Sermon manuscript:
Thanksgiving seems like it should be easy enough. Many
parents teach their children this skill early with the words: “What do you
say?” “Thank you.” Giving thanks is polite. Failing to give thanks is impolite.
But being polite is one thing. Being sincere is another. What if you don’t feel
like giving thanks?
Not feeling like giving thanks is very common. Sometimes
things don’t go the way we wish they would go. Why do things go the way they
go? Is it a matter of luck? The Bible says nothing about luck. The Bible makes
it clear that God is the one who does everything. So if something bad happens
to you, if someone is taken away from you, if something is withheld from you,
then this is not because you were unlucky. God being God means that he does all
things.
You can see that in the readings tonight. In our first
reading from Deuteronomy Moses is talking to the people about what had happened
for the last 40 years. The Israelites were supposed to go directly from Egypt
into the promised land, but they were prevented from doing so. Who is
responsible for that? God is. Moses said, “Remember the whole journey on
which the Lord your God led you these
forty years in the wilderness, in order to humble you and to test you.” God
humbled them. God made them hungry until he fed them with manna.
Paul in our second reading spoke about his varying
circumstances. Sometimes he had very little. Sometimes he had more than he
needed. Sometimes he was full. Sometimes he was hungry. Who is responsible for
that? Paul was a tent maker. It sounds like he worked hard doing that when he
could in order to pay the bills along with the preaching and teaching that he
did as an apostle. So you might think Paul is responsible for whether he had
enough.
But things happen. Walmart moves into town, selling a whole
bunch of tents that were made in China. There are accidents, thefts, riots, and
so on. A person could get sick. Well, then, maybe he could get some insurance,
or maybe the government could give him a bailout. Maybe he could go to the doctor.
Maybe he could go to the psychiatrist or psychologist. And God likes to work
through ordinary means, so God can work through things like that in order to
provide some relief, but you’ve probably experienced at some point, or are
experiencing it tonight, that you don’t feel like giving thanks. Things aren’t
going the way that I want them to.
At this point I could respond with “What do you say?” If I
wanted to be insistent I could make a case too. That’s not too hard. All I have
to say is, “It could always be worse.” Yes, indeed, it could always be worse.
And look at all this nice stuff you have. You know there are starving children
in Africa who would just love to have what you have. There. You see? Now be
polite.
But this, again, is avoiding what is really going on. This
is just a variation of that lucky, unlucky theme. You’re not unlucky. You’re
lucky. Just look at how lucky you. You’re so lucky. And, you know what? Chances
are you’ll stay lucky too. You just have to look on the bright side of life.
So be polite. Say thank you. And we’ll all have a wonderful
Thanksgiving.
It will be a wonderful Thanksgiving because we won’t have to
bother our heads about God being in control of all things. We won’t have to
worry about anybody not feeling like giving thanks. They’re not following the
rules. They’re being impolite. We should all just keep it light. Keep it fun.
And then the next day we can shop until we drop.
Christian thanksgiving, as opposed to what we’d maybe call
“American thanksgiving,” is deeper, more intense. Christian thanksgiving is
going to have to wrestle with God working all things. Sometimes he makes us
happy. Sometimes he makes us sad. Sometimes he gives. Sometimes he takes away.
Luck has nothing to do with it. Neither does having lots of stuff. Shopping is
a very poor substitute for a relationship with God.
The one thing the Israelites couldn’t do while they were in
the desert wilderness with Moses was shop. There was nothing to buy. That was
very hard on those Israelites. They wanted to shop very badly. They wanted to
shop so badly that they wished they could go back to Egypt. True, they were
slaves there, but every now and then they could afford to buy a melon or some
garlic. Not so in the wilderness. The way they survived in that desert was by
gathering manna every day. They couldn’t store it up. If they tried, it would
spoil. And Moses in our reading tells us why God did this to them. He says that
God fed them manna “to teach them that man does not live by bread alone, but
by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”
Does that sound familiar to you? It should. This was the
Scripture that Jesus quoted to the devil when he was tested in the wilderness.
Jesus fasted for 40 days, and he was hungry. The devil told him he should use
his divine power to turn stones into bread. Jesus said, “Man does not live
by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”
The devil was basically saying to Jesus that he could have
it all. He could have his best life now. All he had to do was make use of the
resources at his disposal, develop his potential, and then, simple as that, no
more sadness. Jesus is basically telling the devil that happiness, that is, the
state of being blessed, is much more than the pursuit of property.
Paul also says something very similar in our second reading.
He says, “I have learned to be content in any circumstances in which I find
myself. I know what it is to live in humble circumstances, and I know what it
is to have more than enough. I have learned the secret of being content in any
and every situation, while being full or hungry, while having plenty or not
enough. I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.”
Perhaps that last little bit there sounds familiar to you
too. It’s not uncommon for folks to snip that verse out of its context and put
it on their walls or on decorations: “I can do all things through Christ,
who strengthens me.” Although I have seen that verse many times on
decorations, I have never seen a decoration that says I will be content while
being hungry, or I will be content while having not enough. I have a feeling
that such a decoration wouldn’t sell very well.
But snipping out that verse from its context really changes
the meaning. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
That makes it sound as though I can change stones to bread. I can make things
just so for myself, however I want them, if I develop my potential—with
Christ’s help of course. I can do miracles.
But the actual meaning of Paul’s words is that if there is a
miracle here, it’s that he is content in much less than perfect circumstances.
Even if he should be hungry or at a lack, he is content. This is not because he
is some stoic or because he likes pain. It’s because he knows God in our Lord Jesus
Christ. He does not live on bread alone, but from every word that comes from
the mouth of the Lord.
Being content and giving thanks in sad and uncomfortable
situations is supposed to be part of
our experience as Christians. The God who reveals himself in the Scriptures tells
us that he is a Father who disciplines his children. Moses in our reading says:
“So know in your heart that just as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord
your God disciplines you. Therefore you are to keep the commandments of the Lord
your God by walking in his ways and by revering him.”
Now suppose that we were at the Thanksgiving table. We go
around the table and everybody says what he or she is thankful for. Then it
comes to you and you say: “I’m thankful for God disciplining me. I’m thankful
for God causing me pain, for humbling me. Thereby he has brought me back to
faithfulness and the keeping of his commandments.” That would be breaking the
rules for how you are supposed to be thankful as an American holiday. However,
it would also be refreshing as something that is true, instead of being merely
polite.
When the Scriptures are taken seriously there’s no escaping
the fact that God deals with those he loves like a Father who disciplines his
son. Life is not a matter of luckiness and unluckiness. Stuff doesn’t just
happen. Nor is it the case that so long as we have enough resources at our
disposal we can keep ourselves happy.
It is instead the case that God makes us hungry so that we
may be fed. He makes us sad so that we may be glad. The bones that he breaks
eventually make us rejoice. Through all of this it is so that we may learn that
we do not live by bread alone, but from every word that comes from the mouth of
the Lord. Knowing God is so much more important than going shopping.
Know God, therefore, and give him thanks. Don’t just be
polite. Thank him also for his discipline, for humbling you. Sad, humble times
are the times when things get corrected spiritually speaking. That is when we
grow in knowing our God. Good and easy times are when people forget God. Hard
times are when we almost have no other choice than to be knocking at his door.
And since we aren’t that great of human beings, that is almost always exactly
what the doctor orders.
Paul, in the same chapter from which we read tonight, says
another well-known verse: “Rejoice in the Lord always, again, I say,
‘Rejoice.’” The key word is “always,” or “at all times.” Rejoice at all
times, in trouble and when trouble is passed, knowing that we do not live by
bread alone, but by the word that comes from the mouth of our God. Knowing him,
and knowing his good and gracious will towards you in our Lord Jesus Christ,
gives you the power to be content. That is doing all things through Christ, who
strengthens us.
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