Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The text on which this evening's message is based comes from our Epistle lesson (1 Thessalonians 5: 9-18) read earlier.

Have you ever used the phrase "thanks for nothing"? When people use this phrase they generally are hurt or upset with what somebody did or did not do to them. "Thanks for nothing."

What an unusual expression for a sermon on Thanksgiving Eve. If it sounds like I'm implying that we should thank God for nothing – I am! In our text, Paul states that we should "give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus".   Not just for good times and good things, but in "all circumstances."

Now, it's easy to be thankful when the circumstances in life are rewarding or pleasant: falling in love, getting married, the birth of a child, healing, a new home, , financial success, graduations and family reunions. Unfortunately, when the circumstances in life are pleasant, we are too often like the 9 lepers in our Gospel story who failed to thank Jesus for healing them. We're too prone to thinking that we somehow deserve the good times, rather than thanking God for his blessings.

But it's even harder to think of thanking God when life is bland or painful. When you're in the hospital or you've lost a loved one, it's difficult to sing a song of thanksgiving or to be joyful. And God doesn't expect us to be thankful for times of misery itself. God is not responsible for our problems, and shouldn't be blamed or thanked for our problems. Our problems in life come from either having to survive in a sinful world full of terrorists, criminals, germs and viruses, or having to live with our own mistakes and errors. God is not the author of evil. Sin and Satan are mighty forces in our current world.

But if we need not thank God for our problems, how can we be thankful in all circumstances? The answer is reflected in the flashlight. To explain what I mean, I'll ask the ushers to turn off the lights. As Curtis shines the light on me, please notice my shadow. The shadow symbolizes those dark times, those difficult times of crisis or depression, pain or suffering that we create for ourselves or others create for us.

The shadow also symbolizes the darkness of sin against which all of us fight. Whatever the darkness of the shadow symbolizes in your specific life, it is the unpleasant aspects. When we are in the midst of these unpleasant times, there is only one way to be thankful, only one way to praise God; namely to be certain that where there is a shadow, there is also a light. There can be darkness without light, as in the life of unbelievers. But for those of us who live in the light of Christ, there will be shadows, dark pockets of sinfulness. But those shadows can only be known because there is light. In other words there can never be dark, shadowy, painful times in our lives without the presence of God's reassuring light. If I turn and face the shadow, where is the light? Behind me. If I turn, where is my shadow? Behind me.   Where is the light? In front of me. And notice what happens as I walk closer to the light. My shadow gets even bigger. This symbolizes that as we get closer and closer to Christ through growing in His Word, we become even more and more aware of the darkness of our shadow, our sin, and more aware of the brightness of the wondrous light of Christ.

The reason why it seems so ridiculous to talk about giving thanks in the midst of difficult circumstances is because we turn away from the light of Christ and focus entirely on the shadow. When all we see is the darkness of our problems, of course we are going to feel overwhelmed and feel like God has abandoned us. It is not wise or helpful to stare at the shadows of our lives for long, unless we remember that the light of Christ is right behind us. For that light we can be thankful. When we are aware of the light of Christ and are receiving his warmth, strength, and understanding, which the light of Christ will give us, then we can give thanks in all circumstances. As I mentioned, we don't give thanks for the pain and suffering because God didn't cause that. But He does have a way of salvaging good even out of bad, and in the future we may be able to give thanks for how he works out the bad. But at all times we can give thanks for the light of Christ, and his constant and comforting presence.

All of us, if Christ does not return soon, will someday walk through the valley of the shadow of death. All of us who trust in Christ can overcome the fear of darkness by the grace of God as we take in the light of Christ, the light that is in his Word, the light that is in the Lord's Supper, the light of Christian fellowship and worship. (Lights are turned back on).

With that much light of God surrounding us, then we can both face the darkness in our lives and give thanks in all circumstances to the God who sustains us.

The grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us always. Amen.

(Thanks go to my friend Rev. Joel Hempel of St. Louis for the idea and much of the text for this sermon, see Concordia Pulpit Resource, Fall 2001, p. 53)