Sermon Illustrations for Thanksgiving (2024)
Illustration
Joel 2:21-27
Andrena Sawyer once wrote, “God’ s restoration will go beyond what was, to set a new standard for what is good.” Restoration and renewal are important concepts for us as human beings.
Retired California Judge John M. Phillips wanted to break the tragic cycle of breaking the law and incarceration that he witnessed too many young people getting caught in while serving on the Monterey County Superior Court. Phillips wanted to create a different place to help prevent first-time offenders from becoming repeat offenders. He found the former Natividad Boys’ Ranch facility which had been unused for almost twenty years and restored it to Rancho Cielo. In October of 2004, the new facility opened. Since that time, hundreds of students graduate from high school and become functioning, contributing members of society and an inclusive economy while giving them the support services they need to thrive.
Renewal and restoration was the business of Judge Phillips. It is also God’s business. His people are called to rejoice. “O children of Zion, be glad and rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given the early rain for your vindication; he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the later rain, as before” (vs. 23). God promised to restore what was taken away in chastisement. God’s business is restoring things. Is it ours?
Bill T.
* * *
Joel 2:21-27
English poet John Dryden once wrote, “If you have lived, take thankfully the past.” This lesson also reminds us to take thankfully the created order. We all know how unthankfully we homo sapiens have behaved towards the created order since the Industrial Revolution. Exploitation, not thankfulness, has been the name of the game. We all know about the impact on the environment. How about animal exploitation? Early in the year, USA Today reported that one animal is abused every sixty seconds. Close to ten million animals die from abuse annually in the US. Laboratories across the country abuse or kill over 110 million animals each year on experiments, including cosmetic testing. John Calvin offered some thoughtful reflections on most pertinent this data. As he put it:
But when God is reconciled to his people, his blessing will smile on the brute animals... We hence see that the fruit of reconciliation is made more evident, when it is in part extended to the brute creation. (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.XIV/2, p.81)
English author G. K. Chesterton offers another sound perspective on thanksgiving, on how good it is to be thankful. He wrote:
I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.
When we include thankfulness for the created order and the animal kingdom in our thankful reflections, that’s where the wonder associated with our happiness comes from.
Mark E.
* * *
Joel 2:21-27
The backstory to the book of Joel is a natural catastrophe. A plague of locusts descended on the crops, devastating not only the yield of the field, but the hope people needed for the immediate future. Hunger, even starvation, might be in the offing.
Joel calls upon the people to change — as we must surely make changes now that a climate catastrophe is becoming a reality instead of just a threat — so let me back up to verse 12 in this second chapter, where it says, “Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from punishment.” (Joel 2:12-13)
The word shuv, translated as ‘repent’ and ‘return,’ implies not just words, or empty rituals like the tearing of clothing, but a total change in orientation and direction. Turning around 180 degrees. Act like you want change. The result in Joel are these words of celebration, restoration, and renewal that we read in in this passage. “I will repay you for the years that the swarming locust has eaten….” (2:25) This is a real promise of God — if we repent and return.
Let me add the obvious — some of us are looking toward a true feast today, and others may be reflecting on a period of want, a feeling of exclusion. If you’re one of the former — return and repent. What are you doing to ensure that the bounty God promises is shared with all?
Frank R.
* * *
1 Timothy 2:1-7
Giving thanks for the good things in life comes easy. It is far harder to give thanks for hard knocks in life. In the spirit of this text, John Calvin urged we pray even for bad rulers and other bad people we encounter in life. He noted:
I answer, the object of our prayer is, that guided by the Spirit of God, they may begin to impart to us those benefits of which they formerly deprived us. It is our duty, therefore, not only to pray for those who are already worthy, but we must pray to God that he may make bad men good. (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.XXI/3, p.52)
Even the bad people and things we encounter in life can be good for us. Third-Party presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a man with his share of hard knocks in life, put it this way:
A lot of life is about trying to turn bad experiences into something good. Usually if you work at it, you can figure out a way to do it. Even our worst misfortunes are gifts.
Calvin’s famous 20th-century heir Karl Barth picked up the universal theme of the text (the idea that God cares for all people even to the point of wanting them saved) and wrote some words worthy of contemplating for those of us troubled by the prospect of the damnation of the unfaithful. There is much to be thankful to God if Barth is correct:
If we are certainly forbidden to count on this [the salvation of all] as though we had claim on it... we are surely commanded to the more definitely to hope and pray for it... that, in spite of everything which may seem quite conclusively to proclaim the opposite, his compassion should not fail, and that in accordance with his mercy... he “will not cast off for ever... (Church Dogmatics, Vol.IV/3 First Half, p.478)
Mark E.
* * *
1 Timothy 2:1-7
“I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity.” These words echo in my heart this Thanksgiving Day. Seeking to live a quiet and peaceable life, a life filled with godliness and dignity — what more can I ask or be thankful for this day? Now my life isn’t always quiet, or filled with peace, or lived in godliness or dignity, but I can be thankful for the reminder to cling to those goals — for myself and for everyone else.
This Thanksgiving Day, this is my prayer: “Oh God of all, help me to quiet my heart, mind, and spirit. Help me seek godliness in all things, to live as you call me to live. Help me to live in dignity, recognizing the dignity of all creation and all peoples. Help me be thankful for all I have and have been blessed with. Amen.”
Bonnie B.
* * *
Matthew 6:25-33
It’s Thanksgiving Day and we are reminded that worrying and striving do not bring us peace. Rather, a dependance on God, on the gifts of God, on the presence of God is what gives us the peace we seek. As you encounter the world today, breathe in the outside air, however chilly it is, and know that God is with you. Listen to the birds and know that God cares for them and for you. Encounter family and friends and know that together you are blessed and a blessing.
For a moment, lay aside worry. Lay aside the pain you might be encountering, the losses you might have experienced, and know that God is here. Strive to feel the presence of God, and be at peace.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Matthew 6:25-33
Corrie Ten Boom once said, “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.” Jesus preaches against worrying about the things of life in the Sermon on the Mount. Worry, though, can be a persistent pest.
James Cash Penney has an interesting story about worry . Penney grew up in a Christian home and after moving west for health reasons, began opening stores. His initial stores were called “Golden Rule” stores. Later, as his empire grew, they became known as J.C. Penney stores. In the 1930’s, in the middle of the Great Depression, Penney lost much of his empire and his health. He began to sink into depression, besieged by worry. His Christian faith, which he’d had from his childhood, was sorely tested. A friend convinced him to enter a sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan.
I think we can understand the worry Mr. Penney faced. Jesus knew the worries that people would face, and he confronted them in the Sermon on the Mount. “Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?” (vs. 25). Jesus makes it clear that the Father knows what his people need and will provide. “Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things” (vs. 32). The answer to worry? “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (vs. 33).
The rest of the story? One morning James Cash Penney awoke too early for breakfast and was wandering the corridors when he heard a hymn he remembered from childhood.
Be not dismayed whate'er betide,
God will take care of you
All you need he will provide
God will take care of you
At that point, James Cash Penney renewed his relationship with Jesus and was baptized. Worries melt in the warmth of God’s promises of care and love. Don’t forget that.
Bill T.
* * *
Matthew 6:25-33
Recently there’s been a great deal of excitement about a tiny scrap of papyrus that bears a few of the words of Jesus. What’s really exciting is that the style of handwriting dates this scrap to the second century, AD, making it almost the oldest piece of gospel writing ever found!
What makes it even more intriguing is that it’s a collection of greatest hits by Jesus about worry and anxiety, drawn from Matthew, Luke, and something called the Gospel of Thomas.
You may not have heard of Thomas. It contains some familiar gospel sayings as well as some rather odd ones preserved by the Gnostics, who believed Jesus was pure spirit and only appeared to die. The Gospel of Thomas was first discovered in a version written in an Egyptian language, Coptic. However scraps that have been discovered written in Greek have made it clear that there was originally a Christian version of these sayings that circulated among the churches.
Here’s what scholars have read and reconstructed. The words in brackets are guesses as to what was written. The dots indicate where they have no idea what was in the holes. On one side it reads:
. . . he died (?). you: [do not] worry [about your life,] what you will eat, {or] about your body, what [you will wear.] For I tell you: [unless] you fast [from the world,] you will never see [the Kingdom.] and unless you . . . the world, you [will never . . .] the Father . . . the birds, how . . . and [your (?)] heavenly Father [feeds them(?).] You [also] therefore . . . [Consider the lilies,] how they grow . . .
And on the flip side it says,
Solomon . . . in [his] glory . . . [if ] the father [clothes] grass which dries up and is thrown into the oven, [he will clothe (?)] you . . . You [also(?)] therefore . . . for [your] Father [knows] . . . you need. [Instead (?)] seek [his kingdom (?), and all these things (?) will be given [to you (?)] as well.
If you look up Luke 12:22, 27-29, and 30-31 along with Matthew 6:25,28-31, and 32-33 you’ll see why everyone is so excited. These quotes are very close to the gospels, which probably means someone was writing them down from memory.
In addition, “…he died (?)” may come from Saying 63 in the Gospel of Thomas: “There was a rich man who had much money…but that same night he died,” and further down there’s a quote from Saying 27, “If you do not fast as regards the world, you will not find the kingdom.”
There’s no telling what was written on the lost portion of the papyrus sheet, because so far only this one scrap survived, but one thing is sure.
Two thousand years ago, people worried just like us! The gap between the ultra-rich and the desperately poor was very wide. People were prey to plagues. It felt like there was an absence of justice and few avenues for redress of wrongs. There was extraordinary stress, worry, and anxiety, so like us, folks turned to the words of Jesus for advice and comfort.
(The translation of this scrap of papyrus comes from J. Fish, D.B Wallace, and M. W. Holmes, and is found in “The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, volume LXXXVII, p. 10, published in 2023.)
Frank R.
Andrena Sawyer once wrote, “God’ s restoration will go beyond what was, to set a new standard for what is good.” Restoration and renewal are important concepts for us as human beings.
Retired California Judge John M. Phillips wanted to break the tragic cycle of breaking the law and incarceration that he witnessed too many young people getting caught in while serving on the Monterey County Superior Court. Phillips wanted to create a different place to help prevent first-time offenders from becoming repeat offenders. He found the former Natividad Boys’ Ranch facility which had been unused for almost twenty years and restored it to Rancho Cielo. In October of 2004, the new facility opened. Since that time, hundreds of students graduate from high school and become functioning, contributing members of society and an inclusive economy while giving them the support services they need to thrive.
Renewal and restoration was the business of Judge Phillips. It is also God’s business. His people are called to rejoice. “O children of Zion, be glad and rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given the early rain for your vindication; he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the later rain, as before” (vs. 23). God promised to restore what was taken away in chastisement. God’s business is restoring things. Is it ours?
Bill T.
* * *
Joel 2:21-27
English poet John Dryden once wrote, “If you have lived, take thankfully the past.” This lesson also reminds us to take thankfully the created order. We all know how unthankfully we homo sapiens have behaved towards the created order since the Industrial Revolution. Exploitation, not thankfulness, has been the name of the game. We all know about the impact on the environment. How about animal exploitation? Early in the year, USA Today reported that one animal is abused every sixty seconds. Close to ten million animals die from abuse annually in the US. Laboratories across the country abuse or kill over 110 million animals each year on experiments, including cosmetic testing. John Calvin offered some thoughtful reflections on most pertinent this data. As he put it:
But when God is reconciled to his people, his blessing will smile on the brute animals... We hence see that the fruit of reconciliation is made more evident, when it is in part extended to the brute creation. (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.XIV/2, p.81)
English author G. K. Chesterton offers another sound perspective on thanksgiving, on how good it is to be thankful. He wrote:
I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.
When we include thankfulness for the created order and the animal kingdom in our thankful reflections, that’s where the wonder associated with our happiness comes from.
Mark E.
* * *
Joel 2:21-27
The backstory to the book of Joel is a natural catastrophe. A plague of locusts descended on the crops, devastating not only the yield of the field, but the hope people needed for the immediate future. Hunger, even starvation, might be in the offing.
Joel calls upon the people to change — as we must surely make changes now that a climate catastrophe is becoming a reality instead of just a threat — so let me back up to verse 12 in this second chapter, where it says, “Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from punishment.” (Joel 2:12-13)
The word shuv, translated as ‘repent’ and ‘return,’ implies not just words, or empty rituals like the tearing of clothing, but a total change in orientation and direction. Turning around 180 degrees. Act like you want change. The result in Joel are these words of celebration, restoration, and renewal that we read in in this passage. “I will repay you for the years that the swarming locust has eaten….” (2:25) This is a real promise of God — if we repent and return.
Let me add the obvious — some of us are looking toward a true feast today, and others may be reflecting on a period of want, a feeling of exclusion. If you’re one of the former — return and repent. What are you doing to ensure that the bounty God promises is shared with all?
Frank R.
* * *
1 Timothy 2:1-7
Giving thanks for the good things in life comes easy. It is far harder to give thanks for hard knocks in life. In the spirit of this text, John Calvin urged we pray even for bad rulers and other bad people we encounter in life. He noted:
I answer, the object of our prayer is, that guided by the Spirit of God, they may begin to impart to us those benefits of which they formerly deprived us. It is our duty, therefore, not only to pray for those who are already worthy, but we must pray to God that he may make bad men good. (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.XXI/3, p.52)
Even the bad people and things we encounter in life can be good for us. Third-Party presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a man with his share of hard knocks in life, put it this way:
A lot of life is about trying to turn bad experiences into something good. Usually if you work at it, you can figure out a way to do it. Even our worst misfortunes are gifts.
Calvin’s famous 20th-century heir Karl Barth picked up the universal theme of the text (the idea that God cares for all people even to the point of wanting them saved) and wrote some words worthy of contemplating for those of us troubled by the prospect of the damnation of the unfaithful. There is much to be thankful to God if Barth is correct:
If we are certainly forbidden to count on this [the salvation of all] as though we had claim on it... we are surely commanded to the more definitely to hope and pray for it... that, in spite of everything which may seem quite conclusively to proclaim the opposite, his compassion should not fail, and that in accordance with his mercy... he “will not cast off for ever... (Church Dogmatics, Vol.IV/3 First Half, p.478)
Mark E.
* * *
1 Timothy 2:1-7
“I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity.” These words echo in my heart this Thanksgiving Day. Seeking to live a quiet and peaceable life, a life filled with godliness and dignity — what more can I ask or be thankful for this day? Now my life isn’t always quiet, or filled with peace, or lived in godliness or dignity, but I can be thankful for the reminder to cling to those goals — for myself and for everyone else.
This Thanksgiving Day, this is my prayer: “Oh God of all, help me to quiet my heart, mind, and spirit. Help me seek godliness in all things, to live as you call me to live. Help me to live in dignity, recognizing the dignity of all creation and all peoples. Help me be thankful for all I have and have been blessed with. Amen.”
Bonnie B.
* * *
Matthew 6:25-33
It’s Thanksgiving Day and we are reminded that worrying and striving do not bring us peace. Rather, a dependance on God, on the gifts of God, on the presence of God is what gives us the peace we seek. As you encounter the world today, breathe in the outside air, however chilly it is, and know that God is with you. Listen to the birds and know that God cares for them and for you. Encounter family and friends and know that together you are blessed and a blessing.
For a moment, lay aside worry. Lay aside the pain you might be encountering, the losses you might have experienced, and know that God is here. Strive to feel the presence of God, and be at peace.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Matthew 6:25-33
Corrie Ten Boom once said, “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.” Jesus preaches against worrying about the things of life in the Sermon on the Mount. Worry, though, can be a persistent pest.
James Cash Penney has an interesting story about worry . Penney grew up in a Christian home and after moving west for health reasons, began opening stores. His initial stores were called “Golden Rule” stores. Later, as his empire grew, they became known as J.C. Penney stores. In the 1930’s, in the middle of the Great Depression, Penney lost much of his empire and his health. He began to sink into depression, besieged by worry. His Christian faith, which he’d had from his childhood, was sorely tested. A friend convinced him to enter a sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan.
I think we can understand the worry Mr. Penney faced. Jesus knew the worries that people would face, and he confronted them in the Sermon on the Mount. “Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?” (vs. 25). Jesus makes it clear that the Father knows what his people need and will provide. “Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things” (vs. 32). The answer to worry? “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (vs. 33).
The rest of the story? One morning James Cash Penney awoke too early for breakfast and was wandering the corridors when he heard a hymn he remembered from childhood.
Be not dismayed whate'er betide,
God will take care of you
All you need he will provide
God will take care of you
At that point, James Cash Penney renewed his relationship with Jesus and was baptized. Worries melt in the warmth of God’s promises of care and love. Don’t forget that.
Bill T.
* * *
Matthew 6:25-33
Recently there’s been a great deal of excitement about a tiny scrap of papyrus that bears a few of the words of Jesus. What’s really exciting is that the style of handwriting dates this scrap to the second century, AD, making it almost the oldest piece of gospel writing ever found!
What makes it even more intriguing is that it’s a collection of greatest hits by Jesus about worry and anxiety, drawn from Matthew, Luke, and something called the Gospel of Thomas.
You may not have heard of Thomas. It contains some familiar gospel sayings as well as some rather odd ones preserved by the Gnostics, who believed Jesus was pure spirit and only appeared to die. The Gospel of Thomas was first discovered in a version written in an Egyptian language, Coptic. However scraps that have been discovered written in Greek have made it clear that there was originally a Christian version of these sayings that circulated among the churches.
Here’s what scholars have read and reconstructed. The words in brackets are guesses as to what was written. The dots indicate where they have no idea what was in the holes. On one side it reads:
. . . he died (?). you: [do not] worry [about your life,] what you will eat, {or] about your body, what [you will wear.] For I tell you: [unless] you fast [from the world,] you will never see [the Kingdom.] and unless you . . . the world, you [will never . . .] the Father . . . the birds, how . . . and [your (?)] heavenly Father [feeds them(?).] You [also] therefore . . . [Consider the lilies,] how they grow . . .
And on the flip side it says,
Solomon . . . in [his] glory . . . [if ] the father [clothes] grass which dries up and is thrown into the oven, [he will clothe (?)] you . . . You [also(?)] therefore . . . for [your] Father [knows] . . . you need. [Instead (?)] seek [his kingdom (?), and all these things (?) will be given [to you (?)] as well.
If you look up Luke 12:22, 27-29, and 30-31 along with Matthew 6:25,28-31, and 32-33 you’ll see why everyone is so excited. These quotes are very close to the gospels, which probably means someone was writing them down from memory.
In addition, “…he died (?)” may come from Saying 63 in the Gospel of Thomas: “There was a rich man who had much money…but that same night he died,” and further down there’s a quote from Saying 27, “If you do not fast as regards the world, you will not find the kingdom.”
There’s no telling what was written on the lost portion of the papyrus sheet, because so far only this one scrap survived, but one thing is sure.
Two thousand years ago, people worried just like us! The gap between the ultra-rich and the desperately poor was very wide. People were prey to plagues. It felt like there was an absence of justice and few avenues for redress of wrongs. There was extraordinary stress, worry, and anxiety, so like us, folks turned to the words of Jesus for advice and comfort.
(The translation of this scrap of papyrus comes from J. Fish, D.B Wallace, and M. W. Holmes, and is found in “The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, volume LXXXVII, p. 10, published in 2023.)
Frank R.
