Thanksgiving Eve
November 21, 2018
Text: Deut. 8:1-10
Beloved,
we are God’s people, His Israel, the Church.
And we are pilgrims in the wilderness of this world. God has come to us in a foreign land. He has brought us out of the house of
slavery, the Egypt of our sin and our death, and the power of our pharaoh, the
devil. He has brought us out with a
mighty hand and an outstretched arm, the mighty hands pierced by the nails, His
arms outstretched on the cross. He is
the Lamb slain for us, that the doorposts and lintels of our hearts being
painted with His blood, death passes over us.
Though the devil and his hoards are in hot pursuit, our God leads us
through the Red Sea of Baptism to freedom and life. He drowns our enemies and leads us safely
through on dry ground. He guides us
through the wilderness of this fallen world, giving us His Word, His
Commandments and His Torah (His Instruction, Law and Gospel), feeding us the
Bread of Heaven, the manna of His own body, giving us to drink from the rock
that was struck, the Lord’s side from whence poured water and blood, Baptism
and Supper. He shelters us with His
presence. He is a pillar of cloud by day
and fire by night. He comes between us
and our enemies. He leads us and is with
us. Where He goes, we go. Where we are, He is. He dwells with us in the Tabernacle, the Tent
of Meeting that is His body. He speaks
to us as to a friend in His mighty Word.
In Him we live and move and have our being. And He will lead us through the Jordan,
through the valley of the shadow of death, to Himself in heaven, to the
Promised Land of the new heavens and the new earth in the resurrection of all
flesh and the bodily eternal life of all believers in Christ.
All
of which is to say, Israel’s story is our story. What happened to Israel happens to us. We are God’s new Israel in Christ, the holy
Christian Church. And so, as we hear
what Moses preaches to the children of Israel now on the cusp of the Promised
Land, we not only hear it as ancient and holy history (which it certainly is),
but as our holy history. His words are for us, as they were for them,
for they are the eternal Words of our Lord God. And we know, as Jesus preaches to us and to
the very devil, “that man does not live
by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the
LORD” (Duet. 8:3; ESV).
Therefore,
“remember the whole way that the LORD
your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness” (v. 2). Remember
it. This is not just a command to God’s
Old Testament people. It is the command
to you. Remember. Reflect.
Mediate upon the way that the LORD your God leads you out of bondage to
sin and damnation to His Promised Land in heaven and the resurrection of the
dead. This text is for our learning, so
that we remember. And so we ask, what
does God teach us in our text?
Do
the Commandments. Obey them. Things go better when you do. Now, of course, you don’t obey the
Commandments to merit God’s favor or earn eternal life. Those you already have by grace, through
faith, on account of Christ. The
children of Israel were already God’s
children by grace when He gave Moses
the Ten Commandments. The Commandments
were not the way they were to be saved.
God had already brought them out of slavery and was leading them to the
Promised Land. The Commandments were
given because they were God’s loving will for Israel. And so for us. When God gives the Commandments, He is saying
to us, here are the things that are good for you. Here is what I, as your loving Father, want
for you. I want you to love me with all
your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
And I want you to love your neighbor as yourself, because I love your
neighbor as I love you. I love you and
your neighbor to the death of my Son. So
do good works. Have no other gods. Honor the authorities. Don’t murder, or commit adultery, or steal,
or give false testimony. Don’t covet,
but be content in God. This is God’s
will for your life.
Do
you sin against these Commandments? Yes,
you do, all the time, and it doesn’t work out so well for you, does it? Thank God, Jesus has fulfilled the
Commandments for you, perfectly, in Your place, and He gives you the
credit. And He has paid your debt for
all your transgressing of these Commandments, and He gives you this
righteousness and forgiveness all by grace in Holy Baptism, and in His Word and
Supper. That is wonderful, good news for
sinners. But that is not all He
does. He also teaches you by letting you
fall flat on your face when you transgress.
It is what loving parents do when they allow their children to fail,
because that will teach them more than if the parents simply shield their
children from every possible adverse consequence.
Our
text puts it this way: God humbles you.
Sometimes He lets your sins bite you in the behind. He lets you suffer the temporal
consequences. Israel is not allowed to enter
the Promised Land for forty years after the incident with the spies. When they complain about the food, God gives
quail, along with a deadly plague that is only stopped when Aaron offers the
holy incense. When the Israelites
grumble, God sends fiery serpents in their midst, and they can only be saved
when they look to the bronze serpent on the pole, a picture of our Lord Jesus
raised up for our sins on the cross. And
so you. If you murder or steal, God
indeed forgives you for Christ’s sake, but you still go to prison and pay fines
or you may even have to forfeit your earthly life. If you are sexually promiscuous, God indeed
forgives you for Christ’s sake, but you may still suffer an STD, and of course,
your promiscuity may result in a child, which is always a tremendous blessing,
but may also be the consequence of your transgression.
Then
again, not all of God’s humbling is the direct consequence of a specific
sin. He also lays crosses upon us, like
sickness or grief. And though we may not
understand it at the time, these are gifts, beloved. Sometimes He takes things away and gives us to
suffer lack. Again, in our text, Moses
reminds Israel that the LORD gave them to
suffer hunger, and then He tells them why… So that He could provide food, manna, miraculous bread from heaven,
hitherto unknown, that you might know that man does not live by bread alone,
but by every Word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. And isn’t that just like our God? He empties us that He may fill us… hunger is
the best sauce, as they say… that we may know that He alone is our help and
salvation, our God; that He alone saves and grants relief.
And
what is all of this but the discipline of a loving Father for His dear
children? “Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the LORD
your God disciplines you” (v. 5). He
disciples you so that you hear and
keep His Word and follow in His way. He
is always driving you back to Himself. He
lets His little child touch the hot stove.
But He’s always right there to give aid and comfort, to rescue and
forgive. Remember that. Remember the way the LORD has led you
through this wilderness to your promised inheritance, to Himself.
And
now look where He leads you and what He gives to you. He is leading you to a good land. Brooks of water. Fountains and springs. The water of life. New birth by water and the Word. Wheat and barley. Vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive
trees and honey. Bread and wine. His body and blood. Forgiveness of sins. The fruit of faith, which is love and good
works. His Spirit. The Gospel.
Himself.
And
of course, let us not neglect to remember the good gifts He gives us for this life, our daily bread: Clothing and
shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and
all you have. Your clothing has not worn
out and your foot has not swelled, which means the LORD has continued to clothe
and shelter you and strengthen you for daily life in your vocations. He daily and richly provides you with all
that you need to support this body and life.
He guards you. He protects you. He defends you against all evil. And all of this He does only out of fatherly,
divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in you, which is to
say, He does it for Jesus’ sake.
Now,
you know your Catechism, so I don’t have to tell you what is your duty in all
of this. But then again, we are here to celebrate Thanksgiving Day,
and here is the connection between this occasion and all that we’ve said here
tonight, so let’s say it anyway: “For all this it is my duty to thank and
praise, serve and obey Him. This is most
certainly true.”[1]
And
how do we thank and praise God? To be
sure, we recount His great deeds of salvation, as we have in remembering the way He has led us
through this wilderness in our text and in this homily. Remember that praise is not mindless
repetition of how wonderful God is, but actually saying the good things He has done for us. And thanksgiving is addressing our words of
appreciation to God for all these good things.
But it is more than that. The key
is in the last verses in our text: “And
you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the LORD your God” (v.
10). Is this a reference to devouring
the turkey and trimmings tomorrow and returning thanks after the feast while
you look for your stretchy pants? Yes,
to be sure. It is that, actually. All of
these things are good gifts of God for which say “Thank You, Lord.” But all of these things are but a picture of
the Great Feast in which we participate tonight. The Eucharist, which is a Greek word for
thanksgiving, that is where we eat of
the LORD’s abundance and are full, satisfied.
That is where we receive Jesus
in all His fullness as the Bread of Heaven, the Food that sustains us in this
wilderness and brings us to the Promised Land.
It is precisely in the eating of this heavenly Food that we bless the
LORD our God and give Him thanks. It is
in this eating that we remember how
He has led us. “Do this in remembrance of me,” He says. It is in this eating that we live by His
Word. The Great Thanksgiving is to
receive Jesus Christ by faith. The
Commandments are fulfilled in Him. Sins
are forgiven in Him. This is the Feast of victory for our
God… the Feast of our victorious Lord Jesus Christ who has defeated sin, death,
and the devil by His saving work on the cross and His glorious
resurrection. Tomorrow’s supper is
great, but tonight’s is eternal. Like
the children of Israel in our text, when we gather here, we’re on the cusp of
the Promised Land. Jesus leads us
in. In the Name of the Father, and of
the Son (+), and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Our Savior Lutheran
Church, Bingen, Washington
November 22, 2018
Text: Luke 17:11-19
Do
you really think the other nine lepers weren’t
thankful when they realized they had been healed? Of course they were! I’ll be you they were jumping for joy. I bet they were singing Thanksgiving hymns
all the way to the Temple to do exactly what Jesus told them to do: show
themselves to the priests, as they were commanded in the Law of Moses. The issue in our text is not that nine out of
ten healed failed to say “Thank you.”
That is not the difference between the nine and the Samaritan. The difference is a matter of faith…
specifically faith in Jesus Christ. The
nine are still living in the Old Testament, and they give thanks according to
the old Law. The Samaritan recognizes
that more has changed than simply the health of his flesh. A new thing has happened. An ancient Promise has been fulfilled. One has come who restores all things, who
saves, who crushes the serpent’s head.
And it is to that One he returns.
He presents himself to our true High Priest. He gives thanks to God by falling down before
Jesus. And do not miss what has happened
here. The Samaritan is confessing that
this flesh and blood man, Jesus of Nazareth, is his Savior, and His God. Jesus is YHWH. Jesus is God.
That is the point of our Holy Gospel this morning.
But
in 99.9% of pulpits across the fruited plane this morning, this or another text
will be presented as if the point of the appointed Scriptures is that we
remember to say “Thank You” to God. (By
the way, I made up that statistic, but it’s gotta be pretty close!) Now you should say thanks, of course. Mom was right about that. In fact, it is specifically Mom’s job to
teach us to say thank you whenever anyone does something good for us. And we’ll be happier people if we foster a
spirit of gratitude, recognizing that blessings are just that, not
entitlements, but gifts! But it is not
preaching the Gospel to preach this from the pulpit. This is called a moralism, and the assumption
in moralism is that the Bible is given to teach us how to be nice. The Bible does, of course, give us rules to
follow. I can think of ten pretty
important ones right off the bat. We
should do them. We should repent when we
don’t do them. Breaking the Commandments
is sin, and we rightly earn death and damnation by our sins. That is why we need Jesus Christ. The point of the Scriptures is not simply to
modify our behavior and make us nicer people who remember to say “Thank You,”
to God and to others. The point of the
Bible is that you are a sinner, and on your own, you are lost forever. You have rebelled against God. You have rejected Him and His salvation. You do so every time you go your own way and
do your own thing, as a law unto yourself, determining good and evil by your
own reason or feelings. But He has
sought you out and found you and purchased you to be His own by the holy,
precious blood of His Son, Jesus Christ.
He has forgiven your sins on account of Christ. He has given you Christ’s own righteousness
and eternal life by virtue of Christ’s fulfilling of the Law in your place, His
death on the cross, His resurrection from the dead. These are given to you as gifts in the Word
and the Sacraments, received by faith which God Himself gives you in the Word
and in the Sacraments. And so, the point
of our reading isn’t that you remember to say “Thank You” (although that is
wonderful if you do), it is that you recognize in Jesus your only Savior from
sin and death, indeed, that you believe and confess that this flesh and blood
man, Jesus of Nazareth is your God.
Christian
thanksgiving is to fall down before Jesus Christ and receive His gifts in
faith. That is why we are gathered here
today. Now, it is true that the National
Day of Thanksgiving is actually not a Church feast. This is not a Church Year day. It is an anomaly, particularly in our
increasingly secularist cultural context, that of all people, the government
asks us to assemble and pray. Think
about that for a minute. George
Washington was the first to do it, but every president since Abraham Lincoln
has issued a proclamation that a day be set aside to give thanks to God. Well, we don’t let the government determine
our theology or practice as the holy Christian Church, but in this case, since
the government has asked, we Christians ought to respond with enthusiasm and
full-throated singing of “Now Thank We All Our God.”
But
we give thanks in the Christian way, and this is very counter-intuitive. Christians don’t give thanks by doing, but by
receiving. We give thanks to God by
returning to Jesus Christ to receive from Him ever more of His gifts. Now, think about it. You can’t repay God for all that He’s done
for you. There is nothing you have to
offer Him that He needs. He doesn’t even
need your praise. No, He’s not sitting
around in heaven hoping that you’ll notice how great and wonderful He is and
say some nice things about Him. He
doesn’t need a self-esteem boost. He
already knows How great He is. His Name
is Wonderful. But there is something He
wants from you. He wants you to believe
in Him. He wants you to trust Him. He wants you to receive from Him eternal life
and salvation, the forgiveness of sins.
And He provides for you to receive just that in His Son, Jesus. So this is the Christian way of giving
thanks: You come before God with your empty sack, your sin, your death, your
brokenness. That’s all you bring to the
table with God. And God fills you with
Jesus. And He is pleased. Because that is faith. Empty hands that God fills with Jesus. Dead sinners that God raises and declares
righteous and whole. It is not unlike
what will happen in countless homes today as families gather around Grandma’s
table (or their sister’s, as the case may be).
And Grandma will have provided a glorious feast! Turkey.
Stuffing. Potatoes. Green bean casserole. Pie.
Whatever are the family favorites.
I bet she’ll even cater to some of those favorites. For that is how she tells us she loves
us. And how do we thank Grandma for that
love? Of course, we should say it out
loud. Thank you. But the best thanks is to lift your empty
plate to Grandma and ask for more. More
food, please, which is to say, more love please.
Our
Lord pours out His love on us today as He does in this place week after week,
year after year. Here He speaks His Word
to us. Here He gives us Jesus. Here He cleanses us from the leprosy of our
sins and declares us righteous and whole.
Countless Baptisms the Lord has done at this font, making us His own
children. I was baptized in this very
place 39 years ago, almost to the day (November 11th). Countless sermons preached from this
pulpit. (Or that one thanks to my Grandma, but that’s a story for another
day.) Countless Lord’s Suppers. Countless Sunday School lessons and VBS-es,
Catechism classes (and here I am today all these years later, and I got to
baptize the precious child of one of my fellow confirmands… praise be to
Christ!). So many friendships. Marriages consecrated before this altar. Burials of loved ones who are not gone from us!
They join us still at this altar, from the other side of the veil, with
angels and archangels and all the company of heaven. They know by sight what we only know by
faith. How do we thank God for all of
this love He so faithfully and generously pours out upon us? We cling to His every Word, for as we heard
in our Old Testament reading, “man does
not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth
of the LORD” (Deut. 8:3; ESV). And
we belly up to the altar once again to be filled with Jesus and His
forgiveness, life, and salvation.
Little
Quinn Katherine is just beginning this life of Christian faith. We must all pray for her. We must all remind her of this day when she
was baptized into Christ, when all her sins were washed away and she was made
God’s own child. You know, by virtue of
her Baptism here she is now a member of this congregation. There is a responsibility now that we all
have to her. We must hold Jesus before
her eyes. We must tell her of His love
for her. We must place the Word of God
in her hands and teach it to her mind and heart. For she is a member of this family. She now has a home in the Church of God. She is now given to call upon God as we do,
“Our Father.” And she is given always
and ever to come here in her emptiness and be filled with Jesus, who is her
life. Don’t neglect this. You have to bring her to Jesus always. She’s been given new birth by water and the
Word. Just as we have to feed children
after they are born to keep them alive and so they can grow, so we have to feed
those born again in Baptism with Jesus, so that they live and grow. Feed her.
Give her the Savior.
And
do not neglect this yourselves.
Thanksgiving is not for God’s sake, it is for yours. You should recognize that every gift for body
and soul is from God. Your whole life
depends on Him. So you come to His
house, and He sets a Feast. Here it is,
on the altar: the true body of Christ, given for you. His true blood, shed for you, for the
forgiveness of sins. One word for it is
Eucharist. That is simply the Greek word
for “Thanksgiving.” Which is a great
reminder. You who have been cleansed,
forgiven, made whole come to this place to fall before Jesus, who is really
enthroned on the altar, body and blood.
And receiving Jesus, you give thanks to God. You lift your empty plate and ask for
more. And He gives it to you. Thanks be to God. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son
(+), and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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