Thanksgiving Eve November 24, 2021
Deuteronomy 8:1-10
Thankful for...the Word
v.3 And He humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
Dear friends in Christ, let me begin by wishing all of you a very blessed Thanksgiving! Truly, we have much to be thankful for. We are living in the veritable "land of plenty," much like the one described in the O.T. that the people of Israel were to inhabit in the promised land - "a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig tree and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper."
Now, while our land may not contain some of the things listed in our text--and even though there are some in our communities who are struggling--yet, on the whole, we tend to live fairly well. We have food, clothing, shelter--all in abundance--with much leftover besides to spend on non-essentials, like entertainment and personal interest. Truly, we are richly blessed and have much to be thankful for. Indeed, we have so much that the common custom of listing things that we are thankful for...may take some time!
In fact, we have so much that we can all too easily be overcome by the good gifts we daily receive from our Lord's bountiful hand and actually forget just Who it is who gives these gifts to us. Indeed, we would do well to remember Luther's explanation to the First Article of the Creed, which deals specifically with Creation. Luther notes that everything we have is from God. "I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them. He also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all I have. He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life. He defends me against all danger and guards and protects me from all evil. All this He does only out of fatherly, divine, goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me. For all this it is my duty to thank and praise, serve and obey Him. This is most certainly true."
Wow. There's a lot there. Yet Luther clearly teaches how EVERYTHING that we have is a gift from God that WE DO NOT deserve. There is nothing in us that should lead God to bless us in such ways, but He does--out of fatherly divine goodness and mercy--out of love for His Son Jesus Christ. Our response should be one of thankfulness and praise, right? Yet, how is it we most often respond? With grumbling and griping, even as the ancient Israelites did in the wilderness, after receiving God's gift of manna--bread from heaven. We often look at the things that God has given us and we think we deserve more--we must have more--because we are so special. As if having that big screen TV or new clothes or going on that exotic trip will make our lives full and bring us fulfillment.
How sad! For the things of this world--the bread, if you will, can never truly satisfy. It only leads us to want more, more, and more! Consumed by our passions and greed we are quickly overcome by sin and Satan, for we readily forget that "man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord." Our only source of fulfillment--our true reason for thanksgiving--is found in the Word of God--for in that Word we are given Jesus.
Thanks be to God that He does not leave us in our sinfully greedy state, but that He sends us true manna from heaven to satisfy our every need. Jesus said (John 6:51), "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."
So we see that Jesus is the only real bread we need--for by eating and drinking of Him by faith we receive the forgiveness of sins and eternal life and salvation. This is pretty radical stuff to think about on Thanksgiving Eve, but absolutely necessary.
As we are drawn by the Word of the Lord to this holy place wherein Jesus will come to us in bread and wine to give us His body and blood to eat and to drink--the Holy Spirit moves us to repent of our greed--our selfishness--our ingratitude--all of our sin--and to eat of Him who is the very Word that has proceeded from the mouth of the Lord God--Jesus.
As you eat of Jesus by faith in His sacrificial life, death, and resurrection you are sustained for a life of holy living--you are blessed to partake of the blessed sacrament known as the Eucharist, which means "to give thanks." As Jesus gave thanks to God our Father for all that He had and did--so, too, do we give thanks this night and every day for all that Jesus has done and given to us.
Soon, you will humbly approach this altar where Jesus will feed you richly with forgiveness of sins and life that He earned for you on the cross. He who took on your flesh to give it up into death for you--now offers you that same body and blood to wash all of your guilt away and to strengthen you in loving service for your neighbour. To show in deed how truly thankful you are for what God has given you by freely sharing with those who have little.
As you eat and drink of the body and blood of Christ His life will fill you and you will be strengthened and nourished to go forth and do those good works that He has planned in advance for you to do. And you will offer up true thanksgiving like the Samaritan leper. For proper gratitude comes only out of the heart sustained by faith. This, you will offer to God, not because you have to in order to earn God's favour, but rather in response to already freely having received His grace and mercy in Word and Sacrament.
This is why we give thanks, beloved. Not just for our homes, family, and friends, and all earthly possessions, which Luther rightly noted are all gifts from God that we are called upon to give Him thanks for--from the wonderful food on our tables this weekend to the cars in our driveways and the clothes on our backs--as great as these things are. Rather, we offer up true thanks and praise first and foremost for the life-giving death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus--the very Word of God who brings life and light eternal to a world lost in the darkness of sin and death.
Jesus is the Word made flesh. Therefore, as we have received Him in this Divine Service of Word and Sacrament this evening, we are sent out into the world, bolstered in our faith by Baptismal and Eucharist blessing to be thankful in all circumstances of plenty and hunger, abundance and want. As we cling to Jesus in faith we truly have everything that we need: forgiveness of sins, protection from the devil, and a life that will stretch into eternity. Now that's something to be thankful for! Thanks be to God in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Deuteronomy 8:1-10
Thankful for...the Word
v.3 And He humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
Dear friends in Christ, let me begin by wishing all of you a very blessed Thanksgiving! Truly, we have much to be thankful for. We are living in the veritable "land of plenty," much like the one described in the O.T. that the people of Israel were to inhabit in the promised land - "a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig tree and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper."
Now, while our land may not contain some of the things listed in our text--and even though there are some in our communities who are struggling--yet, on the whole, we tend to live fairly well. We have food, clothing, shelter--all in abundance--with much leftover besides to spend on non-essentials, like entertainment and personal interest. Truly, we are richly blessed and have much to be thankful for. Indeed, we have so much that the common custom of listing things that we are thankful for...may take some time!
In fact, we have so much that we can all too easily be overcome by the good gifts we daily receive from our Lord's bountiful hand and actually forget just Who it is who gives these gifts to us. Indeed, we would do well to remember Luther's explanation to the First Article of the Creed, which deals specifically with Creation. Luther notes that everything we have is from God. "I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them. He also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all I have. He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life. He defends me against all danger and guards and protects me from all evil. All this He does only out of fatherly, divine, goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me. For all this it is my duty to thank and praise, serve and obey Him. This is most certainly true."
Wow. There's a lot there. Yet Luther clearly teaches how EVERYTHING that we have is a gift from God that WE DO NOT deserve. There is nothing in us that should lead God to bless us in such ways, but He does--out of fatherly divine goodness and mercy--out of love for His Son Jesus Christ. Our response should be one of thankfulness and praise, right? Yet, how is it we most often respond? With grumbling and griping, even as the ancient Israelites did in the wilderness, after receiving God's gift of manna--bread from heaven. We often look at the things that God has given us and we think we deserve more--we must have more--because we are so special. As if having that big screen TV or new clothes or going on that exotic trip will make our lives full and bring us fulfillment.
How sad! For the things of this world--the bread, if you will, can never truly satisfy. It only leads us to want more, more, and more! Consumed by our passions and greed we are quickly overcome by sin and Satan, for we readily forget that "man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord." Our only source of fulfillment--our true reason for thanksgiving--is found in the Word of God--for in that Word we are given Jesus.
Thanks be to God that He does not leave us in our sinfully greedy state, but that He sends us true manna from heaven to satisfy our every need. Jesus said (John 6:51), "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."
So we see that Jesus is the only real bread we need--for by eating and drinking of Him by faith we receive the forgiveness of sins and eternal life and salvation. This is pretty radical stuff to think about on Thanksgiving Eve, but absolutely necessary.
As we are drawn by the Word of the Lord to this holy place wherein Jesus will come to us in bread and wine to give us His body and blood to eat and to drink--the Holy Spirit moves us to repent of our greed--our selfishness--our ingratitude--all of our sin--and to eat of Him who is the very Word that has proceeded from the mouth of the Lord God--Jesus.
As you eat of Jesus by faith in His sacrificial life, death, and resurrection you are sustained for a life of holy living--you are blessed to partake of the blessed sacrament known as the Eucharist, which means "to give thanks." As Jesus gave thanks to God our Father for all that He had and did--so, too, do we give thanks this night and every day for all that Jesus has done and given to us.
Soon, you will humbly approach this altar where Jesus will feed you richly with forgiveness of sins and life that He earned for you on the cross. He who took on your flesh to give it up into death for you--now offers you that same body and blood to wash all of your guilt away and to strengthen you in loving service for your neighbour. To show in deed how truly thankful you are for what God has given you by freely sharing with those who have little.
As you eat and drink of the body and blood of Christ His life will fill you and you will be strengthened and nourished to go forth and do those good works that He has planned in advance for you to do. And you will offer up true thanksgiving like the Samaritan leper. For proper gratitude comes only out of the heart sustained by faith. This, you will offer to God, not because you have to in order to earn God's favour, but rather in response to already freely having received His grace and mercy in Word and Sacrament.
This is why we give thanks, beloved. Not just for our homes, family, and friends, and all earthly possessions, which Luther rightly noted are all gifts from God that we are called upon to give Him thanks for--from the wonderful food on our tables this weekend to the cars in our driveways and the clothes on our backs--as great as these things are. Rather, we offer up true thanks and praise first and foremost for the life-giving death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus--the very Word of God who brings life and light eternal to a world lost in the darkness of sin and death.
Jesus is the Word made flesh. Therefore, as we have received Him in this Divine Service of Word and Sacrament this evening, we are sent out into the world, bolstered in our faith by Baptismal and Eucharist blessing to be thankful in all circumstances of plenty and hunger, abundance and want. As we cling to Jesus in faith we truly have everything that we need: forgiveness of sins, protection from the devil, and a life that will stretch into eternity. Now that's something to be thankful for! Thanks be to God in Christ Jesus. Amen.