All Saints' Day
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series III, Cycle A
The church year theological clue
All Saints' Day is one of those days in the church year calendar that many congregations ignore, simply because they don't know what to do with it. It began and developed naturally out of the annual commemoration of the deaths of individual martyrs, beginning with the apostles. Saints' days found their way into the worship of the church before the church year took much shape; many saints' days were in place by A.D. 200, preceding most elements of the church year, except Easter and the fifty-day Pasch, plus Sunday as a weekly celebration of the death and resurrection of the Lord. In time, there were so many saints' days that an All Saints' Day was established to remember and honor all of them. All Souls' Day was later added (on November 2) to pray for "ordinary" saints. Most non-Roman denominations have, officially, combined All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day into a single festival; practically, the same thing has happened in the Roman communion. For most churches to-day, All Saints' Day is set aside for remembering and commemorating all those people who have died in the faith during the past year; there is no separation of saints and martyrs from all other Christians who have died in the faith. William How's hymn, "For all the saints who from their labors rest," is really the "text" for the celebration in many of the churches where All Saints' Day is observed. Instead of keeping the feast on November 1st, many churches will place All Saints' Day on the first Sunday in November, making it All Saints' Sunday. The day as currently structured is really the celebration of the reality and totality of the Church Triumphant and the Church Militant. The observation of All Saints' Day, therefore, needs to go beyond the bounds of the local congregation and this time, and even of any cemetery, to take in all saints and martyrs of the past, as well as the present. From this perspective, All Saints' Sunday is a day of thanksgiving for all who have been made members of the body of Christ, the church, and of hope for all who have departed this life in the faith, as well as for the living who hope to move in time from the Church Militant to the Church Triumphant.
The Prayer of the Day (LBW) - The language of an older collect for All Saints' Day has been altered linguistically and theologically. The intention of the verb in the first sentence remains much the same as it was, "Almighty God, whose people are knit together in one holy Church, the body of Christ our Lord," from "O Almighty God, who hast knit together thine elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of thy Son, Christ our Lord," but neither specifically mentions Baptism as the action of God which knits together all people and gives them hope of heaven. The older collect has God as the subject who does the "knitting," which is more evangelical and theologically stronger than "whose people are knit together in one holy Church." The eschatological intention of the new prayer ("Grant us grace to follow your blessed saints in lives of faith and commitment, and to know the inexpressible joys you have prepared for those who love you ...") highlights the totality of the church as the body of Christ in much the same manner as the older collect. It is a prayer for the living as well as for the those who have died in the Lord.
The Psalm for the Day - Psalm 24:1-65 (R) - Whether or not this psalm was composed to give thanks and praise to God after the return of the Ark of the Covenant from the Philistines in the days of Eli is a moot question. Nor is the familiar opening of the psalm ("The earth is the Lord's and all that is in it, the world and all that dwell therein") intended to place it on Thanksgiving Day. Rather, it is from verse three onward that the psalm ad-dresses All Saints' Day, and does it quite effectively: "Who can ascend the hill of the Lord and who can stand in his holy place?" The psalmist answers his own question this way:
Those who have clean hands and a pure heart, who have not pledged themselves to falsehood, nor sworn by what is a fraud. They shall receive a blessing from the Lord and a just reward from the God of their salvation.
Psalm 149 (E) - One of many psalms that could have been chosen to respond to the first reading, this psalm does encourge the living saints: "For the Lord takes pleasure in his people and adorns the poor with victory." It continues: "Let the praises of God be in their throat," which certainly is proper for All Saints' Day. From verse 6b through verse 9, the psalm takes on an unseemly tone:
and a two-edged sword in their hand; to wreak vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples; to bind their kings in chains and their nobles with links of iron; to inflict on them the judgment decreed; this is glory for all his faithful people. Hallelujah!
The business of the saints is to live out the gospel in true faith and proclaim it to all the nations, not judge them and utterly destroy them.
Psalm 34:1-10 (L) - Numerous psalms could have been selected for this occasion, but this one was chosen because it speaks so perfectly to the situation of the saints of God in verse 9: "Fear the Lord, you that are his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing." The opening verses,
I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall ever be in my mouth. I will glory in the Lord; let the humble hear and rejoice. Proclaim with me the greatness ofthe Lord,
direct the people to the gracious and powerful actions of God, which have not only delivered his people from sin, but also from the relentless grip of death. The psalm is so attuned to All Saints' Day worship that it would be fitting to use the whole psalm as a responsory to the first reading.
The Psalm Prayer (LBW)
Lord, graciously hear us, for we seek you alone. Calm our bodies and minds with the peace which passes understanding, and make us radiant with joy; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
The readings:
Revelation 7:2-4, 9-12 (R)
When this vision was set down by the apocalyptic writer, it was as much for the encouragement of those who might soon suffer martyrdom as it was to assure them that those who had already died as martyrs had been "washed in the blood of the Lamb." Martyrdom, to the writer, was not simply dying for the Lord; it was a participation in the redeeming act of Christ on the cross, joining him in his obedient sacrifice at Calvary. Martyrdom carried with it the assurance that those who were executed for the faith would soon experience all the joys of heaven itself. This chapter and other parts of "The Book of Revelation" continue to give encouragement to Christians, not because they have died as martyrs, but because they have been washed clean in Baptism and have received the Sign of the Holy Cross upon their foreheads. Used as a first reading in the Roman Ordo, it is also, with the addition of verses 13-17, the second reading in the Book of Common Prayer lectionary.
Ecclesiasticus 44:1-10, 13-14 (E)
Selected for its use on the "combination" All Saints'/All Souls' Day, this makes a beautiful and fitting tribute to all of the saints, those whose names have been set down in the records of the church as worthy of remembrance and praise, and for those whose names have been entirely forgotten. It reminds the church the God receives all of the faithful on his own terms, and his way of judging may be entirely different than ours. But it remains for the church to celebrate all people who have died in the faith - at least on one day in the year - and not simply to single out special persons for remembrance and thanksgiving without acknowledging the continuing existence in the community of faith of those who were "little saints" - or appeared not to be saints at all.
Isaiah 26:1-4, 8-9, 12-13, 19-21 (L)
Portions of the apocalypse of Isaiah, which was probably written a century later than his prophecies, look to a day when "Thy dead shall live, their bodies shall rise. O dwellers in the dust, awake and sing for joy!" Truly, as the prophet sings, "We have a strong city," and LBW "Thou dost keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusts in thee." This first reading surely is in harmony with All Saints' Day, speaking to it some six and a half centuries before Christ's words, death, and resurrection gave new meaning to the life, death, and resurrection of the dead.
Revelation 7:9-17 (C)
The above comments, with the omission of verses 2-4, apply for this first reading.
1 John 3:1-3 (R, C)
The writer of this "catholic" epistle continues to speak to the church today, and especially on All Saints' Day. He does not give us a picture of what heaven will be like, but assures Christians that they are "children of God" and that, in the kingdom of heaven, they will be "like him, because we shall see him as he really is." All he knows is that eternal life is a certainty for those who believe in Jesus Christ, and that this means that the children of God will be united with him somehow, some time in the future. This reading, therefore, encourages the church to be faithful, as were the saints of all ages, and to know that God will see them through life's trials and tributions, and even conquer death itself. That is all we have to live by, and it is enough.
Revelation 7:2-4, 9-17 (E)
See the comments on this reading printed above.
Revelation 21:9-11, 22-27 (22:1-5) (L)
In this apocalyptic writing, which was written some seven and a half centuries after Isaiah's apocalypse for Christians who were suffering under severe persecutions, the writer renews the image of the "strong city," in which an apocalyptic feast would take place. It is a city without a temple, because its "temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb." God's glory will fill it with continual light; there will be no night in this city, but it has no need of sun and moon. Its gates shall always be open, but nothing unclean shall enter to enjoy the feast, "but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life." The longer reading, which tells of the river of life and the tree of life, also announces that "his servants shall worship him," and makes the promise that "they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads." God will truly be the light of all people, and he shall reign forever and the feast will have no end.
Matthew 5:1-12
There can be little doubt that Jesus was addressing the beatitudes to his disciples, who, at his call and direction, had left everything - homes, families, friends, work - in order to follow him. His "blessed are's" assures them that he knows their sacifices and devotion, and that they will be recompensed in the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, after enumerating the "blessed's" and the promises, he declares,
Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you.
The first part of each beatitude is descriptive of the situations of the disciples, while the second part spells out the blessings that will come to them - and the faithful of every age - in the kingdom of heaven.
Sermon suggestions:
Matthew 5:1-12 - "Saints Alive."
It took me nearly eight years before I think I began to understand what All Saints' Day is about. Some twenty-five years ago, my wife, children, and I spent six weeks traveling in Europe in conjunction with a sabbatical leave from seminary teaching. In Edinburgh, we had seen a painting of St. Sebastian, bound to a pillar, awaiting death by the archers' arrows. In museum after museum on the continent, we saw additional paintings of Sebastian, most of which depicted him with arrows sticking out from varius parts of his anatomy. This experience prompted me to write later, "if all the portraits of St. Sebstian were superimposed upon one another, St. Sebastian would look like a pin cushion." In Rome, the experience in art museums took a new twist when, one afternoon, we found ourselves in front of the Catacomb of St. Sebastian out on what remains of the Appian Way. After a tour of the catacombs, led by a friar, whose deep voice was most appropriate for a tour of this city of the dead, which was once the temporary burial - and hiding - place of the bodies of Peter and Paul, as well as the tomb of Sebastian. At the end of the tour, we emerged by a different route and found ourselves in the Church of St. Sebastian; the church is really his tombstone. Part of the meaning of All Saints' Day, especially in conjunction with the suffering and martyrdom borne by the spiritual descendants of the disciples, became clear to me and I grasped more fully the concept of the Noble Army of Martyrs and the Church Triumphant.
A few years later, a trip outside of Rome to the Campo Verano, the "active" cemetery of Rome today, brought All Saints' Day into even clearer focus. There we discovered that catacombs beneath the 4th century church, which still holds the remains of St. Lawrence, reach out like fingers in all directions from the church. Above them are an old cemetery, in which every grave is above ground, ready for the resurrection, and a new high-rise mausoleurn, which maintains the motif of the catacombs in the building. People were everywhere in both cemeteries, placing flowers on the graves, inspecting the photographs of their loved ones on the graves, cleaning small crypts and old family mausoleums, all in conjunction with and preparation for the celebration of All Saints' Day. It struck me that the Church of St. Lawrence Outside-the-Walls was actually the tombstone of the entire cemetery, below and above ground, and that for the first time in my life I had seen how the Church Triumphant and the Church Militant are both part of the body of Christ. (For additional details of these experiences and their relationship to All Saints' Day, see Chapter IX of The Renewal of Liturgical Preaching, and a sermon for All Saints' Day in Telling the Whole Story.)
1. The saints are alive - in heaven as on earth. All belong to the body of Christ, some to the Church Triumphant and others of us to the Church Militant. Christ gives life and hope - his blessing - to all.
2. The martyrs kept the faith alive. They have passed on the faith to us in the church at great sacrifice ("blessed are they") to themselves, even dying with and for Christ, whose Word and Spirit sustained them as they do us, too.
3. The faith keeps saints alive today. Sustained by Word and Spirit, their work of witness and worship (the "blessed are's" of discipleship) gives evidence that they live by faith and, even today, some people will be called upon to die as martyrs for the faith.
4. Saints live in hope. The ultimate promise of reception by God the Father in heaven is hope, as it was that of all the saints and martyrs who have belonged to the body of Christ. The saints are really alive!
Revelation 7:2-4, 9-12 (R); 7:2-4, 9-17 (E); 7:9-17 (C); - "Markedfor Time and Eternity."
1. A population explosion will occur in heaven. People of all races and nations will be there. With John, we can be certain of that. Jesus has made this possible.
2. The sign of the cross will be on every forehead. Only those who die in the sign of faith, according to John, live in the assurance of entering heaven. Baptism "marks" us for time and eternity as the children of God.
3. Eternal life will really be heavenly. Hunger and thirst will be wiped out, pain, anguish, and uncertainty will be eliminated, and "God will wipe away all tears from their eyes."
4. Heaven, the abode of the saints, is worth waiting for. Sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked by the cross of Christ forever, we can wait for that day with assurance and hope.
Isaiah 26:1-4, 8-9, 12-13, 19-21 (L) - "The City Where the Dead Shall Live Again."
1. A city for the living. That is Isaiah's vision of the future. Heaven is the city of God, where salvation will finally be realized as abiding with God forever. It is for those who live in faith, the only people who are really "living."
2. A city for the dead. There they will come to life again, by the grace and power of God. In that city, God himself will raise up the dead and give them life eternal. Jesus' words to the repentant thief will become a reality for us, "Today you shall be with me in paradise."
3. A city with an open gate. "There was no other good enough to pay the price of sin, He only could unlock the gate of heaven and let us in." (Cecil Frances Alexander) Jesus' cross props the gate open - for all, forever.
4. "Come in! Come in! Eternal glory you shall win." So sang John Bunyan after he had caught a vision of heaven close to that of Isaiah's. Amazingly, through baptism and faith we can enter it before we die.
1 John 3:1-3 (R, C) - "What We Can Know About Death."
1. We know right now that we are children of God. God loves us, especially in Jesus, and that gives us hope.
2. We know very little about heaven itself. Even Jesus could tell very little about it, but he could assure us that "In my Father's house, there are many rooms.... I go to prepare a place for you, ... that where I am, you may be also."
3. We know enough to give us comfort and assurance. We shall be like God, and that is really all we have to know about death and life after death.
4. We live, therefore, by faith, not by knowledge alone. Jesus and the apostles taught us that. Faith alone, through the grace of God, tells us all we need to know about death and heaven.
Revelation 2:9-11, 22-27, (22:1-5) (L) - "The City Without A Temple."
1. There is no temple in the city of God. One of the things that struck me about "Main Street, USA" in Disney World, is that it had everything but a church building. Without realizing it, the creators of this entertainment center may have been, in a way, building the City of God, which has no Temple or church buildings in it.
2. God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, will be present, reigning over the city. Those who receive eternal life and enter the City will be able to adore God and give, first-hand, the glory that is due his holy name.
3. The Lord God will be light and life for the inhabitants of his City. His reign will go on forever and ever - to the blessing and benefit of those whom he has redeemed in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Thanksgiving Day
Lutheran
Deuteronomy 8:1-10
Philippians 4:6-20, or 1 Timothy 2:1-4
Luke 17:11-19
The church year theological clue
The liturgical clue comes from the secular calendar rather than the church year - with an assist from the liturgy itself, which celebrates the death and resurrection of our Lord as Eucharist, or thanksgiving. The occasion often falls between the last two Sundays of the Pentecost cycle/season, since it comes on the fourth Thursday of November annually. The Eucharist celebrates the gift of redemption and eternal life through Jesus Christ; thanksgiving celebrates God's gifts in the goodness of creation. Thanksgiving, therefore, calls forpreaching to function as a creation eucharist, which might properly be followed in the worship service with the actual Eucharist. Thanksgiving, from this perspective, calls for a kind of eucharist in "two kinds" - not just bread and wine, but preaching and communion. The sermon will proclaim God's gracious acts in creation, and the communion gives people an opportunity to respond with thanksgiving to the Lord who has saved us all and is present in the thanksgiving feast of the eating of bread and the drinking of the fruit of the vine.
The Prayer of the Day (LBW) - The prayer for a Day of Thanksgiving is simply a reworked collect that was appointed for A Day of General or Special Thanksgiving in the previous Service Book and Hymnal. It is more simplified in form, but the content is virtually the same as it was before, acknowledging God's goodness which "comes to us new every day. The prayer offers this petition to God the Father: "By the work of your Spirit lead us to acknowledge your goodness, give thanks for your benefits, and serve you in willing obedience; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." This petition contains what might be called a three-point eucharistic sermon: the goodness of God's creation; thanksgiving for God's gifts as a "first-step" response; loving obedience expressed in service to God and humanity as a "second-step" response.
The Psalm of the Day - Psalm 65 (LBW) - Several psalms begin with a call to the people to "give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever" - or a similar expression of thanksgiving. Psalm 118, for example, begins with two repetitions of this invitation to the people, concluding at verse 26 with "Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his mercy endures forever." Any number of other psalms might have been selected for a Day of Thanksgiving, but Psalm 65 was chosen because it announces the physical and spiritual reasons that people have for giving thanks to God better than most of the other psalms. It declares: "To you that hear prayer shall all flesh come, because of their transgressions. Our sins are stronger than we are, but you will blot them out." Later, the psalm speaks of how God "visits the earth," watering it, preparing the grain, softening the ground and blessing its production: "You crown the year with your goodness, and your paths overflow with plenty." Although it reverses the natural order of God's benefits and puts salvation before creation, the content is so rich that no harm is done to the thanksgiving theme; rather, it is enriched.
The Psalm Prayer (LBW)
Lord God, joy marks your presence; beauty, abundance, and peace are the tokens ofyour work in all creation. Work also in our lives, that by these signs we may see the splendor of your love and may praise you through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The readings:
Deuteronomy 8:1-10
The last verse of this passage, which calls upon the people of Israel to remember how God led and blessed them, fed them with manna in the forty-year trek through the wilderness, bringing them, at last, into the promised land, applies the thanksgiving theme to this particular age. The years spent in the wilderness were a time of testing, in which God sought to teach the Israelites that human beings do not "live by bread alone, but ... by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord." The promised land is
a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees 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 ...
The last verse brings the message originally given to Israel home to contemporary Americans: "And you shall eat and be full and you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given you."
Philippians 4:6-20
The first two verses of this text (which involves at least two of the three letters Paul had written to the congregation at Philippi, combined into this single letter) call the people of God to a prayer service in which they will give thanks to the Lord for his blessings. After urging the Philippians to think about the things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, and gracious, he tells them to do them as servants of Jesus Christ. He wants them to live out the sacrificial faith of the cross in their daily lives, as he has, to complete their mission in the world. God will be with them in every situation they encounter. He declares: "I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and want. I can do all things in him who strengthens me." As a good Jew, too, who is grateful for their support of his ministry, Paul assures them, "And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen."
1 Timothy 2:1-4
Set as it is on Thanksgiving, this passage redirects the prayers of the church from God's care and provisions in the many blessings he has given his people to "supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions...." Paul was convinced that kings and rulers were servants of God who were to be honored - and even remembered in their prayers - by human beings. In our country and time, it is a reminder to give thanks that there are people willing to serve in leadership roles in our world, and to ask God to bless them and help them fulfill their efforts to serve God by serving their fellow human beings. This text calls for a different note in our thanksgiving services; people are to give thanks - and pray for - the elected officials of this land.
Luke 1 7:11-19
This reading is assigned to the Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost, Year C, as well as to a Day of Thanksgiving. In Pentecost, when combined with readings from Ruth and 2 Timothy, it emphasizes faithfulness rather than the gratitude obvious in its reading on Thanksgiving Day. The incident also has "messianic meaning," because cleansing of leprosy was tantamount to receiving salvation from God. In this setting - Thanksgiving - the story of the ten lepers, only one of whom returned to give thanks to Jesus when he was cleansed, highlights the theme of gratitude to God for all of the blessings that he has given to his own people. That the man who returned and prostrated himself before Jesus, praising him and giving him thanks, was a Samaritan, illustrates how God gives his blessings, including salvation, to all people; this man had no additional gift, evident in his spontaneous return to Jesus and his expression of thanks for the miracle that had occurred in his life - he reconized the source of his healing and wanted to be close enough to Jesus to express his gratitude for the gift.
Sermon suggestions:
Luke 17:11-19 - "Gratitude and a Gift from God."
In his book about the Mayflower Company adventure, Saints and Strangers, George F. Willison tells how the first Pilgrim landing party in 1520 saw some Indians and pursued them in the hope of making contact and replenishing their supplies; the voyage from England to New England had taken sixty-days. Unsuccessful, they made their way back to the Mayflower, stopping long enough in a field where they had seen some strange mounds, to dig up a number of them, discovering that they contained the seed corn of the Indians. The party helped themselves to the corn, returned to the ship, where a prayer of thanksgiving was offered to God for providing them with the corn. Willison says that it wasn't an act of God, but that it was outright thievry; they simply stole the corn from the Indians - and gave God thanks for it. That prayer, before their actual landing some distance away, was really the "first thanksgiving," preceding the harvest which saw them celebrate the twenty-acre crop of corn with the Indians from whom they had stolen it. At least, they realized that the goodness of God in his creation had given the Indians a supply of food that was bountiful enough to give them hope and a future, even though they had taken it without permission.
In Luke's story, the Samaritan who had been healed knew that God had given him a gift through Jesus Christ, and he just had to return and thank the Giver as best he could. He really had an additional gift in the informed motivation which sent him back to the Lord to worship him in what proved to be true faith ("your faith has made you well"); he knew he needed to give thanks - and he returned and did what he had to do. That's what Thanks-giving is all about - genuine gratitude.
1. A man with a grateful heart. Here is the model for all people who have any inclination to give thanks to the Lord "for he is good, and his mercy endures forever." The Samaritan was so overwhelmed by his good fortune that he prostrated himself before Christ when he returned. He knew he had received a gift of creation in his healing and renewed life. So have we, perhaps in a different way.
2. Questions for the community. Jesus asked three questions - probably of the Samaritan; after all, who else would have known that all ten lepers were cleansed? But today there are questions for the entire community of faith. On Thanksgiving Day - and every Sunday, as well as every single day, do we acknowledge the presence of the Lord with thanksgiving?
3. Christian thanksgiving is actually an expression of faith in God for creation and salvation. On one hand, we thank God for the gift of life and for all that sustains and enriches it; on the other hand, we thank him for redeeming us from sin and death through the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord.
4. Christ renews people with thankful hearts. He constantly assures us that the faith he has actually given us makes us whole again. His response to our thanksgiving is, "Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well (whole)."
Deuteronomy 8:1-10 - "The Good Land."
The preacher might want to read the above mentioned Saints and Strangers before proceed-ing with the development of this sermon. The pilgrimage of the Mayflower Company was only sixty-six days, not forty years, but it was fraught with peril and the danger of death all the way. Reaching the New World in safety was indeed a reason for thanksgiving - and they knew it and did it. When they established their first settlement and experienced the "corn harvest," they had another reason for thanksgiving, and the Indians, from whom they stole the corn, were the invited guests. God was still with them - and they were grateful enough to give him the praise and thanks due him.
1. God's goodness is evident in his creation. The earth really is the Lord's - and the fullness of it. All life - and its sustenance, too - comes from God as a continuing gift of creation. The Israelites were reminded of this by God - through Moses, first, and his prophets and preachers ever since.
2. Americans have been blessed abundantly. God has given us more than enough food to sustain us; we could provide food for much of the world by ourselves. This is our cause for thanksgiving today.
3. Care and share. Our business is to care for others, as Christ has cared for us, and also to care for the earth (see Joseph Sittler's volume of sermons, The Care of the Earth, and Other Sermons.) Thanksgiving is caring enough to thank God, to care for the earth, and to share what we have with other people.
4. Give thanks, for God is good. He creates us, feeds us, and saves us, through Christ our Lord. God is our reason for celebrating thanksgiving on this special day, and on every day we live, as well.
Philippians 4:6-20 - "Thankful People."
1. People of God are people of faith. They have learned to trust the Lord their God for all that they need to live now and in eternity.
2. People of God pray to God. They raise their supplications to the Lord - with thanksgiving - because they know what God has already done, and will continue to do, for them. They are thankful for all of his gifts to them.
3. People of God live in peace. They are sustained by their God-given faith and know the "peace of God, which passes all understanding," beèause they have hope in the Lord.
4. "Come, you thankful people come." Raise a prayer of supplication to God for all people - and do it with thanksgiving.
1 Timothy 2:1-4 - "A Universal Thanksgiving."
1. Pray for all people. That's Paul's advice to Timothy. God has made all and is the God and Father of everyone, whether or not they know it, and whether or not they admit it and worship him.
2. Pray that all people will come to know the truth. The truth about God is what they need to know; it is crucial knowledge, because it has to do with existence in eternity as well as time. The truth sets people free.
3. Pray that all people will be saved. God would have every single person on earth in his everlasting kingdom. All people are subject to him - rulers of people as well as the people themselves. He is the Lord God of all.
4. Pray with thanksgiving. Thank God for his continuing acts of creation and for his salvation in Jesus Christ our Lord. Pray that all people might share in the blessings of the earth and the benefits of the kingdom of God.
All Saints' Day is one of those days in the church year calendar that many congregations ignore, simply because they don't know what to do with it. It began and developed naturally out of the annual commemoration of the deaths of individual martyrs, beginning with the apostles. Saints' days found their way into the worship of the church before the church year took much shape; many saints' days were in place by A.D. 200, preceding most elements of the church year, except Easter and the fifty-day Pasch, plus Sunday as a weekly celebration of the death and resurrection of the Lord. In time, there were so many saints' days that an All Saints' Day was established to remember and honor all of them. All Souls' Day was later added (on November 2) to pray for "ordinary" saints. Most non-Roman denominations have, officially, combined All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day into a single festival; practically, the same thing has happened in the Roman communion. For most churches to-day, All Saints' Day is set aside for remembering and commemorating all those people who have died in the faith during the past year; there is no separation of saints and martyrs from all other Christians who have died in the faith. William How's hymn, "For all the saints who from their labors rest," is really the "text" for the celebration in many of the churches where All Saints' Day is observed. Instead of keeping the feast on November 1st, many churches will place All Saints' Day on the first Sunday in November, making it All Saints' Sunday. The day as currently structured is really the celebration of the reality and totality of the Church Triumphant and the Church Militant. The observation of All Saints' Day, therefore, needs to go beyond the bounds of the local congregation and this time, and even of any cemetery, to take in all saints and martyrs of the past, as well as the present. From this perspective, All Saints' Sunday is a day of thanksgiving for all who have been made members of the body of Christ, the church, and of hope for all who have departed this life in the faith, as well as for the living who hope to move in time from the Church Militant to the Church Triumphant.
The Prayer of the Day (LBW) - The language of an older collect for All Saints' Day has been altered linguistically and theologically. The intention of the verb in the first sentence remains much the same as it was, "Almighty God, whose people are knit together in one holy Church, the body of Christ our Lord," from "O Almighty God, who hast knit together thine elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of thy Son, Christ our Lord," but neither specifically mentions Baptism as the action of God which knits together all people and gives them hope of heaven. The older collect has God as the subject who does the "knitting," which is more evangelical and theologically stronger than "whose people are knit together in one holy Church." The eschatological intention of the new prayer ("Grant us grace to follow your blessed saints in lives of faith and commitment, and to know the inexpressible joys you have prepared for those who love you ...") highlights the totality of the church as the body of Christ in much the same manner as the older collect. It is a prayer for the living as well as for the those who have died in the Lord.
The Psalm for the Day - Psalm 24:1-65 (R) - Whether or not this psalm was composed to give thanks and praise to God after the return of the Ark of the Covenant from the Philistines in the days of Eli is a moot question. Nor is the familiar opening of the psalm ("The earth is the Lord's and all that is in it, the world and all that dwell therein") intended to place it on Thanksgiving Day. Rather, it is from verse three onward that the psalm ad-dresses All Saints' Day, and does it quite effectively: "Who can ascend the hill of the Lord and who can stand in his holy place?" The psalmist answers his own question this way:
Those who have clean hands and a pure heart, who have not pledged themselves to falsehood, nor sworn by what is a fraud. They shall receive a blessing from the Lord and a just reward from the God of their salvation.
Psalm 149 (E) - One of many psalms that could have been chosen to respond to the first reading, this psalm does encourge the living saints: "For the Lord takes pleasure in his people and adorns the poor with victory." It continues: "Let the praises of God be in their throat," which certainly is proper for All Saints' Day. From verse 6b through verse 9, the psalm takes on an unseemly tone:
and a two-edged sword in their hand; to wreak vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples; to bind their kings in chains and their nobles with links of iron; to inflict on them the judgment decreed; this is glory for all his faithful people. Hallelujah!
The business of the saints is to live out the gospel in true faith and proclaim it to all the nations, not judge them and utterly destroy them.
Psalm 34:1-10 (L) - Numerous psalms could have been selected for this occasion, but this one was chosen because it speaks so perfectly to the situation of the saints of God in verse 9: "Fear the Lord, you that are his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing." The opening verses,
I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall ever be in my mouth. I will glory in the Lord; let the humble hear and rejoice. Proclaim with me the greatness ofthe Lord,
direct the people to the gracious and powerful actions of God, which have not only delivered his people from sin, but also from the relentless grip of death. The psalm is so attuned to All Saints' Day worship that it would be fitting to use the whole psalm as a responsory to the first reading.
The Psalm Prayer (LBW)
Lord, graciously hear us, for we seek you alone. Calm our bodies and minds with the peace which passes understanding, and make us radiant with joy; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
The readings:
Revelation 7:2-4, 9-12 (R)
When this vision was set down by the apocalyptic writer, it was as much for the encouragement of those who might soon suffer martyrdom as it was to assure them that those who had already died as martyrs had been "washed in the blood of the Lamb." Martyrdom, to the writer, was not simply dying for the Lord; it was a participation in the redeeming act of Christ on the cross, joining him in his obedient sacrifice at Calvary. Martyrdom carried with it the assurance that those who were executed for the faith would soon experience all the joys of heaven itself. This chapter and other parts of "The Book of Revelation" continue to give encouragement to Christians, not because they have died as martyrs, but because they have been washed clean in Baptism and have received the Sign of the Holy Cross upon their foreheads. Used as a first reading in the Roman Ordo, it is also, with the addition of verses 13-17, the second reading in the Book of Common Prayer lectionary.
Ecclesiasticus 44:1-10, 13-14 (E)
Selected for its use on the "combination" All Saints'/All Souls' Day, this makes a beautiful and fitting tribute to all of the saints, those whose names have been set down in the records of the church as worthy of remembrance and praise, and for those whose names have been entirely forgotten. It reminds the church the God receives all of the faithful on his own terms, and his way of judging may be entirely different than ours. But it remains for the church to celebrate all people who have died in the faith - at least on one day in the year - and not simply to single out special persons for remembrance and thanksgiving without acknowledging the continuing existence in the community of faith of those who were "little saints" - or appeared not to be saints at all.
Isaiah 26:1-4, 8-9, 12-13, 19-21 (L)
Portions of the apocalypse of Isaiah, which was probably written a century later than his prophecies, look to a day when "Thy dead shall live, their bodies shall rise. O dwellers in the dust, awake and sing for joy!" Truly, as the prophet sings, "We have a strong city," and LBW "Thou dost keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusts in thee." This first reading surely is in harmony with All Saints' Day, speaking to it some six and a half centuries before Christ's words, death, and resurrection gave new meaning to the life, death, and resurrection of the dead.
Revelation 7:9-17 (C)
The above comments, with the omission of verses 2-4, apply for this first reading.
1 John 3:1-3 (R, C)
The writer of this "catholic" epistle continues to speak to the church today, and especially on All Saints' Day. He does not give us a picture of what heaven will be like, but assures Christians that they are "children of God" and that, in the kingdom of heaven, they will be "like him, because we shall see him as he really is." All he knows is that eternal life is a certainty for those who believe in Jesus Christ, and that this means that the children of God will be united with him somehow, some time in the future. This reading, therefore, encourages the church to be faithful, as were the saints of all ages, and to know that God will see them through life's trials and tributions, and even conquer death itself. That is all we have to live by, and it is enough.
Revelation 7:2-4, 9-17 (E)
See the comments on this reading printed above.
Revelation 21:9-11, 22-27 (22:1-5) (L)
In this apocalyptic writing, which was written some seven and a half centuries after Isaiah's apocalypse for Christians who were suffering under severe persecutions, the writer renews the image of the "strong city," in which an apocalyptic feast would take place. It is a city without a temple, because its "temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb." God's glory will fill it with continual light; there will be no night in this city, but it has no need of sun and moon. Its gates shall always be open, but nothing unclean shall enter to enjoy the feast, "but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life." The longer reading, which tells of the river of life and the tree of life, also announces that "his servants shall worship him," and makes the promise that "they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads." God will truly be the light of all people, and he shall reign forever and the feast will have no end.
Matthew 5:1-12
There can be little doubt that Jesus was addressing the beatitudes to his disciples, who, at his call and direction, had left everything - homes, families, friends, work - in order to follow him. His "blessed are's" assures them that he knows their sacifices and devotion, and that they will be recompensed in the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, after enumerating the "blessed's" and the promises, he declares,
Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you.
The first part of each beatitude is descriptive of the situations of the disciples, while the second part spells out the blessings that will come to them - and the faithful of every age - in the kingdom of heaven.
Sermon suggestions:
Matthew 5:1-12 - "Saints Alive."
It took me nearly eight years before I think I began to understand what All Saints' Day is about. Some twenty-five years ago, my wife, children, and I spent six weeks traveling in Europe in conjunction with a sabbatical leave from seminary teaching. In Edinburgh, we had seen a painting of St. Sebastian, bound to a pillar, awaiting death by the archers' arrows. In museum after museum on the continent, we saw additional paintings of Sebastian, most of which depicted him with arrows sticking out from varius parts of his anatomy. This experience prompted me to write later, "if all the portraits of St. Sebstian were superimposed upon one another, St. Sebastian would look like a pin cushion." In Rome, the experience in art museums took a new twist when, one afternoon, we found ourselves in front of the Catacomb of St. Sebastian out on what remains of the Appian Way. After a tour of the catacombs, led by a friar, whose deep voice was most appropriate for a tour of this city of the dead, which was once the temporary burial - and hiding - place of the bodies of Peter and Paul, as well as the tomb of Sebastian. At the end of the tour, we emerged by a different route and found ourselves in the Church of St. Sebastian; the church is really his tombstone. Part of the meaning of All Saints' Day, especially in conjunction with the suffering and martyrdom borne by the spiritual descendants of the disciples, became clear to me and I grasped more fully the concept of the Noble Army of Martyrs and the Church Triumphant.
A few years later, a trip outside of Rome to the Campo Verano, the "active" cemetery of Rome today, brought All Saints' Day into even clearer focus. There we discovered that catacombs beneath the 4th century church, which still holds the remains of St. Lawrence, reach out like fingers in all directions from the church. Above them are an old cemetery, in which every grave is above ground, ready for the resurrection, and a new high-rise mausoleurn, which maintains the motif of the catacombs in the building. People were everywhere in both cemeteries, placing flowers on the graves, inspecting the photographs of their loved ones on the graves, cleaning small crypts and old family mausoleums, all in conjunction with and preparation for the celebration of All Saints' Day. It struck me that the Church of St. Lawrence Outside-the-Walls was actually the tombstone of the entire cemetery, below and above ground, and that for the first time in my life I had seen how the Church Triumphant and the Church Militant are both part of the body of Christ. (For additional details of these experiences and their relationship to All Saints' Day, see Chapter IX of The Renewal of Liturgical Preaching, and a sermon for All Saints' Day in Telling the Whole Story.)
1. The saints are alive - in heaven as on earth. All belong to the body of Christ, some to the Church Triumphant and others of us to the Church Militant. Christ gives life and hope - his blessing - to all.
2. The martyrs kept the faith alive. They have passed on the faith to us in the church at great sacrifice ("blessed are they") to themselves, even dying with and for Christ, whose Word and Spirit sustained them as they do us, too.
3. The faith keeps saints alive today. Sustained by Word and Spirit, their work of witness and worship (the "blessed are's" of discipleship) gives evidence that they live by faith and, even today, some people will be called upon to die as martyrs for the faith.
4. Saints live in hope. The ultimate promise of reception by God the Father in heaven is hope, as it was that of all the saints and martyrs who have belonged to the body of Christ. The saints are really alive!
Revelation 7:2-4, 9-12 (R); 7:2-4, 9-17 (E); 7:9-17 (C); - "Markedfor Time and Eternity."
1. A population explosion will occur in heaven. People of all races and nations will be there. With John, we can be certain of that. Jesus has made this possible.
2. The sign of the cross will be on every forehead. Only those who die in the sign of faith, according to John, live in the assurance of entering heaven. Baptism "marks" us for time and eternity as the children of God.
3. Eternal life will really be heavenly. Hunger and thirst will be wiped out, pain, anguish, and uncertainty will be eliminated, and "God will wipe away all tears from their eyes."
4. Heaven, the abode of the saints, is worth waiting for. Sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked by the cross of Christ forever, we can wait for that day with assurance and hope.
Isaiah 26:1-4, 8-9, 12-13, 19-21 (L) - "The City Where the Dead Shall Live Again."
1. A city for the living. That is Isaiah's vision of the future. Heaven is the city of God, where salvation will finally be realized as abiding with God forever. It is for those who live in faith, the only people who are really "living."
2. A city for the dead. There they will come to life again, by the grace and power of God. In that city, God himself will raise up the dead and give them life eternal. Jesus' words to the repentant thief will become a reality for us, "Today you shall be with me in paradise."
3. A city with an open gate. "There was no other good enough to pay the price of sin, He only could unlock the gate of heaven and let us in." (Cecil Frances Alexander) Jesus' cross props the gate open - for all, forever.
4. "Come in! Come in! Eternal glory you shall win." So sang John Bunyan after he had caught a vision of heaven close to that of Isaiah's. Amazingly, through baptism and faith we can enter it before we die.
1 John 3:1-3 (R, C) - "What We Can Know About Death."
1. We know right now that we are children of God. God loves us, especially in Jesus, and that gives us hope.
2. We know very little about heaven itself. Even Jesus could tell very little about it, but he could assure us that "In my Father's house, there are many rooms.... I go to prepare a place for you, ... that where I am, you may be also."
3. We know enough to give us comfort and assurance. We shall be like God, and that is really all we have to know about death and life after death.
4. We live, therefore, by faith, not by knowledge alone. Jesus and the apostles taught us that. Faith alone, through the grace of God, tells us all we need to know about death and heaven.
Revelation 2:9-11, 22-27, (22:1-5) (L) - "The City Without A Temple."
1. There is no temple in the city of God. One of the things that struck me about "Main Street, USA" in Disney World, is that it had everything but a church building. Without realizing it, the creators of this entertainment center may have been, in a way, building the City of God, which has no Temple or church buildings in it.
2. God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, will be present, reigning over the city. Those who receive eternal life and enter the City will be able to adore God and give, first-hand, the glory that is due his holy name.
3. The Lord God will be light and life for the inhabitants of his City. His reign will go on forever and ever - to the blessing and benefit of those whom he has redeemed in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Thanksgiving Day
Lutheran
Deuteronomy 8:1-10
Philippians 4:6-20, or 1 Timothy 2:1-4
Luke 17:11-19
The church year theological clue
The liturgical clue comes from the secular calendar rather than the church year - with an assist from the liturgy itself, which celebrates the death and resurrection of our Lord as Eucharist, or thanksgiving. The occasion often falls between the last two Sundays of the Pentecost cycle/season, since it comes on the fourth Thursday of November annually. The Eucharist celebrates the gift of redemption and eternal life through Jesus Christ; thanksgiving celebrates God's gifts in the goodness of creation. Thanksgiving, therefore, calls forpreaching to function as a creation eucharist, which might properly be followed in the worship service with the actual Eucharist. Thanksgiving, from this perspective, calls for a kind of eucharist in "two kinds" - not just bread and wine, but preaching and communion. The sermon will proclaim God's gracious acts in creation, and the communion gives people an opportunity to respond with thanksgiving to the Lord who has saved us all and is present in the thanksgiving feast of the eating of bread and the drinking of the fruit of the vine.
The Prayer of the Day (LBW) - The prayer for a Day of Thanksgiving is simply a reworked collect that was appointed for A Day of General or Special Thanksgiving in the previous Service Book and Hymnal. It is more simplified in form, but the content is virtually the same as it was before, acknowledging God's goodness which "comes to us new every day. The prayer offers this petition to God the Father: "By the work of your Spirit lead us to acknowledge your goodness, give thanks for your benefits, and serve you in willing obedience; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." This petition contains what might be called a three-point eucharistic sermon: the goodness of God's creation; thanksgiving for God's gifts as a "first-step" response; loving obedience expressed in service to God and humanity as a "second-step" response.
The Psalm of the Day - Psalm 65 (LBW) - Several psalms begin with a call to the people to "give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever" - or a similar expression of thanksgiving. Psalm 118, for example, begins with two repetitions of this invitation to the people, concluding at verse 26 with "Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his mercy endures forever." Any number of other psalms might have been selected for a Day of Thanksgiving, but Psalm 65 was chosen because it announces the physical and spiritual reasons that people have for giving thanks to God better than most of the other psalms. It declares: "To you that hear prayer shall all flesh come, because of their transgressions. Our sins are stronger than we are, but you will blot them out." Later, the psalm speaks of how God "visits the earth," watering it, preparing the grain, softening the ground and blessing its production: "You crown the year with your goodness, and your paths overflow with plenty." Although it reverses the natural order of God's benefits and puts salvation before creation, the content is so rich that no harm is done to the thanksgiving theme; rather, it is enriched.
The Psalm Prayer (LBW)
Lord God, joy marks your presence; beauty, abundance, and peace are the tokens ofyour work in all creation. Work also in our lives, that by these signs we may see the splendor of your love and may praise you through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The readings:
Deuteronomy 8:1-10
The last verse of this passage, which calls upon the people of Israel to remember how God led and blessed them, fed them with manna in the forty-year trek through the wilderness, bringing them, at last, into the promised land, applies the thanksgiving theme to this particular age. The years spent in the wilderness were a time of testing, in which God sought to teach the Israelites that human beings do not "live by bread alone, but ... by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord." The promised land is
a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees 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 ...
The last verse brings the message originally given to Israel home to contemporary Americans: "And you shall eat and be full and you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given you."
Philippians 4:6-20
The first two verses of this text (which involves at least two of the three letters Paul had written to the congregation at Philippi, combined into this single letter) call the people of God to a prayer service in which they will give thanks to the Lord for his blessings. After urging the Philippians to think about the things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, and gracious, he tells them to do them as servants of Jesus Christ. He wants them to live out the sacrificial faith of the cross in their daily lives, as he has, to complete their mission in the world. God will be with them in every situation they encounter. He declares: "I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and want. I can do all things in him who strengthens me." As a good Jew, too, who is grateful for their support of his ministry, Paul assures them, "And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen."
1 Timothy 2:1-4
Set as it is on Thanksgiving, this passage redirects the prayers of the church from God's care and provisions in the many blessings he has given his people to "supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions...." Paul was convinced that kings and rulers were servants of God who were to be honored - and even remembered in their prayers - by human beings. In our country and time, it is a reminder to give thanks that there are people willing to serve in leadership roles in our world, and to ask God to bless them and help them fulfill their efforts to serve God by serving their fellow human beings. This text calls for a different note in our thanksgiving services; people are to give thanks - and pray for - the elected officials of this land.
Luke 1 7:11-19
This reading is assigned to the Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost, Year C, as well as to a Day of Thanksgiving. In Pentecost, when combined with readings from Ruth and 2 Timothy, it emphasizes faithfulness rather than the gratitude obvious in its reading on Thanksgiving Day. The incident also has "messianic meaning," because cleansing of leprosy was tantamount to receiving salvation from God. In this setting - Thanksgiving - the story of the ten lepers, only one of whom returned to give thanks to Jesus when he was cleansed, highlights the theme of gratitude to God for all of the blessings that he has given to his own people. That the man who returned and prostrated himself before Jesus, praising him and giving him thanks, was a Samaritan, illustrates how God gives his blessings, including salvation, to all people; this man had no additional gift, evident in his spontaneous return to Jesus and his expression of thanks for the miracle that had occurred in his life - he reconized the source of his healing and wanted to be close enough to Jesus to express his gratitude for the gift.
Sermon suggestions:
Luke 17:11-19 - "Gratitude and a Gift from God."
In his book about the Mayflower Company adventure, Saints and Strangers, George F. Willison tells how the first Pilgrim landing party in 1520 saw some Indians and pursued them in the hope of making contact and replenishing their supplies; the voyage from England to New England had taken sixty-days. Unsuccessful, they made their way back to the Mayflower, stopping long enough in a field where they had seen some strange mounds, to dig up a number of them, discovering that they contained the seed corn of the Indians. The party helped themselves to the corn, returned to the ship, where a prayer of thanksgiving was offered to God for providing them with the corn. Willison says that it wasn't an act of God, but that it was outright thievry; they simply stole the corn from the Indians - and gave God thanks for it. That prayer, before their actual landing some distance away, was really the "first thanksgiving," preceding the harvest which saw them celebrate the twenty-acre crop of corn with the Indians from whom they had stolen it. At least, they realized that the goodness of God in his creation had given the Indians a supply of food that was bountiful enough to give them hope and a future, even though they had taken it without permission.
In Luke's story, the Samaritan who had been healed knew that God had given him a gift through Jesus Christ, and he just had to return and thank the Giver as best he could. He really had an additional gift in the informed motivation which sent him back to the Lord to worship him in what proved to be true faith ("your faith has made you well"); he knew he needed to give thanks - and he returned and did what he had to do. That's what Thanks-giving is all about - genuine gratitude.
1. A man with a grateful heart. Here is the model for all people who have any inclination to give thanks to the Lord "for he is good, and his mercy endures forever." The Samaritan was so overwhelmed by his good fortune that he prostrated himself before Christ when he returned. He knew he had received a gift of creation in his healing and renewed life. So have we, perhaps in a different way.
2. Questions for the community. Jesus asked three questions - probably of the Samaritan; after all, who else would have known that all ten lepers were cleansed? But today there are questions for the entire community of faith. On Thanksgiving Day - and every Sunday, as well as every single day, do we acknowledge the presence of the Lord with thanksgiving?
3. Christian thanksgiving is actually an expression of faith in God for creation and salvation. On one hand, we thank God for the gift of life and for all that sustains and enriches it; on the other hand, we thank him for redeeming us from sin and death through the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord.
4. Christ renews people with thankful hearts. He constantly assures us that the faith he has actually given us makes us whole again. His response to our thanksgiving is, "Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well (whole)."
Deuteronomy 8:1-10 - "The Good Land."
The preacher might want to read the above mentioned Saints and Strangers before proceed-ing with the development of this sermon. The pilgrimage of the Mayflower Company was only sixty-six days, not forty years, but it was fraught with peril and the danger of death all the way. Reaching the New World in safety was indeed a reason for thanksgiving - and they knew it and did it. When they established their first settlement and experienced the "corn harvest," they had another reason for thanksgiving, and the Indians, from whom they stole the corn, were the invited guests. God was still with them - and they were grateful enough to give him the praise and thanks due him.
1. God's goodness is evident in his creation. The earth really is the Lord's - and the fullness of it. All life - and its sustenance, too - comes from God as a continuing gift of creation. The Israelites were reminded of this by God - through Moses, first, and his prophets and preachers ever since.
2. Americans have been blessed abundantly. God has given us more than enough food to sustain us; we could provide food for much of the world by ourselves. This is our cause for thanksgiving today.
3. Care and share. Our business is to care for others, as Christ has cared for us, and also to care for the earth (see Joseph Sittler's volume of sermons, The Care of the Earth, and Other Sermons.) Thanksgiving is caring enough to thank God, to care for the earth, and to share what we have with other people.
4. Give thanks, for God is good. He creates us, feeds us, and saves us, through Christ our Lord. God is our reason for celebrating thanksgiving on this special day, and on every day we live, as well.
Philippians 4:6-20 - "Thankful People."
1. People of God are people of faith. They have learned to trust the Lord their God for all that they need to live now and in eternity.
2. People of God pray to God. They raise their supplications to the Lord - with thanksgiving - because they know what God has already done, and will continue to do, for them. They are thankful for all of his gifts to them.
3. People of God live in peace. They are sustained by their God-given faith and know the "peace of God, which passes all understanding," beèause they have hope in the Lord.
4. "Come, you thankful people come." Raise a prayer of supplication to God for all people - and do it with thanksgiving.
1 Timothy 2:1-4 - "A Universal Thanksgiving."
1. Pray for all people. That's Paul's advice to Timothy. God has made all and is the God and Father of everyone, whether or not they know it, and whether or not they admit it and worship him.
2. Pray that all people will come to know the truth. The truth about God is what they need to know; it is crucial knowledge, because it has to do with existence in eternity as well as time. The truth sets people free.
3. Pray that all people will be saved. God would have every single person on earth in his everlasting kingdom. All people are subject to him - rulers of people as well as the people themselves. He is the Lord God of all.
4. Pray with thanksgiving. Thank God for his continuing acts of creation and for his salvation in Jesus Christ our Lord. Pray that all people might share in the blessings of the earth and the benefits of the kingdom of God.
