You're in a Chair in the Sky!

This half-obligatory Thanksgiving post is a partial paraphrase of a sermon from my church from last December. Specifically, one that showed the following video featuring a comedian named Louis C.K. on Conan O'Brien: Everything's Amazing and Nobody's Happy. Warning: some minor foul language. But a hilarious and relevant commentary on how entitled we as a culture feel: we complain the in-flight wi-fi doesn't work when we're sitting in a chair in the sky! My pastor used this as a lead-in to one of my favorite Bible passages, Ephesians 2:1-10:

1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

 God raised (past tense) us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places with Jesus! If you believe in Christ, you really are in a chair in the sky! (Spiritually speaking) Our amazing position in Christ, he then argued, should be enough to blow your mind every day and fill you with gratitude and joy. We testify to the hardness of our hearts by treating life as mere routine.

This realization of how good things really are is what I think Thanksgiving is about. Not just how amazing modern technology is like Louis C.K. went on about, but how much we've been blessed in our family, our relationships, our place in life, and above all the mercy God showed us giving His son for our sake. Be blessed this Thanksgiving.