Gratitude…Generosity…Grace
11/21/07
Thanksgiving Message
Deut. 26:1-11, John 6:25-35
Dear friends in Christ,
Last month I led a Sunday adult class with the topic, “Giving in a Consumer World.” In preparation I learned of a website called, globalrichlist.com. On that site you can type in your annual income and see how that ranks relative to the whole population of the world. I decided to do some research into the annual household income for zip code 55092, and found that it is $75000. I plugged in the number and learned, if you are average in this zip code, you are richer than 99.18% of the world’s population. I also found this startling fact. 85% of the world’s population earns $2100 or less a year.
Ever since I ran the numbers, that fact has stuck with me. It won’t go away. I know that relative to nearly everyone else in the world, I am extremely rich. And I think I can safely say the same for everyone of us who has gathered for worship this Thanksgiving Eve.
Given that reality, how should we approach this National Day of Thanksgiving? Is it simply a day off from work? Is it primarily a day to be with family and friends? Is it a day to watch football? Is it a day where we can justify overeating? Is it a day to get on the computer and have a plan of action for shopping the sales on Friday? Does our relative wealth impact the way we think about Thanksgiving? Well, it does for me. This year I’ve been thinking about three words for my Thanksgiving holiday; Gratitude, Generosity, and Grace. Let me share some thoughts on each.
Most of us have been blessed by God beyond measure, and Thanksgiving is a day of gratitude, to be truly thankful. Jesus does warn against storing up too many treasures on earth, but we ought not go overboard and think that all the blessings we have, including the material things we own, are somehow ungodly. They are not. It is good and appropriate to celebrate the gifts and blessings of God. We know Jesus enjoyed a good banquet. He liked to eat with his followers, friends, and even with those that some called sinners. Throughout his ministry he shared many meals of celebration, including the annual Passover of the Jews. He told parables, one of which, the Prodigal son, ends with the Father throwing a lavish feast for the lost son that returns. Heaven is described as a banquet feast that we will one day share with the Lord. Thanksgiving is a day of celebration and gratitude for God’s many blessings.
For Christians, this expression of thanks is deeply rooted in faith. We understand life is a gift. We’re here today, with all we have, by God’s grace. The abundant blessings and position of privilege most of us have relative to the rest of the world, is not our doing. We’re just flat out fortunate that God put us where we are, in this country, in this community, and gave us the opportunities we’ve had, to be who we are today.
Pastor Doug Oldenburg tells of reading excerpts from the diary of a young husband whose wife was gravely ill. Doctors could not assure him that she would survive the night. In the diary, the young man expresses his profound faith in God and God’s plans for their lives.
He writes, “She may die before morning. But I have been with her for four years. . . There is no way I could feel cheated if I did not have her for another day. I never deserved her for a single moment. God knows that. And I may die before morning. What I must do now is to accept the justice of death and the injustice of life . . . What did I do to deserve birth? It was purely a gift. And I am me, and that is a miracle. I have no right to a single moment . . ., yet I have had 32 years . . . But wait,” the entry ends, “I am being given another day. Another day to live and read and smell and walk in glory. I am alive for another day. And she is alive. It’s a gift! Another gift. Thanks be to God!” Thanksgiving is a time to humbly reflect on our lives as gifts and the ways we have been blessed by God.
Unfortunately, too often today, we who have so much, feel like we are entitled to what we have, as if the world owes it to us. Instead of being thankful to God for all we have, we somehow think we deserve more. This is a path that is certain to lead to unhappiness and bitterness.
Two old friends bumped into one another on the street one day. One of them looked forlorn, almost on the verge of tears. His friend asked, "What has the world done to you, my old friend?" The sad fellow said, "Let me tell you. Three weeks ago, an uncle died and left me forty thousand dollars." "That’s a lot of money," said his friend. "But, two weeks ago, a cousin I never even knew died, and left me eighty-five thousand free and clear." "Sounds like you’ve been blessed...." said the friend.
"You don’t understand!" he interrupted. "Last week my great-aunt passed away. I inherited almost a quarter of a million." Now his friend was really confused. "Then, why do you look so glum?" "This week,” his friend said, “ I got nothing!"
So often we that have so much, think we deserve more. We’re never satisfied, and can never be truly happy. That’s the wrong attitude. It’s especially wrong, given our place of privilege in the world. We are the most blessed of all. Thanksgiving is a day of humble gratitude for the many ways God has provided for us.
The second word I’m thinking about this Thanksgiving is generosity. Given that I’m richer than 99.18% of the world’s population, this seems appropriate. It’s also part of our Old Testament reading and found many other places in scripture. In our reading, Moses speaks about the response the people of Israel are to make for God’s blessings. There is a response of thanks, recalling how God led the people out of Israel from slavery into a new land flowing with milk and honey. As part of that response, there is an offering of gratitude, bringing the first fruits of the harvest before the altar of God. It is giving back a portion of the blessing received in gratitude to the One that has provided.
Justice is a concern of scripture in both the Old and New Testaments. I once heard it said, justice is “when loving your neighbor, involves more than one person.” It is love for the neighbor on a larger scale, a community level. When you study the roots of the word justice in the Old Testament, it can best be defined as “bringing back into balance that which is out of bal¬ance.” God desires that appropriate balance happen for people on earth. That male does not dominate female, that Jew and Greek have equal regard for each other, that those who have much are brought back into balance with those who do not have enough or anything at all. God is constantly desiring and working toward that type of balance in our world.
One way that we who have so much can work towards this type of justice is to be generous with what we have. Did God make us richer than 99% of the world’s population so that we can use it all for ourselves and do whatever we want to make life even more comfortable? Or is there a deeper reason, a greater purpose, for our being so blessed. I hope you believe, as I do, that there is a greater purpose and we have the responsibility to share a portion of what we have to improve the lives of other people, to make the world a more just place.
A young black South African asked his minister why their people had to suffer so much poverty, hardship, and oppression. “Why doesn’t God do something?” he wailed. “He has,” said that wise pastor. “He has created you.” And so Desmond Tutu, now the archbishop of South Africa, became the answer to his own question.
That’s a good lesson for you and me. While we are waiting for God to bring in a perfect and just society, you and I are called to be part of the solution to the injustice in our world. We have the responsibility to do what we can to bring life into better balance. Being generous givers of what we have is one way that this can be done. The messages all around us are much different. It’s buy, buy, buy; spend, spend, spend, for ourselves and for others. You can start at 1:00AM Friday morning out at Eden Prairie Center. Just think of the bargains! But this Thanksgiving, I’d encourage you to think differently. We are the richest people in the world. The value of giving generously is what that God really wants from us.
And then finally, this Thanksgiving I think about grace. I know that I am not always as grateful to God and to others as I should be. My attitude of gratitude is far from perfect. If my relationship with God were dependent upon my daily gratitude, it wouldn’t be a very good one. I know that I am not nearly as generous with what I have as I could be. I hold on to what I have even though I know I have far more than enough. If I am judged on my generosity, I’ll surely come up short.
But thankfully, that is not how God judges us. In John 6 we read that God has done something more than require us to be thankful and generous. God has given the bread of life, Jesus, God’s son, the true bread from heaven. If we eat of this bread, we shall never again hunger or thirst. That, my friends, is grace. That’s God doing for us, providing for us, what we have neither earned or deserved. It’s not based on our goodness, our thankfulness, or our generosity. It’s God’s gift. We only have to believe and to eat, and we have all we truly need for this life and the next.
As part of this service we have the opportunity to eat and drink of the bread of life, given in the bread and wine of the Lord’s supper. It’s the church’s Thanksgiving meal, our spiritual food that nourishes and refreshes us. It is a gift, God’s grace, restoring us when we fall short, to move forward again.
We’ve made Thanksgiving into a rather complicated holiday. Is it about the perfect meal? Is it about the family around the table? Is it about the games on television? Is it about shopping? The average household in Wyoming is richer than 99.18% of the people in the world. Knowing that, Thanksgiving has a clearer focus for me. It’s about gratitude, thanking God that we have been so richly blessed. It’s about generosity, using those blessings to make life better for someone else. And it’s about grace, knowing that even though we fall short, God has provided the bread of life, Jesus Christ, to forgive us, encourage us, and guide us forward once again to serve with gratitude and generosity. Amen
Deut. 26:1-11, John 6:25-35
Dear friends in Christ,
Last month I led a Sunday adult class with the topic, “Giving in a Consumer World.” In preparation I learned of a website called, globalrichlist.com. On that site you can type in your annual income and see how that ranks relative to the whole population of the world. I decided to do some research into the annual household income for zip code 55092, and found that it is $75000. I plugged in the number and learned, if you are average in this zip code, you are richer than 99.18% of the world’s population. I also found this startling fact. 85% of the world’s population earns $2100 or less a year.
Ever since I ran the numbers, that fact has stuck with me. It won’t go away. I know that relative to nearly everyone else in the world, I am extremely rich. And I think I can safely say the same for everyone of us who has gathered for worship this Thanksgiving Eve.
Given that reality, how should we approach this National Day of Thanksgiving? Is it simply a day off from work? Is it primarily a day to be with family and friends? Is it a day to watch football? Is it a day where we can justify overeating? Is it a day to get on the computer and have a plan of action for shopping the sales on Friday? Does our relative wealth impact the way we think about Thanksgiving? Well, it does for me. This year I’ve been thinking about three words for my Thanksgiving holiday; Gratitude, Generosity, and Grace. Let me share some thoughts on each.
Most of us have been blessed by God beyond measure, and Thanksgiving is a day of gratitude, to be truly thankful. Jesus does warn against storing up too many treasures on earth, but we ought not go overboard and think that all the blessings we have, including the material things we own, are somehow ungodly. They are not. It is good and appropriate to celebrate the gifts and blessings of God. We know Jesus enjoyed a good banquet. He liked to eat with his followers, friends, and even with those that some called sinners. Throughout his ministry he shared many meals of celebration, including the annual Passover of the Jews. He told parables, one of which, the Prodigal son, ends with the Father throwing a lavish feast for the lost son that returns. Heaven is described as a banquet feast that we will one day share with the Lord. Thanksgiving is a day of celebration and gratitude for God’s many blessings.
For Christians, this expression of thanks is deeply rooted in faith. We understand life is a gift. We’re here today, with all we have, by God’s grace. The abundant blessings and position of privilege most of us have relative to the rest of the world, is not our doing. We’re just flat out fortunate that God put us where we are, in this country, in this community, and gave us the opportunities we’ve had, to be who we are today.
Pastor Doug Oldenburg tells of reading excerpts from the diary of a young husband whose wife was gravely ill. Doctors could not assure him that she would survive the night. In the diary, the young man expresses his profound faith in God and God’s plans for their lives.
He writes, “She may die before morning. But I have been with her for four years. . . There is no way I could feel cheated if I did not have her for another day. I never deserved her for a single moment. God knows that. And I may die before morning. What I must do now is to accept the justice of death and the injustice of life . . . What did I do to deserve birth? It was purely a gift. And I am me, and that is a miracle. I have no right to a single moment . . ., yet I have had 32 years . . . But wait,” the entry ends, “I am being given another day. Another day to live and read and smell and walk in glory. I am alive for another day. And she is alive. It’s a gift! Another gift. Thanks be to God!” Thanksgiving is a time to humbly reflect on our lives as gifts and the ways we have been blessed by God.
Unfortunately, too often today, we who have so much, feel like we are entitled to what we have, as if the world owes it to us. Instead of being thankful to God for all we have, we somehow think we deserve more. This is a path that is certain to lead to unhappiness and bitterness.
Two old friends bumped into one another on the street one day. One of them looked forlorn, almost on the verge of tears. His friend asked, "What has the world done to you, my old friend?" The sad fellow said, "Let me tell you. Three weeks ago, an uncle died and left me forty thousand dollars." "That’s a lot of money," said his friend. "But, two weeks ago, a cousin I never even knew died, and left me eighty-five thousand free and clear." "Sounds like you’ve been blessed...." said the friend.
"You don’t understand!" he interrupted. "Last week my great-aunt passed away. I inherited almost a quarter of a million." Now his friend was really confused. "Then, why do you look so glum?" "This week,” his friend said, “ I got nothing!"
So often we that have so much, think we deserve more. We’re never satisfied, and can never be truly happy. That’s the wrong attitude. It’s especially wrong, given our place of privilege in the world. We are the most blessed of all. Thanksgiving is a day of humble gratitude for the many ways God has provided for us.
The second word I’m thinking about this Thanksgiving is generosity. Given that I’m richer than 99.18% of the world’s population, this seems appropriate. It’s also part of our Old Testament reading and found many other places in scripture. In our reading, Moses speaks about the response the people of Israel are to make for God’s blessings. There is a response of thanks, recalling how God led the people out of Israel from slavery into a new land flowing with milk and honey. As part of that response, there is an offering of gratitude, bringing the first fruits of the harvest before the altar of God. It is giving back a portion of the blessing received in gratitude to the One that has provided.
Justice is a concern of scripture in both the Old and New Testaments. I once heard it said, justice is “when loving your neighbor, involves more than one person.” It is love for the neighbor on a larger scale, a community level. When you study the roots of the word justice in the Old Testament, it can best be defined as “bringing back into balance that which is out of bal¬ance.” God desires that appropriate balance happen for people on earth. That male does not dominate female, that Jew and Greek have equal regard for each other, that those who have much are brought back into balance with those who do not have enough or anything at all. God is constantly desiring and working toward that type of balance in our world.
One way that we who have so much can work towards this type of justice is to be generous with what we have. Did God make us richer than 99% of the world’s population so that we can use it all for ourselves and do whatever we want to make life even more comfortable? Or is there a deeper reason, a greater purpose, for our being so blessed. I hope you believe, as I do, that there is a greater purpose and we have the responsibility to share a portion of what we have to improve the lives of other people, to make the world a more just place.
A young black South African asked his minister why their people had to suffer so much poverty, hardship, and oppression. “Why doesn’t God do something?” he wailed. “He has,” said that wise pastor. “He has created you.” And so Desmond Tutu, now the archbishop of South Africa, became the answer to his own question.
That’s a good lesson for you and me. While we are waiting for God to bring in a perfect and just society, you and I are called to be part of the solution to the injustice in our world. We have the responsibility to do what we can to bring life into better balance. Being generous givers of what we have is one way that this can be done. The messages all around us are much different. It’s buy, buy, buy; spend, spend, spend, for ourselves and for others. You can start at 1:00AM Friday morning out at Eden Prairie Center. Just think of the bargains! But this Thanksgiving, I’d encourage you to think differently. We are the richest people in the world. The value of giving generously is what that God really wants from us.
And then finally, this Thanksgiving I think about grace. I know that I am not always as grateful to God and to others as I should be. My attitude of gratitude is far from perfect. If my relationship with God were dependent upon my daily gratitude, it wouldn’t be a very good one. I know that I am not nearly as generous with what I have as I could be. I hold on to what I have even though I know I have far more than enough. If I am judged on my generosity, I’ll surely come up short.
But thankfully, that is not how God judges us. In John 6 we read that God has done something more than require us to be thankful and generous. God has given the bread of life, Jesus, God’s son, the true bread from heaven. If we eat of this bread, we shall never again hunger or thirst. That, my friends, is grace. That’s God doing for us, providing for us, what we have neither earned or deserved. It’s not based on our goodness, our thankfulness, or our generosity. It’s God’s gift. We only have to believe and to eat, and we have all we truly need for this life and the next.
As part of this service we have the opportunity to eat and drink of the bread of life, given in the bread and wine of the Lord’s supper. It’s the church’s Thanksgiving meal, our spiritual food that nourishes and refreshes us. It is a gift, God’s grace, restoring us when we fall short, to move forward again.
We’ve made Thanksgiving into a rather complicated holiday. Is it about the perfect meal? Is it about the family around the table? Is it about the games on television? Is it about shopping? The average household in Wyoming is richer than 99.18% of the people in the world. Knowing that, Thanksgiving has a clearer focus for me. It’s about gratitude, thanking God that we have been so richly blessed. It’s about generosity, using those blessings to make life better for someone else. And it’s about grace, knowing that even though we fall short, God has provided the bread of life, Jesus Christ, to forgive us, encourage us, and guide us forward once again to serve with gratitude and generosity. Amen