Thanksgiving: Always Remember
Notes
Transcript
For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the 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, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.
“Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock, who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end. Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.
Scripture: Deuteronomy 8:7-18
Sermon Title: Thanksgiving: Always Remember
Brothers and sisters in Christ, as this generation stood at the doorstep of entering Canaan, Moses called them to always remember. This was the land that long before, when God had made covenant with Abraham and his descendants, he brought Abraham in and told him that one day it would belong to his offspring. The years had passed by—centuries of slavery in Egypt, decades of traveling in the barren wilderness where there was nothing but harmful things unless it was the food and water God provided. But now they were going to be brought into the Promised Land.
Frequently throughout the early Old Testament, this is the land “flowing with milk and honey,” but here God speaks through Moses with a more detailed image: “a good land,” we read, “with streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys and hills; a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil, and honey; 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.” Rivers, hills, crops, produce and minerals; in my short time here, I have only driven a small area of this state from Sioux City and Sioux Falls west to the Missouri, but if we could pull all of South Dakota into one location, it’s almost like God’s talking about here! For the sake truth though, let’s remember this image of “God’s Country” was the land of Canaan.
Do not forget, always remember. It seems like it would be pretty easy in a place like that for the people to never forget their God. If they or we are to live in a place of beauty with everything that is needed and so many comforts—surely God would never be forgotten, right? So Moses taught them, “When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God…Be careful to not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, laws and decrees that I am giving you.” The way you remember God is by giving praise and thanksgiving, recognizing and crediting the Lord, following him and his decrees faithfully.
But Moses goes on with this warning, “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 [you] will become proud and will forget the Lord your God… [You will think] ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’” When everything went well and everything they did and owned and touched prospered—if they were not consistent and faithful in praising God, he would be forgotten. God promised to shower them with blessings, provide their meals, bless their labors—but if they were not doing his decrees, then they would falter and begin to credit themselves.
When they entered the land, God’s people started out well, following these encouragements and commands, but over time they fell into that trap of pride. As the years went on, years really of ease once they had settled in, they fell into this trap of thinking the covenant promises they had received meant that they did not have to do anything anymore. What began as the knowledge, belief, and thanks to God for looking upon them and favoring them turned to thoughts that they deserved this. The Israelites had accomplished whatever needed to be done—and now came a mindset that goodness and prosperity would continue. In this wonderful imagery that God gave Moses to paint for the people and the account of his faithfulness to bring them here, God knew that the enjoyment of the land and the wholehearted following of this people would be temporary.
Fast-forward to today, living in this community, this area, and in this country in the 21st century, we have so much and we have access to so much. We live in a region with soil and rains and a climate that allows many of you to grow crops and maintain cattle and livestock. We live in a time and place where advancements in medical procedures the discovery of medications, and the knowledge of how the human body works allow those of you working in healthcare to help treat patients quickly and with better care. There is so much beneficial technology that allows those of us who do office work and teaching and any number of trades to do our work with ease and efficiency. Home, heat, food, transportation, and the ability to go about life without many restrictions are things most of us are able to enjoy. We might be in a different location and time than our brothers and sisters who were moving into Canaan, but both in their case and ours, with great gifts comes the great need to remember the Giver.
It is easy to look at everything in our homes, in our schools and places of work, in our world, and to attribute their existence to the idea of progress, to the credit of common sense, to the product of our ingenuity or work ethic. It is easy to slip into the mindset that once everything is set up, we ought to have it. Yet it is God who has provided these things abundantly for us. It is he who makes the soil good and the rains to come and sun to shine; he is the one who has given humans the resources and the abilities to do and create the things we have. On this holiday of celebration, I do not want to tear down the thanks we may be inclined to offer to one another for the various talents and services and work, but we need to bear in mind and commit to practice the greater thanks that we ought and need to be showing, the thanks due to our God.
Maybe some of you live in unceasing thanks; every time you receive something good, you take time to praise our God. But maybe you are like me and you know that there are times when you are slow to offer thanks, times where we take credit, instances where a little bit of pride steps in and I am caught thinking that maybe I do deserve some of what I have. If you can identify with that, identify with what Moses was warning against, then let us take this opportunity to recommit ourselves to always remembering to praise the Lord for all that he has given us. In acknowledging that none of us live up to the standard of thanks that we ought to be giving, let us treasure all the more the gift of the redeeming grace of God through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the most undeserved gift that is offered to us.
It is a wonderful thing to experience the common grace of our God, the grace by which he provides for every need that we have. This grace that can draw us back to the knowledge and wonder that our God is the eternal one who created all things and sustains all things. He is the one who established where the first mountains and hills and plains and seas would be; he told the first trees and fruit bearing plants where to grow; the first animals where they should make their homes. Even as sin entered and has left its mark, he remained working with his creation. Even as he sent the flood; he faithfully sustained the soil and minerals and the seeds to carry on life. Throughout all of time, he has been with humankind, watching over us, and steadfastly guiding the weather and the forces of nature that exist over and around and beneath us.
As he did for the Israelites, God desires for you and I to always remember him. When we do not, and especially when we think more highly of ourselves, it is sin. But we have a God who takes our sin and is able to overlook the times we have forgotten to live with thanksgiving. He never lets us go, he never lets our poor memories or poor judgment get in the way of what he can do for us yet he does still desire for us to live recognizing all that he has done for us. It is with the knowledge of his forgiveness of our past, that he desires for us to live in praise and humility to him going forward.
Brothers and sisters, I think it is safe to say that we are a settled people. The Europeans and others who came to this country from various places around the world, found a land that was new to them, a land with blessings that were not necessarily the same as where they had come from. The indigenous people of various areas and times were gracious in teaching them how to live, and what could be grown here. There were times of tension and bloodshed as well as times of thanksgiving and cooperation. The landscape has changed, the times have changed, the appearance of this land has changed that our families immigrated to at one point or another—we have settled in. God provided for his people in Israel and throughout the world, and today he continues to provide, and he calls us to give thanks and glory to him in all things. He is worthy of praise and glory for what he does for us each day and what he has done for us on the timeline of eternity. Always remember that what we have is from him alone, we are not the primary owners of what we possess.
In thinking about giving thanks, we also are reminded that God has given us the opportunity to ask for what we need provided. In his Large Catechism, Martin Luther the Reformer looks at the petition of the Lord’s Prayer, “Give us today our daily bread.” He understands Jesus’ petition to not only mean bread, that basic staple of our diet, but rather in that request we can pray that God give us “clothing, house, and home, and health of body; also that He cause the grain and fruits of the field to grow and mature well; furthermore, that He help us at home towards good housekeeping, that He give and preserve to us a godly wife, children, and servants, that He cause our work, trade, or whatever we are engaged in to prosper and succeed, favor us with faithful neighbors and good friends. Likewise, that He give to [rulers], and especially to the rulers of our country and to all counselors, magistrates, and officers, wisdom, strength, and success that they may govern well…to subjects and the common people, obedience, peace, and harmony in their life with one another; and on the other hand, that He would preserve us from all sorts of calamity to body and livelihood, as lightning, hail, fire, flood, poison, pestilence, cattle-plague, war and bloodshed, famine, destructive beasts, wicked men.” and he concludes, “All this it is well to impress [to understand] that these things come from God, and must be prayed for by us.”
In the next day and weekend, as we celebrate, maybe there is something in the long list that Luther puts forth of things we desire to be provided that we can also share as what we are thankful God has given us. As you gather with family, friends, and loved ones to enjoy a hearty meal, good conversation, and one another’s company, may it not be that we wait on giving thanks until this day or this weekend. My hope is that we do not hold our breaths to make sure everything works out in our favor and to our greatest earthly benefit that we do not put off giving thanks to God the other 364 days of the year. May this day that our nation has set apart be one of many that we gladly seek to give thanks to the Lord our God for what he has done and continues to do. Let it be a day and a time of recalling the many reasons and instances we have given thanks all year long—because God is always worthy of thanks. He has watched over us continually from the beginning of the year to its end. Amen.