This Week's Message

Thanksgiving Message: November 23, 24, 2011

Texts: 1 Chron. 29:10-18; Eph. 5:15-21; Matt. 6:25-34

Title: “God’s Daily Enduring Love”

Prayer

“Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise! Give thanks to Him; bless His name.”

A day of special thanksgiving that has been set aside in our country as a day of family and food and preparation for another big holiday that follows it has lost some of its focus over the years. It is a good time to remember the blessings that each of us have been given. We think of such big blessings as family, health, the physical stuff like homes and the daily things that keep us alive and growing. We may even think about such things like freedom and God’s creation as blessings to be thankful for. But what often is not thought about with as much thoroughness is the One to whom we owe such thanksgiving and praise. Do we always center our celebration in giving God the thanks and glory? We are thankful for all manners of things, but are we truly thankful to a God we know and love and worship and praise? And by the way, where does worship fit in with this celebration of thankfulness? Today we will look at a psalm that calls us to worship the One who gives us all the blessings we have. It shows us what this God is like and what kind of relationship He wants us to have with Him.

“Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness!” Who is called to be thankful to the LORD? All people. But we live in a world at a time when many people don’t even know God nor acknowledge Him as Lord of their lives. This call is for all. And if all people who on earth do dwell did bring joyous praise to the true God, wow! Can you imagine what this world would be like? Serving God and serving one another in His love would be the rule rather than the exception. The world would be an awesome place to live. But how do these words motivate you to live in faith each day? Can you come to know this God that calls for such worship and praise in a better way, that His life would be seen in your life in a more outward witness in this corrupted world? How can you make a more joyful noise to the Lord in your everyday lives? It does come by serving Him and serving those He puts before us, even those who choose not to acknowledge and praise Him. This is tough service. It stretches us beyond our capabilities and even our comfortably selfish wills. How can we be prepared to serve Him and our neighbor in His love? We hear the next line of our Psalm: “Come into His presence with singing!

Now to what does this refer? This echoes the verse I quoted at the beginning of my message, verse 4 that commands us to come into the Lord’s presence. Where do we find His presence? Is it in rocks and trees, in mothers and fathers and grandparents and children? Is it in turkey and stuffing? I guess if you stretch it you can say yes to this, but this is not what the psalmist has in mind. He is leading us to a place where the Lord can be found. He can be found in His temple, in the place where the worshiping assembly gather, in the place of His real presence. And where is this found? You find all this in the Divine Service. This is what Lutherans call worship. Christ tells us that He is found in the place where His Word is spoken and taught in truth. He is found in the place where true prayers are lifted before Him. He is found in His living presence in, with, and under the bread and wine. He is found where He calls the faithful to gather in holy worship in the assembly we call church. Is worship a part of your thanksgiving? Your living God meets you here to give you His gifts of love and forgiveness and service to help you grow and remain strong as His dear children. Oh how worship is becoming such a neglected element in many a person’s, even one who calls himself Christian lives.

Why do we come to worship? We find our God here. We can sing songs of praise and thanksgiving acknowledging Him as our Maker and Redeemer. He is our Good Shepherd who wants His sheep to pasture in the Word of His presence that they might be filled with food that nourishes for eternal life. But many of His sheep stay away. They convince themselves they can feed on the scraps they pick up during the week on their own. They do not need the fellowship of the saints, because they are doing just fine on their own. Our Lord’s reply, “not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” We lift up and encourage one another in the faith as we gather for worship because we, “Know that the LORD, He is God! It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.” And our Shepherd’s Day of coming is closer today than it was yesterday.

Therefore, we “Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise! (We) Give thanks to Him; bless His name!” As we grow in knowing Him as He comes to us in His Word and His blessed Sacraments, we are led to that which then comes more naturally by faith to us – true worship and praise of our God both in the assembly of believers and in our daily worship of our God. Yes, worship happens in the church building where we are being constructed by our Lord as His holy temples to live our lives in faithful worship and praise outside the church daily. He invites us to come to Him that He can fill us with “good things”, the eternal things of faith that do not rust or fade away. As we enter His gates with thanksgiving, looking to be filled, so also He fills us with life in His Son, our Savior, life that brims over in daily worship of Him.

And we can answer the important question of why we come together in worship and not just on Thanksgiving Day, but any day that God’s people gather together in worship, for here we find: “For the LORD is good; and His steadfast love endures forever, and His faithfulness to all generations.” We live in a world of unfaithfulness, parents unfaithful to children and children to parents, spouses unfaithful to each other, everyone unfaithful to God through daily sin, a world He calls to worship Him that deals with daily unfaithfulness in relationships with one another and Him. But we can find our faithful God where and when He can be found. Does He not urge us to “Seek the LORD while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon (Isaiah 55:6-7).” Coming into His holy presence in worship in the Divine Service is just the ticket for all the unfaithfulness we have to face in our own lives and that comes to us from others. God is faithful in contrast to the world’s and our own unfaithfulness. His faithfulness is seen in the forgiving love He shows to us and all generations. He will remain faithful in bringing that enduring love to bear in our lives. But He does not do it in a vacuum. He does not zap us with it indiscriminately. He tells us to come to Him seeking this gift and He freely showers us with His faithful, enduring and forgiving love in Christ Jesus. Can’t find Him in a turkey or a Thanksgiving Day football game. Can’t find Him in neglecting worship and the assembly together. But as you find Him here, you can share Him and His love that you have received freely and abundantly wherever He takes you. Happy and joyful Thanksgiving to our Lord everyday. Amen.