Thanksgiving Day
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series IX, Cycle A
Theme of the Day
What thankfulness does to us.
Collect of the Day
Petitions are offered that by the Holy Spirit the faithful be led to give thanks. Sanctification as a Work of Grace by the Holy Spirit is emphasized.
Psalm of the Day
Psalm 65
• Thanksgiving for good harvest.
• Elohim is said to deserve praise for answering prayer (vv. 1-2).
• He forgives sin (v. 3). Those whom He chooses to bring near are happy. In keeping with the Psalm's purpose of calling for a gathering at the temple, it is proclaimed that those giving thanks will be satisfied with the goodness of the temple (v. 4).
• God delivers; He is the hope of all the earth (v. 5).
• God is praised as Creator and the one who administers the earth (vv. 6-7). We are awed by His signs (v. 8).
• God provides rain and water (v. 9). He crowns the year with bounty (v. 11). Pastures overflow with good crops. The meadows and valley should together and sing for joy (vv. 12-13).
Sermon Text and Title
"Giving Thanks Keeps Us in Our Place and Makes Us Happier"
Deuteronomy 8:7-18
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To proclaim our sinful preoccupation with self and how true thankfulness and appreciation of God's graciousness break us free from such self-centeredness, rendering us happier and more content. Justification by Grace and Sanctification also receive attention.
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
• Moses warns the people that success in Canaan will tempt them to pride and to forget the wilderness lesson of complete dependence on God.
• Moses speaks of Yahweh Elohim bringing the people into a good land, one with flowing springs, a land of wheat and barley, of olive trees and honey, a land where bread might be eaten without scarcity and nothing is lacking (vv. 7-10).
• He urges the people not to forget the Lord by failing the keep His commandments and ordinances (v. 11). When they have eaten their fill and have fine houses, with many herds, then they must not exalt themselves forgetting the Lord God who brought them out of slavery (vv. 12-14).
• The people are reminded that God has brought them through the wilderness, with all its hazards, making water flow from flint rock and give them manna in the wilderness (vv. 15-16).
• Moses warns against the people thinking they have gotten what they have through their own power (v. 17). For it is Yahweh Elohim who gives the power to get wealth, so that He conforms His covenant which He swore to the ancestors (v. 18).
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
• The text is a reminder of the salubrious benefits of thankfulness, including how such a posture gets our focus more on God than on ourselves, and so relates to the doctrines of Sin, Justification, and Sanctification.
• Commenting on this text John Wesley writes:
The mercies of God, if duly considered, are as powerful a means to humble us as the greatest afflictions, because they increase our debts to God and manifest our dependence upon Him. And by making God great, they make us little in our own eyes.
(Commentary on the Bible, p. 139)
• John Calvin makes a similar point while commenting on the text:
For nothing so greatly confines us within the boundaries of humility and modesty as the acknowledgement of God's grace; for it is madness and temerity to raise our crests against Him on whom we depend, and to whom we owe ourselves and all we possess.
(Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. II/1, p. 400)
• In the same spirit Martin Luther writes:
For when wealth abounds, the godless heart of man feels: "I have wrought these things with my own efforts." Nor does it notice that these are simply blessings of God sometimes through our efforts, sometimes without our efforts, but never from our efforts and always given out of His free mercy... He uses our effort as a mask under which He blesses us and dispenses His gifts, so that there is a place for faith.
(Luther's Works, Vol. 9, p. 96)
• Commenting on Philippians 4 John Calvin contrasts joy in God with the world's joy:
For unquestionably it differs from the joy of the world in this respect -- that we know from experience that the joy of the world is deceptive, frail, and fading, and Christ even pronounced it to be accursed.
(Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XXI/1, pp. 116-117)
• John Wesley also spoke of the happiness that comes with giving thanks: "It is the will of God that we should be cheerful... in our enjoyment of the gifts of His providence" (Commentary on the Bible, pp. 144-145).
• Regarding gratitude, John Calvin comments:
Gratitude of mind for the favorable outcome of things, patience in adversity, and also incredible freedom from worry about the future all necessarily follow upon this knowledge.
(Institutes [Westminster Press ed.], p. 219)
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
• For neurobiological evidence regarding how spirituality gets us off a focus on ourselves, see the last bullet point of this section for the Second Lesson, Advent 1.
• There is hard evidence that gratitude makes us happy; see the first bullet point for this section for the Second Lesson, Epiphany 2.
5. Gimmick
Utter the word "thanksgiving." Then ask how we can say thanks authentically and not lapse into the platitudes often associated with the holiday. Note origins of the holiday as instituted by Abraham Lincoln, preceded earlier by various states celebrating a day of thanks. Thanksgiving has never been a strictly Christian holiday but has been more associated with nationalism and self-congratulations. We need to sort out then what is a distinctively Christian way of giving thanks. Start with the Old Testament, because the Christian way of giving thanks is deeply rooted in Jewish precedents.
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
• Use the first bullet point of Exegesis to describe what is happening in the text.
• Follow with a dramatic rendering the second and third bullet points of Exegesis.
• Note that Americans have these problems, with our fine houses, all sorts of possessions, and we think we've earned them all. We have convinced ourselves that we've gotten where we are in life through our hard work and intelligence.
• Illustrate the point by telling the story of Roderick and/or Ellen in your community. They embody congregational demographics, by age, ethnicity, class status. Describe what they own in terms of the typical home and bank account of the congregation. Note that they think that they deserve what they have and want more. Review Moses' words to Israel in verses 17-18.
• Americans are not happy, despite all their possessions. (See second bullet point of this section for the First Lesson, Pentecost 7.) It is not surprising that there would be unhappiness when we define life as all about ourselves, in terms of what we do for ourselves. (Use leads in first bullet point of Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights.)
• We need the word of this text to get us out of our doldrums and destructive outlook on life. This is a word reminding us Rodericks and Ellens that we haven't gotten what we have on our own. In talking with guests on his show, Larry King would often reflect on how was it not luck that had been a big factor in their and his own successes. Moses proclaims in the First Lesson that what Larry King called "luck" is the providence of God, that God is the giver of all good things!
• Use the quotation by Martin Luther in the fourth bullet point of Theological Insights. We have this tendency to think we can take credit for all the good we have. But all we do is just a mask for what God is really doing.
• This insight humbles us. It helps us recognize that we really have not accomplished as much as we like to think we have. Use the quotes by John Calvin and John Wesley in the second and third bullet points of Theological Insights.
• Humility takes off the pressure. It makes clear to the Rodericks and Ellens among us that the pressure is off. What happens to us in life is all God's doing and this insight makes us happy.
• Use comments by John Wesley and John Calvin in the last two bullet points of Theological Insights. Gratitude makes you patient and happy, and it's what God wants.
• Review the data in Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights.
7. Wrap-Up
Not being hung up on yourself, being grateful, keeps you happy. It's even a biological fact. Invite the congregation to consider the next time they feel burdened with what they must do, the next time they feel like patting themselves on the back for all they've done (vv. 12-14), they not forget it's all been done by God. Thanksgiving is all about this insight. Consider again the quotation by John Wesley in the second bullet point of Theological Insights. In the face of God's greatness, life becomes all the sweeter. Reconsideration of the quotation by John Calvin in the last bullet point of Theological Insights might also be provided.
Sermon Text and Title
"Thankfulness Makes It Easier To Do Good"
2 Corinthians 9:6-15
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To proclaim that the more thankful we are to God the easier it is to do good. Justification by Grace and Sanctification are the primary themes.
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
• Part of Paul's discourse on the collection he was raising for Christians at Jerusalem, leading him to offer exhortations on helping the poor.
• Paul claims that one who sows sparingly reaps sparingly, but one who sows bountifully reaps bountifully (v. 6). Each must give as he/she has made up his/her mind to do so, not reluctantly. God loves a cheerful giver (v. 7).
• God is able to provide every blessing in abundance so that we might share abundantly in every good work (v. 8).
• Paul quotes Isaiah 55:10 and its statement that God gives to the poor and His righteousness endures forever (v. 9).
• As God supplies the seed for the sower and bread for food He will also increase the harvest of righteousness (v. 10). The Corinthians will be enriched in every way for their generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God (v. 11).
• The rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs of saints, but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God (v. 12). Through the rendering of this ministry God is glorified by their obedience to the confession of the gospel and by the generosity of their sharing with others, who in turn pray for the Corinthians because of the grace given them (vv. 13-14).
• Thanks are given to God for His indescribable gift (v. 15).
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
• God's style of showering us with many gifts (all the good we have) leads us spontaneously to generosity, especially to those in need. Justification by Grace and Sanctification (construed as Spontaneity of Good Works) are the core themes.
• Commenting on verse 8 John Wesley observes:
God gives us everything that we may do good therewith and so receive more blessings. All things in this life, even rewards, are, to the faithful, seeds for a future harvest.
(Commentary on the Bible, p. 527)
• See the ninth bullet point of this section for the Gospel, Easter 6, where Martin Luther speaks of Christians being so rich that they have a surplus of gifts that spill over to others. Also see his second quotation in the second bullet point of this section for the Gospel Lesson.
• John Wesley notes that thanksgiving is "the surest mark of a soul free from care and of prayer joined with true resignation. This is always followed by peace. Peace and thanksgiving are coupled together..." (Commentary on the Bible, pp. 544-545). He also adds: "Without a guard set on these [our understandings and their workings], the purity and vigor of our affection cannot long be preserved" (Commentary on the Bible, p. 545).
• Martin Luther offers interesting insights on giving thanks:
This very verse teaches us which sacrifice pleases God most. We cannot perform a greater or finer deed, or a nobler service to God, than to offer thanks.
(Luther's Works, Vol. 14, p. 51)
We cannot give God anything; for everything is already His, and all we have comes from Him. We can only give Him praise, thanks, and honor.
(What Luther Says, p. 1353)
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
• See this section for the First Lesson.
• Google the most recent statistics on poverty.
5. Gimmick
Note the context for the passage in the first bullet point of Exegesis. Then read verse 8.
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
• All God gives is meant to be shared with others. There are a lot of Americans who could use that kind of thankfulness, the sort Paul and his fellow disciples shared in taking up a collection from all over the towns in which the church had been planted for the poor in Jerusalem.
• Follow the leads on poverty in the last bullet point of Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights.
• Giving is not hard for thankful people. Use the quotation by John Wesley in the second bullet point of Theological Insights. All God has given us is intended as something with which we can do good.
• Focusing on God in thanks makes you other-directed. See the last bullet point of Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights for the Second Lesson, Advent 1.
• Use the second quotation by Martin Luther in the second bullet point Theological Insights for the Gospel. When you know that all you have is from God you'll be more prepared to part with what you have, to be more generous, to give it away.
• When out of thankfulness, you hang around God the great giver, giving to those in need becomes a habit, becomes who you are.
• John Calvin said that when you know that all you have belongs to God, you will be able to go ahead with what you do not have (Institutes [Westminster Press ed.], p. 723). His modern theological heir Karl Barth says that when you stop working for yourself, get wrapped up in doing things God's way, you start doing things for everyone's benefit.
• Use the comment by Martin Luther alluded to in the third bullet point of Theological Insights.
7. Wrap-Up
Thanksgiving in the big picture is about giving. Paul is correct. Read verse 8 again. Overwhelmed by thankfulness Christians forget whose that stuff is, and then giving it away, doing good, gets a little easier.
Sermon Text and Title
"What to Make of Ingrates (like Us)"
Luke 17:11-19
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To condemn our ingratitude (Sin), reminding us of all the reasons to give God thanks (Justification by Grace and Providence), but also to teach us a healthy cynicism about the lack of gratitude we can expect to receive from those for whom favors are done (Sanctification).
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
• Jesus' cleansing of the ten lepers.
• On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus wanders though the region between Samaria and Galilee (v. 11). Ten lepers approach Him, keeping their distance, and they plead for mercy (vv. 12-13). They observe here the sanitary regulations of Leviticus 13:45-46.
• Jesus instructs the lepers to show them selves to the priests, and as they went, they were made clean (v. 14).
• One returned to Jesus to thank Him. He was a Samaritan (vv. 15-16).
• Jesus asks of the other nine and whether they were made clean, noting that none returned to praise Him save the foreigner (vv. 17-18).
• Then Jesus tells the thankful ex-leper to raise and go on his way, because his faith has made him well (v. 19). The Greek word (the perfect active indicative form of sodzo) translated "made well" in this verse might also be translated "saved."
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
• The text offers a lesson in sin, but also models the life of thanks with some healthy advice on how little we should expect thanks. Justification by Grace and Sanctification also receive attention.
• Preaching on this text Martin Luther proclaims:
So the first lesson from today's gospel is to know that we should commit ourselves to God and trust Him for everything, for He will supply it.
(Complete Sermons, Vol. 6, p. 423)
For whoever believes has every thing from God, and is happy and rich. Therefore he needs henceforth nothing more, but all he lives and does, he orders for the good and benefit of his neighbor, and through love he does to his neighbor as God did to him through faith.
(Complete Sermons, Vol. 3/1, pp. 63-64)
• Faith also provides a sense of our unworthiness:
The third characteristic of faith is, that it allows no merit, will not purchase the grace of God with works, like the doubters and hypocrites do, but brings with it pure unworthiness, clings to and depends wholly on the mere unmerited favor of God, for faith will not tolerate works and merit in its company.
(Complete Sermons, Vol. 3/1, pp. 66-67)
For he would praise and honor God with his voice, must condemn all the praise and honor of the world and say that all the works and words of man are nothing with all the honor they have from them, and that God's work and word alone are worthy of praise and honor.
(Complete Sermons, Vol. 3/1, p. 94)
• Commenting on the ingratitude of the lepers he adds:
Whoever wants to be a Christian must clearly understand the fact that all his good deeds, faithfulness, and service to others will only result in ingratitude, and he must guard against letting that fact move him to quit doing good deeds and helping others.
(Complete Sermons, Vol. 6, p. 427)
But our Father in heaven and our Lord Jesus Christ are the ones from whom we must learn this art. Our Father in heaven makes His sun to shine not only on pious people who will thank Him, but also on the wicked who do not thank Him but misuse and abuse every good gift of God.
(Ibid.)
• Regarding Jesus' suspicions of the crowd's motives voiced in John 6:26, Calvin writes: "... they expect nothing greater from Him than to live happily at ease in this world. This is to rob Christ of His chief power..." (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XVII/2, p. 240).
• Martin Luther makes a similar point: "It is the lot of God's word in the world to find that the learned and the works-righteous always know better" (Luther's Works, Vol. 23, p. 30).
• What the first Reformer writes about Jesus' preaching in the Sermon on the Mount pertains to this text:
Day and night everybody's concern is how to make a living. This stimulates greed to the point where no one is content with what God provides and bestows... Everyone wants to get on better and have more... with this sermon the Lord endeavored to put a brake on such attitude and conduct.
(Complete Sermons, Vol. 7, p. 16)
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
• Follow the leads noted in this section for the First Lesson.
5. Gimmick
Thanksgiving is a day about thanks. Our Gospel Lesson seems to be the antithesis of this. We hear the story of the cleansing of the ten lepers, and the ingratitude of nine of them.
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
• Use the quotation by Martin Luther in the last bullet point of Theological Insights.
• Ask what makes us so ungrateful. Use the quote by Luther in the sixth bullet point of Theological Insights. We always know better than God, we think. God's word might teach that all we have is the result of the His gifts, but we know better, know we've earned what we have or at least need to think about tomorrow, the future, and not yesterday.
• Ask the congregation if they cannot see how the healed lepers were thinking that way, troubled about what to do now that the priests had declared them clean, worried about where life would now lead. So we feel the need to think about the next big deal to make, the next encounter, about the good impression we need to make and going to church every week or daily devotions to give thanks just get pushed aside.
• It seems that this sort of ingratitude is typical of self-made people like us, of people convinced that we deserve a lot of the credit for what's happened in our lives. Use the quote by Martin Luther in the fourth bullet point of Theological Insights for the First Lesson.
• The word of God in the Gospel Lesson sets us straight. Use Luther's quotes in the third bullet point of Theological Insights. Nothing we do is worthy of praise. It's time that ingrates like us come to that awareness. It might make us a little more tolerable and more spiritual and more thankful.
• Reformed ingrates like us need to be awakened to an awareness of this disease of ingratitude. Use Luther's two quotations in the second bullet point of Theological Insights. Getting out of our ingratitude, focusing on a life of thanks while warning of our innate ingratitude, makes us more thankful. Also consider the lead in the first bullet point of Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights.
• Keeping in mind human ingratitude makes the good we reformed ingrates do a little easier. It provides us with a healthy cynicism about the good we do for others. Use the quotes by Martin Luther in the fourth bullet point of Theological Insights. Don't expect compliments. Jesus didn't get any. Why should we get any thanks? After all, thankful Christians know that any good we do is really God's doing after all. No reason for people's ingratitude stopping our doing good to them. Just like God keeps shining His sun on the most ungrateful people, so no reason we would not thankfully want to shine God's love on other ungrateful people.
7. Wrap-Up
Lives devoted to giving thanks make you happy. Use the insight of the first bullet point of Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights for the Second Lesson, Epiphany 2. Overwhelmed by thankfulness, Christians forget whose stuff they are dealing with, and then giving it away, doing good gets a lot easier, even to ingrates like us. Don't make must of ingratitude. It won't stop God from giving things that deserve thanks.
What thankfulness does to us.
Collect of the Day
Petitions are offered that by the Holy Spirit the faithful be led to give thanks. Sanctification as a Work of Grace by the Holy Spirit is emphasized.
Psalm of the Day
Psalm 65
• Thanksgiving for good harvest.
• Elohim is said to deserve praise for answering prayer (vv. 1-2).
• He forgives sin (v. 3). Those whom He chooses to bring near are happy. In keeping with the Psalm's purpose of calling for a gathering at the temple, it is proclaimed that those giving thanks will be satisfied with the goodness of the temple (v. 4).
• God delivers; He is the hope of all the earth (v. 5).
• God is praised as Creator and the one who administers the earth (vv. 6-7). We are awed by His signs (v. 8).
• God provides rain and water (v. 9). He crowns the year with bounty (v. 11). Pastures overflow with good crops. The meadows and valley should together and sing for joy (vv. 12-13).
Sermon Text and Title
"Giving Thanks Keeps Us in Our Place and Makes Us Happier"
Deuteronomy 8:7-18
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To proclaim our sinful preoccupation with self and how true thankfulness and appreciation of God's graciousness break us free from such self-centeredness, rendering us happier and more content. Justification by Grace and Sanctification also receive attention.
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
• Moses warns the people that success in Canaan will tempt them to pride and to forget the wilderness lesson of complete dependence on God.
• Moses speaks of Yahweh Elohim bringing the people into a good land, one with flowing springs, a land of wheat and barley, of olive trees and honey, a land where bread might be eaten without scarcity and nothing is lacking (vv. 7-10).
• He urges the people not to forget the Lord by failing the keep His commandments and ordinances (v. 11). When they have eaten their fill and have fine houses, with many herds, then they must not exalt themselves forgetting the Lord God who brought them out of slavery (vv. 12-14).
• The people are reminded that God has brought them through the wilderness, with all its hazards, making water flow from flint rock and give them manna in the wilderness (vv. 15-16).
• Moses warns against the people thinking they have gotten what they have through their own power (v. 17). For it is Yahweh Elohim who gives the power to get wealth, so that He conforms His covenant which He swore to the ancestors (v. 18).
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
• The text is a reminder of the salubrious benefits of thankfulness, including how such a posture gets our focus more on God than on ourselves, and so relates to the doctrines of Sin, Justification, and Sanctification.
• Commenting on this text John Wesley writes:
The mercies of God, if duly considered, are as powerful a means to humble us as the greatest afflictions, because they increase our debts to God and manifest our dependence upon Him. And by making God great, they make us little in our own eyes.
(Commentary on the Bible, p. 139)
• John Calvin makes a similar point while commenting on the text:
For nothing so greatly confines us within the boundaries of humility and modesty as the acknowledgement of God's grace; for it is madness and temerity to raise our crests against Him on whom we depend, and to whom we owe ourselves and all we possess.
(Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. II/1, p. 400)
• In the same spirit Martin Luther writes:
For when wealth abounds, the godless heart of man feels: "I have wrought these things with my own efforts." Nor does it notice that these are simply blessings of God sometimes through our efforts, sometimes without our efforts, but never from our efforts and always given out of His free mercy... He uses our effort as a mask under which He blesses us and dispenses His gifts, so that there is a place for faith.
(Luther's Works, Vol. 9, p. 96)
• Commenting on Philippians 4 John Calvin contrasts joy in God with the world's joy:
For unquestionably it differs from the joy of the world in this respect -- that we know from experience that the joy of the world is deceptive, frail, and fading, and Christ even pronounced it to be accursed.
(Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XXI/1, pp. 116-117)
• John Wesley also spoke of the happiness that comes with giving thanks: "It is the will of God that we should be cheerful... in our enjoyment of the gifts of His providence" (Commentary on the Bible, pp. 144-145).
• Regarding gratitude, John Calvin comments:
Gratitude of mind for the favorable outcome of things, patience in adversity, and also incredible freedom from worry about the future all necessarily follow upon this knowledge.
(Institutes [Westminster Press ed.], p. 219)
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
• For neurobiological evidence regarding how spirituality gets us off a focus on ourselves, see the last bullet point of this section for the Second Lesson, Advent 1.
• There is hard evidence that gratitude makes us happy; see the first bullet point for this section for the Second Lesson, Epiphany 2.
5. Gimmick
Utter the word "thanksgiving." Then ask how we can say thanks authentically and not lapse into the platitudes often associated with the holiday. Note origins of the holiday as instituted by Abraham Lincoln, preceded earlier by various states celebrating a day of thanks. Thanksgiving has never been a strictly Christian holiday but has been more associated with nationalism and self-congratulations. We need to sort out then what is a distinctively Christian way of giving thanks. Start with the Old Testament, because the Christian way of giving thanks is deeply rooted in Jewish precedents.
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
• Use the first bullet point of Exegesis to describe what is happening in the text.
• Follow with a dramatic rendering the second and third bullet points of Exegesis.
• Note that Americans have these problems, with our fine houses, all sorts of possessions, and we think we've earned them all. We have convinced ourselves that we've gotten where we are in life through our hard work and intelligence.
• Illustrate the point by telling the story of Roderick and/or Ellen in your community. They embody congregational demographics, by age, ethnicity, class status. Describe what they own in terms of the typical home and bank account of the congregation. Note that they think that they deserve what they have and want more. Review Moses' words to Israel in verses 17-18.
• Americans are not happy, despite all their possessions. (See second bullet point of this section for the First Lesson, Pentecost 7.) It is not surprising that there would be unhappiness when we define life as all about ourselves, in terms of what we do for ourselves. (Use leads in first bullet point of Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights.)
• We need the word of this text to get us out of our doldrums and destructive outlook on life. This is a word reminding us Rodericks and Ellens that we haven't gotten what we have on our own. In talking with guests on his show, Larry King would often reflect on how was it not luck that had been a big factor in their and his own successes. Moses proclaims in the First Lesson that what Larry King called "luck" is the providence of God, that God is the giver of all good things!
• Use the quotation by Martin Luther in the fourth bullet point of Theological Insights. We have this tendency to think we can take credit for all the good we have. But all we do is just a mask for what God is really doing.
• This insight humbles us. It helps us recognize that we really have not accomplished as much as we like to think we have. Use the quotes by John Calvin and John Wesley in the second and third bullet points of Theological Insights.
• Humility takes off the pressure. It makes clear to the Rodericks and Ellens among us that the pressure is off. What happens to us in life is all God's doing and this insight makes us happy.
• Use comments by John Wesley and John Calvin in the last two bullet points of Theological Insights. Gratitude makes you patient and happy, and it's what God wants.
• Review the data in Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights.
7. Wrap-Up
Not being hung up on yourself, being grateful, keeps you happy. It's even a biological fact. Invite the congregation to consider the next time they feel burdened with what they must do, the next time they feel like patting themselves on the back for all they've done (vv. 12-14), they not forget it's all been done by God. Thanksgiving is all about this insight. Consider again the quotation by John Wesley in the second bullet point of Theological Insights. In the face of God's greatness, life becomes all the sweeter. Reconsideration of the quotation by John Calvin in the last bullet point of Theological Insights might also be provided.
Sermon Text and Title
"Thankfulness Makes It Easier To Do Good"
2 Corinthians 9:6-15
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To proclaim that the more thankful we are to God the easier it is to do good. Justification by Grace and Sanctification are the primary themes.
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
• Part of Paul's discourse on the collection he was raising for Christians at Jerusalem, leading him to offer exhortations on helping the poor.
• Paul claims that one who sows sparingly reaps sparingly, but one who sows bountifully reaps bountifully (v. 6). Each must give as he/she has made up his/her mind to do so, not reluctantly. God loves a cheerful giver (v. 7).
• God is able to provide every blessing in abundance so that we might share abundantly in every good work (v. 8).
• Paul quotes Isaiah 55:10 and its statement that God gives to the poor and His righteousness endures forever (v. 9).
• As God supplies the seed for the sower and bread for food He will also increase the harvest of righteousness (v. 10). The Corinthians will be enriched in every way for their generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God (v. 11).
• The rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs of saints, but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God (v. 12). Through the rendering of this ministry God is glorified by their obedience to the confession of the gospel and by the generosity of their sharing with others, who in turn pray for the Corinthians because of the grace given them (vv. 13-14).
• Thanks are given to God for His indescribable gift (v. 15).
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
• God's style of showering us with many gifts (all the good we have) leads us spontaneously to generosity, especially to those in need. Justification by Grace and Sanctification (construed as Spontaneity of Good Works) are the core themes.
• Commenting on verse 8 John Wesley observes:
God gives us everything that we may do good therewith and so receive more blessings. All things in this life, even rewards, are, to the faithful, seeds for a future harvest.
(Commentary on the Bible, p. 527)
• See the ninth bullet point of this section for the Gospel, Easter 6, where Martin Luther speaks of Christians being so rich that they have a surplus of gifts that spill over to others. Also see his second quotation in the second bullet point of this section for the Gospel Lesson.
• John Wesley notes that thanksgiving is "the surest mark of a soul free from care and of prayer joined with true resignation. This is always followed by peace. Peace and thanksgiving are coupled together..." (Commentary on the Bible, pp. 544-545). He also adds: "Without a guard set on these [our understandings and their workings], the purity and vigor of our affection cannot long be preserved" (Commentary on the Bible, p. 545).
• Martin Luther offers interesting insights on giving thanks:
This very verse teaches us which sacrifice pleases God most. We cannot perform a greater or finer deed, or a nobler service to God, than to offer thanks.
(Luther's Works, Vol. 14, p. 51)
We cannot give God anything; for everything is already His, and all we have comes from Him. We can only give Him praise, thanks, and honor.
(What Luther Says, p. 1353)
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
• See this section for the First Lesson.
• Google the most recent statistics on poverty.
5. Gimmick
Note the context for the passage in the first bullet point of Exegesis. Then read verse 8.
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
• All God gives is meant to be shared with others. There are a lot of Americans who could use that kind of thankfulness, the sort Paul and his fellow disciples shared in taking up a collection from all over the towns in which the church had been planted for the poor in Jerusalem.
• Follow the leads on poverty in the last bullet point of Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights.
• Giving is not hard for thankful people. Use the quotation by John Wesley in the second bullet point of Theological Insights. All God has given us is intended as something with which we can do good.
• Focusing on God in thanks makes you other-directed. See the last bullet point of Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights for the Second Lesson, Advent 1.
• Use the second quotation by Martin Luther in the second bullet point Theological Insights for the Gospel. When you know that all you have is from God you'll be more prepared to part with what you have, to be more generous, to give it away.
• When out of thankfulness, you hang around God the great giver, giving to those in need becomes a habit, becomes who you are.
• John Calvin said that when you know that all you have belongs to God, you will be able to go ahead with what you do not have (Institutes [Westminster Press ed.], p. 723). His modern theological heir Karl Barth says that when you stop working for yourself, get wrapped up in doing things God's way, you start doing things for everyone's benefit.
• Use the comment by Martin Luther alluded to in the third bullet point of Theological Insights.
7. Wrap-Up
Thanksgiving in the big picture is about giving. Paul is correct. Read verse 8 again. Overwhelmed by thankfulness Christians forget whose that stuff is, and then giving it away, doing good, gets a little easier.
Sermon Text and Title
"What to Make of Ingrates (like Us)"
Luke 17:11-19
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To condemn our ingratitude (Sin), reminding us of all the reasons to give God thanks (Justification by Grace and Providence), but also to teach us a healthy cynicism about the lack of gratitude we can expect to receive from those for whom favors are done (Sanctification).
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
• Jesus' cleansing of the ten lepers.
• On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus wanders though the region between Samaria and Galilee (v. 11). Ten lepers approach Him, keeping their distance, and they plead for mercy (vv. 12-13). They observe here the sanitary regulations of Leviticus 13:45-46.
• Jesus instructs the lepers to show them selves to the priests, and as they went, they were made clean (v. 14).
• One returned to Jesus to thank Him. He was a Samaritan (vv. 15-16).
• Jesus asks of the other nine and whether they were made clean, noting that none returned to praise Him save the foreigner (vv. 17-18).
• Then Jesus tells the thankful ex-leper to raise and go on his way, because his faith has made him well (v. 19). The Greek word (the perfect active indicative form of sodzo) translated "made well" in this verse might also be translated "saved."
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
• The text offers a lesson in sin, but also models the life of thanks with some healthy advice on how little we should expect thanks. Justification by Grace and Sanctification also receive attention.
• Preaching on this text Martin Luther proclaims:
So the first lesson from today's gospel is to know that we should commit ourselves to God and trust Him for everything, for He will supply it.
(Complete Sermons, Vol. 6, p. 423)
For whoever believes has every thing from God, and is happy and rich. Therefore he needs henceforth nothing more, but all he lives and does, he orders for the good and benefit of his neighbor, and through love he does to his neighbor as God did to him through faith.
(Complete Sermons, Vol. 3/1, pp. 63-64)
• Faith also provides a sense of our unworthiness:
The third characteristic of faith is, that it allows no merit, will not purchase the grace of God with works, like the doubters and hypocrites do, but brings with it pure unworthiness, clings to and depends wholly on the mere unmerited favor of God, for faith will not tolerate works and merit in its company.
(Complete Sermons, Vol. 3/1, pp. 66-67)
For he would praise and honor God with his voice, must condemn all the praise and honor of the world and say that all the works and words of man are nothing with all the honor they have from them, and that God's work and word alone are worthy of praise and honor.
(Complete Sermons, Vol. 3/1, p. 94)
• Commenting on the ingratitude of the lepers he adds:
Whoever wants to be a Christian must clearly understand the fact that all his good deeds, faithfulness, and service to others will only result in ingratitude, and he must guard against letting that fact move him to quit doing good deeds and helping others.
(Complete Sermons, Vol. 6, p. 427)
But our Father in heaven and our Lord Jesus Christ are the ones from whom we must learn this art. Our Father in heaven makes His sun to shine not only on pious people who will thank Him, but also on the wicked who do not thank Him but misuse and abuse every good gift of God.
(Ibid.)
• Regarding Jesus' suspicions of the crowd's motives voiced in John 6:26, Calvin writes: "... they expect nothing greater from Him than to live happily at ease in this world. This is to rob Christ of His chief power..." (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XVII/2, p. 240).
• Martin Luther makes a similar point: "It is the lot of God's word in the world to find that the learned and the works-righteous always know better" (Luther's Works, Vol. 23, p. 30).
• What the first Reformer writes about Jesus' preaching in the Sermon on the Mount pertains to this text:
Day and night everybody's concern is how to make a living. This stimulates greed to the point where no one is content with what God provides and bestows... Everyone wants to get on better and have more... with this sermon the Lord endeavored to put a brake on such attitude and conduct.
(Complete Sermons, Vol. 7, p. 16)
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
• Follow the leads noted in this section for the First Lesson.
5. Gimmick
Thanksgiving is a day about thanks. Our Gospel Lesson seems to be the antithesis of this. We hear the story of the cleansing of the ten lepers, and the ingratitude of nine of them.
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
• Use the quotation by Martin Luther in the last bullet point of Theological Insights.
• Ask what makes us so ungrateful. Use the quote by Luther in the sixth bullet point of Theological Insights. We always know better than God, we think. God's word might teach that all we have is the result of the His gifts, but we know better, know we've earned what we have or at least need to think about tomorrow, the future, and not yesterday.
• Ask the congregation if they cannot see how the healed lepers were thinking that way, troubled about what to do now that the priests had declared them clean, worried about where life would now lead. So we feel the need to think about the next big deal to make, the next encounter, about the good impression we need to make and going to church every week or daily devotions to give thanks just get pushed aside.
• It seems that this sort of ingratitude is typical of self-made people like us, of people convinced that we deserve a lot of the credit for what's happened in our lives. Use the quote by Martin Luther in the fourth bullet point of Theological Insights for the First Lesson.
• The word of God in the Gospel Lesson sets us straight. Use Luther's quotes in the third bullet point of Theological Insights. Nothing we do is worthy of praise. It's time that ingrates like us come to that awareness. It might make us a little more tolerable and more spiritual and more thankful.
• Reformed ingrates like us need to be awakened to an awareness of this disease of ingratitude. Use Luther's two quotations in the second bullet point of Theological Insights. Getting out of our ingratitude, focusing on a life of thanks while warning of our innate ingratitude, makes us more thankful. Also consider the lead in the first bullet point of Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights.
• Keeping in mind human ingratitude makes the good we reformed ingrates do a little easier. It provides us with a healthy cynicism about the good we do for others. Use the quotes by Martin Luther in the fourth bullet point of Theological Insights. Don't expect compliments. Jesus didn't get any. Why should we get any thanks? After all, thankful Christians know that any good we do is really God's doing after all. No reason for people's ingratitude stopping our doing good to them. Just like God keeps shining His sun on the most ungrateful people, so no reason we would not thankfully want to shine God's love on other ungrateful people.
7. Wrap-Up
Lives devoted to giving thanks make you happy. Use the insight of the first bullet point of Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights for the Second Lesson, Epiphany 2. Overwhelmed by thankfulness, Christians forget whose stuff they are dealing with, and then giving it away, doing good gets a lot easier, even to ingrates like us. Don't make must of ingratitude. It won't stop God from giving things that deserve thanks.
