Happy Thanksgiving. It’s so good to see you joining us in-person and online. If you’re joining us online, make sure you sign into that chat and connect with us. Let’s pray and we’ll get started.

Father in heaven, you have brought us all here to this point in 2020. With only a handful of weeks left. Some of us are feeling beat down by the year. Others of us are, well, feeling lost. We know how you love us, but sometimes, God, it just doesn’t connect. Fill us with your spirit and give us insight that helps us understand our experiences better.

As your word speaks truth and cuts through the lies and busy-ness of our world, help us cling harder to your truth. Moreover, I ask that you work in our hearts today and make it soft. Let us know that you are God of our lives and that we are your chosen people.

Draw our hearts toward you, so we can chase after you like you chased after us on calvary. Help us move forward from this season of life with a new mindset, being thankful because of your steadfast love. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.

We’re in Numbers 11:4-9. I’ll give you a second to find that in your Bibles. Who would’ve ever thought there would be a thanksgiving sermon from the book of Numbers? It’s usually the book I try to skim when I do my bible reading plan every year. But this year, God has been showing me things in the Book of Numbers that have caused me to confess of my shortsightedness and my own hardness of heart.

How many people would say that 2020 has been a bust in terms of plans, dreams and goals? Raise your hand if you’re in person. If you’re online, just type the word, “Bust” in the chat window. In fact, how many people would much rather skip thanksgiving and Christmas this year and go straight to 2021? Yeah. I know most of us.

The reason you’re saying that is because you’re in a place you never imagined you’d be and you’re in that place for such a long time, that you can’t see yourself not in, but you desperately want to get out of it.

That place may…be working from home and living from the same room at home. Or being single. Or seeing too much of your spouse. Or being unemployed. Or on yet another video meeting. Maybe, it’s having to cook three meals a day and then doing the dishes for three meals a day. Let’s read Numbers 11:4-9 together.

⁴ Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, “Oh that we had meat to eat! ⁵ We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. ⁶ But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.”

⁷ Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that of bdellium. ⁸ The people went about and gathered it and ground it in handmills or beat it in mortars and boiled it in pots and made cakes of it. And the taste of it was like the taste of cakes baked with oil. ⁹ When the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell with it.

Numbers 11:4-9 ESV

Let me give you some context here because it’s a weird spot to begin at. The Israelites are at Mt Sinai and Moses was beginning to organize Israel into conquest mode by putting three tribes of warriors on each of the four sides of the camp so that they can go to war and protect the camp. Very good from a military strategy perspective because the enemy can’t get behind you without going through you.

Then they get three days into their journey toward the promised land and the people of Israel start complaining, that’s where we pick up this story. 72 hours into their journey and in verse 1 of chapter 11, the Bible says: “And the people complained in the hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes…” (Numbers 11:1a ESV).

So, off the bat, we know people were complaining about going somewhere that wasn’t the wilderness they didn’t want to be in any more. You heard that right. That sounds like 2020 for many of us. Before you get into your judgmental mindset, and snicker saying, they couldn’t make it 72 hours without complaining. I know you can’t even wait 72 seconds at the McDonalds drive thru after church before complaining about the slow service.

Let’s read verse 4 again, “Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, “Oh that we had meat to eat!”

The “rabble” caused the whole camp to complain about wanting to eat meat. The word “rabble” or riffraff, were people on the fringes. They weren’t the voices of reason. They were the fringe groups of people, dissenters with loud voices that made a lot of noise, the rabble, the peanut gallery. They set off the rest of the camp in complaint.

What’s interesting is that the complaining didn’t originate from within the camp, it came from the fringes. It came as a result marginal opinions creeping into mainstream. You had enough problems in your life already, and you were getting ready to make moves in 2020.

Then people on the fringes started to influence your behaviors until you gave up and started complaining about your “misfortunes.” The Israelites were three days into their conquest, they hadn’t done anything of significance in terms of their goals, and they started complaining. This is my first point.

Point 1: Don’t allow fringe voices to influence your thoughts (v4)

When we allow the fringe voices in our life to take hold of even some of our mental and emotional real estate, we lose perspective. The reason 2020 has us complaining is not because of the pandemic that’s reshaping our society. Nor is it the political rhetoric that dichotomized our nation. It’s not even the racial injustices that are happening. It is really the fringe voices in our life that tell us to look around and complain because we don’t deserve to be where we are. And since we’re not where we want to be yet, we need to complain about it. Isn’t that why the Israelites were complaining?

If this story in Numbers is teaching us anything, it’s this: listening to fringe voices will cause us to complain. The rabble will always be the loudest, but, it doesn’t mean their opinions are worth our time and energy. Can I be honest, if their opinions and thoughts actually mattered, they wouldn’t have to complain, they’d just get things done. There would be no time for complaining.  

When we look at Jesus’ own life, there were a lot of fringe voices that told him to complain about the mission he was on. Those voices said things like:

• “why are you eating with sinners”
• “you can’t sacrifice yourself for me”
• “worship me and I’ll give you nations”
• “don’t you know this perfume could have been sold and fed the hungry?”

He didn’t allow voices on the fringes deter him from his mission. If you’re feeling bogged down by this year, then shut out the fringe voices. We can complain about our misfortunes like the rabble, or we can trust God to lead us. I know what you’re thinking: the complaints aren’t totally unwarranted. Life was better last year, before the lock down. But I’m going to question that, was it really better?

Point 2: The past wasn’t as good as you remember (v4b-5)

Let’s pick it up in the second part of verse 4: “^4bAnd the people of Israel also wept again and said, “Oh that we had meat to eat! ⁵ We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic.” (Numbers 11:4b-5 ESV).

Sure they remembered eating fish that cost nothing in Egypt. But here’s the part they conveniently forgot: They had no money! They couldn’t have eaten it if it cost something. They were slaves in Egypt. They erased the part about being slaves and all they remembered was the free food. And of course it was free. It had to be. They remembered the taste of fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic, but they forgotten they were enslaved and were the ones responsible for catching, planting, harvesting, and doing the work for their Egyptian masters, without pay, without freedom. So they got by and ate a variety, is that really living?

This point can actually be explained by a psychological principle called, “rosy retrospection.” Basically, the past is always remembered better than it really was because our minds do a job on us where we remember the good times more vividly than the bad times, and over time the details of the bad are erased while the “good time” memories are enhanced, leaving only details of the best of times. You may remember your past fondly, but it doesn’t mean it was good. Your mind just erased your memories of the bad and created a highlight reel of the good.

Just think about high school. Your hair looked so good, you could eat whatever you wanted, you had no bills. We forget that we had to sit in broken chairs with desks painted black that would stick to your clothes 8 hours a day. You forgot about those pimples you couldn’t stop no matter what chemical you use to cover it up. We forget about desperately wanting to grow up and STOP BEING IN HIGH SCHOOL.

So stop looking at your past thinking it was somehow better. It wasn’t. Your last boyfriend, your last job, your last church, your last whatever, you wanted to get out for a reason, stop going back there in your mind, because if you didn’t want to get out of there, you’d still be there.

That brings me to my third point. The reason you’re even looking at your past is because:

Point 3: The present situation looks worse than it is (v6-7)

Look at verse 6-7. “But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.  Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that of bdellium.” (Numbers 11:6-7 ESV)

The Israelites say their strength is dried up, but really, they were just tired of eating the same thing over and over and over. Does that sound familiar? You prepare, eat, and clean up food, over and over and over, and you can’t go out, you can’t see different people. It’s always the same person, over and over.

The Israelites are really complaining about having to eat the same thing over and over and over. Mind you, the stuff they are eating again and again is food from heaven. Sure, it didn’t look special. But it was from heaven and it was everywhere!

I think it’s important to note why the author chooses to describe manna here. Here’s what I really think the author is saying: manna doesn’t look all that special. I think a lot of us miss that about our present situation. God is providing for you now, even though it doesn’t look like it.

Yes, we’re facing a bleak present, but we need to look at what Jesus is providing us. It may not look like much, but I’m sure if we’re looking at God’s goodness, we’re going to see that there’s nothing at all but God’s goodness to see everywhere. Just don’t expect that goodness to be wrapped in gold ribbons and sequins.

God’s provision doesn’t always appear with pomp and circumstance. But it’s from heaven. The present only looks worse than it is because we’re not looking for God’s goodness like it’s in the form of manna, which was just ordinary, even ugly looking like bdellium, or congealed tree sap.

I think coming into 2020 and through this pandemic, some of us didn’t really understand how to have a thankful perspective because we were expecting God’s provision to look like something it never intended to look like. 

I need you to hear this: God didn’t send his son Jesus so that your present circumstances would overcome you. Absolutely not. Jesus came to overcome the world—even death couldn’t hold him. The point of your salvation is for your story to intwine with the story of God, so that you can be a child of God. Here’s my big idea.

Big Idea: A thankful heart comes from seeing the goodness of God (v8-9)

⁸ The people went about and gathered it and ground it in handmills or beat it in mortars and boiled it in pots and made cakes of it. And the taste of it was like the taste of cakes baked with oil. ⁹ When the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell with it. (Numbers 11:8-9 ESV)

We see in verse 9, every night, there is God’s provision, falling from the sky when nobody is looking. That’s the beauty of God’s faithfulness to his people. We don’t see it happening, but it appears. This verse right here, this is what Jesus was thinking about when he says “Give us our daily bread.” He asks for God’s provision for us today. God’s provision may not look like we imagined, but it sustains us. When we see that goodness from God, we can have a thankful heart every day.

It’s one thing to know God is providing, it’s totally another if we’re not gathering that provision. We see in verse 8, that the provisions had to be gathered and cooked. Only when the Israelites did that, did the mana taste like a cake baked with oil in it. You know what caked baked in oil is right? Artisan doughnuts! They’re baked and not fried so you know you can eat as much as you want without gaining weight.

So do what you got to do to gather God’s provisions. That’s what we need to practice this Thanksgiving: seeing the goodness of God in our lives and gathering it. So practice with me right now.

I have 10 things that don’t seem like the goodness of God, but actually is something to be gathered as his provisions.

1. Toilet paper – I don’t know why people are going crazy buying all this toilet paper, but come on people. We need to be thankful for being able to have toilet paper, especially at the rate that it’s being bought here in Michigan. Next time you’re at the supermarket, when you’re walking out with two family sized bundles of toilet paper, offer one to the crazed mother whose really needing toilet paper in the house.
2. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner – yes, all that microwaveable goodness, the fresh stuff too, and don’t forget the stuff that is delivered to you. We need to see that having the ability to prepare, eat, and clean that up is from God. It also gives you the opportunity to be thankful for all that toilet paper you stockpiled.
3. Housework and chores – because let’s be honest, without having an endless list of things you need to do, you’d actually be imprisoned at home.
4. Health and sickness – Gather your health and count your sickness as God’s providence to see how fragile our lives really are. If you are healthy, know that we are praying for you and you should be praying how you can be used by God. If you are sick, recognize that we are also praying for your restoration in health, but also allow God to bring the healthy people around you to love you and care for you. I know many in our church family are sick and are recovering from COVID and other sicknesses, we are praying that God’s steadfast love for you will see you through.
5. Technology – I know some luddites out there hate it, but that little device that vibrates incessantly, that’s your connection to people you can’t be with. Before you hate on technology as invasive and distracting from real life, remember that you’re reading your Bibles on your phones right now. Thank God for technology.
6. People willing to Teach, online – for you teachers out there who are getting no love from this pandemic, thank you for dealing with the crazy and loving our kids. If the parents in the room are hating it, don’t you think the people who are passionate about teaching your kids hate it more. And the fact that they are willing to teach despite being online, thank you teachers.
7. Your Life Group, even though Pastor Jonathan says we got to meet on Zoom, and seeing floating heads on a screen doesn’t seem real. But you are grateful for the spiritual family who, although flaky at times, when things are tough, thick, and difficult, they are with you. That’s something to be grateful for. If you’re not in one, get in one, and then you can be thankful for them too.
8. Church is open. Masks, no masks, coffee, no coffee, physical distancing, no fellowship, facebook feed cutting off. You can attend and participate, let’s be grateful that we’re able to continue sharing the good news of Jesus because there are so many people, now more than ever who need him.
9. Prayer. I’m also thankful that God gave us prayer as a vehicle for communication. Because there is nowhere to go and we’re limited by the things we can do. This is time for us to pray. I mean, just pray without interruptions, distractions, or excuses. Be thankful because we have a God who listens to those who call on him.
10. Jesus Christ, the goodness of God. He gave himself to us, that by faith we can receive him into our lives and wipe away our sins. And there is nothing that will separate us from Jesus’ love for us, not our sin, not our past, not our present, and nothing in the future, not even death. Much of his life resembled our own, his humiliation, public, death gruesome; but his resurrection, was so beautiful that people who witnessed it needed to share that story with everybody they knew because it made their present lives much better than they ever imagined.

If you want to make it through a season where the rabble is loud, the past is looking rosy, and the present is looking bleak, then see the goodness of God in your life and gather it. There’s much more than these ten things. I chose these ten because they are often the first to be overlooked and taken for granted. When you start seeing the goodness of God, your heart will be thankful for where you are.

Psalm 136 says this, “Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his steadfast love endures forever…It is he who remembered us in our low estate, and rescued us, and provides for us. Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his steadfast love endures forever.”

God’s love for you is forever. Give thanks to him. He remembers your past, he sees you here and now. He provided for our future through Jesus and you will always be his child if you welcome him into your heart.

Jesus Christ, the son of God, who although the form of God did not count equality with God and emptied himself to become human. He humbled himself and walked the wilderness of life, like we are, and lived sinless. He bore our sins and inequity and paid the ultimate cost on the cross. Death did not hold him, and he was resurrected on the third day. That is our provision in faith, that we can place our faith and be assured of our salvation.

Have you spent 2020 complaining with an unthankful perspective? Moreover, is that what you want for your present and your future? If Your answer is no, then make the decision to receive the goodness of God in Jesus Christ, who saves me and you.

I want all of us, yes, folks in the building and folks watching online, to have a thankful perspective. Let’s start gathering God’s goodness from everywhere in our lives so that there is nothing else to look at and see, and experience the love of God that endures forever. Then we can see our present as it really is and see ourselves how God sees us, as worthy children, heirs to his kingdom, redeemed by the blood of Christ on the cross. Let’s pray together.

Almighty God, you provide for us daily, Oh, how we fail to see it. How we neglect the wonderful gifts you provide every single day. Thank you for your ample provisions as you lead us through this wilderness. You gave us Jesus, your son, to die in our place, what wouldn’t you spare for us, the children you love?

Father, I know there is a spirit of discontentment and anxiety in this season. 2020 has been a wreck for us, I pray that you shape our hearts and fix our eyes toward seeing your work, your glory in our daily activities. I want to pray for those of us who are in dire straits. I know that there are some among us who are sick and are at their wits’ end, I pray for healing father. Let them taste your sweet provision, let them experience it right now. Our present situation may not look like much, but we continue forward. We pray that when our humble circumstances are gathered and ground and baked together, our faith will get a taste of the glory that is to come. Until then, give us what we need to push forward, one foot after another.

God, we are so thankful that you redeem us from our past, and are actively guiding our present and future. Give us the perspective to be thankful and grow our ability to trust and rely on you more than ever. We pray these things in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Let’s all stand and sing together.