Sermon from Thanksgiving Sunday, November 22, 2009
Yes, it has been a long time since Thanksgiving, but maybe we will read this sermon differently away from the holiday times.
Psalm 65; John 10: 7-16; 2 Corinthians 6:3-10
Our first reading for today is Psalm 65. In this psalm of community thanksgiving, David looks ahead to a service of thanksgiving at the
Stanza 1: 65:1 Praise is due to you, O God, in
Let me recap: the theme is Redeemer and
Let me explain:Stanza 1 views the temple in terms of the purposes that will be enunciated in Solomon’s prayer for the temple: God’s hearing of prayer from the peoples of all the earth and God’s providing atonement. Much later, Jesus will extend these purposes for the temple to the portable fellowship of faith, the church. Our mission is to build a community of hope that carries the powerful presence and atoning work of Jesus Christ to the world around us, starting right here in Berryville and central
Stanza 2 5 By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness, O God of our salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas; 6 the one who by his strength established the mountains, being girded with might; 7 who stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples, 8 so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs. You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.
The 4-point recap. Theme: Creator and World (1) God’s awesome deeds are the hope of all the ends of the earth (65:5) (2) God established the mountains (65:6) (3) God stills the seas and the peoples (65:7) (4) Those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at God’s signs (65:8a)
The explanation: Stanza 2 places our gratitude in relation to the sovereign and awesome deeds of the Creator. Everything exists because of God creation, and God still actively exercises his dominion over his creation, bringing it toward his purposes.
Stanza 3 9 You visit the earth and water it; you greatly enrich it; the
The recap: Theme: Provider and Land: (1) East (sunrise) and west (sunset) shout for joy (65:8b) (2) God waters the earth (65:9-10) (3) God crowns the year with overflowing bounty (65:11) (4) Pastures, hills, meadows, and valleys shout and sing together for joy (65:12-13)
The explanation: Stanza 3 lifts shouts of joy for the bountiful harvest. 65:11b is especially striking, addressing God, “your wagon tracks overflow with abundance.” Taken all together, the psalm presents a well-rounded picture of God’s goodness. All creation responds with joyful praise.
Our Gospel reading for today is John 10:7-16. 7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
Jesus views the Sadducees who led the temple and the Pharisees who led the interpretation of the law as hired hands who looked out for themselves, but who cared nothing for the masses of people who were being crushed by the elite and exclusive practices of their leaders. Jesus in contrast was the Good Shepherd who cared about the sheep. He did not keep the sheep in the fold all day, but led them out each day to green pastures and fresh water, returning them at night to the safety of the fold. Jesus’ concern was not just for an in-group of sheep who were already gathered in the fold, but also and even more, for the desperately needy sheep who were not yet under his loving care. He would seek and bring them too so that there would be one flock with one loving shepherd. While the hired hands would flee from danger, abandoning the sheep to protect themselves, Jesus would lay down his life for his sheep. His goal was to give them abundant life.
We must not imagine that abundant life means life with big bank accounts, a large credit card allowance, and every consumer gadget and trinket we can imagine, but rather a life of satisfying and meaningful living and an eternal future. Our lives take on richness as we learn to live for Jesus who has died for us.
We must not imagine that the abundant life is a life with no problems. The abundance of our lives is determined by the attitude we take even when we are beset by problems. While the Apostle Paul had abundant life, he also had more than his share of problems. But he followed the example of his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and willingly laid down his life for the gospel. Approximately a decade before his martyr’s death, here is what he wrote: 2 Corinthians 6:3 We put no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, 4 but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5 beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; 6 by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; 7 by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; 8 through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 9 as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.
For Paul, the life of a faithful Christian was marked by sacrificial suffering for the gospel, by steady increase of Christlike qualities, and by a series of seeming contradictions. It is the seeming contradictions that are interesting. Let’s look at them again: through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 9 as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.
A true servant of the gospel will face honor and dishonor, slander and praise. They will be accused unjustly of being fakes, but will prove themselves true. At the foundation of their lives will be the crucifixion/resurrection principle: as they give themselves in loving service, they will be continually renewed by the Spirit of God. Note this especially, that they will be sorrowful, yet always rejoicing. Paul is not saying that they will live in the land of denial, pretending with plastic smiles that they have no problems. Paul is saying that they will not let their real problems prevent them from celebrating their real joys. They may not have much in the way of worldly goods and security, but they will make many rich in spiritual possessions, and though they have nothing of worldly account, they will in fact possess everything that is available for our enjoyment.
Every time that I take a walk in these beautiful hills of Northern Arkansas, I am astounded by the beauty that does not cost me a penny. If I take the time to enjoy it, it is in my heart mine as much as if my name were on the deed. The richness of our lives is determined more by the attitude of gratitude than by anything else. I once had a little plaque that said, “Peace is seeing a beautiful sunset and knowing whom to thank.” That’s true, but there are yet deeper joys than sunsets.
We have been singing a hymn this month about the deeper joys. “My Heart Is Filled with Thankfulness,”* is a wonderfully flexible, psalm-like hymn that is useful for invitation, for prayer and meditation, or for the Lord’s Supper.
1. My heart is filled with thankfulness to Him who bore my pain;
Who plumbed the depths of my disgrace and gave me life again;
Who crushed my curse of sinfulness and clothed me in His light
And wrote His law of righteousness with pow’r upon my heart.
With powerful imagery, Verse 1 says that, through his death on the cross, Jesus Christ saves us from our sin and purifies us for right living.
2. My heart is filled with thankfulness to Him who walks beside;
Who floods my weaknesses with strength and causes fears to fly;
Whose ev’ry promise is enough for ev’ry step I take,
Sustaining me with arms of love and crowning me with grace.
Verse 2 says that Jesus’ ongoing presence, promises, love, and grace, sustain us through daily life, shining through our weaknesses to strengthen the impact of our lives for good.
3. My heart is filled with thankfulness to Him who reigns above,
Whose wisdom is my perfect peace, whose ev’ry thought is love.
For ev’ry day I have on earth is given by the King;
So I will give my life, my all, to love and follow him.
Verse 3 focuses on Christ’s eternal reign with the Father and the Spirit. All the true wisdom, peace, love, and enduring life we have come from our Sovereign King. We owe our lives to Him. The hymn is tied together by the theme of overwhelming thankfulness (eucharistia) for grace (charis), a theme that repeats in the opening line of each verse: “My heart is filled with thankfulness to Him who….”
When we celebrate Thanksgiving, we may sometimes forget that it is not all about material blessings. For us as Christians, it is above all about Jesus and his love. To Him we owe everything!
*Used by permission. CCLI License #2771568. Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend. Copyright © 2003 Thankyou Music.
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