On the Way to Wonder

When I think of Thanksgiving, I remember this song often sung at services.  It was written in 1597 by a Dutch Christian, Adrianus Valerius, after a victory the Dutch had over the Spanish.  Dutch Protestants were forbidden to gather together for worship by the Spanish King, a freedom we take for granted here in the United States.  But for many around the world today, the freedom to gather and praise is a luxury and often dangerous.

         The Dutch brought the song to the USA but sang only psalms in their church services.  Later they voted to include other songs of praise and this was the first hymn chosen for their new hymnal.  In 1935 the song was included in the Methodist-Episcopal Church hymnal.  The hymn spoke into the hearts of Americans during WWI and WWII when we felt oppressed by the “wicked.”

         An interesting footnote included in Wikipedia is, “This hymn was sung at the Opening of the Funeral Mass for Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. The West Wing episode “Shibboleth” (season 2, episode 8 “Shibboleth”) alluded to the hymn, and it was played in the episode’s final scene (performed by the Cedarmont Kids.)  The hymn is also usually sung by the Quartermaine family on the American soap opera General Hospital‘s annual Thanksgiving episode.”

         As we listen to the words, may we join in thanks for the privilege to gather together this week for worship.  May we say a prayer for those caught in political wars and the many fleeing to foreign borders due to persecution in their homes.  May we remember those gathered in hospitals and places of care and those grieving the loss of “family” to gather with today.  Lord, have mercy.

Philippians 4: 5-7

            ⁵ Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

I called my sister to report on a date the previous evening.  The guy was memorizing the book of Colossians!!!  That was totally a new idea to me.  I had memorized verses in confirmation but a book of the Bible?? Is that possible?  My sister said she was working on Philippians and the organist at church was memorizing Hebrews!  I asked her why the book of Philippians.  She responded that it is a book characterized by “Joy.”  Paul, writing from prison, is writing to his followers about the joy found in faith.

         Paul prefaces thanksgiving on the realization that the Lord is near.  I then thought that meant,  “near to returning” but I have since matured and realized it means the presence of the holy at all times.  Because God is near, walking with me, guiding me, protecting me from the worst evil and loving me, I can ground my prayers in thanksgiving.  That does not mean I get what I want but God is open to discussion, concerned, interested in all that interests me and God will work it out for the best in the big picture.  In the kingdom of this world we experience horrible situations, great suffering, and unexpected disappointment but we are not abandoned or alone.

         Thanksgiving allows us to respond to others with gentleness and not judgment and vengeance.  It also means our hearts and minds can be at peace as we release the results into God’s hands.  We are running a spiritual marathon with a trainer who is interested in all aspects of life.

I is for ……, N is for ……, T is for ……, E is for ……, S is for ……, T is for ……  We are important to God.  Thank you, Lord!

2 Corinthians 9:10-13

            ^“10 He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your          righteousness. ¹¹ You will be enriched in every way for your great      generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us; ¹² for the rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs of the saints   but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God.”

Generosity produces thanksgiving.  That sounds logical but how does it work?  When I was a young adult, an elder challenged me that I was angry following a broken engagement and other life disappointments.  He challenged me to spend the first five minutes after I woke up in focusing on thanksgiving.  It was the week of Thanksgiving and one morning I opened my Bible to 2 Corinthians 9.  I sat and memorized it.

         Now, 50 years later I see certain nuggets of truth.  God supplies the strength or the ability to respond to perceived grievances by turning the other cheek.  God supplies the strength when I do not have it within me.  I do not need to twist into good, a wrong, but because of God I can try to act generously towards the offender.  I can be my better self with his strength because my tank is on empty.

         Not only does God provide the seed but God also multiplies it.  If we do try to the best of our ability to respond as God would have us respond, then we can relax because the results are in his hands.  God is working.  The verse also says there is a boomerang affect.  We will also be enriched by being generous.

         Generosity is going beyond the required response, blesses the others, helps us loose our grip on the results, blesses us and ultimately results in thanksgiving to God.  Responding generously to others is a way of valuing others and that produces thanksgiving to God.  Lord, help my responses to be generous, valuing others.  V is for ….., A is for ……, L is for ….., U is for ….., and E is for …….  Blessings.

2 Chronicles 5:13

^“13 it was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the Lord, and when the song was raised, with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the Lord,

‘For he is good,
    for his steadfast love endures for ever’,

the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud,”

Let’s jump back to the Old Testament today.  2 Chronicles 5 tells of the celebration after Solomon has finished building the Temple and he is transferring the articles of worship from the Tabernacle, the original focus of worship from the wilderness journey, to the finished Temple.  Everyone was decked out in their finest robes, sacrifices uncountable were offered and the worship service was so moving.  Verse 13 tells us that the instruments and the people were praising in unison.  Unity and harmony mark truly outstanding worship, not dissonance and discord.  I also note that the focus was not just creating good music but it was focused on the goodness of God and his steadfast love that endures.

         God’s love is steadfast.  Let’s chew on that for a minute.  God loves us when we are up and when we are down, whether we have our makeup on, whether we are performing at the top of our game.  God is not a fickled lover who is all passion when the lights are low but distant when distracted by the concerns of the job of the universe.  God’s love is steadfast and we can depend on it, lean on it, and be secure in it.

         “God’s love endures forever.”  As I age and now visit my husband in a memory ward and see the Alzheimer residents curled in balls, unresponsive, a shadow of their former selves, I must remind myself that God’s love does not discard us when we are no longer beautiful in the eyes of the world.  Like loved ones who visit a person who seemingly has forgotten self and others, like those loved ones God is there, lovingly enduring with the person traveling the valley of the shadow of death.

         God is praised when our thanksgiving is given in unity, blending our differences.  May we never forget that God is committed to draw us to him.  God is invested in us.  I is for ….., N is for ….., V is for ….., E is for ….., S is for ……, T is for ……  Thank you Lord.

Romans 1:8

“First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you,

because your faith is proclaimed throughout the world.”

Paul, the author of Romans, is thought to be sitting in Corinth, planning a trip to Spain but on the way knows he will visit Rome.  And so, he wrote a letter of greeting.  He opens with thanksgiving.  It is thought to have been written between 55 and 57 AD and he complements the believers in Rome who were probably Jewish and Gentile on their faith.

         If you were to write a letter to a friend far away that you were hoping to visit soon, what would you want to thank God for about them “first?”  One of the gifts of faith is that Christianity is a world wide religion and wherever we go we may be surprised to meet a fellow Christian.  I have sat in services where I may not be able to read the language or speak it but as the hymn swells, my heart can join in with them in my language.  Faith is a gift that is bigger than my salvation but enters me into a family of believers.

         Maybe you are not going to Rome and expecting to meet Christians but you most likely have beloved friends far away that are a gift to you because you share a common faith.  Let’s make an acronym of the word “gift” and thank God for someone who has blessed your life.  G is for…..,  I is for …..,  F is for ….., and T is for …….  Thank you Lord for the gift of community around the world and even in Rome.  Blessings.

Psalm 103 by King David.

¹ Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me,  bless his holy name.
 do not forget all his benefits—
³ who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases,
⁴ who redeems your life from the Pit, 

who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
⁵ who satisfies you with good as long as you live so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

⁶ The Lord works … justice for all who are oppressed.
⁸ The Lord is merciful and gracious,
    slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
⁹ He will not always accuse, nor will he keep his anger for ever.
¹⁰ He does not deal with us according to our sins,
    nor repay us according to our iniquities.
¹¹ For as the heavens are high above the earth,
    so great is his steadfast love towards those who fear him;
¹² as far as the east is from the west,
    so far he removes our transgressions from us.
¹³ As a father has compassion for his children,
    so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him.
¹⁴ For he knows how we were made; he remembers that we are dust.

¹⁷ But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting
    on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children,
¹⁸ to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments.

¹⁹ The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom     rules over all
Bless the Lord, O my soul.

Psalm 103 by King David expands our meditations on Thanksgiving this year.  “God’s goodness” could point to many things.  Much of the psalm talks about God’s anger at sin and the forgiveness we are offered.  I can’t improve on David’s words so invite you to read the psalm, listen to it put to music, and reflect on forgiveness and what a wonderful gift it is.  Blessings.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXttZ5rd1Qk

The Thirty Years War (1618-1648) was the occasion of Catholics and Protestants warring and killing each other, not to mention plague, famine and starvation. The population of the German area went from 16 million to 6 million!!  That was a pandemic with no vaccination, no rich countries to blame, and with refugees fleeing all over Europe.  Eilenberg was a walled city so became an overcrowded place of disease and misery.  Martin Rinckart, author of the hymn of today, was an accomplished Lutheran musician who studied at the University of Leipzig.  At the peak of the war, it is said he did 50 funerals a day!!  This hymn is dated at 1636 and was translated into English by Catherine Winkworth who published it around the 1850s.

         The Reformation hymns put to music theology of the time but the hymn written by Rinckart approached spirituality differently.

Now thank we all our God,
with heart and hands and voices,
who wondrous things has done,
in whom this world rejoices;
who from our mothers’ arms
has blessed us on our way
with countless gifts of love,
and still is ours today.

It is hard to imagine a family spending their resources to help refugees and the ill flooding the streets of their town while the family ate scraps.  But so it was.  I chose the YouTube post and noted that the choir singing is from Cape Town, South Africa, that understands the pain in my lifetime of apartheid and yet they choose this song to sing.  Will we be able to raise our voices, our hearts and our hands and rejoice this Thanks giving?  Good question for reflection.  Please enjoy!

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Psalm 92

¹ It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
    to sing praises to your name, O Most High;
² to declare your steadfast love in the morning,
    and your faithfulness by night,
³ to the music of the lute and the harp,
    to the melody of the lyre.
⁴ For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work;
    at the works of your hands I sing for joy.

¹⁰ But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox;
    you have poured over me^[a] fresh oil.
¹¹ My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies;
    my ears have heard the doom of my evil assailants.

¹² The righteous flourish like the palm tree,
    and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
¹³ They are planted in the house of the Lord;
    they flourish in the courts of our God.
¹⁴ In old age they still produce fruit;
    they are always green and full of sap,
¹⁵ showing that the Lord is upright;
    he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

Psalm 92 is titled as a psalm of vindication.  Vindication to me is different that deliverance.  Deliverance is escape from a dilemma but vindication gives the sense of being falsely accused but then the truth coming out that you were right.  You are justified in your position.  Vindication carries the idea that the vindicator believed in you and fought for you and was able to turn a very ugly and humiliating experience into an affirmation of your personhood.  Today is the “K” day and so I am going to pick the word “kindness”.  Vindication somehow feels like a kindness that is unexpected like a giant hug.

–Perhaps it is like an unexpected kiss from your friend after a fight when you expect to get yelled at.  They admit you were right.

—Perhaps it is like the relief of being proved innocent when others think you are guilty or at least doubt you.

–Perhaps it is like a friend staying neutral until all the facts are on the table.

Vindication is like a wave of unexpected kindness blessing a tense situation.  God is kind in dealing with our human sinfulness.  For many of us, the thought of standing before The God is very scary but Thanksgiving is reminding ourselves that God is kind, our good shepherd who cares for us.  May you remember kind moments as you think today about Veterans who have blessed your life.

Psalm 65:8 -13

^“6 By your strength you established the mountains; 

you are girded with might.
⁷ You silence the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves,
    the tumult of the peoples.
⁸ Those who live at earth’s farthest bounds are awed by your signs;
you make the gateways of the morning and the evening shout for joy.

⁹ You visit the earth and water it, you greatly enrich it;
         the river of God is full of water; you provide the people with grain,
         for so you have prepared it.
¹⁰ You water its furrows abundantly, settling its ridges, softening it with

       showers, and blessing its growth.
¹¹ You crown the year with your bounty;
    your wagon tracks overflow with richness.
¹² The pastures of the wilderness overflow,
    the hills gird themselves with joy,
¹³ the meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the valleys deck themselves

         with grain, they shout and sing together for joy.”

Tonight I sit and wait to see what tomorrow brings with the arrival of Tropical Storm/Hurricane Nicole – not so long after Hurricane Ian.  My daughter and I are planning which video marathon we might play if we have electricity.  One suggestion is to do a Jane Austen-ish day.  As I think of King David’s 65^th psalm that lauds the wonders of nature, I thought of the hymn, “For the Beauty of the Earth” and looked on the Internet.  I found one version that opens with a clip from Little Women!  The girls are singing the hymn “For the Beauty of the Earth”!

     For many, a walk in nature is as refreshing and worshipful as a church service.  The quiet beauty of nature reminds us of the presence of an unseen God that blesses our lives and holds on to us, even in storms. We often run through our day without stopping to appreciate nature, without stopping to praise.  Storms, on the other hand, demand our attention with all their power for destruction, and remind us of other aspects of God’s being that we tend to minimize.  We want a kind, loving God but we also want justice for the wrongs we have suffered.  

         One of Thanksgiving’s icon is the cornucopia, a symbol of the plenty of the harvest that gets us through the winter.  As we do our acrostic today on the word “nature”, think of what you might put your cornucopia of praise in the center of the Thanksgiving table.  N is for….., A is for….., T is for….., U is for……, R is for ….., and E is for…….   Thank you Lord for your many blessings through the year and for giving us strength to face the rough days.