Thanksgiving And Communion
Sermon
Dancing The Sacraments
Sermons And Worship Services For Baptism And Communion
Call To Worship:
"O give thanks to God, for God is good...." Come, let us worship God.
Hymn: "Come, Ye Thankful People, Come"
(words: Henry Alford; music: George J. Elvey)
Children's Time:
He had not given thanks before his meal for many years. His days of regular gratitude were only a memory that had faded into the past. Yet now as they sat at the Thanksgiving table before the proof of his gourmet cooking, familiar dishes of green beans the way Granny cooked them and new dishes from the slick--covered November food magazine, something was lacking. The expectant waiters were silent, as he swallowed his emptiness to pronounce, "Let's begin!" "But, Daddy ..." The interruption came from the end of the table. His five--year--old daughter frowned as she added, "We haven't said our prayer!" He invited her to pray, for she attended a preschool housed in a church. When she finished, he sighed, smiling at his loved ones, for now the table was blessed. This was the food for which he had hungered.
Talk Together:
What did the story say to you? Have you ever reminded someone to pray? When do you pray? (Dismiss the children by inviting one of them to pray.)
Prayer Of Confession:
Worried and weary and restless, we take your bountiful gifts for granted, Lord. Forgive us and grant us your mercy. Amen.
Words Of Assurance:
Jesus says, "Come unto me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
Psalter Reading: Psalm 106:1
Old Testament: Genesis 8:20--22
Epistle: Philippians 1:3--11
New Testament: Mark 8:1--21
Sermon:
"... after giving thanks ..."
Nestled in a long narrative, long for our Gospel writer, Mark, are the words, "... after giving thanks."
There are many theories and arguments about the number of people in the crowd in Mark's story, or how so little could feed so many. Even if we had the final count of either the bread or the people, what matters is that Jesus gave thanks. He did not break the bread until he had given thanks.
The power of prayer has always perplexed me. I do not understand how it works or why it seems to work one time and not another, for some people and not for others. But since prayer is related to God who is Mystery, I accept prayer on the same terms.
With the fourteenth--century English monk, author of The Cloud of Unknowing, I say, "How am I to think of God...? I cannot answer you except to say, 'I do not know!' For with this question you have brought me into the cloud of unknowing."
Nevertheless, we can share the experiences we have had and tell the stories, for when we are in the realm of the unknown, beyond definitions, we stutter stories. Whenever I pray for understanding, I hear the voice say, "I didn't ask you to understand; I asked you to love," and then I stumble upon a story.
A child was filled with a question, which like an itch demanded to be scratched. The child did not understand how Jacob the Baker was able to decide whether to follow what he felt was right or what he thought was right. Jacob touched his chest and said, "My heart knows what my mind only thinks it knows." So the child asked, "What if neither my heart nor my mind can help me find the way?" Jacob replied, "Prayer is a path where there is none."1
My heart knows what my mind only thinks it knows ... some call it the unconscious, some intuition, some imagination. For me it is the Holy Spirit who prays for us when we do not know how to pray, discerning, energizing, creating, bringing into existence what was not there before.
"... after giving thanks ..."
When Jesus healed the ten lepers, one returned to give thanks. The story follows the disciples' plea that Jesus increase their faith (Luke 17:11--19), and he tells them that all they need is a tiny faith no bigger than a mustard seed (vv. 5--6). Luke places the story of the grateful Samaritan here as an illustration of faith that grows out of gratitude, as a plant from a tiny seed.
When the Samaritan expressed his thanks for healing, Jesus replied, "Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well."
Go live this faith, which is gratitude. In the church every day is Thanksgiving Day, for faith is rooted in gratitude.
One Christmas the teacher acquired a list of needy children and told her class of fifth graders that these children would not have gifts at Christmas unless someone shared with them. The children voted to work for their nickels and dimes and bring them to school the day before the holidays began. Unfortunately there was an ice storm on that day and school was cancelled. However, the teacher lived nearby and came to school and an empty classroom. But to her surprise, one student came in after her arrival and put fifty cents on her desk. "I worked hard to get the money," he said. "I wanted to be sure it got to the needy people." The teacher thanked him both for his work and the money and for coming through the storm. When he left, she wiped the tears from her eyes, for the boy's name was on her list of needy children.
When we have the attitude of gratitude we see miracles scattered everywhere across the earth, as God scattered manna over the land in the wilderness. To walk with radical astonishment in constant praise and thanksgiving is not to escape from the world but to bring our living praise into the world.
The gift of the Spirit, a grateful heart, is just that - a gift. Although we cannot command nor control gifts, we can, as the Southwest Native Americans say, keep open a "hole" in the "kiva" of our heart as a sacred entrance.
The poet, George Herbert, wrote,
Thou that hast given so much to me,
Give one thing more, a grateful heart,
Not thankful when it pleaseth me,
As if thy blessings had spare days;
But such a heart, whose pulse may be thy praise.2
If the only prayer we ever prayed was, "Thank you," it would be sufficient. Meister Eckhart said, "Learn to look through every gift and every event to God and never be content with the thing itself. There is no stopping place in this life. No, nor was there ever one for any person, no matter how far along the way they've gone. This above all then, be ready at all times for the gifts of God, and always for new ones."3
The poet wrote that God has given us so much and the parable expresses our thanksgiving, "Not when it pleases us, as if thy blessings had spare days, but such a heart, whose pulse may be thy praise."
Although the universe does not dance to our wants, we wait patiently with gratitude to see what the universe wishes to give and to be prepared always for the "surprises" of God, the "coincidences." The language of the spirit is the numinous feeling that anything can happen, for syncronicity is God acting anonymously. Nothing surpasses the holiness of those who have learned acceptance of all that is, for a grateful heart enjoys the blessing twice: when it receives and when it remembers.
Out of a grateful heart we give good gifts of gentle words, smiles, respect, that remind us in that moment that we are "kings and queens" in the sight of a gracious God who gives great blessings.
The elderly mother had cancer. Visiting her son and his family, she came down with pneumonia. The family set up a hospital bed in the dining room and there the family ate, talked together, watched television, and entertained family and friends. No one avoided or feared her illness and approaching death because she herself was cheerful and courageous. When asked, "How do you cope with such courage?" she replied, "I thank God every day for my many blessings."
Sometimes we take our gift without asking who is giving and sometimes even ascribing the gift to ourselves, but to be fully alive is to look for a way to experience the world that will open up and out to the Transcendent that informs and gifts it and to give honor and praise to the Giver.
The word "Eucharist" means "thank you" in Greek. Holy communion is our celebration of thankfulness and unity. The attitude of gratitude is to say a wholehearted "Yes!" to life and all that life brings, to make today count and not take it for granted nor complain about it. Saint John of the Cross said, "One act of thanksgiving made when things go wrong is worth a thousand when things go well."
Our minds cannot understand the wonder and beauty of God's creation, God's blessings, the holy dimension of all life, so we stand and stutter, praise and give thanks.
The church was in a rural community of the poor, whose homes were without indoor plumbing and whose walls were covered with tar paper. The church was cold that morning shortly before Christmas, but it was crowded. In the front row sat a singing, praying, listening six--year--old, with dancing eyes and socks on her hands for mittens. She had walked to church alone in the cold, and when asked about Christmas, she said, "All I'll get is what I get here." She said it joyfully.
May that child and all children recognize and receive the blessing of God's love, the friendship and compassion of Jesus, the Christ, and the poetry, parables, and prayers of the Holy Spirit.
The dove, representing the Spirit of God, carried a sprig of hope to Noah after the deluge of destruction. The dove descended from heaven on Jesus at his baptism, and he found his blessing in God and spoke of the blessings of the inner life manifested in the outer life. To bless what there is for being is birthing blessings through the divine, creative energy within us, giving form and wholeness to all that is separate, diseased, and fragmented, as the child, seeing her father sad, began to hug him hard. "You are hugging me to death!" "No, Daddy, I'm hugging you to life!"
As God's nature is to bless, to "hug us" to life, our nature is to thank. So we say with Dag Hammarskj ld: "For all that has been - Thanks! To all that shall be - Yes!"4
Sacrament Of Holy Communion
Hymn: "Now Thank We All Our God"
(words: Martin Rinkart; music: Johann Cruger)
Prayers Of The People
Pastoral Prayer:
Thanks be to you, O God! As you have opened our eyes to enjoy the now and the here, one step at a time, answering before we call, healing before we ask, assuring before we confess, hear us now as we join together to say the prayer your son taught us to pray.
The Lord's Prayer
Offering
Doxology
Hymn: "Blessed Assurance"
(words: Fanny J. Crosby; music: Phoebe P. Knapp)
Benediction:
Go now in the name of God who gives us good gifts, through Jesus Christ who taught and showed us that life is not what we own but what we give, and the Holy Spirit who enables us to respond to God's good gifts with thanksgiving. Amen.
____________
1. Noah ben Shea, Jacob the Baker (New York: Ballantine, 1989), p. 36.
2. George Herbert, The Country Parson (New York: Paulist Press, 1981), p. 245.
3. Meister Eckhart, A Modern Translation (New York: Harper & Row, 1941).
4. Dag Hammarskj ld, Markings (New York: Ballantine, 1964.,
"O give thanks to God, for God is good...." Come, let us worship God.
Hymn: "Come, Ye Thankful People, Come"
(words: Henry Alford; music: George J. Elvey)
Children's Time:
He had not given thanks before his meal for many years. His days of regular gratitude were only a memory that had faded into the past. Yet now as they sat at the Thanksgiving table before the proof of his gourmet cooking, familiar dishes of green beans the way Granny cooked them and new dishes from the slick--covered November food magazine, something was lacking. The expectant waiters were silent, as he swallowed his emptiness to pronounce, "Let's begin!" "But, Daddy ..." The interruption came from the end of the table. His five--year--old daughter frowned as she added, "We haven't said our prayer!" He invited her to pray, for she attended a preschool housed in a church. When she finished, he sighed, smiling at his loved ones, for now the table was blessed. This was the food for which he had hungered.
Talk Together:
What did the story say to you? Have you ever reminded someone to pray? When do you pray? (Dismiss the children by inviting one of them to pray.)
Prayer Of Confession:
Worried and weary and restless, we take your bountiful gifts for granted, Lord. Forgive us and grant us your mercy. Amen.
Words Of Assurance:
Jesus says, "Come unto me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
Psalter Reading: Psalm 106:1
Old Testament: Genesis 8:20--22
Epistle: Philippians 1:3--11
New Testament: Mark 8:1--21
Sermon:
"... after giving thanks ..."
Nestled in a long narrative, long for our Gospel writer, Mark, are the words, "... after giving thanks."
There are many theories and arguments about the number of people in the crowd in Mark's story, or how so little could feed so many. Even if we had the final count of either the bread or the people, what matters is that Jesus gave thanks. He did not break the bread until he had given thanks.
The power of prayer has always perplexed me. I do not understand how it works or why it seems to work one time and not another, for some people and not for others. But since prayer is related to God who is Mystery, I accept prayer on the same terms.
With the fourteenth--century English monk, author of The Cloud of Unknowing, I say, "How am I to think of God...? I cannot answer you except to say, 'I do not know!' For with this question you have brought me into the cloud of unknowing."
Nevertheless, we can share the experiences we have had and tell the stories, for when we are in the realm of the unknown, beyond definitions, we stutter stories. Whenever I pray for understanding, I hear the voice say, "I didn't ask you to understand; I asked you to love," and then I stumble upon a story.
A child was filled with a question, which like an itch demanded to be scratched. The child did not understand how Jacob the Baker was able to decide whether to follow what he felt was right or what he thought was right. Jacob touched his chest and said, "My heart knows what my mind only thinks it knows." So the child asked, "What if neither my heart nor my mind can help me find the way?" Jacob replied, "Prayer is a path where there is none."1
My heart knows what my mind only thinks it knows ... some call it the unconscious, some intuition, some imagination. For me it is the Holy Spirit who prays for us when we do not know how to pray, discerning, energizing, creating, bringing into existence what was not there before.
"... after giving thanks ..."
When Jesus healed the ten lepers, one returned to give thanks. The story follows the disciples' plea that Jesus increase their faith (Luke 17:11--19), and he tells them that all they need is a tiny faith no bigger than a mustard seed (vv. 5--6). Luke places the story of the grateful Samaritan here as an illustration of faith that grows out of gratitude, as a plant from a tiny seed.
When the Samaritan expressed his thanks for healing, Jesus replied, "Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well."
Go live this faith, which is gratitude. In the church every day is Thanksgiving Day, for faith is rooted in gratitude.
One Christmas the teacher acquired a list of needy children and told her class of fifth graders that these children would not have gifts at Christmas unless someone shared with them. The children voted to work for their nickels and dimes and bring them to school the day before the holidays began. Unfortunately there was an ice storm on that day and school was cancelled. However, the teacher lived nearby and came to school and an empty classroom. But to her surprise, one student came in after her arrival and put fifty cents on her desk. "I worked hard to get the money," he said. "I wanted to be sure it got to the needy people." The teacher thanked him both for his work and the money and for coming through the storm. When he left, she wiped the tears from her eyes, for the boy's name was on her list of needy children.
When we have the attitude of gratitude we see miracles scattered everywhere across the earth, as God scattered manna over the land in the wilderness. To walk with radical astonishment in constant praise and thanksgiving is not to escape from the world but to bring our living praise into the world.
The gift of the Spirit, a grateful heart, is just that - a gift. Although we cannot command nor control gifts, we can, as the Southwest Native Americans say, keep open a "hole" in the "kiva" of our heart as a sacred entrance.
The poet, George Herbert, wrote,
Thou that hast given so much to me,
Give one thing more, a grateful heart,
Not thankful when it pleaseth me,
As if thy blessings had spare days;
But such a heart, whose pulse may be thy praise.2
If the only prayer we ever prayed was, "Thank you," it would be sufficient. Meister Eckhart said, "Learn to look through every gift and every event to God and never be content with the thing itself. There is no stopping place in this life. No, nor was there ever one for any person, no matter how far along the way they've gone. This above all then, be ready at all times for the gifts of God, and always for new ones."3
The poet wrote that God has given us so much and the parable expresses our thanksgiving, "Not when it pleases us, as if thy blessings had spare days, but such a heart, whose pulse may be thy praise."
Although the universe does not dance to our wants, we wait patiently with gratitude to see what the universe wishes to give and to be prepared always for the "surprises" of God, the "coincidences." The language of the spirit is the numinous feeling that anything can happen, for syncronicity is God acting anonymously. Nothing surpasses the holiness of those who have learned acceptance of all that is, for a grateful heart enjoys the blessing twice: when it receives and when it remembers.
Out of a grateful heart we give good gifts of gentle words, smiles, respect, that remind us in that moment that we are "kings and queens" in the sight of a gracious God who gives great blessings.
The elderly mother had cancer. Visiting her son and his family, she came down with pneumonia. The family set up a hospital bed in the dining room and there the family ate, talked together, watched television, and entertained family and friends. No one avoided or feared her illness and approaching death because she herself was cheerful and courageous. When asked, "How do you cope with such courage?" she replied, "I thank God every day for my many blessings."
Sometimes we take our gift without asking who is giving and sometimes even ascribing the gift to ourselves, but to be fully alive is to look for a way to experience the world that will open up and out to the Transcendent that informs and gifts it and to give honor and praise to the Giver.
The word "Eucharist" means "thank you" in Greek. Holy communion is our celebration of thankfulness and unity. The attitude of gratitude is to say a wholehearted "Yes!" to life and all that life brings, to make today count and not take it for granted nor complain about it. Saint John of the Cross said, "One act of thanksgiving made when things go wrong is worth a thousand when things go well."
Our minds cannot understand the wonder and beauty of God's creation, God's blessings, the holy dimension of all life, so we stand and stutter, praise and give thanks.
The church was in a rural community of the poor, whose homes were without indoor plumbing and whose walls were covered with tar paper. The church was cold that morning shortly before Christmas, but it was crowded. In the front row sat a singing, praying, listening six--year--old, with dancing eyes and socks on her hands for mittens. She had walked to church alone in the cold, and when asked about Christmas, she said, "All I'll get is what I get here." She said it joyfully.
May that child and all children recognize and receive the blessing of God's love, the friendship and compassion of Jesus, the Christ, and the poetry, parables, and prayers of the Holy Spirit.
The dove, representing the Spirit of God, carried a sprig of hope to Noah after the deluge of destruction. The dove descended from heaven on Jesus at his baptism, and he found his blessing in God and spoke of the blessings of the inner life manifested in the outer life. To bless what there is for being is birthing blessings through the divine, creative energy within us, giving form and wholeness to all that is separate, diseased, and fragmented, as the child, seeing her father sad, began to hug him hard. "You are hugging me to death!" "No, Daddy, I'm hugging you to life!"
As God's nature is to bless, to "hug us" to life, our nature is to thank. So we say with Dag Hammarskj ld: "For all that has been - Thanks! To all that shall be - Yes!"4
Sacrament Of Holy Communion
Hymn: "Now Thank We All Our God"
(words: Martin Rinkart; music: Johann Cruger)
Prayers Of The People
Pastoral Prayer:
Thanks be to you, O God! As you have opened our eyes to enjoy the now and the here, one step at a time, answering before we call, healing before we ask, assuring before we confess, hear us now as we join together to say the prayer your son taught us to pray.
The Lord's Prayer
Offering
Doxology
Hymn: "Blessed Assurance"
(words: Fanny J. Crosby; music: Phoebe P. Knapp)
Benediction:
Go now in the name of God who gives us good gifts, through Jesus Christ who taught and showed us that life is not what we own but what we give, and the Holy Spirit who enables us to respond to God's good gifts with thanksgiving. Amen.
____________
1. Noah ben Shea, Jacob the Baker (New York: Ballantine, 1989), p. 36.
2. George Herbert, The Country Parson (New York: Paulist Press, 1981), p. 245.
3. Meister Eckhart, A Modern Translation (New York: Harper & Row, 1941).
4. Dag Hammarskj ld, Markings (New York: Ballantine, 1964.,
