Thanksgiving Service - 4 PM - Thanksgiving Eve. 2013

Thanksgiving, 2013

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bethany-lutheran-worship

Bethany Lutheran Worship, 4 PM Central Standard Time 

The Hymn # 558                 All Praise to Thee   4.44
The Order of Vespers                                             p. 41

The Psalmody            Psalm 100                             p. 144
The First Lection                       1 Timothy 2:1-8
The Second Lection           Luke 17:11-19       
 The Sermon Hymn # 574               Come Ye Thankful            4.9

Thanksgiving Comes from Faith

The Prayers and Lord’s Prayer                         p. 44

The Collect for Peace                                           p. 45

The Benediction                                                   p. 45

The Hymn #361   O Jesus King             4.1

KJV 1 Timothy 2:1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; 2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. 7 Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity. 8 I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.

KJV Luke 17:11 And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. 12 And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: 13 And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. 14 And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. 15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, 16 And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. 17 And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? 18 There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. 19 And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

Thanksgiving Comes from Faith in God

Sermon Text

Luke 17: 16 And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. 17 And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? 18 There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. 19 And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

This is a familiar passage, since it is also used during the church year. But the miraculous healing sticks in our minds because of two points. One point is that 10 lepers were healed. The other is – the stranger or Samaritan, the outcast among outcasts – returned to give thanks. Jesus commended his faith – Your faith has healed you.

Thanksgiving means, for our nation today, being thankful in general. That translates into being thankful for good things, for material blessings. But this text makes us think of a more important kind of thankfulness – thanking God for everything.

Like all Scriptural lessons, this one makes us think of the bad guys as being really ridiculous in their attitude. After all, they had a life-threatening and loathsome disorder, one that separated them from family and friends. They were unclean according to Jewish law and condemned to live apart. They were miraculously healed after asking for healing, but nine did not return to give thanks.

Luther said that he would have turned them into lepers again.

But here we see that we are far more like the nine than we are like the Samaritan. We have so much from God, but others shame us for being far more grateful for the little they have materially. Or even worse for us, they are far more grateful for the Gospel as the true treasure of God, distributed by the Word and Sacraments.

It is well known that Christians in the Third World face constant persecution and death. And they are thankful for the Gospel, not resentful about the cross they must bear.

One of my students has been helping out in China, where restrictions and problems abound. She has been working in one of the poorest areas of Beijing. According to their traditions, certain people get all the benefits while the others do not, based on where they are from. She is helping among the poorest outside of Beijing proper. It is very difficult for everyone, and yet they persist.

Others have noted how the handicapped will show so much thanks toward God even though they seem to be denied what we call a normal life. Those with Down Syndrome are a good example. We taught a group of three students so they could be confirmed. Each one had a learning disability. The young man with Downs already looked older from his physical problems. All three memorized the Creed (no complaining). The young man with Downs knelt at the altar and prayed after the service. It was very touching. I have seen a lot of confirmations, but that was the only time that happened. It was quite a lesson for everyone. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

The handicapped are lepers among us, and yet he was not healed. Instead he was given an adult role in his congregation, after wishing for that for many years. He was no longer regarded as a little child. He received Holy Communion.

Of course the parents were joyful too, because they cared that much more that their special child was able to have a different standing in the congregation.

This all relates to an emphasis in Luther and Chytraeus. Thankfulness comes from trusting in God’s goodness and wisdom, no matter what may develop at the moment.

Faith in God is not limited to believing in God. That seems to be the stopping point for the Old Adam. I believe in God but I will figure out the future for myself. That has led to many kinds of compromises with false doctrine and bad practice, simply because the prospect of bearing the cross is too burdensome.

Chytraeus put it this way – It is a sin to doubt the goodness of God. The often-overlooked Book of Concord editor was eloquent in expressing himself this way. Anyone can go through the motions of faith in God and being thankful, but bad times make us doubt the goodness of God, and bearing the cross tempts us to ask if God is showing thankfulness toward us for believing in Him.

Prayer is the fruit of faith, just as thankfulness is. To pray to God as a loving, gracious forgiving Father means trust in His goodness. It also means trusting in His infinite power. God can change a situation in an instant or over time, depending on His wisdom. When we look back upon certain events we can how great the gap is between our expectations and God’s actions.

Experience told me the solution to the teaching problem – reduced work. I had a solution but the person who became a friend was a gadfly in that very area of work – the community college. He directed me toward what he knew, which was different, fun, challenging, and beneficial to young Christian students. I almost expected to hear a tinkling bell (“It’s a Wonderful Life) when he got his angel wings and disappeared.

Luther said he often prayed away calamities, because he trusted in God's great power to avert them. Gerhardt wrote a beautiful hymn (only found in German) about how God blesses us in so many ways, each and every day:

Lobet den Herren. That hymn reminds people about God providing daily blessings we do not often count because they represent the absence of evil.

I often write a prayer on FB for people facing difficult situations, especially when they are suffering from the illnesses of their spouses.

If anyone doubts the power of God in watching over the faithful, look at those without faith and note the calamities they face constantly, without knowing how to avoid them. Lack of faith means blindness toward God-pleasing actions and attitudes. Church leaders often have the least faith in God among all His subjects.

Trust in God is the real meaning of giving God all the glory. Trust in His Word means that it will bring about the best possible results in God’s eyes rather than in ours. What He can accomplish is often instant and yet just as often takes decades or centuries.

The epistle lesson also notes that we should pray for our leaders and give thanks for what God has ordained in our particular world. The decadent Roman Empire of the apostles served as a royal road for the Gospel across the world. The long-lasting Byzantine Empire (the Eastern part of the Roman Empire) survived for another 14 centuries after Christ to preserve the Greek heritage and keep Islam from Europe.

So God's will is accomplished through His Word – and we are thankful for it.