11-26-13 Thanksgiving Sermon - Psalm 136
Issued by President George Washington, at the request of Congress, on October 3, 1789
Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and—Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me “to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:”
Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation;
Give thanks. This was not only the command of George Washington for one day a year. It is the command of God for every day of the year. As we say in the liturgy of our worship, “It is truly good and right that we should at all times and in all places give you thanks.” Jesus often gave thanks. When He fed the four thousand with five loaves of bread and two fish, he first of all gave thanks. When He instituted the Lord’s Supper, He first of all gave thanks. Before He actually raised Lazarus, He publicly gave thanks to the Father for hearing His prayer. He wanted everyone to know why and how He did what He did. He wanted His Father to get the praise for His miracles. This is why Jesus told us to do our good works. Do them so that people praise your Father in heaven for what HE is doing through you. God likes it when we tell Him “Thank you,” just like when we enjoy hearing an occasional thanks from our children. He certainly deserves it.
You wouldn’t think it would be so hard to do. But we sure do make it seem that way. Think of the lepers in our Gospel lesson. Jesus told them to go and show themselves to the priests. Luke doesn’t say where 9 of them went after they were healed. Maybe they went to the priests as told. Maybe they went home. Either way, Jesus was upset that they didn’t have the decency to personally return to Him and say “thanks.” It’s a good time you came here to the house of God and say, “Thanks” to Jesus. We’re going to use Psalm 136 as our guide for today.
Give Thanks to the LORD
I. Just for who He is
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever.
When we thank God it is always for something that He is giving us. When someone thanks you because of what you give them, it makes you wonder if they really are thankful for you or for what you give them. Would they like you and praise you if you had nothing to give them? The end of Habakkuk has a wonderful praise of God. It says,
Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
The Psalmist tells us to praise and thank God for who He is. He is a good God. We have no choice and no control over who God is. He could have been cruel. He could have been like the Romans made their gods; petty and selfish. But the true God of gods is not that way. He is a good and giving God. He is praiseworthy for who He is, even if He were to give us nothing.
The amazing thing is that in America you can find the most unthankful people of all; even though God has given us so much. Go to the third world countries and you find people praising and thanking God in worship. You know their thanks on not based on their circumstances. They are not praising God for being their sugar daddy. They are praising God for who He is. This is what God wants from us. Pure praise and thanks; just for who He is.
He is good. Good is an understatement.
II. For his wonderful creation
to him who alone does great wonders, His love endures forever.
5 who by his understanding made the heavens, His love endures forever.
6 who spread out the earth upon the waters, His love endures forever.
7 who made the great lights— His love endures forever.
8 the sun to govern the day, His love endures forever.
9 the moon and stars to govern the night; His love endures forever.
We have our noses buried in our phones, computers and TV that we forget how important these staples of our world are needed and how wonderful they are. Our children at school were recently presented on the wonders of Creation. My son told me how he mentioned how important the sun is the size it is. Were it a little bigger or smaller, we couldn’t survive. The bigger planets on the outskirts of our system draw 95% of the meteors away from the earth by their gravity. He’s coming to the Bookstore at the end of January, and I love these presentations! They make me so much more appreciative of Creation. I have been trying to simply memorize the major constellations and where to find them, and I still struggle yet today; even with an I-Pad app! Are these not the most basic and yet overlooked things that we take for granted in our world?
How many of you thanked God for the sun, moon and stars within the past year? We never have appreciated the sun so much until we moved to MI and had to live without seeing it for weeks at a time. We didn’t have such problems in KS. Think about when darkness came over Egypt in the plague. It was a darkness that could be felt. How they would have begged for the sun or moon at that moment! Think also of when darkness covered the land at the time of Jesus’ death. How eerie and scary it must have felt for those soldiers and the people of Jerusalem at that time! Think also of the terror for the unbelieving world on the Day of Judgment, when the sun, moon and stars go falling from the sky!
These are the most basic signs of God’s love and providence to us. Don’t overlook the basics in life. Think of Luther’s Morning Prayer. “I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ your dear Son, that you have graciously kept me this night.” You think, “What could happen during the night?” Well, lots of things could happen. Your house could be broken into. You could suffer a heart attack and die. Your water lines could burst. In most societies, those who would do evil to you will do it at night when you are sleeping. The devil is the lord of darkness. The basics are not things to be overlooked. Yes, thank and praise God for the sun, moon and stars. Were it not for these wonderful blessings we would have nothing to measure time by and nothing to open the shades for; no reason to look up at night; no heat and no life as we know it. Maybe also we wouldn’t find ourselves so upset about our weight or our favorite sports teams if we remembered how gracious God is to us in just the basics of life.
III. For His salvation
10 to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt His love endures forever.
11 and brought Israel out from among them His love endures forever.
12 with a mighty hand and outstretched arm; His love endures forever.
13 to him who divided the Red Sea asunder His love endures forever.
14 and brought Israel through the midst of it, His love endures forever.
15 but swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea; His love endures forever.
It might seem strange to thank God for sending His angel of death to go into the homes of Egypt to kill their babies, toddlers and almost grown boys in Egypt. It might also seem strange to equate this with “love.” But when the Egyptian Pharaoh was holding the Israelites captive, he wasn’t going to let go. No matter what else God did to get Pharaoh to let go by sending frogs, gnats and darkness, he just wouldn’t let Israel go. God had adopted Israel as he was His own firstborn Son, and Pharaoh was abusing Israel. So God did what any loving Father would do. He punished Pharaoh and did whatever He had to do to get Pharaoh to let Israel go. When Pharaoh went after Israel in the Red Sea, God didn’t hesitate to drown him and his army. He had to keep His promise alive; to send the Savior through Israel. If the LORD had done NOTHING to Pharaoh and his firstborn sons, the Israelites would have still been in slavery and we would still be on our way to hell. Call it barbaric if you like, but there are times where the LORD has to be barbaric when it comes to sin and Satan.
Isn’t this the kind of God we need? We needed a God who would smash Satan’s head; and that wouldn’t be easy. The odd way is in how God had to do it. Not by stepping on Satan’s head; but by piercing His own Son’s hands and feet and treating Him like the only sinner in the world; punishing Him for the sins of the world. This is why we praise God for doing what He did to His Only Son, Jesus Christ. He had to the tough and dirty work of crucifying Him and putting Him to death for the sins of the world. He had to do this in order to make the payment for our sins. The only thing that would loosen Satan’s accusations from us would be to punish Jesus instead of us.
So this is the ultimate reason for our Thanksgiving. It is because of what God did to His firstborn from eternity; His One and Only Son. The only way His wrath could let go of us would be through the death of His Son. This is His love in display and action; in the bloody death of His Son. There is no other way of redemption but through this death. Death would not let go except through this death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Give thanks.
IV. For His inheritance
16 to him who led his people through the wilderness; His love endures forever.
17 to him who struck down great kings, His love endures forever.
18 and killed mighty kings—His love endures forever.
19 Sihon king of the Amorites His love endures forever.
20 and Og king of Bashan—His love endures forever.
21 and gave their land as an inheritance, His love endures forever.
22 an inheritance to his servant Israel. His love endures forever.
When the Israelites were rescued from the Pharaoh they were not out of danger. They had to go through a desert and then fight mighty kings in order to get into the Promised Land. Throughout the journey, dangerous as it was, the LORD kept them alive and defeated their enemies. They asked Sihon, the king of the Amorites if they could pass through peacefully. Instead, Sihon gathered forces for a fight. The Israelites trounced him. Then Og king of Bashan tried the same thing. Deuteronomy 3 says,
All these cities were fortified with high walls and with gates and bars, and there were also a great many unwalled villages. 6 We completely destroyed them, as we had done with Sihon king of Heshbon, destroying every city.
These two battles were like the Battle of Gettysburg was to the Union Army of America vs. the South. They signalled that the Promised Land was theirs. Many victories were to come. So throughout the Old Testament you’ll hear these two names ring out; Sihon and Og. They were the two losers on the east of the Jordan. They gave the Israelites reason to thank God. By their death God was able to give the Israelites the land He had Promised them, as an INHERITANCE; not as something they had earned; but something they were given through the wars against Sihon and Og.
From a physical perspective, think about the wonderful land that we have been given by the LORD; through the bloodshed and work of our forefathers. They established this land; built the roads; fought the battles; died from the sickness and disease; and we are reaping the benefits. Give thanks to the LORD for this.
In a similar way when we are delivered from Satan in our baptism this only starts the journey on the way to the Promised Land of heaven. This is only the beginning of the battle. We have to face the dangers of living in a desert drear of sin. But heaven is our home. It is ours as an inheritance; earned by Christ. No foe will keep us from the Promised Land with the LORD Jesus Christ on our side. Death doesn’t keep us from it; it only delivers us to it. So we have more reason to give thanks. If God could keep the Israelites alive through a desert then He can keep His promise alive to you through cancer; sickness; temptation; nothing is too great. As Paul said to the Romans,
I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
V. His love endures forever
23 He remembered us in our low estate His love endures forever.
24 and freed us from our enemies. His love endures forever.
25 He gives food to every creature. His love endures forever.
26 Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever.
Throughout this entire Psalm the refrain keeps going back to the main reason we thank God and praise Him for all He is and does - le-olam chusdoe - for eternity is his chesed. Chesed is what ultimately defines Him; even more than the fact that He is good; it is His love.
The NIV translation of this phrase - his love endures forever - no English translation can really capture who the LORD is or what this word means. I like the verb “endures” however. It reflects well what chesed - or chusdoe in this case - really is and does. It is used throughout the Bible in a variety of ways. It almost always involves someone doing something for someone who needs help; for someone who has nothing to give in return; who is just a beggar. It is done solely for the good of the person who needs it. That’s what the Psalm praises God for; remembering us in our low estate. Who were we to deserve all that you’ve done for us? We were nothing! We had nothing to offer him. Yet He chose to give us everything, and He continues to remain a loving God throughout eternity. He will never change.
This is the greatest reason we have to thank God this day, is that He never changes. He has promised that we can find mercy in Jesus Christ. We can find forgiveness in His death and hope in His resurrection. This will never change. God will never change. When our faith is strong or weak, His mercy will endure forever. So we thank God for His chesed - His faithful and enduring love and mercy that saves from slavery; that feeds us; that gives us forgiveness and hope that never ends.
Give thanks to the LORD. When Jesus healed the ten lepers, only one out of the ten came back to return Him; the Samaritan who knew that he had no right to be healed by the Messiah. Only 10 percent gave thanks. It wasn’t that hard for him to turn back and say to Jesus, “Thanks.” It was a good and right thing to do. It was well worth his time.
I don’t know what percentage we have had come to give thanks to the LORD today. But it is a good thing to do not just today and not just before you eat your Thanksgiving meal; but always; for we too are just like the begging lepers; and we too have much to be thankful for. Don’t forget the basics in life; things like the sun, moon and stars. Don’t forget your redemption in Christ. Don’t forget how how He conquered sin, death and the devil in the death and resurrection of Christ and how God keeps your hope alive in the desert of life.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever. Amen.
