Well, this morning we’re coming to the end of our little sermon series dealing with Thanksgiving. And it’s not a moment too soon. I mean, before you know it, the turkey will be a carcass. The gravy will be gone. And what’s left of the mashed potatoes will be in Tupperware. I think you could say that, at this point, we’ve almost made it through the second preliminary before getting to the main event in thirty-two days. But that’s still in the future.
But be that as it may, as I said, this morning, we’re tying up our discussion of how we can make this November a time to be thankful. And as y’all know, over the last three weeks, we’ve considered several different reasons. For example, we looked at how we can be thankful for our God, because he protects us and he saves us and he loves us. And then we looked at how we can be thankful for our Savior, and in particular, for the resurrection he experienced and for the crucifixion he endured and for the life he lived. And last week, we focused on how we can be thankful for the Bible, an attitude we demonstrate every time we make the decision to read it and to understand it and to live it. Now that’s what we’ve already covered. And this morning, we’ll discuss what I think is the fourth reason Christians can give thanks this time of year, and now I’m talking about how we can be thankful for the church.
And I’ll tell you, I believe that’s really appropriate on this last Sunday before we celebrate Thanksgiving, because in a very real way both the church and the day, man, they’re all about community, aren’t they? I mean, in my life-time, I’ve celebrated Thanksgiving sixty-eight times. And even though I spent a fair number of those years living by myself, I bet I could count on one hand the number of times I’ve eaten my turkey alone, and once it was because I was sick. No, Thanksgiving really is about community.
And I’ll tell you, that’s why I was so happy to hear that, back in Norfolk, they’re going to have a little party on Thursday. You see, when I talked to my Dad this last Sunday, he told me that my brother and my sister and her whole family were coming over to the house on Thanksgiving. And my niece, who’s a trained chef, is going to cook a turkey and make candied yams and mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie. I think you could call those “all the trimmings.” And as he was saying all this, I’ve got to tell you, it sounded wonderful and brought back all kinds of memories. As a matter of fact, there was really only one thing he told me that sort of made my heart sink just a little bit: there’ll be no oyster dressing, my favorite part of our thanksgiving tradition. Say it ain’t so. Well, I guess you can’t have everything. Let’s just say, over as the Rudiger compound, the focus will be on football and food and family.
And you know, this business about family, well, in a very real way, that’s going to be our focus this morning. I mean, as I said just a little while ago, we’re going to spend some time talking about the family of God, this community of brothers and sisters, namely the ἐκκλησία, the church. You see, we’re going to consider three reasons I believe we can be thankful for this community.
For example, I believe we can be thankful for the church, because the church gives us a focus. Now, in my opinion, that’s our first reason to give thanks. In other words, as members of this body, we all share a common vision, a foundation on which we stand, a set of beliefs and values and principles that draw us together. You see, even though we might come from different places and speak different languages and have radically different memories, God, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, stands at the center of our faith. He’s our focus. It’s like what Paul wrote to the Colossians:
Christ is exactly like God,
who cannot be seen.
He is the first-born Son,
superior to all creation.
Everything was created by him,
everything in heaven
and on earth,
everything seen and unseen,
including all forces
and powers,
and all rulers
and authorities.
All things were created
by God’s Son,
and everything was made
for him.
God’s Son was before all else,
and by him everything
is held together.
He is the head of his body,
which is the church.
He is the very beginning,
the first to be raised
from death,
so that he would be
above all others.
God himself was pleased
to live fully in his Son.
And God was pleased
for him to make peace
by sacrificing his blood
on the cross,
so that all beings in heaven
and on earth
would be brought back to God. [Colossians 1:15-20, CEV]
You see, as brothers and sisters united in Christ, that’s our focus.
And I’ll tell you, I believe the church is the place where this focus can grow and deepen. For example, it’s right here, in this place, where we can do some of the stuff we talked about last week. I mean, right here, we can grow in our knowledge of the Bible, God’s written word to us. And we can grow in our understanding of how that word most clearly reflects God’s will, both for us and for all his creation. And we can grow in our ability to take that word which we know and that will which we understand, we can take God’s message and apply it to our lives. I’m telling you, right here, our focus can grow. But I’ll tell you something else, I also believe it can deepen. I mean, by being in this place where we not only learn but also celebrate and worship and pray, you see, by being here, our appreciation of God is going to strengthen and our relationship with Jesus is going to expand and our sensitivity to the Holy Spirit is going to intensify. You see, in my opinion, the church is where our focus can grow and deepen.
And I’ll tell you, I believe this is going to happen when we decide to let it happen. I mean, as a community, we can make sure that we all have the opportunity to grow in our knowledge and in our understanding and our ability to apply. And we can build the kind of atmosphere where things like prayer and praise and worship seem natural and where we feel so accepted and loved that we can express emotions and voice opinions and share experiences without feeling either ignored or excluded. You see, together we can do this. And as individual Christians, we can take advantage of the opportunities that we now have. And I’ll tell you, if we don’t have enough, man, we can suggest more, and I’m talking about more chances to know and to understand and to apply, and more chances to celebrate and to worship and to pray. Right here, in this place, our knowledge of God can grow and our relationship with God can sure deepen. You see, this is something that can happen, because the church gives us a focus. And for me, that’s the first reason to give thanks.
But that’s not all, because in my opinion, second, the church also gives us an identity. In other words, it tells us who we are both in relationship with God and with one another. You see, since we’ve been called here and we’ve responded to that call, we really are special. And you know, I think that awareness can shape our personal connections within the body, because it happened before. I mean, right after the Holy Spirit came and rested on the disciples at Pentecost, just listen to how Luke describe this new community, this new family that born of fire and water:
All the Lord’s followers often met together, and they shared everything they had. They would sell their property and possessions and give the money to whoever was in need. Day after day they met together in the temple. They broke bread together in different homes and shared their food happily and freely, while praising God. Everyone liked them, and each day the Lord added to their group others who were being saved. [Acts 2:44-47, CEV]
Now, I think you could call that the perfect church, and I’ll tell you why. You see, within that community, meeting both the physical and the spiritual needs of the people were priorities. I mean, what did Luke say? “
They shared everything they had” [Acts 2:44b, CEV] for crying out loud. And “
they would sell their property and possessions and give the money to whoever was in need.” [Acts 2:45, CEV] And they “
...shared their food happily and freely.” [Acts 2:46b, CEV] Now that’s what they did; no wonder everyone liked them. But I’ll tell you, that’s not all that happened, because even before the coming of the Holy Spirit, Luke wrote that “
the apostles often met together and prayed with a single purpose in mind.” [Acts 1:14a, CEV] And a little later, “
While Peter was being kept in jail, the church never stopped praying to God for him.” [Acts 12:5, CEV] I’ll tell you, this new community was sharing and it was praying; you see, this is what this common identity led the church to do.
And you know, I think it can do the same for us. But let’s get real, for that to happen, I believe it’s crucial to create the kind of atmosphere in which requests can be made without shame and help can be given without pride. I mean, on one hand, I think we all know that sometimes it’s hard to ask for help, and I’m not just talking about financial or physical assistance. You see, asking for help demonstrates that we just can’t make it on our own, that we’re not self-sufficient, in fact, that from time to time, we might be the kind of people that the world labels “lazy” or “irresponsible” or “weak.” Asking for help can result in some real guilt and genuine shame. On the other hand, though, having the means and ability to help others, man, that can be a boost to the old ego, and I’m talking about the kind of boost that can put a wedge between us and those whom we might see as beneath us. You see, if we’re not careful, even something as positive as generosity can lead to a lot of pride. And I’ll tell you, I think that’s reason creating the right kind of atmosphere is really important, and I’m talking about one that reflects what Paul wrote to the Galatians, you know, that “faith in Christ Jesus is what makes each of you equal with each other, whether you are a Jew or a Greek, a slave or a free person, a man or a woman.” [Galatians 3:28, CEV] You see, this is the kind of identity we have as members of the church. And in my opinion, that’s the second reason to give thanks.
And third, I believe we can also be thankful, because the church gives us a purpose. In other words, it gives us a reason to be, a mission to follow, a duty that is constantly drawing us out into the world around us. I mean, just listen to words Jesus said in his final lesson to his disciples before the Last Supper:
When the Son of Man comes in his glory with all his angels, he will sit on his royal throne. The people of all nations will be brought before him, and he will separate them, as shepherds separate their sheep from their goats.
He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, “My father has blessed you! Come and receive the kingdom that was prepared for you before the world was created. When I was hungry, you gave me something to eat, and when I was thirsty, you gave me something to drink. When I was a stranger, you welcomed me, and when I was naked, you gave me clothes to wear. When I was sick, you took care of me, and when I was in jail, you visited me.”
Then the ones who pleased the Lord will ask, “When did we give you something to eat or drink? When did we welcome you as a stranger or give you clothes to wear or visit you while you were sick or in jail?”
The king will answer, “Whenever you did it for any of my people, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you did it for me.” [Matthew 25:31-40, CEV]
Now, that’s what he said. You see, whether we like it or not, we have a responsibility to the world around us. I mean, we’re certainly responsible to share the good news of Christ to others, you know, as Jesus also said, “Go to the people of all nations and make them my disciples. Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to do everything I have told you.” [Matthew 28:19b-20a, CEV] That’s certainly part of our responsibility. But you know, when you think about it, to share the gospel, man, we also need to take human needs seriously. I mean, remember, according to James,
My friends, what good is it to say you have faith, when you don’t do anything to show you really do have faith? Can this kind of faith save you? If you know someone who doesn’t have any clothes or food, you shouldn’t just say, “I hope all goes well for you. I hope you will be warm and have plenty to eat.” What good is it to say this, unless you do something to help? Faith that doesn’t lead us to do good deeds is all alone and dead!” [James 2:14-17, CEV]
I mean, service would certainly seem to be our purpose.
And I’ll tell you, I think this is something we can do when we, as a body, make the intentional decision to listen and to act. And you know, when you think about it, that just makes sense. I mean, how in heaven’s name are we ever going to know their needs if we don’t choose to listen to the hungry and the thirsty, to the stranger and the naked, to the sick and the imprisoned. Man, we’ve got to tune-in to their frequency if we ever what to hear want the unimportant actually feel and need. But as we all know, hearing only has meaning when we decide to roll up our sleeves and to act. As Paul reminds us, without love, we’re “...nothing more than a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” [1 Corinthians 13:1b, CEV] Man, we’ve got to do something to help. But you know, that love business also applies when we’re making disciples too, doesn’t it? I guess the bottom line is that, thanks to the church, we know this is our purpose. And for me, that’s the third reason to be thankful.
Now do y’all remember me telling you about how my brother and my sister and her whole family was going to be with my Dad on Thanksgiving and how the only thing that was disappointing to me was that they weren’t going to have oyster dressing? Now you remember me saying that, right? Well, I have to be honest with y’all, that’s not exactly true. There was something else that was, well, disappointing. You see, right after telling me all about this Thanksgiving family lovefest, Dad said to his eldest son, “And Buddy (for some reason he calls me buddy now), and Buddy, you’re not invited.” Now, that’s what he said, and even though he also said he was kidding, well, I’m not so sure. I mean, to say that kind of thing, man, what could he possibly have against...Debbie? But then, if I’m really honest with myself, I guess it could be...Maggie. I’m just not sure.
But you know, whether or not Dad was kidding, this is something I pray I never hear coming from any church I have the chance to serve; you’re not invited. And that’s a good thing, because the church is an incredible thing. I mean, it’s through this body that we have a focus and that we have an identity and that we have a purpose. And for those reasons, the four days we have before Thursday can certainly be a time to be thankful for the church.
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