Thanksgiving 2008

SCRIPTURES – Habakkuk 3:17-19; Philippians 4:4-7, 11-20; Luke 17:11-19

 It’s good to be together tonight in God’s house and give thanks. But, perhaps we should have been together last Wednesday instead, for Wednesday, November 19 was a very special day. It was World Toilet Day, a day set aside to celebrate the humble, yet vitally important, toilet and to raise awareness of the global sanitation crisis. I for one am very thankful for the toilet, as I’ve had the opportunity to make use of other “facilities” over the years:

q   I’ve used Port-a-lets many times. They’re usually not very clean or nice.

q   I’ve used outhouses; maybe you have, too. Not only do they smell; they’re outside! How’d you like to have to go to the bathroom outside, in an unheated shed, in the winter? How’d you like to wake up in the middle of the night needing to go to the bathroom, and have to go outside?

q   I’ve even been backpacking and had nothing but a shovel with which to dig a hole. That’s a potty break to remember!

Yes, I’m very thankful for the invention of the flush toilet, and for the fact that I have three of them in my busy house. The toilet is a blessing we all have, and which, I’m sure, we take for granted!

 We have many blessings which we take for granted; although, perhaps not as much this year as in former years. Because of the stock market crash and our struggling economy, Thanksgiving 2008 is a leaner Thanksgiving, one marked by apprehension and uncertainty. It’s more of a Habakkuk Thanksgiving this year, for the prophet Habakkuk speaks of “the fig tree not blossoming, no fruit being on the vines, the produce of the olive failing and the fields yielding no food, the flock being cut off from the fold and there being no herd in the stalls.” (Although, frankly, we’re a far cry from that, are we not?) Still, in spite of all that he and his people are suffering, Habakkuk says:

“I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer's; he makes me tread on my high places.”

 Let Habakkuk be your guide in giving thanks this year, and every day of the year. Learn Psalm 103 and let it guide your thoughts and desires. Whether you are dealing with troubles and worries, as was Habakkuk, or whether you are focusing upon and giving thanks for the many blessings you enjoy, as in Psalm 103, begin by making your Lord your focus. “take joy in the God of [your] salvation,” as Habakkuk says. 

Psalm 103 encourages us to “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.” Did you notice how it begins its listing of God’s benefits? “[He] forgives all your iniquity.” Your God forgives you: again and again, day in and day out, week after week and year after year. We so often take God’s forgiveness for granted – how amazing, really, that we can! – but what a great blessing is His forgiveness! For, if God remembered your sins – held them against you, held back His blessings because of them and responded only and always with anger and judgment – how terrible our lives would be! He is the Maker of heaven and earth; the earth and it productivity depend upon His blessing. So also, then, do our lives: our prosperity, our health and well-being, etc. If God looked upon us with anger because of our sins and decided to respond with what we deserve, how terrible life would be! A World Toilet Day website said:

q   “Imagine life without a toilet. No toilets in your home or at work, no public toilets, no toilets anywhere. Imagine the mess. Imagine the disease.”

Who would want to imagine this? Well, how much more terrible would our lives be if God dealt with us according to what we deserve for our sins! But, our lives are not terrible, for “He forgives all your iniquity.” Because He forgives us, He now looks upon us with love and mercy, and so “He heals all your diseases, He redeems your life from the pit, He crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, He satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” Now, it’s true that we don’t experience all of this now, at least, not in its fullness. We struggle in many ways, with sicknesses and economic losses and many other difficulties. Still, as you come to your Lord seeking His forgiveness, He faithfully forgives you: not because you deserve it, and not simply because you need it. He forgives you because His Son took your sins upon Himself and offered up His life to pay for them. Your God looks upon you through His Son and, because of Jesus’ death for you, deals with you as His dearly loved children. In Jesus we will receive complete healing and the fullness of His blessing in heaven, and our joy and blessedness then will be beyond anything we can imagine now.

  “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.” This is what the Lord Jesus said to the leper who returned to give Him thanks for his healing. This is also what our Lord says to us at the end of every Service here in the familiar words: “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.” We go forth having received Jesus’ forgiveness and life. We go forth with the Lord who triumphed over sin, death and hell going with us! We go forth, then, in God’s favor. All is well, for the Maker and Ruler of all is smiling upon us. Let us go forth, then, praising God and saying:

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is with me, bless His holy name!  

  Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.”

Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.