Well, here we are, seven days closer to Thanksgiving than we were last Sunday. And just in case some might notice a 12-pound Shady Brooks Farm turkey from Walmart in the freezer and wonder how it got there, well, it’s mine. We just don’t have room in our little side-by-side refrigerator at home. And now that the noodles are pretty much gone, PTL, there’s room here. Of course, in the next seven days, we’ll be getting all the other stuff we’re going to need before the big day. And since this will be the first of three dinners Maggie and her boyfriend will attend, one with us and two with his family, well, we sure want to be in the top two. Let’s just say, Thanksgiving will be here before you know it.
Which, of course, also means we’ve passed the midway point in our sermon series, A Time to Be Thankful: 4 Reasons to be Thankful for This Thanksgiving. Now, to this point, we’ve already talked about how we can be thankful for God, you know, for protecting us and saving us and loving us. And last week, we looked at how we can also be thankful for our savior, Jesus Christ, for the resurrection and for the crucifixion and for the life he lived. And this morning, we’re going to discuss another reason to thank God, namely that we can be thankful for the Bible. And I’ll tell you, how we express our thanks, well, this may set the Bible apart from the other first two topics we covered. I mean, expressing this kind of thanks may be a little bit more concrete and active than what we might offer to either our God or our Savior.
I mean, it’s sort of like what happened at the end of that movie I used to watch multiple times every Christmas, and I’m talking about
It’s a Wonderful Life. I love it. Now I don’t think I need to go through the whole story, you know about how George Bailey sacrificed himself for others only to feel really angry and bitter when Uncle Billy lost $8,000, about $100,000 in today’s money. In fact, he was so overwhelmed he thought about killing himself for his life insurance. And even though Clarence the Angel showed George just how important his life had been, I think that was all brought home at the end when everybody in town donated their own money to bail him out. In other words, his friends and neighbors sacrificed a little of themselves to show George just how thankful they were.
And I’ll tell you, as we approach the Bible, I think we’re in a similar situation. You see, although thankful thoughts and feelings and even words may be important, maybe the best way to show just how thankful we are for the Bible is to do something a little more concrete and active. And that’s what we’re going to talk about this morning. You see, we’re going to consider three steps we can take to demonstrate that we really are thankful that God has given us his word. And for each, we’ll look at what it means, why it’s important to do and how it might be done. And hopefully, by the end, we’ll be able to express our thanks in a way that others might actually be able to see. Now that’s the plan.
For example, in my opinion, we can show that we’re truly thankful for the Bible by spending some time to read it. Now, for me, that’s the first step. Of course, I recognize that’s kind of a “dah” statement, but I’ll tell you, I know plenty of people who have no qualms talking about what the Bible says without ever really sitting down and reading it. Well, I’ll tell you, that was certainly not what those Old Testament guys like Joshua did. I mean, before leading the people into the Promised Land, just listen to what God said to this person who, in Hebrew, had the same name as Jesus:
Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to act in accordance with all the law that my servant Moses commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, so that you may be successful wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to act in accordance with all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall be successful. I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” [Joshua 1:7-9, CEV]
You see, because of these words from God, Joshua knew exactly why reading and meditating on God’s word was important.
And I’ll tell you, so should we. I mean, just think of everything we learn when we begin to read our Bibles. For example, in these pages, we’re going to run across all kinds of stuff about how we can grow spiritually, and I’m talking about how reading the Bible can cause our faith to become stronger and more mature and how it can deepen our connection to and relationship with God and how it can provide us with wisdom and guidance as we go about living our lives as well as comfort and encouragement when we find ourselves facing difficult times. You see, the Bible can really help us spiritually grow on the inside. But that’s not all; it can also give us all kinds of moral and ethical guidance as we deal with life on the outside. I mean, let’s face it, the Bible offers all kinds of principles that can shape our character and all kinds of warnings that can help us avoid temptations and all kinds of examples that right here and now we can follow. And I haven’t even mentioned everything the Bible teaches us about the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Let’s just say, there’s a lot of good things right here in the Bible.
But I’ll tell you, we’re never going to know any of it, if we don’t spend some time to read it, you know, to take in the stories and to hear those “beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life” we sang about in our first song this morning. You see, this is something we’re going to have to do, if we want to experience the growth and to receive the guidance the Bible offers. But here’s some good news; I think we can make this reading a whole less difficult and a whole lot more engaging. I mean, let’s face it, sometimes the Bible can be hard to read, much less understand. But that changes when we choose a more user-friendly translation, you know, like the Contemporary English Version. I’ll tell you, that’s why we use it in worship. My gosh, God doesn’t give us bonus points for struggling through the King James. And we’ll probably get more out of it, if we choose to make scripture reading more of a consistent habit than a special event. And as a way to do that, we might want to use the Personal Scripture Readings on the inside of the bulletin’s back cover or check out the daily Bible passages we post on the church Facebook page every day. I’ll tell you, it can’t get easier than that. You see, we can spend some time to read it, and I think that’s the first step in showing our thanks for the Bible.
But you know, as important as this decision is, for me, the second step is equally important. You see, once we decide to read it, we can show that we’re truly thankful for the Bible by making some effort to understand it, you know, to understand what all those words we read mean and how they might be applied in our lives. And I’ll tell you, I think this was exactly what the writer of the Proverbs encouraged his child to do. He said,
My child, you must follow
and treasure my teachings
and my instructions.
Keep in tune with wisdom
and think what it means
to have common sense.
Beg as loud as you can
for good common sense.
Search for wisdom
as you would search for silver
or hidden treasure.
Then you will understand
what it means to respect
and to know the Lord God. [Proverb 2:1-5, CEV]
Now that’s what he wrote. I’ll tell you, in my opinion, paraphrasing Cactus Jack Garner, FDR’s Vice President, knowing the words ain’t worth a bucket of spit (although he didn’t use the word “spit”) if you don’t know what those words mean.
And trust me, understanding the meaning, that really takes some effort on our part. I mean, let’s get real, the Bible was written in three different languages, none of which was English, over the course of at least two thousand years to people who lived in radically different cultures and who faced radically different problems. And within scripture itself, each book has its own unique structure and each writer had his or her own unique perspective and goals and each audience had its own unique history and issues that affected both the structure of the book and the goals of the writer. Now that’s just the way it was. And even though Paul wrote that “
everything in the Scriptures is God’s Word. All of it is useful for teaching and helping people and for correcting them and showing them how to live,” [2 Timothy 3:16, CEV], it’s probably going to take a little effort on our part to have a more focused understanding of its meaning.
And fortunately, there are some things we can do if we’re interested in this happening. For example, there are all kinds of tools that are available, and I’m talking about Study Bibles that offer notes and cross-references, maps and historical background right on the page and commentaries that provide deeper, verse-by-verse insights from scholars and Bible Dictionaries which provide articles on people, places, and terms found in scripture. Man, we’ve got all this stuff at our disposal, and trust me, we can find all of it online if we want. But you know, along with using these specific tools, if we want our understanding to increase, we might what to join a community like the one that meets here every Wednesday at 10:30, and I’m talking about a place where we can study scripture and discuss its meaning and apply that meaning to our lives. I’ll tell you, all this can surely come in handy, if we’re serious about making some effort to understand God’s word, and for me, that’s the second step in showing our thanks for the Bible.
But you know, even if we’ve spent some time to read it and made some effort to understand it, I think the rubber really hits the road with the third step. You see, we can show that we’re truly thankful for the Bible by taking some action to live it, in other words, to let the scripture we’ve read and the truth we now understand, to let that scripture and that truth shape our words and our work, our attitude and our aspirations, our responses and our relationships. Now, for me, that’s really living the word, something about which I think James was clear in his letter, when he wrote this:
Obey God’s message! Don’t fool yourselves by just listening to it. If you hear the message and don’t obey it, you are like people who stare at themselves in a mirror and forget what they look like as soon as they leave. But you must never stop looking at the perfect law that sets you free. God will bless you in everything you do, if you listen and obey, and don’t just hear and forget. [James 1:22-25, CEV]
Simply put, for James, what we do is just plain more important than what we hear or read or understand.
And I’ll tell you, I think that’s really important for us to know. You see, when we use what we’ve read and understand to shape what we do, we begin to reflect Jesus’s example, and we do it by following in his footsteps and by putting the needs of others above our own wants and by showing the same kind of sacrificial love that he showed to us. But not only that, we’re also expressing that faith involves action, that it involves making what we believe visible through tangible acts of mercy and compassion and actively loving our neighbor as much as we love ourselves. And I’ll tell you, we’re also building up this community in which we were all called, a body where believers can stay strong and united through mutual support and sacrificial love and shared experiences and a fellowship that glorifies God by using all the gifts and talents that he’s given us in order to show the world Christ’s love. You see, through these selfless acts of service, we can show the world the love of Jesus and the power of the Gospel, acting as the “hands and feet of Christ”. You see, this is why it’s so important to live the word we’ve read and understood.
And I’ll tell you, this is possible when we decide that we’re going to do it. For example, each morning, we can intentionally decide on specific things we may do that day, you know, to identify concrete and measurable and achievable actions that reflect Jesus Christ, things that may be as simple as forgiving someone who’s hurt us or reaching out to somebody who needs us. And we can make a plan; we can take a passage and determine the what and the who and the where and the how. And we can decide that living the faith isn’t an isolated exception but rather a continuing pattern. It’s not something that we occasionally do but rather something that we consistently practice. Man, it’s not an event but a lifestyle. In other words, it’s actually living out what we’ve read and understood. And for me, that’s the third step in showing our thanks for the Bible.
Now, in the movie,
It’s a Wonderful Life, we know that George was changed before the very end of the movie. I mean, we could see it as he ran down the street in Bedford Falls. And we could hear it when wished Mr. Potter “Merry Christmas.” And we could feel it when he got home and hugged his kids. I’ll tell you, George Bailey was a changed man. But you know, when Mary led all his friends and neighbors into the house and when they each put a dollar or some change in the basket and when Harry came in and said, “To my big brother George, the richest man in town,” George knew that his friends and family were truly thankful that he’d been a part of their lives. And I’ll tell you, because we saw it, so did we.
And you know, we can do the same kind of thing as we approach God’s word. You see, we can show our thanks by spending some time to read it and by making some effort to understand it and by taking some actions to live it. And I’ll tell you, if we pull it off over the next few weeks, I think we’ll be using this time before Thanksgiving to demonstrate that we really are thankful for the Bible.
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