Good morning, Friends!
We’ve been kind of on a roll this month, getting ready for Thanksgiving. As I said in this month’s newsletter, November is a special time to give thanks. There are so many things for us to thank God for, every day – there is never a shortage!
A couple of weeks ago, we looked at what a beautiful world this is, how complicated, all the way down to the level of our DNA. So many living things depend on each other. It’s an amazing world, and somehow, God is involved with it all.
Last week, we read the story of how God provided people with fresh bread, every day, for forty years in the desert.
We talked about how it’s connected with “give us this day our daily bread” in the Lord’s Prayer. And we even learned a Hebrew prayer which Jesus himself probably said when he was giving thanks.
When you read the gospel, it seems as though people don’t just give thanks for miracles which have already happened. It’s almost as if giving thanks opens the door for new miracles to happen.
Jesus gave thanks for a couple of pieces of bread and half a dozen dried fish, and somehow there was food for 5,000 people. I don’t know how that worked, but giving thanks was a big part of it.
Today, let’s look at one of Paul’s letters. Paul was writing to a tiny church that was struggling. Probably the church wasn’t any bigger than Springfield.
Paul himself was a prisoner at this time, about to be beheaded for the subversive crime of being a Christian. But was he discouraged? Listen to these words, and you tell me.
You are God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved. Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 3:12-17
Why was Paul thankful? Why should we be thankful?
OK, true, we’ve got a roof over our heads. We don’t have to worship outdoors in the cold. The heat works. The lights work. None of the windows are broken. Nobody’s beating on the door, trying to arrest us for being Christians. A lot of things are going our way.
We had some rain this week, which we really needed. We’re not in danger of forest fire.
It doesn’t always feel like we’re successful here. We always need encouragement. So, what does Paul say?
“You are God’s chosen people! You are holy and dearly loved. . .”
That’s not being stuck up or smug. That’s saying, “Pick your chin up! Stop looking down at the sidewalk! You are people who God loves. You are holy people. You are special. Jesus himself has called you friends.”
If you are a friend of Jesus, who can put you down? Who can step on you? Who can bully you, or scare you, ever? If you are a friend of Jesus, you never have to be scared. If God is for you, who can be against you?
Don’t look down – look up! When you look down, you’re going to see dirt and anger and enemies and despair. When you look up, you’re going to see something different.
Last week, when we read the story of manna in the desert, do you remember, the people were hungry? And God fed them. But even before God fed them, it says that that evening, at sunset, Moses’ brother, Aaron, gathered all the people. They were still grumbling.
And Aaron pointed toward the desert. Not back towards Egypt, where their life had been slavery and misery. He pointed toward the desert, toward a land they didn’t know, and they had no experience of.
They had no idea how they were going to cross the desert. They didn’t have a map. And they had no idea what the Promised Land on the other side was going to look like.
Before Aaron could even tell them to look up, it says over in the west, the glory of the Lord appeared to them. We don’t know if it was just a beautiful sunset, or an army angels, or a vision of heaven. But when they looked up, they saw it. They saw it for themselves.
Now, in other parts of the Bible, it says that the glory of the Lord was too much for human beings to look at. In fact, it says that no one can look on the glory of the Lord and live.
It’s too much for us to see and survive. If we only got a glimpse of God, it would almost end us. But that’s what they saw.
And after that, God fed them. Every day, as long as they needed it. Forty years, fresh every day. They ate it, and it was filling and delicious. And they gave thanks, because they knew that God loved them.
OK, back to our Scripture today.
“You are God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved.” Put on new clothing, Paul says. Don’t put on the same old clothes you wore yesterday. “Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”
See, it’s not enough to thank God for the clothes on your back, or the shoes on your feet – although that’s important! God has new clothes for you to wear. When you’re a friend of Jesus, you wear different things.
I remember talking with one of our older members, George York, a few years ago. George was a gentle man. He was a child of God, and he loved Jesus.
He told me that when he was growing up, he was poor, but he never knew he was poor. The only clothes he got, he told me, was every fall when school started, he got “a new pair of overhalls, and a new pair of brogans for his feet.”
That was it. No trips to the mall. No new clothes at the department store.
But now, today, Paul says, “Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”
You see, there’s the clothes we wear, which don’t mean that much. But there are the clothes that Jesus gives us, which matter a lot.
If we follow Jesus, we have to wear the clothes that Jesus gives us. Because Jesus wants people to look at us, and also see him as well.
If we’re wearing the clothes that Jesus gives us, we’re going to look different. You know how, when you’re wearing a new coat, or new shoes, you feel sharp, and you walk proud? Same thing!
You may not feel so great, but you know the old saying, “Clothes make the man”?
When you’re clothed by Christ, you look different, you feel different, you maybe even act different. Because Jesus has put his own clothes on you. Not to show off. But to be more like him.
Compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Those don’t come naturally to most people. They don’t come naturally to me. But that’s what Jesus wants us to see, when we look at ourselves in the mirror. That’s who Jesus wants us to be.
How do we do this? “Bear with each other and forgive one another. If any of you has a grievance against someone, forgive as the Lord forgave you.”
Wow! This just keeps getting tougher and tougher! If we’re going to be like Jesus, we have to forgive.
How many times? A lot of times. Seven times? More like seventy times seven. I’m not good at multiplying in my head. But last time I checked, seventy times seven is four hundred and ninety times.
And that’s not everybody. That’s just for one person. Everybody we meet gets the full count. We’re going to spend our whole lives forgiving.
And Jesus says, “That’s right. Think how much you have been forgiven. Don’t even bother counting! I forgave you. Now, you go and do the same. Forgive, and don’t count. It’s not about keeping score. It’s about being free, from all that weight. Let go, and don’t pick it up again.”
“Over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. . .”
You hear me preach that all the time — “Love one another, as God has loved you. . .Everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever doesn’t love, doesn’t know God, because God is love. . .” (1 John 4:7-8)
Love and forgive. Love and forgive.
“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.”
We are called to be people of peace. That doesn’t mean being a doormat. It doesn’t mean to be quiet, when we see something wrong, or to put up with evil, when we can help stand against it.
It means having peace in our hearts. It means knowing that God has the last word.
George Fox, who started the Quaker movement, writes about a time when he was deeply depressed. He looked out at England, and he saw civil war, and violence of all kinds. He saw people grabbing for money, and he saw people who had nothing and were starving. He prayed, and he said, “Lord, why should it be like this? Why do I see so much evil all around me?”
And in his heart, he heard the Lord say that it was necessary for him to see all these things, so that he would understand all conditions, and be able to speak to them. And he said, “I saw that there was an ocean of darkness and death. But I also saw an infinite ocean of light and love, which flowed over the ocean of darkness. And I saw the infinite love of God. . .” (George Fox, Journal, 1647)
That’s what peace is. Not ignoring the wrong in the world. But knowing that God is infinitely stronger.
And back in today’s Scripture, Paul says, “Be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and help each other learn, with wisdom and common sense, through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.”
That’s why we sing at church. It’s not just to fill up time. When we sing, we’re singing prayers. We’re using our voices to make beautiful music. We sing old songs, and new songs, and we thank God with every verse.
“Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. . .”
If we do that, we will always be a church, no matter how big or small we are.
Remember who you are. You are God’s beloved. You are friends of Jesus. God feeds you, every day.
Take off your old clothes. Put on your new clothes that Jesus gives you – compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. That’s the kind of person Jesus wants you to be.
Bear with each other. Forgive each other. Always remember how much God has forgiven you.
Love each other. If you don’t love, you don’t know God.
Let peace be always in your heart. When you come into a new place, let your peace rest on everyone there. If they don’t accept your peace, don’t worry. It’ll come back to you. Move on.
Don’t worry about being rich or poor. If the message of Christ is here among you, you’re rich already! Listen to that message. Teach it and learn it, with wisdom and common sense.
And sing a lot! Sing psalms, sing hymns, sing whatever’s in your heart. Francis used to say that the birds were singing hymns to him.
Whatever you do, do it in Jesus’ name. And give thanks to God, because of Jesus.