Sermon for Thanksgiving Eve

Thanksgiving Eve
Nov. 25, 2010
Phil. 4:6-20
Think about these things

In the name of our bountiful Lord Jesus, amen. Paul’s most excellent lesson from Philippians will be our sermon text this evening. I don’t believe it is terribly hard to hear Thanksgiving themes in that lesson.

It starts off by speaking about the worthlessness of worry, the absurdity of anxiety. Certainly you can feel anxious walking down some urban streets, or our fighting men and women face everyday anxiety in Afghanistan, but us? What are we anxious about- whether or not our favorite TV show is on, whether Delaware will make a run at a college football championship? When you are concerned about things in life, your relationships, your work, your children, “by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God”.

Take it to the Lord in prayer. Lord, I’m concerned about my relationship with my children. Your answer is to slow down, put down all the other things that are crowding your days, and listen, laugh, and love. Slow down and be patient with your children. Remember that they are the children and you are the parent. Take your concerns, anxieties, worries, and stresses to the Lord in prayer. And in your praying, remember to listen.

Paul writes to us about things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, praiseworthy…and we are to think about those things. Sure. Paul is not asking something that is hard to perform. Tomorrow we’ll gather around our table. We’ll have some time to spend with our families. We might even be able to sit on the couch and give a sigh of contentment. We might have Friday off, making it a four-day weekend. We’ll have some time in the next 48-72 hours to think about what is true, honorable, just, pure, and the like.

It is not hard to think about Jesus. Jesus is true. He is honorable. He is just, lovely, excellent and worthy of praise. Think about Jesus. He is the Lord who serves. He is the leader who is not afraid to get his hands messy. He is the sinless one who became our sin.

Think about Jesus. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me…practice these things.

The child of God does indeed learn of Jesus. Certainly we spend time in Bible classes exploring the great story of Jesus, his life, his ministry, his work. We receive Jesus…in the water, in the Word, in the bread, in the cup. There is Jesus, freely given to you, for you. In our conversations with one another, with family, with dear friends, we hear of Jesus. And we see him, in the visits that are made, in the deeds of kindness that make our days and our lives easier. We learn, receive, hear, and see Jesus, the Son of God, who lives and reigns to all eternity.

At Thanksgiving, we put Jesus into practice. Our service began as it always has, by naming the Name of the only true God, the triune God. Along with the Father and the Spirit, there was the Son. We then moved into some time of Confession, acknowledging our sin, guilt, shame…all the things we did and neglected to do. While the national Thanksgiving holiday focuses on all the positives and happinesses, the reality of our day is that very often the sad travels with the happy, negative experiences are the next-door neighbor of the happy times. So we confess all that has gone wrong in our lives because of our sinful nature. But then, there comes the absolving, the wiping away, the forgiveness of God for all of our sins because of the merit of Jesus Christ. There is Jesus at work, Jesus being put into practice in our lives.

Jesus is the eternal Word, the Word of God made flesh, the living Word that still speaks today through the written Word. The Holy Spirit opens our ears, opens our heart, to hear the voice of our Savior, and thus, we practice the honorable and charitable teachings of Jesus, we practice the humble and lovely commands of Christ, we practice the just actions of Jesus.

Whatever is true, honorable, commendable, just, pure- those are all descriptors of our Lord Jesus. Think of our Savior, and give God thanks for the gift of salvation.

It is the gift of salvation that helps us even out and balance our days. I know how to be brought low and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Those words, written to the Philippians in about 60AD, ring out as true today as they did when first written. Not every day is a success. Some days you go to bed at night wondering why you even got out of bed in the first place. And some days are terrific triumphs, everything went right: in your family and in your vocation. Plenty and hunger, abundance and need, those are things we understand. People come to this church many times because of their hunger and need, and sometimes we can help and sometimes we can’t. For the people looking for food, I direct them to the food pantry, but then they say they do not have transportation there. People need help with utility bills and school expenses for their children and with rent that is already one month late. These people are our neighbors, figuratively and literally. People in our very neighborhood are hurting because a car repair has drained their savings and their hours at work are being reduced.

Where is the strength of Jesus to do all the things that come to us? The strength is in the true and honorable and commendable and just Jesus. It is in the healing that the lepers received, made well by their faith. It is in the discipline that God gives to His children. When in need we are given the strength to make the sacrifices that are necessary. We are given the strength to see what is necessary and thus, give up what is not.

Thanksgiving is quite the realistic holiday. It puts before our eyes, it speaks in our ears, it brings comfort to our heart to know with certainty the giving nature of the triune God, the abundant providence of God. We see it on our tables. And we see it here. Here are God’s gifts, freely offered, joyfully received, freely shared. SDG