WE GIVE THANKS TO GOD

Good morning on this national day of thanksgiving, and on this HOLY DAY  in the Episcopal Church. Today we, as the body of Christ, gather in THANKSGIVING t o offer prayers and to worship God. And to hear a sermon.  

To give an introduction to that sermon, I pose this question.
For what do we give thanks?   For what do we give thanks? 

At first blush... it is for the harvested fruits of the earth in their season, and the labor of those who harvested them... as we hear in the collect for the service this morning.   I suggest that we also have much, much more to give thanks for to God.  In the catechism, in the Book of Common Prayer (page 857) is found the answer to the question I just posed ...For what do we give thanks? The catechism says this:  that when we pray and worship we offer thanksgiving to God for three reasons: 1. For all the blessings of this life,  2. For our redemption, and  3. For whatever draws us closer to God...

1. As for the first  (all the blessing of this life), how is it possible to explain or even begin to understand All the Blessings of This Life?  In trying to get a handle on an understanding of all the blessings of this life, I began by looking in a dictionary for the definition of blessing, and found in The Random House, College Dictionary, several meanings.  The one that seemed relevant to prayer and worship is this:  Blessings are a gift from GOD.   So, I asked, what are all the gifts from God for which we give thanks today? Then I began to wonder where to begin, as I struggled to compose this sermon.  I can’t tell you how many drafts went into the computer at home as I struggled to get a handle on the unlimited gifts from God that are blessings in our lives.  Then, as I began to get nervous because this morning was fast approaching and I seemed to be missing something, I found what I wanted to share with you.  And it happened like this: Two Wednesdays ago, Nov. 19 in fact, at about 6:30 PM, Patti (my wife) and I arrived at All Saints’ for a Wednesday night meal.  As we walked across the parking lot we saw several parishioners on the curb looking up into a clear night sky.   I asked, “Are you looking for a satellite?” Patti and I joined them because they told us that at any minute the space station would appear crossing the evening sky.  Then shortly thereafter Patti proclaimed, “There it is!”  Looking up into the evening sky that was clear of clouds I first saw two bright stars, actually planets: one Venus and the other Jupiter, and many lesser stars in the background.  I saw too the vastness of space and even the universe beyond, and for that brief moment I sensed interstellar space and galaxies, and even the sun and the planets in their courses...all of which, at the command of God, came into being, including earth, our island home. Then suddenly, I was brought back to earth, if you will. I saw the space station.  It was made visible by the light of our sun reflecting on it as it moved across the evening sky.  I saw man traveling beyond planet Earth moving across all of God’s creation.  I felt that I had experienced the immensity of God’s creation.  And at the same time, for me to try and understand who God is, is beyond my comprehension. One thing is certain, that all of creation is from God and it is a gift, a blessing if you will.  The significance of all creation, seems to me, to encompass All The Blessings of This Life, and for that we offer thanksgiving to God today in our prayers and worship.  And too, we remember to give thanks to God, for the rain that nourishes the valleys that are decked with grain, as we heard in the psalm this morning, and for a land of milk and honey that is our nation, from sea to  shining sea.
  
2.   Then there is the second reason for offering thanksgiving from the quote from the catechism:  we give thanks to God for our redemption.
In the gospel for today, a community of ten lepers seeing Jesus, called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” And when Jesus saw them, he said, “Go and show yourself to the priest.”  They did as Jesus commanded them, and along the way they were healed.  By their being healed they were redeemed.  That redemption was for them a new life in the world, and they could return to their families and communities.  When they cried for mercy, they were diseased with leprosy (a disease caused by an organism and characterized by ulcerations, loss of fingers, and toes) and they were isolated from the world.  And when we are honest, we know that we too, as we go through life, can become isolated and at times have a feeling of hopelessness when we have hurt a loved one, or violated one of God’s commandments.  And we know too, that because we have Faith in God and in Jesus, that when we call upon God for mercy and confess our sins that have separated us from the love of God, that God will grant us mercy, and will forgive our sins through our Lord Jesus Christ.  We will be redeemed.  Yes, when we are forgiven we are redeemed, and we are thankful, just as the healed person who had leprosy returned to Jesus praising God with a loud voice and at the feet of Jesus gave thanks to Jesus.   That is what we are doing this morning.  We are gathered to offer prayers and to worship God, giving thanks for his son Jesus, and for our redemption. And Jesus responds to each of us through the Gospel this morning, that it is our FAITH in God, and in Jesus, that is the source of our redemption.  For GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE US HIS  SON, SO THAT ALL WHO BELIEVE IN HIM  WILL  NOT PARISH .

3.   And last but not least, the third reason for offering THANKSGIVING TO GOD is “FOR WHATEVER DRAWS US CLOSER TO GOD.”  And, it seems to me, that there is no greater reason for offering thanks than this:  that our Lord Jesus, by his words and teachings, draws us into a realization that GOD who created all things, is not beyond  human understanding.  How is this possible?  I believe it is this.  God who created the vast expanse of interstellar space, the galaxies, the suns, this fragile earth and all human beings is also OUR FATHER.  Just as we have fathers that are our flesh and blood, we know that we have a spiritual FATHER, who loves us so dearly, that He sent his son to us to redeem us, when we stray like lost sheep and to let us know by his teachings, and example, and especially by the prayer that he taught us that God is OUR FATHER.  And that my brothers and sisters in Christ, is indeed a closer relationship with the same God the creator of all things, and who is also our Father, which art in heaven, and holy is His name.  AMEN

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