Thanksgiving Day Sermon: "The Ritual of the Redeemed"

 + Thanksgiving Day - November 27th, 2025 + 

Deuteronomy 8:1-10; Philippians 4:6-20; Luke 17:11-19

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

Holidays are full of rituals. Thanksgiving is no different. Growing up in our family, the big Schuldheisz family thanksgiving day was full of ritual. The mad hustle and bustle to get to church. The greeting of family members outside the church. Greeting family members inside the church. Greeting family members in the pews. When your dad is the youngest of seven, there’s a lot of greeting to do. 

 

Eventually, we’d move to someone’s house - or church fellowship hall when we outgrew the house. Snacks appeared on the table. Drinks filled glasses. Soon enough, the parents and older cousins' table and kids’ table overflowed with food. We prayed. Laughed. Ate. Those who didn’t nap went outside to burn some calories. Came back inside for desert and more food and more stories and laughter. 

 

Your family, no doubt, has a few traditions of your own, passed down from generation to generation. Thanksgiving is a day of ritual. That’s what tradition is, in part, a familiar pattern. A lively dance that everyone knows. A rhythm. A heartbeat. Pumping with life.

 

When we turn to God’s Word we find the same rhythm and pattern. Wherever we receive God’s rescue and redemption, we find the ritual of rejoicing. We call it thanksgiving. 

 

Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!

 

There’s a ritual, a pattern: God gives, bestows, blesses. Not a little. Not in moderation. Not in halves, quarters, or eights. But in whole. In fullness. In abundance. Generosity without limit. Grace overflowing. Free. Full. And more than we desire or deserve. 

 

God gives and then we receive. We rejoice. We give thanks. 

Our Lord speaks and we listen. His Word bestows what it says. Faith that is born from what is heard acknowledges the gifts received with eager thankfulness and praise.

Turn to any part of Scripture and you’ll find this ritual of redemption on full display. Wherever you find God’s people, you’ll find them giving thanks to God for his abundant mercy, gratuitous grace, and steadfast love and faithfulness.

 

Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!

 

After God rescued Noah and his family in the ark, through the water. Through the deluge and downpour. Noah gave thanks. An altar. Sacrifice. Thanksgiving. Ritual. 

 

Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!

 

After God rescued Israel out of slavery in Egypt, Moses and Miriam and Israel gave thanks by the shores of the Red Sea. They sang. Prayed. Praised. Gave thanks. 

 

Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!

 

After God placed the ark of his presence in the tent of meeting for David. And after David was saved time and time again from his own sin and countless enemies. He sang. Prayed. Wrote psalms. Gave thanks to God. 

 

Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!

 

After God blessed barren Hannah with a son, she too joined the ritual of the redeemed and rescued. She sang. Her heart exalted in the Lord. She rejoiced in YHWH’s salvation.

 

Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!

 

After God sent Paul as his chosen apostle criss-crossing the Mediterranean proclaiming Christ crucified, Paul - in a beautiful ritual - writes thanksgiving after thanksgiving in his epistles. He hands down the ritual. but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 

 

Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!

 

After God incarnate healed the 10 lepers, one of them - the unlikely Samaritan - understood the ritual. He received restoration from the Redeemer. He returned. Praised God. Fell at Jesus’ feet. And gave thanks. Thanksgiving is the ritual of the redeemed. 

 

Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!

 

Wherever you find God’s people, you’ll find them giving thanks to God for his abundant mercy, gratuitous grace, and steadfast love and faithfulness.

 

And what about us? How do we respond? Truth be told, giving thanks to God - or anyone else for that matter - doesn’t come naturally to sinners like you and me. We feign gratitude but deep down we think we’re deserving. Entitled. That we’ve earned it. Owed it. Or that we’ve done it all by the callouses of our hands and our worn out bootstraps and our bloody knuckles and our labors. 

 

Thanksgiving calls us outside of us and away from ourselves. And this is no small thing. This means our death. But also our life. For in this hard truth, in this bitter pill to swallow, there is good news that is sweeter than the sweetest honey-ham and richer than the most brown-sugar, marshmallow coated sweet-potatoes. The gifts - all of them in body and soul - come from the good and gracious giver himself. The God who redeems, rescues, declares righteous, and restores you.

 

Everyone who has ever received anything from God in the Scriptures - and that’s everyone - from Noah to Israel, Hannah to David, the Samaritan leper to Paul - everyone receives everything we have by grace in Jesus. Free. Abundant. Without measure. God holds nothing back, not even his own Son. Who also holds nothing back. Not even his own flesh and blood or his back and hands and feet. He gives his all for you on the cross. 

 

Jesus becomes the sacrifice. The lamb slain. The blood spilled. Jesus gives. Bestows. Blesses. Not in part, half, or quarter. But in full. Paid by his blood. Redeemed. Rescued. Declared righteous. And what’s there left to do? Nothing but receive the gifts. Rejoice. And join the ritual of the redeemed.

 

Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!

 

A blessed Thanksgiving to each of you…

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Sermon for Thanksgiving Day: "God Made A Farmer"

 + Day of Thanksgiving – November 28^th. 2024 +

Deuteronomy 8:1-10; 1 Timothy 2:1-4; Luke 17:11-19

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

A few years back there was a Superbowl commercial that featured the voice of the famous radio host, Paul Harvey. The commercial stood out because it wasn’t trying to sell you anything. It wasn’t trying to get you to buy the latest truck, or beer, or home insurance. There were no geckos or Clydesdales or celebrities. The commercial simply thanked ordinary, hardworking farmers by quoting Paul Harvey’s famous speech…So God made a farmer.

 

And on the 8th day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, "I need a caretaker." So God made a farmer. 
God said, "I need somebody willing to get up before dawn, milk cows, work all day in the fields, milk cows again, eat supper and then go to town and stay past midnight at a meeting of the school board." So God made a farmer. 
"I need somebody with arms strong enough to rustle a calf and yet gentle enough to deliver his own grandchild. Somebody to call hogs, tame cantankerous machinery, come home hungry, have to wait lunch until his wife's done feeding visiting ladies and tell the ladies to be sure and come back real soon -- and mean it." … Somebody to seed, weed, feed, breed and rake and disc and plow and plant and tie the fleece and strain the milk and replenish the self-feeder and finish a hard week's work with a five-mile drive to church. …So God made a farmer. 

The speech goes, but you get the idea. As Paul Harvey would say in his signature line…And now for the rest of the story. There’s a whole lot more to this story.

 

What Paul Harvey said so memorably in that speech is what Lutheran theologians, like Martin Luther, call the doctrine of vocation. That word means more than a job; it means a “calling”. As in God calls you to faith in Jesus. Adopts you as his child. Saves you. Forgives you. Justifies you. Gives you his righteousness. And calls you his own. That’s Jesus’ calling: to be your redeemer and savior.

 

But God also gives you other vocations – or callings in life – in the home, at church, in the workplace. Husband. Father. Wife. Mother. Sister. Brother. Grandma and grandpa. Altar Guild. Elder. Usher. Greeter. Brother and sister in Christ. Bible study attender. Church member. You all have callings in life in the world as well: engineers, cashiers, teachers, doctors, nurses, physical therapists, machinist, foresters, soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, civil servants, and the list could go on and on for each of you. 

 

This is what Scripture teaches us time and again…God certainly can and is powerful enough to zap a loaf of bread on our tables or rain quail and manna from heaven right outside our doorstep or pour our water from a rock– he’s done that before. And yet, more often when God wants something done,  he works through means. He works through ordinary people doing their ordinary every day jobs to bless each of us with the things we need for ordinary, daily life. This is why Paul instructs Pastor Timothy and all Christians (in his letter to Timothy) to pray for those in authority… 

 

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, ² for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.

This is also what we pray for when we pray the 4^th petition of the Lord’s Prayer. “Give us this day our daily bread.” Luther explains it this way in the Small Catechism…

 

What is meant by daily bread? Everything that belongs to the support and wants of the body, such as meat, drink, clothing, shoes, house, homestead, field, cattle, money, goods, a pious spouse, pious children, pious servants, pious and faithful magistrates, good government, good weather, peace, health, discipline, honor, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like. 

 

God knows that you need electricity to keep your freezer running, your fridge and the food inside at the right temperature, and the hot water heater working…So God made linemen and electricians and plumbers.

 

God knows that you fruit and vegetables and meat to eat to supply you with strength and energy for all of your vocations in life…so yes, God made a farmer, but he also made a rancher, and a truck driver, and a grocery store shelf stocker and a cashier and a cart boy. 

 

God knows that you need help treating your diseases from that nagging cough to that deadly cancer…and that you need good roads to get you to your appointments and someone to fill your prescriptions…and someone to fix your car when it breaks down at the worst time possible…so God made doctors and nurses and pharmacists and construction workers and mechanics.

 

God knows that you need daily bread, and all everything that entails…so God hides himself in the daily, ordinary, seemingly mundane things of earthly life to bless you and for you to be a blessing to others. He did the same for Israel back in the exodus. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.  Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. 

 

It’s easy to think that when you’re surrounded by so many blessings in life, so many gifts of daily bread…that you somehow deserved this. That you had it all coming your way. Or that you earned it. And that it all belongs to you, to do with as you please. It’s easy to think that man lives by daily bread alone. But of course, we know that’s not true. From the hat over our heads to the socks and shoes covering our feet – and everything under our feet and everything in between – all we have is a gift from God. And a gift, by definition, is something we don’t deserve, haven’t earned, and didn’t come from our hands. It comes from the hands of our Lord who does this all out of his Fatherly divine goodness and mercy without any merit or worthiness in us. 

 

That’s our Lord’s calling. To love. Care for. Serve. Feed and forgive you. To rescue and deliver you. To watch over and give you all you need in body and soul. Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? The answer is, of course. You are of more value than the birds. You are valued and loved by our God so much that he took on ordinary human flesh, lived in a humble home, lived an ordinary daily life to live for you, die for you, and rescue you. and to deliver all of that saving, justifying, redeeming love for you in…surprise…ordinary ways: water that washes away sin. Words that forgive and heal. Bread and wine that bring you life and salvation. 

 

So today, as you sit down to eat some turkey, ham, potatoes, or whatever your favorite dish is, and settle into the couch or your favorite chair for a little food induced nap, take a moment to see all the wonderful, extraordinary things God is doing for you right in front of you in the ordinary, daily gifts of daily bread. Thank a farmer. A trucker. The people in your life that bring you what you need. And above all, bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. For he gives it to you all freely, graciously, and abundantly…through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

A blessed Thanksgiving day to each of you…

 

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 

 

 

 

 

Thanksgiving Day Sermon: "Filled with Good Things"

 + Thanksgiving Day – November 24^th, 2022 +

Psalm 104; Deuteronomy 8:1-10; Philippians 4:6-20; Luke 17:11-19

Beautiful Savior Lutheran

Milton, WA

 

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

Out of the many things Scripture reveals that God does for us, one of God’s favorite things to do is to feed and provide for his people. God loves to share a table and his gifts with his people. You don’t get far into God’s word – the very first chapter in fact – before we hear God setting up a feast for his people.

 

When God created the heavens and the earth he told Adam and Eve, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. ³⁰ And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. ³¹ And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. 

 

When God visited Abraham and Sarah – even though it was Abraham and Sarah who prepared the bread and the calf for a holy barbeque – it was the Lord himself who came and dined with them that he might bless them.

 

When the people of Israel wandered in the wilderness, once again, it was the Lord who fed and provided for his people. He sent them manna and quail from heaven. Water from the rock. Later when the people of Israel were about to enter the promised land, the Lord reminded them… 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, ⁸ a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, ⁹ 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. ¹⁰ And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.

 

Wherever you find the Lord in Scripture, you will find him feeding and providing for his people. Time and time again, this is what God does. He sits at the table with them and blesses them. Our psalm of the day is no different. 

 

These all look to you,
    to give them their food in due season.
When you give it to them, they gather it up;
    when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.

 

Passages like Psalm 104 certainly remind us of God’s goodness. So do days like Thanksgiving Day. These words and these days also remind us that without our Lord to feed, provide, and care for us, we have nothing. On our own we are in need. We are dependent upon him – certainly for forgiveness, but also for daily bread. On our own we are empty and need to be filled. One of the images that Scripture gives us of our sin is that of hunger. That we starve and waste away apart from the daily bread of God’s word. And in the absence of God’s gifts to us in his word we turn to anything and everything else that appears satisfying and good in our own eyes and a delight to our desires. It’s true…man does not live by bread alone…in fact cannot live by bread alone…but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

 

It’s no surprise then that when the Son of God takes on human flesh we find him eating and drinking with people all over the place. He dines with sinners and tax collectors and pharisees alike. He eats the Passover with his disciples. He enjoys a fish fry by the sea of Galilee after his resurrection. Many of his parables echo the Scripture’s constant theme that where God is present, there you’ll find him feeding and providing for and feasting with his people. 

 

It’s certainly true at our earthly tables, no matter how big or small they may be. Those gifts we give thanks for today are from our Lord’s hands. When he opens his hands, you are filled with good things. 

 

And it’s even more true of our Lord’s table where he gathers us together this morning. Where he opens up his hands – those hands that were crucified and pierced and glorified for you – and he pours out his body and blood for you. Where you are filled with the good things of his forgiveness and redemption in his body and blood. Where Christ our Lord comes once again, as he did for Adam, Eve, Abraham, and Israel, and he dwells with us and for us in a holy feast of life and salvation. Where he shares his table, and gives his very life for you. 

 

 

A blessed day of thanksgiving to each of you…

 

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 

 

Thanksgiving Day Sermon: "The Giver"

 + Day of Thanksgiving – November 25^th, 2021 +

Deuteronomy 8:1-10; Philippians 4:6-20; Luke 17:11-19

Beautiful Savior Lutheran

Milton, WA

 

 

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

What do the Israelites in the wilderness, Paul’s words to the Christian church in Philippi, and Jesus’ healing of the 10 lepers have in common? 

 

Because it’s thanksgiving day, we might think at first, well, giving thanks, of course. They are all thankful. And while that’s certainly true; it’s not the whole truth. There’s something more, something deeper and richer that covers all of these readings together; think of it like the gravy that covers your turkey, potatoes, and stuffing. It’s true, Israel, Paul and the Philippians, and the Samaritan leper – they were all thankful. But before we give thanks, there is a gift. And if there’s a gift there’s a giver. That’s what these readings are all about – God, the gracious giver. 

 

From his first “Let there be light” in Genesis to his final “I am coming soon” in Revelation, God reveals himself as the God who gives. He gives life to Adam and Eve. He gives Cain a protective mark even after he murders Abel. He gives Noah and his family the ark, along with a promise to all creation never again to flood the earth. He gives Abraham and Sarah new names, a promised son, Isaac, and a covenant that is finally fulfilled in the giving of God’s own Son. God gives Jacob the blessing that he didn’t deserve. God gives Israel an exodus out of slavery, through the wilderness, and into the promised land. Step by step through the wilderness. Day by day. Year by year, God gives to his people. 

 

Moses reminds God’s people then, and us today, that God is the God who gives. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil 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. When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you.

 

God is the Giver. Did Israel deserve any of God’s gracious, giving ways? Did they earn them? Do we? Of course not. That’s not how our gift-giving God works. Not by entitlement but grace. Not by our works, but his. Not by our efforts but by his loving kindness.

 

This is what Paul has in mind as he writes his letter to the Philippians. To be sure, Paul thanks the Philippians for their generosity in the faith; their faithfulness as stewards. And as he does that he thanks God the Giver. For… my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. 

 

Paul reminds God’s people then, and us today, that although we are empty and dead in sin, it is Christ who fills us with his promise. Who gives us life. Although we lack, Jesus gives. God is the most gracious giver of all.

 

Nowhere in Scripture is this better revealed than when God gives and sends his own Son, Jesus. Jesus is the Giver-God incarnate. He gives himself over to temptation. He gives his perfect obedience to the Father’s will for us. He gives his life into the hands of sinful men that he might give his hands to the nails. Give his head to the crown of thorns. Give his body unto death. Jesus rises from the grave to give you victory in his triumph. Jesus gives, gives, and gives some more. Gives his Word. Gives his promises. Gives his Holy Spirit in water and word. Gives his body and blood in simple bread and wine. 

 

When we hear Jesus teaching, preaching, and performing miracles in the gospels, what is he doing? You guessed it. Giving. Jesus is both the gift of God the Father and the God who came to give himself for you.

 

In Luke 17 that’s exactly what we see our Lord doing. 10 lepers cry out to Jesus, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

 

And what does Jesus do? Jesus does what he has done throughout Scripture. Jesus gives. Jesus speaks. Jesus heals. “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.

 

Notice that Jesus doesn’t heal and cleanse the 10 lepers on the basis of their thanks to him. He simply heals them. He gives them what they cannot give themselves. Cleansing. Healing. He does the same for us. The cleansing from sin we need. The healing we cannot perform ourselves, Jesus gives. 

 

And having received and seen the gift, what does the Samaritan do? He returns to Jesus and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. That’s how faith – which is God’s gift too! – works. God gives. We receive. Jesus cleanses, forgives, and saves. We thank, praise, and love as he has first loved us. 

 

Thanksgiving is a day for many things – counting our blessings, remembering God’s countless gifts to us – and most of all, giving thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ, the gracious, merciful, and bountiful Giver. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen.

 

A blessed Thanksgiving Day to each of you…

 

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.  

 

 

 

Sermon for Thanksgiving Day: "Thanksgiving in the Wilderness"

 + Thanksgiving Day – November 26^th, 2020 +

Deuteronomy 8:1-10; Philippians 4:6-20; Luke 17:11-19

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 

 

One of the great blessings in reading and hearing the Old Testament is that the more we read the Scriptures the more we discover that, despite living thousands of years apart in a different culture and place, with different languages, we are not all that different from Old Testament Israel. God’s words through His servant Moses reveals just how much we in the new Israel of God’s church have in common with Israel.

 

Remember all that took place in the lives of God’s people leading up to these words in Deuteronomy 8. God’s people suffered 400 years in bondage and slavery in Egypt. God’s people witnessed the 10 plagues that YHWH sent against the Egyptians. God’s people wandered 40 years in the wilderness. Hungry. Thirsty. Anxious. Afraid. Angry. At times so much so that they preferred slavery in Egypt to freedom in YHWH’s promises.

 

I’m sure it was tempting for Israel to think that God had abandoned them just as they feared all along. That he had brought them out into the wilderness to die.

 

Tempting for us to think the same thing as we sit here in 2020, a year that (and this is the PG version) has a dumpster fire for a mascot. Thankfully, 2020 hasn’t lasted anywhere near 400 years, although it sure has felt long, and hard. We’ve watched the news as this dreadful pandemic has swept across our nation, and the world, separating us from those we love most when we want to be near them most. We’ve talked on the phone or waved through a window to friends and family we long to hug and hold close. Many people we know have fallen ill, others have died. We’ve let arguments over politics, masks, and social distancing dominate our hearts and minds and conversations with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ instead of Christ’s love for one another. 

 

To be sure, all these things are far different than what Israel experienced. And yet it’s tempting to think that God has abandoned us, just as Israel feared God had abandoned them. We find ourselves hungering and thirsting, longing for something better. Like Israel we are anxious. Afraid. Perhaps even angry. What could we possibly have to give thanks for this year? 

 

Here again, we have something in common with Old Testament Israel. YHWH sent Moses to tell His people.

 

you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.  And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 

 

In spite of themselves, God loved His people Israel. God never abandoned Israel. God’s people marked their doorposts with the blood of the Passover Lamb. God’s people were released from slavery in Egypt. God’s people God’s people walked through the Red Sea on dry ground and saw the destruction of Pharaoh’s army. God’s people received His commandments and covenant. God fed his people. God gave them water to drink. Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. 

 

You see, God wasn’t leading Israel aimlessly through the wilderness, he was leading them to himself. To His promised land where one day he would bring about His promised Savior in Jesus. Yes, there was testing and humility and repentance along the way. But more importantly, there was forgiveness, promise, and redemption. Finally, after 40 years in the wilderness God led them to the borders of the promised land. 

 

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.

 

In spite of ourselves, God loves us as well. God has not abandoned you. You are his beloved, blood-bought, baptized people. His new Israel. His holy people. His treasured possession. A kingdom of priests clothed in the holiness and righteousness of Jesus our great high priest. For you have been released from bondage to sin and death forever. The blood of Jesus your Passover Lamb atones for all your sin. You have crossed through the Red Sea of the font. Satan’s chariots lie vanquished. Jesus feeds you not with manna or quail, but with his holy body and blood – the bread of life; the true bread from heaven. 

 

For all the commandments we’ve broken, Jesus was broken in death on the cross for you. For all the times we’ve been anxious, afraid, and angry Jesus stood in the breach of God’s wrath for you. To surround you with his peace. To fill you with his joy. To give you His life. 

 

Yes, there is testing in this life too. In many ways we are still in the wilderness this Thanksgiving, as we await the true and eternal promised land. But the new creation is on the horizon. We’re on the very borders of the new heavens and the new earth. God’s eternal country is in view and even today in 2020, there is much for which we are thankful, just as there was for Israel in Deuteronomy 8.

 

Clothing on our backs. Shoes on our feet. A roof over our heads. Food on our table, in the fridge, and freezer. Family. Friends. And more blessings than we could possibly number.

 

The same is true here in our Lord’s house. We’re surrounded by brothers and sisters in Christ. We’re gathering into Jesus’ church, a holy ark around us. We have Jesus’ Word, our lamp and light. Jesus’ baptism, our Exodus. Jesus’ body and blood, the true and greater Passover. An everlasting thanksgiving meal. 

 

It’s true; this Thanksgiving day, and every day, we have a lot in common with Old Testament Israel. Especially in Jesus. 

 

In Jesus we receive God’s good and gracious gifts. In Jesus we thank and praise God for his gifts. In Jesus, we lack nothing.

 

A blessed Thanksgiving to each of you…

 

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 

Sermon for Thanksgiving Day: "The Lord Remembers"

+ Day of Thanksgiving – November 28^th, 2019 +

Deuteronomy 8:1-10; Philippians 4:6-20; Luke 17:11-19

Beautiful Savior Lutheran

Milton, WA

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

If New Year’s is about making resolutions and the future, Thanksgiving is about remembering and the past. As we sit around the table, pass the stuffing, load up our potatoes with gravy, and reach for our favorite dark or light turkey meat, we remember.

There are the joyful memories: new friends at school; added family members around the table; kindness of friends, family, or complete strangers; simple moments of life, love, and laughter shared with your spouse. Even the ordinary things of daily bread: food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, home, beloved pets and good friends.

Sadly, there are painful memories too: an empty chair or two around the table where grandma or grandma, or mom or dad once sat; words spoken that were better left unsaid; illness in body or mind that just won’t seem to go away or get better.

Thankfully, our Lord gives us memories that are far greater than even our best memories, and far deeper and more comforting than even our most painful memories. These are the memories of God’s mercy and grace. The love of Christ shown to us in simple act of kindness by a friend or a stranger. God’s word of forgiveness shared and reconciliation made with friends or family. Jesus’ daily work of drowning our sin in and raising us to new life in our Baptism. The Holy Spirit who dwells with you and in you and points you to Jesus. Even the simple things ordinary bread and wine where Jesus feeds us an extraordinary feast of forgiveness in his body and blood.

Yes, Thanksgiving is a day of remembering.

This is what Moses is saying to Israel, and to us, in Deuteronomy 8: you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness

Moses reminds Israel who they are, where they came from, and everything the Lord had done for them. Remember, Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. Remember the Passover lamb whose blood covered your doorpost. Remember how the Lord parted the Red Sea, drowned Pharaoh and his army, and rescued you from slavery in Egypt. Remember the water from the rock, the manna and the quail. Remember the Lord who spoke to you at Sinai, and made his covenant and promise with you. Remember that man shall not live by bread alone; but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. And above all, remember the Lord who has done all this for you by his grace. For I am the Lord your God who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and out of the house of slavery.

Today, God is telling us the same thing through Moses’ words. Remember who you are, where you have come from, and everything the Lord has done for you. Remember how God sent you a prophet greater than Moses – His only begotten Son Jesus – to die and rise for you. Remember how Jesus’ side was split open like the rock, pouring out blood and water into the chalice and the font for you. Remember how he calls you and names you his holy child in water, word, by the Holy Spirit. Remember how Christ our Passover Lamb was sacrificed for us. Remember how he feeds you, a pilgrim and stranger in this land, with his own body and blood, precious manna from heaven. Remember the Lord who does all this for you by his grace.

Thanksgiving is a day of remembering. 

And yet, as good as it is for us to remember, it is far better that God remembers. We may even foolishly think, like Israel did time and time again in the wilderness, that God has forgotten us. Or fear that the Lord won’t provide for us as he promised. Like Israel, we often fail to remember that anything good we have is all God’s doing. We forget.

Not so with the Lord. The Lord never forgets you. Never fails to remember you. He always remembers. Always keeps his promises. Always gives us what we need and more. For God to remember is for God to act. When Scripture says “the Lord remembered Israel, or David, and so forth” it’s not that God was simply thinking nice thoughts about his people. No. more than that. For God to remember is for God to act on behalf of his people. 

Remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness…

For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills;  a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil 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.  When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you.

God did not forget Israel, neither will he forget you. The Lord remembered. He acted. He brought Israel into the good land where they settled. Generation after generation, through judges, kings, and prophets, through exile and return, the Lord remembered again and again and again, until that great, glorious day when the Lord who led Israel in the wilderness took on human flesh to save us.

And what’s truly remarkable is that the Lord who knows all, sees all, and remembers all, promises to remember our sin no more. He takes all our forgetfulness of his promises, all our failures to keep his Word, all our sinful and selfish fears, our thoughts, words, and deeds – he takes it all, heaps it on His Son Jesus, who dies on the cross for us, buries it all in his tomb, and rises again. All so that he will remember our sin no more.

God gives and we receive. So we remember the Lord best by receiving his gifts. Jesus’ daily bread on our table, and his: true bread of life come down from heaven to earth to feed you in this wilderness. Jesus’ word, water, and promise to give you an eternal garment that will never wear out in your Baptism. Jesus’ word that will feed you, satisfy you, and give you life.

So as you’re scooping the green bean casserole and hosing down your pumpkin pie with cool whip, remember that Thanksgiving is a day of remembering. God’s redeeming, rescuing, and remembering you in his Son Jesus crucified and risen. 

A blessed Thanksgiving day to each of you…

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 

Sermon for Thanksgiving Day: "Thanksgiving for Beggars"

+ Thanksgiving Day – November 22^nd, 2018 +

Deuteronomy 8:1-10; Philippians 4:6-20; Luke 17:11-19

Beautiful Savior Lutheran, Milton

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Those 10 lepers had nothing. Sure, they had the clothes on their back, though filthy rags might be more accurate. Bandages covered their disease ridden skin. They had each other a band of miserable, outcast brothers, except for that Samaritan. An outcast among outcasts. But all of them, pariahs. Cast out of their homes, out of the synagogue, and out of the village. Most of the time you’d hear them before you’d see them. “Unclean! Unclean!” they shouted, warning others to stay away. They were defiled. Diseased. They had nothing.

How’s that for a cheerful Thanksgiving Day sermon! No table covered with enough food for our leftovers to have leftovers. No joyful celebrations with family and friends. No football, afternoon naps, or black Friday deals to be had. Only leprosy. Disease. Uncleanliness. Not exactly the picture you’d want on your hallmark Thanksgiving card. A bunch of lepers crying out…Lord, have mercy on us.

And yet, this is the perfect picture for Thanksgiving. The 10 lepers had nothing, and they knew it. 

After Martin Luther died in 1546, his friends found a scrap of paper in the pocket of his robes. On it he had written, “We are all beggars. This is true.”

Those 10 lepers outside the village where Jesus heard and saw them were beggars. The people of Israel wandering in the wilderness for 40 years were beggars. The Lord gave them food they neither knew nor deserved. And though they constantly grumbled that they had nothing, the Lord saw to it that they lacked nothing. On thanksgiving, just like every other day of the year, we are all beggars. This is true. 

Like those lepers we have nothing. Nothing to show for. Nothing to brag about. Nothing to offer God. We have not kept our Lord’s commands and his words. We have not remembered his kindness towards us. We have not loved the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and mind, nor have we loved our neighbors as ourselves. We have nothing but empty hands, unclean sinful hearts, and our nothingness.

So, we join the lepers in their cry to Jesus, Lord, have mercy on us. 

And what’s most remarkable, what is absolutely unexpected about this story is that Jesus didn’t wait for the lepers to be properly, or sincerely thankful before he healed them. Jesus didn’t wait till they checked off all the boxes on their to-do list before he cleansed them. Jesus saw that they had nothing to offer, nothing but their disease and outcastness and he healed, restored, and cleansed them anyway. They had nothing to offer Jesus, and yet he had everything to offer them. 

This is why Luke starts off this story by telling us in just a few brief words that Jesus was “on the way to Jerusalem.” On his way to be the pariah and the outcast, to die outside the city of Jerusalem, for them and for you and for all. On his way to become the unclean one for us. On his way to make himself nothing by humbling himself unto death on the cross.

Surely he has born our diseases and carried our sorrows. I have not come for the healthy, but for the sick, Jesus declares. For the lepers. For us thanksgiving beggars. For we who are nothing, Jesus gives us everything. 

Go and show yourselves to the priest, he told the lepers. And as they went they were cleansed. All of them. By grace. The same grace of God that cleanses us in Holy Baptism. Washing us into his family – no more an outcast, but sons and heirs. Drowning the leprosy of sin in his death and raising us to new life in his resurrection. Clothing us, beggars, with the glorious robe of his righteous, sacrificial death for us. 

This is who God is. God is known in giving. He gives his life for us. He gives his Word to us. He gives his body and blood for us and our forgiveness. And he who did not spare his own Son but gave himself up for us all, how will he not with him graciously give us all things. 

That’s what we learn in the catechism. We who have nothing are given everything in Jesus. 

He gives us body, soul, eyes, ears, and my members, my reason and all my senses, and still preserves them. He also gives me clothing and shoes, house and home, food and drink, wife and children, land, animals, and all I have . He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life…All this he does out of pure fatherly divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me. 

For all this it is my duty to thank and praise, serve and obey him. 

Thanksgiving, you see, isn’t the root of God’s love for us, but the fruit of God’s abundant giving. We’re like fruit trees. Thanksgiving is the fruit of God’s abundant gifts to us, not our gifts to God. Thanksgiving is God’s work in us, not our work for God. Thanksgiving isn’t the gift, it’s the result of God’s giving everything to us in Jesus. It was true of those 10 lepers and it’s true for us too. Thanksgiving is the fruit of God’s gifts to us in Jesus Crucified. 

God doesn’t give His gifts because we’re good enough, or thankful enough. God doesn’t give his gifts only to those who know how to give thanks in the right way. Or feel thanks strongly enough. God gave to you. Broken, hurting, sinful you. Go in peace. For the one who has given you your faith has made you well. The one who has given everything has saved you. And it’s that gift of God alone that brings us to say, Thanks be to God.

A blessed Thanksgiving to each of you…

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.