Intro
On this Thanksgiving eve, we remember the gifts that God has given us,
especially the gift of a Savior, Jesus Christ. When we remember what God has
done for us, our hearts swell with joy, and we are reinvigorated to cherish His
Word, especially the Word made flesh, our Savior, Jesus Christ. And of course,
part of cherishing God’s Word is thanking Him.
Main Body
And so we find ourselves remembering the Israelites from our Old Testament
reading, that we may thank our God all the more. They are at the Jordan River,
ready to cross and enter the Promised Land. Their 40 years of wandering in
the wilderness had ended. Their parents had all died in the desert because
they thought they knew better than God, thinking Him unable to save them from
the people who were already living in the land God had promised them.
Now Moses tells them to remember what the Lord has done for them in the
wilderness. He tells them to guard, cherish, and, in turn, obey God’s
commandments that they may have the land that the Lord is giving them.
The Israelites were to remember what life was like for them in the past. They
were once enslaved in Egypt, without hope of being freed. There, they fell
away from worshiping the one, true God. But the Lord sent Moses and Aaron to
them anyway, working His will through them, forcing the Egyptian Pharaoh to let
His people go.
The Lord then brought His people out of Egypt, saving them through the waters
of the Red Sea, but drowning the Egyptian armies. The Lord led them by a
pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. He tested them to see if
they would guard and cherish His commands. And He provided food and water for
them in the desert.
But being the fallen people they were, the Israelites rebelled against God.
After all that God had done for them, they forgot His kindness to them. They
forgot His promises. They wanted to come to God on their own terms. And so
they made a golden calf through which they wanted to worship God. But God
wouldn’t allow them make Him in their own image.
And the Israelites grumbled and complained instead of giving thanks. And when
their spies returned after exploring the land of Canaan, they chose fear over
trust. The Israelites feared the people already there instead of trusting
God’s promise that He would give them the land. So the Lord disciplined them,
and that whole generation died in the wilderness. That’s what unbelief
does--it kills you. For God’s old covenant people, it was lived out in a real
and public way.
So then, what was life like for us before the Lord rescued us? We were slaves
to sin, in bondage to the devil. As far as God was concerned, we were His
enemies. We were dead in our trespasses and sins. And we could not free
ourselves.
But “when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us. This
wasn’t because of righteous deeds we had done. No, it was because of His
mercy. He saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy
Spirit, whom He generously poured out on us through Jesus Christ our Savior.
Now, having been made righteous by His grace, we become heirs, having the hope
of eternal life.” (Titus 3:4-7)
Through the blood of the Lamb of God on the cross, foreshadowed by the
Passover, God delivered us from our Egypt, from sin, death, hell, and the power
of the devil. Through the waters of Baptism, He has saved us just as He saved
Israel through the Red Sea.
And God also leads us through our wilderness experiences, through our trials
and testing with the light of His Word. He upholds us with His life-creating
Word, the Word of God forgiving our sins because of Jesus. He even gives us
our manna, the body and blood of Jesus in the Lord’s Supper, our true Bread
from Heaven.
And so we thank God. The idea behind Thanksgiving is this fact: we thank God!
Tomorrow, many of us will gorge ourselves on Thanksgiving turkey. But the real
Thanksgiving, for which we are to be eternally grateful, is God feeding us
every time we gather here. Here, God speaks His Word into our ears where the
peace of forgiveness enters our soul. And, of course, God even feeds us in a
physical way to feed our spirits in His Supper.
Remembering Christ is more than just thinking about some past event, such as
His crucifixion. Christianity is not just mentally agreeing to certain facts,
as if our faith can be that sterile and contained in such a way. Remembering
Christ is a here-and-now event, remembering to come where God gives you His
gifts and feeds you. This is remembering lived out in the present. Yes, to
remember Christ is to receive Him, His gifts, and His blessings here and now
and then to pray, pray, and give thanks.
Remembering all that God has done for us in the past--and continues to do for
us today--changes us. It moves us to cherish, guard, and, in turn, obey God’s
Word. This Word includes the commandments, which God gave to a people whom He
had already saved, to show how they were to live as His people.
Keeping all the commands of God includes the 10 commandments--but it includes
even more, the promises of God! For we cannot keep a single commandment in
God’s eyes where we don’t first believe His promises--that He wishes to be
merciful and gracious to us in Christ, who has perfectly kept the Law for us.
Remembering what God has done for us and promised us in Christ leads us to
cherish God’s Word, especially the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ. Cherishing
God’s Word leads to doing God’s Word. When we cherish the Lord’s Word to us,
when we cherish His Laws and His promises, we cry out with the Psalmist who
said, “Oh, how I love your Law!” (Psalm 119:97) When that happens, the Word
has had its way with us, and we begin to walk according to God’s Word.
We remember all that the Lord has done for us in Christ. Yes, we remember all
the blessings that God has given us through Jesus, and we give Him thanks. We
give Him thanks in everything and for everything.
The Scriptures speak on this thanksgiving to God: “Speak to one another with
psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music to the Lord in
your heart, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:18-20). And “give thanks in everything,
for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Thank
God in all circumstances, even if they are right now bad ones!
Our trouble is that we forget. Like the Israelites of old, we have spiritual
Alzheimer’s. We forget God. We grumble and complain about our problems. We
don’t thank the Lord for His blessings, including the trials and testing that
He gives us. He gives these to us for our good. He disciplines us as a father
disciplines His son. But testing is hard to receive as a gift from God. It’s
even especially hard to receive God’s censure from another Christian or the
pastor without being gravely offended. And so it’s even harder to give thanks
for it.
Conclusion
And so, today Moses’ words are given to us as well, for we are like the
Israelites of old. Remember what the Lord has done for you. Remember how He
has remembered to save you from your sins. Remember how He has rescued you
from all evil and provided you with everything you need. Remember how He has
brought you through many trials and troubles. And remember Him as He comes to
you here and now in His Word to save and strengthen you.
As we remember all this, the Holy Spirit will lead us to keep God’s Word and
cause it to have its way in our lives. And this will, in turn, cause us to
pray, praise, and give thanks. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift in
Christ Jesus. Amen.
--
Rich Futrell, Pastor
Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church, Kimberling City, MO
Where we are to receive and confess the faith of the Church (in and with the
Augsburg Confession)--the faith once delivered to the saints, the faith of
Christ Jesus, His Word of the Gospel, His free and full forgiveness of sins,
His flesh and blood given and poured out for us, and His gracious gift of life
for both body and soul.
___________________________________________________________________________
'CAT 41 Sermons & Devotions' consists of works that are, unless otherwise
noted, the copyrighted property of the various authors; posting of such
gives members of this list implied consent for redistribution _with_
_attribution_ unless otherwise specified by the author, as well as
for quoting or use in a congregational setting
_with_or_without_attribution_.
Note: This list's default reply is to the *poster*, NOT the list.
Do *not* reply to the list with your comments, but to the poster.
Subscribe? Send ANY note to: [email protected]
Unsubscribe? Send ANY note to: [email protected]
Archive? <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/>
For more information on this or other lists offered by Confess And Teach
For Unity, you can contact the CAT 41 list administrator at:
Rev. Fr. Eric J. Stefanski <MoM [at] lists (dot) cat41 <dot> org>
