Think of that. We are included here as part of those everywhere who call on the name of Christ. But just as Paul and the Corinthians were sinners, so are we. Our lives are full of sin. Greed, laziness, ungratefulness, hate, jealousy, disobedience. These sins bury us daily. Just as with Paul and the Corinthians, 2000 years later, the wages of sin is still death. That is the judgment God has issued on us sinners. But just as God called Paul and the Corinthians, has called us to be his children, to live in his house. He didn't take the punishment for sin away, the wages for sin were paid with a costly price, the blood of his Son, Jesus Christ, who died on the cross. That is how Paul, the Corinthian congregation, and we can be called by the will of God to be holy.

Paul finishes the greeting to the Corinthians with "Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." And so I say to you this morning, "Grace and peace are yours." You have the grace of God lavished upon you through the sacrifice Christ made. This grace of God offers Christians a tremendous peace - a peace that can soothe us through any trouble or turmoil. A peace that places our loving Father's arms around us to assure us an eternal reward awaits in heaven.

An old Indian, after living many years in sin was led to Christ by a missionary. Friends asked him to explain the change in his life. Reaching down, he picked up a little worm and placed it on a pile of leaves. Then, touching a match to the leaves, he watched them smolder and burst into flames. As the flames worked their way up to the center where the worm lay, the old chief suddenly plunged his hand into the center of the burning pile and snatched out the worm. Holding the worm gently in his hand, he gave this testimony to the grace of God: " Me . . . that worm!!"

The grace of God, which snatches us out of the fires of hell, is something else the Apostle Paul gave thanks for. Out of heartfelt appreciation, we too give thanks for this grace of God. We give thanks for this grace that was given undeservedly. We don't merit any kind of blessings from God. God doesn't look down on us and say, "Well, Joe had a pretty good year, he tried really hard to do what I wanted, so I think he has earned heaven." No, God says, "Be holy, because I am holy." Be holy. Be pure. Be sinless. We are none of these. We do not deserve God's love.

Because we don't deserve God's love is why it is such a beautiful act that God bestows his grace upon us freely. It is a free gift, absolutely free. Think about it. We have eternal life as a gift. How many Christmas presents from parents to their children are shortly after the holidays? How long does that Christmas bonus from the boss usually last? God has given us a gift of grace that is free and lasts forever and ever.

This grace is given to us in Christ. The undeserved, free gift was delivered on the cross when our Savior pronounced, "It is finished!" When Jesus spoke these words, the sins of the whole world were wiped away. When he rose from the dead on Easter Sunday, he guaranteed the gift of grace. He insured that we too would rise from the dead on the last day. Give thanks with Paul for the grace which is given undeservedly, freely, in Christ.

Paul says that this grace which is in Christ enriched the Corinthians in every way. How true this is. God's grace does make us rich. We have been made rich in Christ. We have been made rich in unbelievable amount of blessings, from food and shelter to our fingernails, for which we probably don't always give thanks, but I would imagine we would miss them dearly. Give thanks for the grace that makes us rich.

Also give thanks that God has confirmed that grace in you. In verse 6, Paul wrote, "our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you." Paul preached the Word or testimony to the Corinthians and the Holy Spirit produced faith and confirmed or strengthened that faith in their hearts. The Holy Spirit works the same way with us. God's grace is confirmed in us by the testimony given to us in the Word and Sacraments. In the Bible and Baptism and Communion we see and hear about the grace of God. The Holy Spirit uses these means to strengthen our faith. The Holy Spirit does this work through his messengers, those who preach and teach law and gospel. And the Holy Spirit uses the same message. Paul's message to the Corinthians and our message here today is the same. We are sinners and Christ paid for our sins on the cross. Give thanks to God that we don't have to pick and choose what to believe, but the message that Paul preached almost 2000 years ago is the same message we have today.

God has given us so many amazing gifts. We could never sit down and make a list of them all. Paul points out three important gifts though in the last three verses of our text, our blamelessness, our strength, and God's faithfulness. Let us give thanks for these gifts also.

Give thanks for our blamelessness, which we have on account of Jesus. The blamelessness we have in Christ sets us free. We are free from the chains of sin and the devil. We are free to serve our Lord here on earth and in eternity. Give thanks for the strength that our Lord gives us in our faith. When the Holy Spirit with the Word of God strengthens us, we are kept strong and are able to stand firm against the prevailing winds of the world's sinfulness. Give thanks that the Holy Spirit will keep us strong to the end, to the last day. Give thanks for our faithful God, our faithful God who has called us to be his own dear children. Can you imagine the chaos that would come about here on earth if God decided he would take a day off from governing the universe? Be thankful that God remains faithful even when we are not.

This Thanksgiving, as you are surrounded by food, family, and fun, it will be easy to give thanks for all the wonderful material blessings that God has given you. And we should give thanks for these. But also give thanks that the Holy Spirit has given the Apostle Paul as an example for us in our gratitude. Paul that wrote he CONTINUALLY gave thanks. And Paul gave thanks for the most important blessings, the blessing of being chosen by God, the blessing of God's grace fulfilled in Jesus, and the blessing of his spiritual gifts that strengthen our hearts. May we not go through our lives here on earth and every once in awhile remember, "oh . . . give thanks." Rather may we continually, always shout our thanks to God, "O GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD!!!!"