Sermon

November 27, 2002
Thanksgiving Service
Deuteronomy 8:1-14,17-18
Pastor Robert Raasch

GIVE THANKS TO GOD!

1. For the Blessings He Gives
2. For the Hardships He Allows

(Deu 8:1-18 NIV) Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land that the LORD promised on oath to your forefathers. {2} Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. {3} He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. {4} Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. {5} Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you. {6} Observe the commands of the LORD your God, walking in his ways and revering him. {7} For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land--a land with streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys and hills; {8} a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; {9} a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills. {10} When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. {11} Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. {12} Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, {13} and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, {14} then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. {15} He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. {16} He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you. {17} You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." {18} But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.

Did you know that each one of you gathered here today is taking part in a rather unique event? Do you realize that this is one of the few times when the church gathers to celebrate a secular holiday? Sure, we have special weekday services for things like Advent, and Christmas, Good Friday and Ascension Day, but those are all what we might consider sacred festivals. They all have something to do with the life and work of Jesus Christ. Thanksgiving Day, however, doesn't have its origin in the pages of Scripture. There is no Bible passages that says, "Thou shalt set aside the 4th Thursday in November and call it Thanksgiving Day."

No, Thanksgiving Day was originally established by the United States government. It was designed to commemorate the time when the Pilgrims gathered to give thanks for the bountiful harvest they gathered in the fall of 1621. And yet, even though Thanksgiving Day is technically a secular holiday, does that mean it has no place in the church calendar? Think about it. When those first Pilgrims gathered to give thanks, whom do you think they were giving thanks to? Were they giving thanks to themselves? Were they patting themselves on the back or giving thanks to the government? No, they were gathered together to give thanks to God. My friends, today you and I are gathered here for the very same purpose. On this Thanksgiving Eve/Day, let us together:

GIVE THANKS TO GOD!

Here in our text, the prophet Moses gives us two very good reasons we can give thanks to God. We can give thanks to God:

1. For the Blessings He Gives
2. For the Hardships He Allows

The words recorded here were spoken by Moses to the nation of Israel just as they were about to enter the promised land of Canaan. Because Moses would not be allowed to lead them into the Promised Land, God allows Moses to give his people what you might call some last minute instructions. He first points them to the many, many blessings that God had in store for them-beginning with the land God was giving to them.

Moses says, "The Lord your God is bringing you into a good land??a land with streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys and hills; a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills." When I served a parish up in the Copper Country of the Upper Peninsula I thought that this passage was talking about the Keweenaw Peninsula, because that was a place where you could dig copper out of the hills. But if you look carefully at these words, they could just as easily apply to the Fox River Valley, or the State of Wisconsin or the United States of America. Couldn't it be said that this is "a good land-a land with streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys and hills"?

I expect that a few of you spent a day or two in the woods last weekend. Did you notice the beauty of the Northwoods, the hills, the streams, the herds of deer trampling past your blind? Maybe you missed the herds of deer, but I hope you didn't miss the abundance of natural resources which our land has to offer: mile after mile of hardwood forests, acre upon acre of fertile farmland, fresh water and plenty of it. Now, you take that picture and compare it to the pictures you've seen on TV of places like Afghanistan or Iraq or Saudi Arabia. Boy, talk about barren, almost uninhabitable terrain. Places where people desperately trying to eek out an existence, places where refugees stand in line for one little bowl of gruel.

Now compare that to the meal that most of us will have for Thanksgiving. I expect that there won't be many of us walking away from the thanksgiving table with our stomachs aching because we didn't get enough to eat. No, chances are, our stomachs will be aching because we had too much to eat. When that time comes for us to finally push ourselves away from the table, let's remember why we live where we live. That the land we enjoy here in America is not ours because we earned it or deserved it. We don't live where we do because we're better than everyone else. The land we enjoy, with all the physical blessings it offers, is purely a gift of God's grace. What Moses said to the Children of Israel still applies to the children of America, "When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you."

On this Thanksgiving Eve/Day, it's appropriate to give thanks to God for all the blessings he has given to us. I mean, when compared to most of the rest of the world, we live in luxury. Our homes are heated, our toilets flush, our Laz-E-Boys recline, our TV and computers provide us with a nonstop stream of information and entertainment. And yet, with all these material blessings there comes a real spiritual land mine. Moses offers a stern warning for those who have been as blessed as we have been. "Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God." Forget the Lord? How could we possibly forget the Lord? Moses answers that question when he says, "You may say to yourself, 'My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.'"

Isn't that the truth? As we survey the good things we have in life, isn't there a real temptation to say, "Boy, look at what I've done. I've worked hard to get ahead in life. I've worked hard to achieve the success I enjoy. My spouse and I have both worked fulltime to be able to afford the cars we drive, the house we own, the clothes we wear. It hasn't been easy but I gotten what I have the old fashioned way. I earned it." But wait a minute. Aren't we forgetting someone? How does Moses put it? "Remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth." How many of us can say that we've produced the hands that grasp the wrench, or the fingers that type on the keyboard, or the mind that figures out the balance sheet. or the lips which give the speech that earns the paycheck. Let's face it. God is the one who gives us the ability to produce our wealth-and if we fail to give him the full credit for all we have, then we are showing that we are not only ungrateful human beings, we are stupid ones as well.

Thank God that he does not give us what we deserve for our sins of pride and selfishness and ingratitude. But rather, for the sake of his Son, he forgives us our sins. Just as he did with the children of Israel, he renews his covenant with us. He assures us that we are still his children by grace, and he continues to pour out on us his gifts of undeserved love. All of which provide us with ample motivation to, as Moses says, "Remember the Lord your God."

But now maybe that raises a question. "Exactly how are we to remember the Lord our God?" Well, first, we remember the Lord when we give him credit for our material blessings. If someone says to you, "Boy, you sure have a good job, or nice home, or well-behaved child," don't be afraid to say, "You're right. But it's far more than I deserve. I'm just thankful for whatever God has given to me." Another way to remember the Lord by taking the gifts he has given to us and sharing them with others-using our gifts to support those in need both materially and spiritually. And finally, we remember the Lord by recognizing that we have reason to thank God not only when times are good, but also when times are not so good. In fact, that's the second point that Moses makes here in our text. Moses tells the Israelites and us that we have reason give thanks to God not only for the Blessings he Gives, but also for:

II. The Hardships He Allows

Certainly Moses didn't have to look to hard to find some of the hardships the Israelites had endured. I mean, wandering in the wilderness for 40 years could hardly be considered "living the high life." Spending forty years in what Moses describes as "that vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions." Forty years of eating nothing but manna and quail, manna and quail, manna and quail. Forty years of wearing the same clothes, tying on the same sandals, sleeping in the same tents. Can you imagine? When was the last time you had the same meal even two times in a row, much less 40 years in a row?

Then again, maybe in some small way, you can relate to what those Israelites were going through. Ever felt that your life was in a rut? Spending year after year doing the same things, but getting nowhere? Maybe you don't know exactly what you'll be eating next week, but you know it won't be much different than what you had last week. When you look at people who seem to have so much more than you do, or who seem to have it so much easier than you do, have you ever wondered, "Do I really have a reason to thank God for this?"

Here in our text, Moses says that you and I do have a reason to thank God, because God will use the hardships we face for a good purpose. Moses says to the children of Israel, "Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna…to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord."

What good purpose did the 40 years of wandering serve for Israel? Moses says that it taught Israel to look to God for their daily bread. More than that, it taught them that their true hope, their sustenance was found not in physical bread, but in spiritual bread, that is, the words and promises of God. The Israelites learned on a firsthand basis, that they had every reason to put their lives into the hands of their Creator, Preserver and Savior God.

My friends, isn't that the same lesson that God would have us learn today as well? God sometimes allows hardships into our lives just so that we have another reason to put our trust in him and his love for us. As you think about the list of things that people are typically thankful for on Thanksgiving Day, there may be a few things that are missing on your list. Maybe you don't have a job to be thankful for, or our own house. Maybe you don't have a family to go home to, or you've lost your spouse. Maybe you have some real health problems or have more bills than money to pay them with.

In the midst of all these hardships, do you still have a reason to thank God? In fact, could it even be said that because of such hardships, you have a reason to thank God? Absolutely. God promises you and me that he will use the hardships we face in life to discipline us-that is, to train us to look to him for our help and strength. God will use the hardships in life to help us readjust our priorities, and set our sights on spiritual blessings rather than physical. God gives us the opportunity to take to heart his promise that just as God cares for the birds of air and the flowers of the field, so also he will continue to care for each one of us.

Maybe on this Thanksgiving Eve/Day, you find yourself in a situation where you don't have everything you want. But you can still be thankful, because God has given you everything you need. He has given you his Son to wash away your sins and make you holy in his eyes. He's given you his Holy Spirit to work saving faith in your heart and give you the desire and ability to live your life to God's glory. And he's given you the promise that nothing, not famine or drought, not scorpions or snakes, not disease or even death itself can separate you from God's love in Christ. For all those gifts and more, you and I truly do have every reason to be here on (the eve of) this secular holiday offering our sincere thank you to God. In Jesus name. Amen.

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