◆Let’s End the Year with Joy and Gratitude

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

December 29, 2024.

This is the last Sunday service of the year 2024. Today’s scripture was given to us as I imagined and prayed what kind of message God would conclude the year with.

“Be joyful always. Pray constantly. Be thankful in everything.”

What do you think when you hear this verse?

Some of you may think

“Always rejoice? Grateful? But this year, the opposite happened to me. Instead of rejoicing, there were things that made me sad, frustrated, and disappointed. Instead of being thankful, there were things that made me want to resent.”

“I wonder if there are people in the world who are filled with joy and gratitude. If so, how many are there? Such people are a world away from me.”

Many people may feel that way.

When God says, “Rejoice and be thankful in all things.” is he talking about special people whom we rarely see? Or is he talking about unreasonable demands? Is he talking about gut feelings?

Some of you may feel that you know what God means about prayer. You may say, “We barely live in a hard world, so it makes sense that we have to pray.”

Well, what is God trying to tell us?

First, let us consider why we find this Word difficult. Then, let us think about how we can make this Word our own.

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1. why do we find this Word difficult?

Why do we find this Word difficult? It is because we evaluate things and events based on ourselves. We evaluate events that are happening right now only in the present moment from our own self-centered viewpoints, such as “is it comfortable,” “is it advantageous,” and “does it benefit me?

I myself had an experience in which I failed in a job interview. I went on to an interview with an executive at a company, and even though I had been advised not to mention that I was a mountain climber, I let my guard down and said something about it, thinking that if I made it to the executive interview, I wouldn’t be rejected. At the time, there was an incident at that company where a competent employee was killed in an accident, and mountain climbing was a no-no for the president of the company. As a result, I could not join the company of my choice, and I was terribly depressed. However, this led me to meet Jesus through an encounter with a Christian and even led me to become a pastor.

At that time, I was discouraged and could not rejoice, and I could not be thankful at all. There are many such things. This is because we evaluate things from the viewpoint of how much we can benefit, rejoice, and be thankful based on ourselves. Then, our prayers are also centered on ourselves. You will be asking for what you want now, saying, “Please give me this, please give me that, please make this happen, please make that happen.” Whether it is about finances, health or healing for oneself or one’s family members, prayer that is centered on oneself and asked for within the time axis of the present is begging. Such prayers often seem to lack the perspective of attributing glory to God when the prayer is answered.

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2. to center on God.

In Luke 17:11-18, there is a record of ten sick people who came to Jesus. They prayed from the depths of their hearts and lifted up their voices to ask for healing. And all ten were healed. However, only one returned to Jesus and gave thanks. The prayers of the other nine were begging prayers, as if being healed was enough.

Jesus said of the fact that only one returned, “Is there no one else who has returned to praise God besides this foreigner?”

When our prayers are answered, we should not just say, “Oh, it was good,” but we should thank God and praise Him. Without that perspective, when our prayers are not answered, we may even leave the church, saying things like, “Nothing good came from believing.”

In order for us to rejoice, pray, and be thankful, we should not be centered on ourselves, but on God. When we see events from God’s perspective, we can be thankful and rejoice.

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3. look at salvation

Let us consider salvation.

God has completely atoned for our sins and forgiven us. We do not need to add anything to it. We do not need to do good deeds to keep our salvation. Jesus has completely taken care of our sins and passed judgment on us. So we can rejoice. Think about it. God’s salvation is tremendously heavy. You cannot keep such a heavy thing by yourself.

Jesus also said, “You will have tribulation in the world. But take courage. I have already overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

Whether one is a Christian or not, there are many hardships and tribulations. Financial hardship, health hardship, parenting hardship, relationship hardship, and aging also brings hardship. Jesus says, “I know, I know. But take courage. I know the hardships you are going through, and you will not solve them all. I know that hardship. I bear them with you. I have already won them. Make Me your axis. Look at the hardships with Me as your axis. All things work together for good. If you look at each event with yourself as the axis, you may be crushed. But they are also my events, and you will see glory through them. Even if you don’t see that glory during your earthly life, you will see it in eternity.” That is what he is saying. That is where gratitude comes in.

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4. anticipating gratitude

We can anticipate thanksgiving even though the events and hardships themselves remain the same. Gratitude that comes from knowing that everything is for the good, to know God better, to rejoice in God, to rejoice in our lives, to rejoice in our existence. Then prayer changes. Of course, Christians also pray for their own desires. But that prayer has already been heard. That is where the glory of God appears. When we say, “Oh, really, God is alive and working. He is really with me.” and praise God, we move on to the next stage of joy and gratitude. I would like to end this year with such joy and gratitude. And next year, I would like to be even more joyful and thankful.

Sermon script modified based on proofreading with ChatGPT and translation with DeepL.