Thanksgiving Eve

Thanksgiving Eve

November 25, 2020

Text: Phil. 4:6-20

            It is the unshakeable Promise of God in this text: “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:7; ESV).  Now that is a Promise to evoke our thanksgiving and praise.  Because in these times, what we lack the most, is peace.  You know this.  I don’t have to tell you.  COVID and the fears it elicits of health crises and economic devastation.  The most rancorous political season in memory.  Social unrest.  Friends, neighbors, and family members divided.  Our recent challenges have brought out the worst in us.  There are families who won’t be gathering together this Thanksgiving, not just out of safety precautions, or because the governor of their state told them they can’t.  But because they don’t want to, because their family members didn’t vote the way they did, and hold opinions that differ from them.  This should not be, but it is.  And if this is you, beloved, repent.  But needless to say, these are not peaceful times.  So to hear such an absolute Promise of peace from God, well… That is music to our ears. 

            But it is so important to understand what that peace is, and what it is not.  This is not a peace that removes all fear and conflict from your life.  This is not the delivery of the COVID vaccine or the mass conversion of society to your political point of view.  And by the way, if it were that, would you really be at peace?  Remember the days before COVID?  Remember the times your political party was in power?  Were you really at peace then?  Beyond all human understanding?  Of course you weren’t.  The truth is, you always find things to worry about, to be offended about, to fear.  No, if this peace is really to be the medicine you need, it has to be more than a temporal solution to a temporary problem.  And, of course, you know it is. 

            It is the peace of God, given to you as a gift, in Jesus Christ.  It is the peace of which heaven sang to the shepherds tending their flocks by night, and which the Church sings in the great Gloria of the Divine Service: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace,” peace come down from heaven, peace in the flesh of a tiny Babe, laid in a manger, “among those with whom he is pleased,” those whom He justifies by the blood and death and resurrection of this Child (Luke 2:14).  “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you,” says Jesus.  “Not as the world gives do I give to you.  Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (John 14:27).  And, of course, there is the announcement of the crucified yet risen and living Lord Jesus in the midst of His disciples that Easter Day, and in our midst during the Lord’s Supper: “Peace to you! … Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?  See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself” (Luke 24:36, 38-39).  See that the living Lord Jesus is the very One who was pierced for your transgressions and died for you.  He is risen.  He lives.  He has atoned for your sin.  There is no more condemnation.  Death is defeated.  He gives you righteousness and life.  You receive it all by faith.  “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith,” St. Paul says, “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1). 

            So that is the peace of which Paul speaks in our text.  Jesus died.  Jesus is risen.  Your sins are forgiven.  God is not against you.  God is for you.  He loves you.  He cares for you.  He provides for you.  You belong to Him.  And in Him, you have eternal life.  Even though you die.  He who is risen from the dead will raise you.  God doesn’t take away the things that cause you anxiety and sorrow and fear.  He gives you the peace that surpasses all understanding in the very midst of those things, so that you can come through them.  He gives you Jesus.  He places you in Jesus.  He puts Jesus in you.  To guard your heart and your mind in this fallen world and all the way through the valley of the shadow.  And that is the order.  Suffering before glory.  Good Friday before Easter.  Death before resurrection.  Living by faith before you live by sight.  In this life, there will always be disappointment and distress.  But so also, there will always be Jesus. 

            So here is what you do with those things that hurt you or make you afraid: “do not be anxious about anything” (Phil. 4:6).  That is easier said than done, but remember, eyes on Jesus.  Don’t spend your time fretting.  Don’t act like the whole thing depends on you, like the world will stop spinning if you don’t do your duty of worrying about everything endlessly.  What does worry help?  It seems to me like Jesus said something about this… “which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” (Matt. 6:27)?  No, you lose hours of your life by worrying.  So what should you do, then?  You leave it all in God’s hands.  It’s already in His hands, anyway.  You let Him be God, and you stop trying to do His job.  Worry, ultimately, is idolatry.  Repent.  You just pray, and then trust.  Trust God.  Trust your Father.  By prayer and supplication, Paul says, let your requests be made known to God.  And then?  Thanksgiving!  Always with thanksgiving.  Even in the midst of those things that would make you anxious and sorrowful and afraid.  Even as you are making your requests.  Even when He doesn’t do what you want Him to do.  Give thanks.  Because you know that whatever He does, even if it be a cross, it will be for the good.  It will be for your salvation.  Our Lord does all things well.  He does all things for you.  Giving thanks to God, especially in a time when things are not as good as we may wish they were, is an exercise of faith.  It is a confession that Christ really has saved you.  It is a confession that you really are at peace, because Jesus has made peace, objectively, between you and God.  And you can now claim that peace subjectively, by faith, even in a world that is anything but peaceful. 

            And now some practical advice from Paul, which is really just the way that peace guards your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.  It is all about the focus of your attention.  It is all about where you set your eyes, what you take into your mind.  Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is anything excellent or worthy of praise… those are the things you think about.  Those are the things to look upon, the things that should command your attention.  And that, by the way, will illicit thanksgiving.  You will become grateful, because you’ll see all the good that God pours out upon you.  Now, this is not about the power of positive thinking, or some kind of tripe like that.  This is to say, set your mind on Christ and the things of Christ, and the good and beautiful and true things that flow to you from Him. 

            The world wants to set other things before your eyes, that such things may worm their way into your mind and heart.  There are, of course, the obviously ungodly things that appeal to your lust and covetousness.  On account of these, we pray with King David in Psalm 119  “Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things” (v. 37).  But there are sneakier, subtler things of which you should be aware.  For example, the endless barrage of media on your screens and in your earbuds, with you in the car, with you at work, with you in your living room, and even in bed.  How much time do you spend staring at glowing rectangles?  Think about this, and be honest with yourself.  How much time do you spend passively consuming the content that others set before you.  Even seemingly innocuous things like the evening news (and God bless Pastor Taylor and his day job).  I certainly agree you have a civic duty to be informed.  But the temptation is to have it always on, to always be connected, plugged in.  And you know it isn’t helpful.  How often do you complain that there’s never any good news?  How often do you cringe reading post after post on your Facebook feed?  Well, it’s worse than that.  All this media, you do realize, is catechizing you.  It is not only a leach sucking joy from your soul, it is trying to impose a certain worldview upon you, and it isn’t the biblical one.  Maybe turn it off awhile.  Okay, you should know what is going on in the world.  Know the basic issues, and then do what St. Paul says.  Don’t be anxious.  Pray.  Supplicate.  And then give thanks, trusting God in all things.

            The world doesn’t want you celebrating Thanksgiving, and it isn’t just to keep you safe from COVID.  It is following the lead of its ruler, who doesn’t want you to enjoy any good or give thanks for anything.  Because he doesn’t want you believing and confessing the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom you have peace.  But that peace is yours as God’s absolute Promise to you in Christ.  And it will guard your hearts and minds from Satan himself.  You can count on that.  So whatever precautions you may take, give thanks and celebrate heartily.  And sing!  And gather together around this Table for the Eucharist, the great Thanksgiving.  For here you receive God’s peace in the flesh.  Take and eat.  Take and drink.  Here is Jesus Christ for you, His true Body, His true Blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of all of your sins.  Peace.  Peace.  “The peace of the Lord be with you always.”  “Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!” (Ps. 107:1).  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.