Thanksgiving Day
Preaching
Preaching and Reading the Old Testament Lessons
With an Eye to the New
Our text for this day is about forgetting and remembering. Indeed, the whole eighth chapter of Deuteronomy concerns those two thoughts. Repeating the words, the chapter says, "And you shall remember ..." (v. 2); "Take heed lest you forget ..." (v. 11); "Then your heart be lifted up and you forget ..." (v. 14); "You shall remember ..." (v. 18); "And if you forget" (v. 19).
It is a pertinent emphasis for us, for we live in an age and a society that has forgotten. We have forgotten the Lord our God. Many of us share our society's notion these days that we are separate, free, autonomous, self--fulfilling individuals, whose lives and future are entirely in our own hands. If we accomplish something, our own talents and brains have been our instruments. If we fail, we haven't kept our eye on the ball or we've just been unlucky or the victim of unforeseen circumstances. Our days are in our own hands, and it is up to us to make something of them. Thus our society is largely a secular society, and you and I are frequently secularists, that is, we believe we are living our lives apart from the presence and working of God. God has little hand in what we do or in what happens to us. God is absent and forgotten.
We are therefore very much like the Israelites in our text. They have fled their slavery in Egypt and trekked through a dry and dusty wilderness filled with snakes and scorpions and burning heat. But finally their second generation has reached the eastern bank of the Jordan River, and they are now looking over into the land of Palestine. Before they cross the Jordan River, however, their leader Moses addresses them in the three long sermons we find in Deuteronomy. Our text forms a part of the first sermon. And what is Moses' emphasis? "Remember the Lord your God" (v. 18). "... remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you" (v. 2).
The Lord led Israel for over forty years after her release from Egyptian slavery. He brought her out of the house of bondage and guided her through the wilderness by pillar by day and fire by night. He quenched her thirst with water from a rock and gave her daily bread from the manna. He even prevented her clothing from wearing out, says Deuteronomy, and her weary feet from swelling (v. 4). And all of that was simply grace on the Lord's part, gracious actions toward his chosen people whom he loved for no reason at all. They complained all through the forty years, as we so often complain. They attempted to follow their own path and were subjected to a humiliating defeat at Hormah (Numbers 14:39--45), as so often our self--guided stubbornness leads us too into some misery. But despite their rebellion and stubbornness and repeated sin against him, God brought his beloved people to the edge of the land he had promised them.
That's our story, too, is it not? That God has led us through all our years and brought us to the threshold of his eternal kingdom? We too were once enslaved - enslaved to sin and death - and God delivered us from our slavery through the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We too have wandered our own wildernesses and suffered wants and fears. But God has preserved our lives and given us comfort and strength. We too have thirsted and hungered for healing, for love, for forgiveness, and God has poured those out upon us through the mercy of his Son.
But as we read our text, we also find that Moses proclaims a promise for Israel's future. "The Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of waters, of fountains and springs ... wheat and barley ... vines and fig trees and pomegranates ... olive trees and honey ... a land in which you shall lack nothing" (vv. 7--9). And that too could be a description of our life, could it not? That we live in a land where most of us actually lack no necessity. Oh sure, we wish we had a higher salary, or could afford a new carpet for the living room. We wonder how we're going to pay college tuition or save enough for retirement. But lack, genuine lack? No, we'll manage, and none of us is truly wanting.
Moses' following words pierce to the heart of the matter, however. "Beware lest you say in your heart, 'My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth' " (v. 17). No. "You shall remember the Lord your God" (v. 18).
So what is Thanksgiving, good Christians? It is not the secularism of the society around us, but rather is it not that remembering? Remembering all the way that God has led us through our lives? Like Israel, we have often rebelled against our Lord and stubbornly followed our own ways. Like Israel, we have not deserved God's love that will not let us go. And now on this day of gratitude, we are asked to remember. We are bidden to call to mind the fact that we are never on our own - alone, self--fulfilled, isolated from the working of the Lord. Rather, we are constantly seen by his eyes and continually held by his hand, and sustained and guided, forgiven and loved through all our nights and days. Will we remember that, not only on this one special day, but through all our days to come? Remember and do not forget, our father Moses says to us.
Surely in a secular society such as ours we need help in remembering God, however. And that is one of the functions of the regular worship of the church. When we come to this sanctuary every Sunday morning, we are acknowledging that we do not live by our own powers, but that there is One who works and lives in us far beyond our abilities and strengths. We remember that God leads our lives, and so we come here to praise him and thank him for his love - for all the way he has led us in the past and for all his gifts and presence in the future with us.
But beyond our weekly practice of worship, we also remember God when we pray. Indeed, regular, daily, consistent prayer is an exercise in remembrance, in acknowledging the fact that there is always a Lord God beyond us. So we pray him little "arrow prayers" - one sentence words of thanks for giving us our families or for bringing us through some trouble, praise for his gift of sunlight and beauty on a glorious morn, gratitude for a night of rest and for keeping us safe for another day, words of petition for someone who is ill or for comfort in our suffering. But beyond the little sentence prayers, we also set aside a time each day for prayer. And we meditate on the Lord and remember all that he has done for us. If we pray regularly, good Christians, we cannot forget God. And we do that because we know God has never forgotten us.
Remember and do not forget the Lord your God. Like Israel in our text, you and I stand on the eastern side of this life, gazing over into the promised land. Our land of promise is not Palestine, however, but eternal life, filled with abundance and joy beyond all our imagining. So remember God and trust him, for he will indeed lead us, as he always led Israel, into that blessed promised place of his everlasting kingdom.
It is a pertinent emphasis for us, for we live in an age and a society that has forgotten. We have forgotten the Lord our God. Many of us share our society's notion these days that we are separate, free, autonomous, self--fulfilling individuals, whose lives and future are entirely in our own hands. If we accomplish something, our own talents and brains have been our instruments. If we fail, we haven't kept our eye on the ball or we've just been unlucky or the victim of unforeseen circumstances. Our days are in our own hands, and it is up to us to make something of them. Thus our society is largely a secular society, and you and I are frequently secularists, that is, we believe we are living our lives apart from the presence and working of God. God has little hand in what we do or in what happens to us. God is absent and forgotten.
We are therefore very much like the Israelites in our text. They have fled their slavery in Egypt and trekked through a dry and dusty wilderness filled with snakes and scorpions and burning heat. But finally their second generation has reached the eastern bank of the Jordan River, and they are now looking over into the land of Palestine. Before they cross the Jordan River, however, their leader Moses addresses them in the three long sermons we find in Deuteronomy. Our text forms a part of the first sermon. And what is Moses' emphasis? "Remember the Lord your God" (v. 18). "... remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you" (v. 2).
The Lord led Israel for over forty years after her release from Egyptian slavery. He brought her out of the house of bondage and guided her through the wilderness by pillar by day and fire by night. He quenched her thirst with water from a rock and gave her daily bread from the manna. He even prevented her clothing from wearing out, says Deuteronomy, and her weary feet from swelling (v. 4). And all of that was simply grace on the Lord's part, gracious actions toward his chosen people whom he loved for no reason at all. They complained all through the forty years, as we so often complain. They attempted to follow their own path and were subjected to a humiliating defeat at Hormah (Numbers 14:39--45), as so often our self--guided stubbornness leads us too into some misery. But despite their rebellion and stubbornness and repeated sin against him, God brought his beloved people to the edge of the land he had promised them.
That's our story, too, is it not? That God has led us through all our years and brought us to the threshold of his eternal kingdom? We too were once enslaved - enslaved to sin and death - and God delivered us from our slavery through the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We too have wandered our own wildernesses and suffered wants and fears. But God has preserved our lives and given us comfort and strength. We too have thirsted and hungered for healing, for love, for forgiveness, and God has poured those out upon us through the mercy of his Son.
But as we read our text, we also find that Moses proclaims a promise for Israel's future. "The Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of waters, of fountains and springs ... wheat and barley ... vines and fig trees and pomegranates ... olive trees and honey ... a land in which you shall lack nothing" (vv. 7--9). And that too could be a description of our life, could it not? That we live in a land where most of us actually lack no necessity. Oh sure, we wish we had a higher salary, or could afford a new carpet for the living room. We wonder how we're going to pay college tuition or save enough for retirement. But lack, genuine lack? No, we'll manage, and none of us is truly wanting.
Moses' following words pierce to the heart of the matter, however. "Beware lest you say in your heart, 'My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth' " (v. 17). No. "You shall remember the Lord your God" (v. 18).
So what is Thanksgiving, good Christians? It is not the secularism of the society around us, but rather is it not that remembering? Remembering all the way that God has led us through our lives? Like Israel, we have often rebelled against our Lord and stubbornly followed our own ways. Like Israel, we have not deserved God's love that will not let us go. And now on this day of gratitude, we are asked to remember. We are bidden to call to mind the fact that we are never on our own - alone, self--fulfilled, isolated from the working of the Lord. Rather, we are constantly seen by his eyes and continually held by his hand, and sustained and guided, forgiven and loved through all our nights and days. Will we remember that, not only on this one special day, but through all our days to come? Remember and do not forget, our father Moses says to us.
Surely in a secular society such as ours we need help in remembering God, however. And that is one of the functions of the regular worship of the church. When we come to this sanctuary every Sunday morning, we are acknowledging that we do not live by our own powers, but that there is One who works and lives in us far beyond our abilities and strengths. We remember that God leads our lives, and so we come here to praise him and thank him for his love - for all the way he has led us in the past and for all his gifts and presence in the future with us.
But beyond our weekly practice of worship, we also remember God when we pray. Indeed, regular, daily, consistent prayer is an exercise in remembrance, in acknowledging the fact that there is always a Lord God beyond us. So we pray him little "arrow prayers" - one sentence words of thanks for giving us our families or for bringing us through some trouble, praise for his gift of sunlight and beauty on a glorious morn, gratitude for a night of rest and for keeping us safe for another day, words of petition for someone who is ill or for comfort in our suffering. But beyond the little sentence prayers, we also set aside a time each day for prayer. And we meditate on the Lord and remember all that he has done for us. If we pray regularly, good Christians, we cannot forget God. And we do that because we know God has never forgotten us.
Remember and do not forget the Lord your God. Like Israel in our text, you and I stand on the eastern side of this life, gazing over into the promised land. Our land of promise is not Palestine, however, but eternal life, filled with abundance and joy beyond all our imagining. So remember God and trust him, for he will indeed lead us, as he always led Israel, into that blessed promised place of his everlasting kingdom.
