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I am having trouble preaching on the Thanksgiving RCL texts because they seem self-evident, deep, rich, and wonderful. What on earth could I add to them?
From the Collect, "Make us, we pray, faithful stewards of your great bounty."
The Thanksgiving holiday is a terrific time to talk theology. But
some theologies make more sense when offering thanks to our loving Lord.
Whether the setting is private or public, secular or sacred,
hundreds of millions express gratitude. Often, even the day’s newscasts
are laden with words of Holy appreciation.
Giving thanks is a fundamental act of faith. The Psalms are filled with
calls the give thanks and offer thanksgiving. "O Give thanks to the
LORD..." In my own Calvinist tradition, gratitude is understood as the
prime motivator of a Christian life. And so this week when most all
Americans celebrate Thanksgiving would seem to be a moment when an
entire nation cou
Leadership at its best is about being present with
those we lead and being less reactive to the inevitable ups and downs
of church life – including the inevitable financial ups and downs.
On this day in 1918, World War I ended. Wikipedia says that there was a "cessation of hostilities." That gets it about right. There was not peace and there was not justice; people were just sick and tired of war.
When we reflect on our projects as Christians, we are good at telling positive stories: an orphanage built in Thailand; numerous church plants in British Columbia; fundraising to support a local Bible college. To quote Eugene Peterson, “we work very hard at our faith,” and many times, this is a good thing. So we rightly tell these stories. They bring a necessary inspiration to continue making a difference in the world. We need to know and be reminded, I believe, that change is possible.
One problem. These aren’t the only stories to tell.
In Paul's second letter to the church in Thessolonica he warns the
Christians there about hanging out with followers of Jesus who are
living in idleness, and since laziness is one of my key struggles in
life, it hit me right between the eyes this cold fall Monday morning.
One of the problems with moving forward is that there are times that require looking back--and not with nostalgia.
I was recently visiting with a friend who is a Vietnam veteran, describing "then" and "now."
He
described it like this: "When I came home, I sort of put all that
stuff in a package. You know, when I was in country, we always said
"When I get back to the world, I'm gonna...etc. etc." It was sort of
like Vietnam was "another world."
I
have a friend who washes windows for a living. I don't know what he used
to do. According to him he raised horses, made a lot of money, owned
everything he wanted and drank heavily. He more or less stumbled into
Jesus through an introduction from another friend of mine, an Adventist
pastor. Now he and Jesus are tight, he's been sober for five or six
years, and he
