Good morning, Friends! Thank you all for coming here today. I hope it’s been a good week for all of you!
This month is the month of thanksgiving. It’s a time for us to remember God and to give thanks for our blessings. For many, it’s a time to gather the family, before the winter sets in and travel gets difficult.
November is a time of great beauty – the autumn trees are so beautiful. The hills and mountains look like they’re on fire.
The heat of the summer is over. For farm families, the harvest is almost done. If you kept a vegetable garden this year, you’ve probably dug everything up and put it in your freezer.
November is the time of pumpkins and apple cider, pies and turkey, BBQ and everything good there is to eat and enjoy.
Behind it all, beneath and above it all, is the love and grace of God. November is a time to remember how much we are blessed, to give thanks, to share with people in need, to rest from our summer labors and to rejoice in God’s goodness.
Our Scripture today is one we can read at any time of the year. But it’s particularly appropriate for November, the season of thanksgiving.
If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God:
You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.
Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed. You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.
The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.
The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.
The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the Lord your God and walk in obedience to him.
Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you.
The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you.
The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none.
The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom.
Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.
– Deuteronomy 28:1-14
That’s a long list of blessings! It pretty much covers all the bases. We’re blessed at work and at home, in the field and in our family. Both breadwinners and break makers are blessed. We are blessed even in the midst of conflict
God says that we will be a holy people, a great nation. The very land itself will be blessed, with abundant rain and work for everyone.
This will happen, God says, if we keep – if we live – God’s commandments.
That word in our English Bible is commandments, but it doesn’t really translate the richness of the Hebrew language. The word for commandment also means God’s teaching.
It’s not just a bunch of rules. It’s God’s teaching, it’s God’s life wisdom. God teaches us how to live. God’s way is the way to life.
It can also be translated as opportunity. Each commandment is an opportunity to do right or not to do right. Every day we have many choices, for life or away from life.
We think of the Ten Commandments as a list of rules. If we break one, God gets angry at us. But they’re so much more than that. They’re a guide, a pathway. Live this way, God says, and you’ll discover your blessings.
They’re simple, they’re easy enough for anybody to understand. There’s only one God. Don’t worship anyone else. Don’t misuse God’s name, or call anything “God” that isn’t God.
Your family, your relationships with your neighbors, wanting things that aren’t yours – it’s all covered. And if that’s too hard for you to remember, there’s always the quick version – “Love the Lord your God will all your heart, soul, strength and mind; and love your neighbor as yourself.”
That’s the way to life. That’s all God really wants. Choose life.
Every day there are blessings on all sides of us. I may not have the newest and most fashionable shoes to wear, but I’ve got shoes on my feet. Some people may have bigger houses than I do, but I’ve got a roof over my head at night. Lots of people don’t. My mind is clear, my hands and feet work, I’ve got warm clothes and food on the table. All those things – and I can be thankful for every one of them.
You’ve heard me say this before, but giving thanks is something Jesus did, all the time. And when Jesus gave thanks, amazing things happened. Jesus gave thanks for a handful of bread – barely enough for a child’s lunch – and suddenly there was enough to feed thousands.
Jesus gave thanks for half a dozen barrels of water, and it turned into the best wine that anybody had ever tasted. Jesus gave thanks to God, for opportunities for God to shine, and people were healed and set free.
Giving thanks has power. We’re commanded to give thanks, but giving thanks opens doorways for God to come through. Giving thanks creates opportunities for God, because suddenly we’re more open to what God can do.
If you want to change one thing about yourself and see an immediate result, try being thankful for every big and little thing in your life.
In today’s Scripture reading, it says, “If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God. . .”
By “fully obey” I don’t think God wants to turn us into a bunch of nitpickers and check-list keepers. In the book of Deuteronomy, God was talking to a bunch of people who had just escaped from 400 years of slavery. He was talking to people who kept sheep and herded goats, not a bunch of lawyers and college professors.
“Fully obey” means to obey with a full heart, with a full desire to live in God’s new way. That’s compared to a half-heart or a reluctant heart. A full heart means, “I’m all in for God. I’m not holding back. My life, from here on out, is going to be about thanking God and praising God. This is what I really want, to love God with all my heart, and to love my neighbor, too.”
It doesn’t always matter, where we are, or what’s going on. We can give thanks any time and any place.
The apostle Paul was in prison one time, chained to the floor. The prisoner next to Paul, heard him praying and thanking God. He probably thought Paul was crazy. Who’d give thanks in prison?
But Paul’s prayers got to him, and the next thing you know, Paul’s cell mate was converted.
Paul wrote, “Always be glad because of the Lord! I’ll say it again: Be glad. Always be gentle with others. The Lord will soon be here. Don’t worry about anything, but pray about everything. With thankful hearts offer up your prayers and requests to God. Then, because you belong to Christ Jesus, God will bless you with peace that no one can completely understand. And this peace will guide the way you think and feel.
I am not complaining about having too little. I have learned to be satisfied with whatever I have. I know what it is to be poor or to have plenty, and I have lived under all kinds of conditions. I know what it means to be full or to be hungry, to have too much or too little. Christ gives me the strength to face anything.” (Philippians 4:4-7,11-13)
A big part of being thankful is just saying thank-you prayers to God, all through the day. You can never say too many of them, and you can always find something, big or small, to be thankful for, in any situation.
But there’s more than just prayer. In Deuteronomy, God says that blessings come when we follow the commandments, the teaching, the pathway to life.
Jesus took all of the old commandments, and he put a new spin on them. Jesus said, “Feed the hungry. Give a drink to the thirsty. Even a cup of cold water is a blessing! Visit people who are lonely. Reach out to people who are strangers and foreigners. Be with people who are grieving or weeping. Being merciful is a blessing. To be a peacemaker is to be one of God’s children.”
And, don’t forget to rest. Rest is one of the Ten Commandments. It comes right after the one about not taking God’s name in vain, and it actually comes before the ones about honoring your parents and not killing other people.
Not resting is a disease of our society. Too many people are literally working themselves to death. God says, work as hard as you want, six days of the week. But take at least one full day off to rest – and don’t make anyone else work that day, too! If you never take a full day of rest, you’re not successful. You’re a slave. You can’t work your way into Heaven!
Take time to rest your body, and your heart, and your mind. Look up from your keyboard, or your tools, or your countertop. Remember who made the world. Enjoy it. Give thanks for it. Have some fun with it!
The world is a beautiful place. Let’s stop what we’re doing, and show God some serious appreciation for it. Let’s not take all of our blessings for granted.
For the rest of this month, let’s be thankful. God has given us so much!
Find many times to pray and thank God. When you were first in love, do you remember how much time you wanted to spend with the one you loved? Do you remember what a delight it was to you? See how many times you can find to pray!
The more we are aware of our blessings, the more we are called to live generously. Blessings aren’t something to hoard and keep to ourselves. Blessings are meant to be shared.
We are called to live generously. What God has given you, share with someone else who needs it, too. Whether it’s food, or help, or listening or forgiveness – whatever you’ve been given, be sure to pay it forward.
God’s been generous with us. Let’s be more generous ourselves.
Thank you!