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Back to Sermons Index Back to Home Page 4th June 2006 AMLET US GIVE THANKS Pastor Colin Meadows Psalm 100, Matthew 26:26-28 Ø Let us be thankful: At this time of the year we are encouraged by our national leaders to express thanks to various groups of people within our communities that have served us in various ways. Last year we gave thanks for medical and educational personnel. This year the focus is on people in uniform – the police, fire depts., postal workers and the numerous people behind the scenes in our communities who quietly go on doing what they do for our benefit. As children, one of the first phrases we are encouraged to learn is ‘thank you’. My mum would hold onto something she was about to give me while she waited for me to say the ‘magic word’! When we receive from others then we need to respond in the appropriate manner. Robert Louis Stevenson commented ‘A person who has stopped being thankful has fallen asleep in life.’ Hans Sempe, a ‘stress researcher’, noted that of all the human emotions the one that promoted the most stress was ‘revenge’ while the one that lowered stress the most was of ‘being thankful’. Another person commented ‘It is impossible to be anxious and thankful at the same time.’ Yes, we need to learn to be thankful. How much more so when we stop and reflect on what God has done for us. Psalm 100 is a good example of giving thanks to God. Here in this psalm we are called to be thankful. Using the beautiful language of poetry we thus can begin to understand just who the Lord is and how we as his children should live. What does it mean to be thankful? A dictionary definition speaks of ‘expressing gratitude for words or acts of kindness towards oneself’. Being thankful is our response to all that others have done for us. The Bible has voluminous references to being thankful towards God and we will focus in that direction this morning. The concept of being thankful is linked in the Bible to that of praise. Virtually all references in this regard are to being thankful to God. One praises and gives thanks for that which is worthy. As we reflect on our God our hearts will be drawn to praise and thankfulness. God is worthy of all praise! Why is this so? Ø Be thankful for He is the God of Creation: Ps 100:1-2 “Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” All the earth should worship the Lord of creation. Why are we to be thankful? Because of the wonderful truth that he is our creator. Ps 100:3 “Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.” Let us remember God as our creator. We have come into being as a deliberate act of his creative hand. We are not an accident of evolution, the end product of a random chain of events. We are created in the image and likeness of God. We live in an age where we are awash with a different philosophy of our origins. I trained as a biology teacher and taught for several years in high schools. When teaching biology to students I explained that evolution was one theory of origins that students needed to be aware of but that there was another theory, that of creation. I would dialogue with students and had some interesting discussions. Let us be thankful for He is the God of Creation. Viktor Frankl, while a prisoner during WW2 on a death train from Auschwitz to another camp, was huddled together with others in a cattle truck. As they passed the mountains surrounding Salsburg, the prisoners could see the snow tipped peaks glinting in the late afternoon sun. Frankl said that the prisoners’ hearts were suddenly lifted in joy towards God, the God of creation. Let us worship and be thankful for he is the God of creation. Ø Be thankful for He is the God of Relationship: As we come together in worship let us give thanks for the God of relationship. Ps 100:4-5 “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” Why be thankful? Because of whom God is. Remember his name, the LORD. Yahweh, the divine name of relationship, of covenant, the one who is who he is. When Moses asked who God was in Ex 3:14 God said to Moses “I am who I am.” This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” Such was the respect for this personal name that the Jews refrained from pronouncing it. Originally there were no vowels so the name was written as YHWH, which scholars now refer to as the Tetragrammaton. When Jewish people saw the personal name of God written they would say ‘Adonai’ which means ‘Lord’. In our English translations it is usually rendered ‘LORD’. Later vowels were added, leading to some translations using the name ‘Jehovah’. This is however seen by many people to be a mistranslation. Other translations of the Bible put God’s personal name as ‘Yahweh’. The NIV along with many other modern translations use the name LORD in capitals. Whatever name you feel comfortable in using, God’s name of relationship expresses his character, that of being good, loving and faithful. He firstly is good, complete or perfect. In other words, there is nothing lacking in any aspect of who he is. He is goodness in the purest sense. He is love, or as some translations put it, he is merciful. The mercy of God speaks of his loyalty and devotion to the covenant he has entered into with his people. It is hard to adequately translate the full meaning of this word. It speaks of steadfast love, mercy and kindness, of being loyal to promises made. God is all of those things. It is thus in response to this truth that we should be thankful! God further is faithful or trustworthy. He is truthful and honest in all his ways. The AV puts Ps 100:5 “For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.” God is true in all his ways. He will stay firm to his promises, no matter what may happen. As we reflect on the character of God, we thus should be so thankful! Every aspect of his being is perfect, good, loyal, merciful and true. He is a God worthy of our thanks. Unfortunately humanity has turned their back on the God of relationship. We have queried his goodness, spurned his love, and cast doubts on his truthfulness. Is there now any hope for us? Ø Be thankful for He is the God of Restoration: The great creator God who entered into relationship with his people of long ago is the same God we worship today. As we come to this building to sing, to pray, to reflect on the goodness and mercy of God this day, we need to remember something more. He is the God of restoration. He delights in reclaiming the broken and damaged and in restoring them to wholeness. His redemptive activity was foreshadowed in the OT. The whole sacrificial system was intended to be a daily reminder that without the shedding of blood there would never be the forgiveness of sins. In particular, the Passover lamb needed to be slain, providing protection for the people as they fled from captivity. This was a forerunner for one who would be the ultimate Passover Lamb, Jesus. When Jesus began his ministry one of the first statements made concerning his mission highlighted this truth. John 1:29 ‘The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”’ Jesus went willingly to the cross for all of us. In response to such love, we should be people who are thankful. Jesus himself, foreshadowing what was about to happen at the last supper, brought this into sharp focus. Matt 26:26 ‘While they were eating, Jesus took breed and gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”’ Jesus literally blessed the bread or gave a good word for it. This is quite amazing when we think about it. Jesus gave thanks for what was about to happen to his own body! He was about to be crucified on a hideous cross and he gave thanks! Matt 26:27 ‘Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it all of you.”’ A different word for thanks is given here, that from which we get our English word Eucharist. Begin thankful at such at time. Why was this? Because Christ could see beyond the cross. He could see the incredible act of salvation that was about to take place. He could see that through going to the cross He would initiate the opening of access to the father for all who would believe. That is what he was giving thanks for. And that is what we daily should give thanks for. Jesus died on the cross so that we might have be restored to relationship with God. Let us be thankful. Rudyard Kipling, at the height of this literary fame, was said to be worth 25 shillings for every word that he had published. A group of college students wrote to him saying “We understand that every word you write is worth 25 shillings. Enclosed is 25 shillings. Send us your best word.” A few days later a telegram for the students arrived from Kipling. It simply said “Thanks!” Is the word ‘thanks’ the most precious word to you? It will be as you reflect on all that God has done for each of us. Have you experienced God’s presence in your own life? Do you realize what God has already done for you in Jesus on the cross? The door is now open for us to return to God. In the quietness of our hearts, let us speak to God right now. ‘Lord of creation, Lord of relationship, Lord of restoration, I come to you as a needy person this day. I have so often questioned your goodness, spurned your love, and queried your truthfulness. I am putting all that aside today for I am tired of living like this. I want to live in relationship with you. I am so thankful today that you sent your son Jesus to die in my place. Forgive me for my stubborn resistance to you for so long. I want now to be your child, someone who will each day give thanks to you as creator, to thank you that I am now in relation with you. I bless you this day, O Lord my God. In Jesus name, Amen.
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