Contentment With Thanksgiving

Contentment with Thanksgiving                             Philippians 4:6-7

     In some ways, Thanksgiving is very different from the other special days that we celebrate as a church.  Most of our special services focus on special events in the life of Jesus.  Christmas, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter are good examples. But Thanksgiving doesn’t fit the pattern.  In fact, Thanksgiving is a day that is celebrated by a proclamation of the government, originally by President Abraham Lincoln.  Just because it is not about something in the life of Jesus does not mean that there is not a religious reason for us to give thanks for all our blessings.  As we give thanks, we, as Christian people realize that all thanks go to God.  That may seem like an obvious statement.  Of course we give thanks to God.  We stated that before as we read together Luther’s Explanation of the Fourth Article of the Lord’s Prayer.  We remember that God gives us our daily bread so that we receive it with thanksgiving and daily bread is everything that belongs to the support and wants of the body.  While it may be obvious to us, what does the unbelieving world think about a day of Thanksgiving?  What does someone who considers himself a self-made man think about Thanksgiving? 

     This is a time for God’s people to come together and truly be thankful to our Creator for all the blessings that have been showered on us by our gracious God.  It is more than just a day for turkey and football and family.  It is a day to reflect on God’s mercy and the abundance that has been given to you.  Actually it is something that you ought to be doing everyday.  If you only wait until the fourth Thursday in November to be thankful to God, you are running the great risk of having the devil fill your mind with all sorts of problems.

     When you do not think about all that God has done, is now doing and promises to do for you in the future, you begin to worry about things.  Worry is one of the greatest enemies of God’s people.  The devil tries to fill the minds of people with worry.  When you look around you can find a lot to worry about if you want to.  The evening news is filled with potential worries.  When your eyes are not fixed on God and His blessings, the only thing left for you to do is worry.  There is a little poem that speaks to heart of this problem:

Said the robin to the sparrow,

                                                           I should really like to know

                                                           Why these anxious human beings

                                                           Rush about and worry so.

Said the sparrow to the robin,

                                                           I think that it must be

                                                          They have no heavenly Father

                                                          Such as cares for you and me.

                                                                        Elizabeth Chaney  1859

     That poem expresses the same thing that Paul was telling us in the Epistle lesson for today.  This is found in the last chapter of the letter.  It is part of his final instructions to a church that was experiencing many persecutions because of their faith.  It is thought that Paul himself was in prison at the time he wrote this letter.  Imagine, he was a prisoner writing to persecuted people and some of his final words to them are “Don’t worry.”  It takes great faith to be able to say, “Don’t worry,” in the face of difficulty.  Paul reminds them though how they can overcome worry and doubt in their lives and what he says to them is just as appropriate for you as you pause and give thanks to God.  “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving let your request be made know to God.”   

     God has given you the wonderful gift of prayer as a way for you to  unload all of your worries and cares, your frustrations and disappointments.  You do not have to carry them alone.  Your prayers can also include praise to God and you can simply talk to Him as dear children talk to their dear Father.  Paul adds an interesting phrase to his instructions for prayer.  Did you catch it?  “In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 

     That brings up an interesting question.  How can thanksgiving as a part of prayer keep us from worrying?  The connection becomes clear when you remember that the devil would like to have us stop giving thanks because then you can more easily forget the many blessings that God has given you.  When you forget about how God cares for you, you begin to worry.  Giving thanks is the first step in your recognition of God’s goodness.  If you stop to give thanks each day, you are more mindful of God’s blessings.  Giving thanks can change your whole attitude toward your life and what may seem to be your problems.  Even those problems can be viewed as blessings when you have an attitude of thankfulness from the beginning.  Some people have even stopped using the word “problem” and instead have used the word “challenges.”  That takes some of the negative feelings away and exchanges them for hopeful feelings. 

     That kind of positive outlook is also encouraged a few verses later in this reading.  He encouraged the Philippians to think about things that are true, that are noble, right, admirable, excellent and praise-worthy.  In other words, don’t dwell on negative things but rather on positive things.  When you give thanks to God for your many blessings, you can’t help but have positive thoughts.

     The greatest blessing from our God should also be in our thoughts everyday.  That is the blessing that is yours through Jesus Christ. When you give thanks for the forgiveness of your sins through Jesus, your outlook about your eternal life can only be good.  With your sins forgiven, you need no longer worry about whether you have pleased God enough so that you can go to heaven.  You know that you could never do that on your own.  You do have reason to be thankful when you consider your sin and God’s forgiveness because Scripture tells you that your forgiveness is a gift of God’s grace.  That then gives you courage and strength to face any trial or temptation that may come your way.  Your troubles can seem insignificant when you realize that the greatest troubles, namely sin, death and the power of the devil, no longer have control over you.

      Paul also tells you the result of this prayer with thanksgiving.  He reminds you that the peace which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  As you go to God in prayer, with thanksgiving, you will have peace, a peace that is beyond human explanation.  It is a peace that keeps you close to God.  It is a peace that keeps us safe in His loving care.  It is a peace that comes from knowing that your sins are forgiven and that heaven is your home.  It is a peace that is possible because Jesus came to earth and died so that you might be called the children of God, or as we heard Sunday, His treasured possession. For that peace, you can give thanks to God.  For that gift of a Savior, you can give thanks to God.  For the gift of forgiveness, you can give thanks to God.  For the many other spiritual and material blessings, you certainly can give thanks to God.  The list could go on and on.

     When you make thanksgiving an important element of your prayer life, you can follow Paul’s admonition.  You can stop worrying.  You can present your requests to God and see those troubles in your life in whole different light.  When you come to God in prayer with thanksgiving in your heart, your problems become opportunities to grow in your relationship with God and grow in your Christian maturity.

  Our National Day of Thanksgiving is a special day.  It is a time to give thanks but it is also a time for you to be reminded of the importance of giving thanks everyday of your life.  It is a time for you to experience greater peace and contentment through the giving of thanks.  Amen.

Rev. Gerald Matzke
Zion Lutheran Church
Painesville, Ohio
Thanksgiving 2013

My Treasured Possession

My Treasured Possession

Malachi 3:13-18

     Today is the Last Sunday of the Church Year or as it is sometimes called, Christ the King Sunday.  As you have heard in the last couple of weeks, this is the time of the year when our focus is on the end times, the time when Jesus will come again.  The whole Pentecost season, which began in May and now comes to an end today, directs you to consider the importance of the work of the Holy Spirit in your life as a Christian.  Jesus called His followers to always be ready for the time when He would come again.  It will come as a thief in the night when you least expect it.  There will be signs  that remind us that the end is near but the exact time will be unknown.  The signs have been happening all throughout history and they remind us that the Lord wants you to be ready.

     As you wait, you may become frustrated by things that happen in the world around you.  When you hear about typhoons and tornados and volcanic eruptions like we have recently, you may be tempted to question the will of God.  That kind of questioning is not unique to our time.  Often in the New Testament Epistles, the writers address the issue of the Lord’s return.  In II Peter 3, for example, the Apostle  explains that the Lord is not slow in keeping His promises as some understand slowness.  Rather He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but to come to repentance.

     Our text for today takes us back into the Old Testament.  Even there the prophet speaks for the Lord and exposes the frustration and complaint of the people.  Their complaint is similar to the complaint of God’s people today. You have probably expressed that same complaint either openly or at least in your thoughts.  As we look at this complaint and God’s response today, may you be strengthened in your faith as you continue to wait patiently for the coming of the Lord.  May you see how you are a treasured possession of the Lord and may that assurance strengthen you for the tasks that Lord has given you as you wait.

     I mentioned earlier the complaints and frustrations of the people.  In the Old Testament reading you heard the kind of typical complaints that are still heard today.  “It is vain to serve God!  What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts?  And now we call the arrogant blessed.  Evil doers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape.”  It’s not too hard to put that into modern language.  The complaint is still the same.  “What good is it to try and do the right thing?  You only get left behind.  Look around in the world.  The good guys lose and the bad guys win.  If dishonesty gets you what you want, go for it.  It just doesn’t pay to be a Christian.  There is no profit in that.  It’s a lot easier to follow your natural instincts and do whatever feels good.  People get away with stuff all the time.  Where do Christians fit in all of this?  We miss out on all the fun because we try to do God’s will.  It just isn’t fair.”  Does that sound familiar?  It should because it is the voice of your human nature talking, trying to convince you that there is no benefit for you in trying to be prepared for the Lord’s coming.  The devil plants the seeds of doubt in your mind just like he did to Eve in the Garden.  He tells us to ignore the will of God.  “Think for yourself.  Don’t worry about the consequences of your actions. Think for today.  Take what you want.”

     The devil makes it sound so attractive.  When you listen to the enticements of the devil, the world and your own human nature, it sounds like it’s all good, all pleasure, and no consequences.  But when you compare the temptations to what is actually found in God’s Word, you find that the devil’s way is sadly lacking in any lasting benefit.  For example, the world teaches us that if you do the right things, if you try to live a good life, then things will always go your way and you deserve to be rewarded in this life and you surely will have a fine place in heaven.  Is that what the Scriptures tell you though?  Not quite. In God’s Word you are told that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.  You are told that you are justified, declared righteous, by God’s grace, not by your good effort.  You, therefore, cannot earn your salvation.  It is a gift.  It was earned for you. 

     The purpose of your life is not then to try and live to please God so that you can be rewarded in the end for all your good deeds.  If you hope to stand before Jesus on the last day with that as your hope for heaven you will be sadly mistaken.  That kind of attitude is only an off-shoot of your sinful, selfish nature.  It comes from an attitude that is looking out only for yourself.  “I’ll do good works but I’d better get rewarded for it. I will help someone else only if I’m going to benefit from the time I had to spend.  I’ll volunteer for some job down at the church as long as there is something in it for me.”  You end up asking the same questions as the people in our text.  “What’s the use of doing good?  It is futile to serve God.  What did we gain by carrying out His requirements?”

     One thing that those who asked the questions fail to see is that your life is not lived only for the here and now.  You live not just for yourself but you live for God.  Life here on earth occupies only a short time in your existence.  You have an eternity ahead of you.  There are two options for the rest of eternity after this life is over.  When Jesus comes to judge, there are two possible verdicts: Righteous by virtue of God’s declaration by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, or Unrighteous in spite of all your persistent efforts at self-righteousness.

     When Jesus comes to judge, you will be judged by God’s standard and not by any kind of human standard.  Those who have tried to make themselves righteous by their own efforts, by their attempts to appease their own idea of God, or by their delusion that they are good enough, will be found lacking and will be sent to hell for all eternity.  All of their earthly gain will have no value in the final judgment.  What seemed to be their earthly advantage turned out to be completely useless.

     On the other hand, the prophet continues by describing those who fear the Lord and honor His name.  “They shall be mine”, says the Lord of hosts, “in the day when I make up my treasured possession.”  What an honor!  Those who fear the Lord and honor His name are His own treasured possession.  A treasure is something that has great value because it was obtained through a great sacrifice. You are the treasured possession of the Lord because your salvation was obtained through a tremendous sacrifice.  The Lord sent His only Son into the world to sacrifice His life to rescue His treasured possession from the power of sin, death and the devil.  He sent the Holy Spirit to work in the hearts of His treasured possession so that you could believe that Jesus Christ is the one who saved you by His blood.  The Spirit convinces you through the Law and the Gospel that you are a sinner whose only hope is Jesus.  By the Spirit’s power through the Means of Grace, you are free to give up on all your human efforts at saving yourself and you can trust completely in the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  You are His treasured possession whose eternal future has been assured.  

     The last verse of the text reminds you that even though in this life the ungodly may seem to get all the breaks, when the last day comes, “You shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.  God’s justice will be revealed on the last day.  There will be no time for excuses.  It will be a simple matter of faith in Jesus or no faith.  Those who serve and honor the Lord follow His ways.  That includes, first and foremost, faith  and trust in God’s plan of salvation through Jesus.  The Christian life of response to God’s love follows from that. 

     It will be a joyous time for the treasured possession of the Lord.  There will be praise and gladness for all eternity.  You don’t know when that will happen but you are called to be ready.  You are ready when your heart is filled with faith and trust in Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit working through the Means of Grace, the Word and the Sacraments.  By God’s grace you are His treasured possession.  With that assurance, you can joyfully pray, “Come, Lord Jesus, take your treasured possession home.”   Amen.

Rev. Gerald Matzke

Zion Lutheran Church

Painesville, Ohio

The Last Sunday of the Church Year 

Stand Firm

Stand Firm 

II Thessalonians 2: 1-8, 13-17

     This is really an interesting and exciting time of the year.  When you hear a statement like that you probably are thinking about all of the things that are going to be happening in the next couple of months.  In a few weeks it will be Thanksgiving and as soon as that is over we are immersed in the Christmas season.  The Boar’s Head Christmas Festival is coming soon and some groups have already begun practicing.  It is an exciting time of the year.  But that’s not what I meant when I started out with that statement.  This is an interesting and exciting time of the church year.  We are coming to the end of the church year.  This is a time for us to be reminded that Jesus is coming again and that we need to prepare our hearts to be ready for His coming.  The Bible tells us that when He comes, it will be a time of judgment.  The dead will be raised and those who believe in Him as Lord and Savior will be taken to His heavenly kingdom and those who have rejected Him will be thrown into the eternal fires of hell.  It is important that we have a time in our church year to have that important Biblical teaching brought forward so that we don’t forget about it. 

     St. Paul’s words to the Christians in Thessalonica bring to us a warning about the schemes of the devil who would try to draw us away from God.  Paul also gives us some good words of direction as we wait for that time.  From the time that the angels told the disciples that Jesus would return after He ascended into heaven, the faithful have been waiting.  When you have to wait a long time, it is very easy to become distracted.  It is especially difficult to remain vigilant when there are forces that try to get your attention and draw you away from your trust in the Lord’s words and promises.  That was the case in the early years of the Christian Church and it continues to be a challenge to believers today.  That is why Paul tells us to stand firm in the things that you have been taught.  As we think about what it means for us to stand firm in our faith and why that is so important, may the Holy Spirit strengthen you for the spiritual warfare that you will face as you wait for the Lord’s return.

     Our Epistle lesson for today starts off with a very serious warning about what will come as the end draws near.  To briefly summarize what Paul says, there will be worldly philosophies that will try and deceive God’s people into questioning and even losing their faith.  These philosophies with try and deceive the faithful with clever words that will try to shake the foundations of your faith.  Those who promote this kind of deception will even try to use the disguise of the church in order to accomplish the devil’s purposes.  You don’t have to look into the history of the Christian church long before you can see how this has happened time after time as one false teacher after another has appeared and brought some new teaching that was contrary to the teachings of the Bible.  Hungry for power, these false teachers led many of God’s people astray.  We can be thankful for teachers like Martin Luther who brought the true Church back to the teachings that came from Scripture alone. 

     Yet even in our own time there are those who teach a message of self-reliance, a message of prosperity, a message of salvation by good works that hardly ever mention the name of Jesus.  The danger in this is that the faithful are drawn away from the truth that we are all sinners who need to repent and trust in Jesus Christ alone for the forgiveness that was won for us by His perfect obedience and His all-sufficient sacrifice on the cross.  Your human nature likes to hear a message that places the responsibility for your salvation on yourself.  That way you maintain control.  You can take credit for your accomplishment.  Your ego thrives on that but it drives you away from Christ.

     Paul urges the Thessalonian Christians and Christians of all time to stand firm in what you have been taught from the Scriptures.  To reinforce his admonition to stand firm, Paul reminds us of God’s grace in our Lord Jesus Christ that brings us eternal comfort and good hope.  As a result of Christ’s work in us and for us we have comfort and direction for our lives of response to God’s great love, lives established in every good work and word.

     There are several reasons why you need to stand firm in your faith as you wait for Christ’s return.  It begins with your faith as I have mentioned before.  Since your faith is grounded in Christ Jesus and His work for you, you know that anything that tries to lead you away from that has its source in the father of lies, the devil.  As a result, the first reason to stand firm is for the sake of your faith in Jesus. The other reasons to stand firm have to do with our life in the Church.  While our faith is a personal faith, in other words, you can not expect to be saved by someone else’s faith and at the same time, your faith will not save someone else, you do not live in a vacuum.  You are a part of the body of Christ.  Each part of the body works together with the other parts for the good of the body.  The three-part description of the life of the church that our Synod has set forward under President Matthew Harrison, has a real application to the admonition to stand firm in our faith. 

    The first part of that is that we stand firm for the sake of our witness to the world.  In the face of all of the other philosophies and false teachings in the world today, we stand firm together for the sake of our witness to the truth.  The world needs to hear that truth but they won’t hear it if no one tells them about it.  A strong witness to the truth gives opportunity for the Holy Spirit to touch the hearts of people who have been deceived by the lies of the devil.  Jesus gave his disciples that message before He ascended into heaven.  “You shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth.”  As we stand firm in our faith, our united witness will be able to touch more hearts with the truth.

     The second consideration for standing firm is for the sake of our service to one another and to those around us in need.  The mercy ministry that God’s people are called to carry out is an important part of the life of the church.  As we stand firm in our reliance on the Scriptures, we are reminded again of Jesus’ words, “Whatever you have done for the least of these, you have done it unto me.”  Mercy ministry can be more effective and far-reaching when we work together and we work together when we stand firm together in what God’s Word tells us. 

     The third part of the description of the church is our life together.  We therefore stand firm in our faith for the sake of the way that we care for one another, build one another up, rejoice with one another and weep with one another.  The devil would like nothing better than to see our life together disrupted by arguments over doctrine and practice that could lead to division in the church.  When we stand firm in the teachings of the Scriptures and in our faith, we understand that the preservation of our life together in the church needs to be an important priority.  Once again, the word picture of the Body of Christ describes the importance of our life together.  It has an effect on the other two parts of that description.  If we do not care about maintaining our life together, that will have a negative effect on our witness and it actually works against the way that we show mercy to others. 

     When we stand firm in our faith, we will be more effective in preparing ourselves and the world around us for the time when Jesus comes again.  That is what the Church is called to do.  We are strengthened for that task by the power of the Holy Spirit who works through the Means of Grace, the Word and the Sacraments.  Any consideration of preparing for the return of Christ would be useless without the power of the Holy Spirit to strengthen us.   When we make use of those means, we will be able to follow Paul’s admonition and stand firm.   Amen.

Rev. Gerald Matzke

Zion Lutheran Church

Painesville, Ohio

November 10, 2013