Sermon notes for Thanksgiving 2011
The foundation of Thanksgiving is remembering what God has done for us, especially through His Son Jesus. But so often it seems that what we build on that foundation is not particularly thankful. Instead, we're picky, worried, anxious, judgmental, critical and impatient. Sometimes these have to do with the way we feel, but more often than not they have to do with the focus of our attention.
Toward the end of his letter to the Philippians Saint Paul writes, "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things." (Philippians 4:8 NIV)
Wow! This is different than what I usually hear from people, but I think it points us toward thankfulness pretty well. Listen to his words again:
Think about whatever is true - how much time do you spend fretting about things that may or may not come to pass, the opinions of others, speculations and musings and wonderings? And where do these get you? Into worry and anxiety about the future. How much better would it be to spend time thinking about whatever is true - the love of God for you through His Son Jesus, for instance.
Think about whatever is noble - are you drawn to celebrity scandals, stories about crime, juicy gossip? And after a time do you find yourself commenting on just how terrible our society has been getting? How much better would it be to spend time observing the noble all around you - the love of God working in His people as they care for others, love others, provide for others, help others.
Think about whatever is right - do you live life like a frustrated Olympic judge, always looking for ways to "take points off" from someone or something? Whatever you observe or participate in, are you always noticing ways it could be better? Isn't anything ever good enough? How frustrating that must be! And how much better and more relaxed and more grateful might you be if you were to learn to live with, "Lord, pretty good is good enough."
Think about whatever is pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, praiseworthy - I could go on with each of these, but I hope you get the point by now. Our anxieties and cares and worries come to us in large part because we focus on the wrong things in this world. We don't focus on the things God has given us, the things He has blessed us with. If we did, we might build a better structure in which to be thankful to Him:
If we delighted in what was pure we'd spend less time fretting about movies and TV and more time being thankful for His blessings.
If we delighted in what was lovely we'd spend less time turning away from the ugly in the world and more time noticing that it is His creation behind the ugliness.
If we delighted in what was admirable, the shameful might dry up and blow away, and we might rejoice in the wonder of His grace.
If we delighted in what was excellent, we might truly be delighted in the excellent instead of being disappointed in the imperfect.
If we delighted in what was praiseworthy we would turn to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ with all praise and love, giving Him thanks in all things because He alone is truly worthy of our praise and delight and thanksgiving.
Notes from my sermon on November 13, 2011 - Matthew 25:14-30. For an mp3 podcast of the complete sermon, go to revcahill.podbean.com
Let's begin with some problem areas in this so-called "Parable of the Talents":
- The word "talent" was a first-century word designating a certain weight of silver. We use the word "talent" to refer to skills or abilities that we've either learned or honed to a high level. Often when we hear this parable with the word "talent" we immediately jump to this modern meaning, and the thrust of the interpretation then seems to be "if you don't want to end up gnashing your teeth, use your talents for God's glory (and make sure you at least double His investment in you)!" Please note: there's not an ounce of Gospel in this interpretation! This Sunday, I translated "talent" as "bag of gold."
- Side note: Because Jesus said the servant with five bags brought five more and the one with two bags brought two more, don't you wonder what happens with someone who gets five bags but only brings three more, or the one who gets two bags but only brings one more?
- The "well done, good and faithful servant" sounds too much like a Performance Review phrase, as if the master is checking these guys off from the scale "3=Well Done, 2=Satisfactory, 1=Needs Improvement, 0=Gnash those Teeth." In fact, the Greek word is just a simple positive expletive, which might just as well be translated into American English as "Cool!" or "Sweet!" - and that's how I've translated it here.
The basic problem with the way we deal with this parable, though, is that we look at if it were a story about a boss and his employees at their annual Performance Review. When we do that, we come up with nothing but Law - no Gospel at all. I think the foundation to getting at the Gospel in the story is to begin by looking at the way the third ("wicked and slothful") servant perceives the master.
This servant sees the master as a tight-fisted, hard-hearted guy. He neither loves nor respects his master; he serves the master in fear or, in this case, not at all.
How many people see the God of the Bible that way? As a fearsome, vengeful, smiting god? Then they decide they don't want a god like that, and refuse to believe in Him. How much sense does that make? If God is truly vengeful, wouldn't it make more sense to try to play up to Him?
But the God who has revealed Himself to us in the Bible and through Jesus is not that kind of God at all. He is, instead, a kind and loving Father-God, who (in the Lord's Prayer) invites us to consider Him as a Father dear to us because He considers us to be children dear to Him. So we approach Him with joy and excitement and love rather than avoid Him in fear, because for Jesus' sake we are His children, not His servants.
But if we insist on hanging on to the servant-master metaphor, how then shall we serve Him? As Martin Luther once wrote of the Apostles' Creed, ". . . in righteousness, innocence, and blessedness." We serve Him in righteousness, knowing that for the sake of Jesus who was completely righteous the Father counts His righteousness as if it were our own; now our service to Him is also righteous and everything we do for Him is without fault, but perfect. We serve Him in innocence, knowing that for the sake of Jesus who was completely without sin the Father looks at us and sees His children as without sin as well; now our service to Him is done by people who are perfected in His sight by Jesus. We serve Him in blessedness, knowing that for the sake of Jesus, of whom the Father said at His baptism in the Jordan River "This is My Beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased," our Baptism is our connection to Jesus' Baptism and so to the Father's blessing.
If we insist on hanging on to the master-servant metaphor, then, remember that our service is done perfectly because it is done in the righteousness of Christ; it is done by sinless people because it is done in the innocence of Christ; and it is done by blessed people because it is done in the Blessedness of Christ. That's not a Performance Review - that's the way a dear Father and His dear children love each other.
The other day while I was shopping I heard a voice behind me in the store say "It's OK, you can say 'hi' to him." I turned around and there was a mom and her little daughter, both smiling at me. The daughter was about four or five years old, with bright eyes and clearly excited with the possibility of saying "hi" to me. Although I didn't recognize either of them, the mom quickly said "She wanted to say 'hi' to you because she saw your white beard and red jacket and thought you were Santa Claus!"
I laughed, the mom laughed, the little one laughed. We did a little fist-bump, I asked her if she was good and she said yes, they went their way. A few minutes later I caught a glimpse of them at the register while I was at the back of the store. The little one waved, I waved back, the mom waved back, and I went on shopping.
When I got to the register, the clerk looked at me and said, "Oh, you must be Santa Claus!"
Back in May I shared a post that reflected on the people that looked at me and thought I was Jesus. The other day - Santa Claus! Is that a comedown? A compliment? Or just more big shoes to fill?
Notes on my sermon from Sunday, November 6, 2011. Based on Matthew 25:1-13 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
It seems to me that people look at this Gospel lesson about the Kingdom of Heaven ("The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins") and immediately want to waste a lot of time on the questions "Who's in and who's out?" and "What do I (personally) need to do to be ready?" It also seems to me that people look at the Thessalonians reading and immediately want to waste a lot of time discussing the (so-called) Rapture. These discussions miss the boat and the most important aspect of these readings - the setting!
In the Parable, the guests are waiting to get into a wedding reception. Now, think about the best wedding reception you've ever been to. What was it like?
- Was it in a country club? A hotel ballroom? A VFW hall? Outside in a grove of trees?
- Were the tables decorated fancy? Or homey?
- Did they have china plates? Or Chinet? Silverware? Or plasticware?
- Did you eat chicken cordon bleu? Or chicken BBQ?
- And how was the open bar?
- And when the wedding party was introduced, did everyone sit up to pay attention? And when the bride and groom were introduced, did everyone stand and applaud? And when the bride and groom came in, did everyone know that then was when the party started?
Because when we keep in mind that the Parable is about a wedding banquet, then we can keep in mind that it is about joy and anticipation for the coming of Jesus as Bridegroom, not Jesus as Judge or even King. It is about anticipation of celebration, not judgment. It is about joy, not dread.
And it's not about who has enough oil and who gets shut out, because for the sake of this celebration Jesus the Bridegroom Himself has given us enough to get in, enough righteousness in His blood and enough innocence in His redemption and enough blessedness in His resurrection to eternal life. For all who believe in Jesus, the question of the lamps is really a non-issue - we get to go in to the wedding reception!
And I wonder whether the Apostles preached it this way in the early days - with excitement and anticipation and joy and celebration. And I wonder whether that's why the Thessalonians were concerned about their dead loved ones. If the party didn't start until the Bridegroom would arrive, and if they assumed He would arrive soon, then what about their dead loved ones who died before He showed up? Would that mean they miss the party?
Not so! said Saint Paul. Because the implication of Jesus' resurrection is that all those believers who have died before the Bridegroom arrives will be raised to enter the banquet hall along with us who are alive when He comes, where we all will join the everlasting celebration together.
Revelation 18:9-13 (King James Version)
9And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with [Babylon], shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,
10Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
11And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:
12The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,
13And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.
Last week I had the opportunity to attend an informational meeting on Human Trafficking. Sponsored by the Medina County, Ohio, AAUW, the intent was to make the audience aware of the extent of Human Trafficking here in this area that is a "bedroom suburb" of both Cleveland and Akron. Disturbing statistics were presented - a heartwrenching video was shown - passionate presenters spoke of work with victims, mostly of sex trafficking but also of labor trafficking here in Ohio. Questions were asked and answered, refreshments were served, handouts were available.
Despite my rather ho-hum reporting of the event in the previous paragraph I don't want you to think that Human Trafficking is a ho-hum issue. In a secular setting like the AAUW and the Medina Community Recreation Center the organizers did all that they could, and they did it well. But Christians ought not simply to be informed about this issue - they ought to be enraged about it. It is an issue that, in the words of a friend of mine, ought to "shake your soul!"
Whether traffickers or victims, we're talking about people for whom our Lord Jesus Christ gave His life - people for whom He shed His precious blood. Luther's "He purchased and won me, not with gold or silver but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death" is true for every first and last human being on the face of the earth. It's not enough to call human trafficking a problem - Christians ought to call it an affront to the Gospel. We ought to call it a slap in the face of our gracious God. Those who buy and sell slaves "and the souls of men" take those whom God has made His precious children through the blood of His Son Jesus and reduced them to nothing more than sheep or cattle, merchandise to be hawked in a depraved and hellish marketplace.
Let's not fool ourselves. As comfortable as we think our life may be, even here in Medina County, Ohio, Babylon is around every corner. But that doesn't mean we Christians hunker down, circle the wagons, and pray for Jesus to get us out of this place. What it does mean is that we Christians, who I hope are becoming more and more like Jesus all the time, rely on His love and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to go into our local Babylons like He came into our world, to rescue and to save all who are so precious to Him. They are our fellow redeemed - they are our brothers and sisters - they are children of the God who wants to welcome us all home.
Find out more about how you can be involved in the fight against Human Trafficking in your community - not because it's a good thing to do, but because it shakes your soul.
