Scripture Reading: Colossian 1:1-14
A mother and her little
girl were shopping for fun in a big mall, and they were in the women’s section
of a department store, trying on clothes. The mother was being helped by a sales
woman and, while they were trying on things, the saleswoman gave the girl a
stick of gum. So, the mother prompted her daughter, “Now honey, what do you
say?” And the little girl looked up with a smile, and said, “Charge it!”We don’t always know how
or when to say, “Thank You!”
Now Paul was almost always
thankful. Even when he had good reason to be angry or frustrated, even when he
was in a dungeon and could be tried and sentenced to death. This was because of
someone he wanted to be thankful for. Sometimes it is as if Paul said, “God
loves you so much, and I love you too. God has given you so much, and done so
much through you. What can I say to keep you going, and growing?”
Paul had a love that
always wanted to give thanks. He always wanted to give thanks for other people,
and for the Lord’s presence and gifts in their lives.So, Paul (as he sits in
the filth and darkness of his dungeon) writes, in his letter to the
congregation in Colossae, to friends he has never actually met, but only heard
of. Paul says, “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when
we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the
love you have for all the saints/ God’s-people) --- the faith and love that
spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have
already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel/good-news that has come to
you.” (Colossians 1:3-6)
Think about this. Paul, in
the stench of a stone-lined hole in the ground, was happy because he was thankful.
Paul was thankful because someone else got the same thing he had gotten from
Jesus. Someone else had confidence in the same Lord who was helping him even
now. Someone else was learning to love others because Jesus loved them. Someone
else had hope because they knew that Jesus was the face of a God who would do
absolutely everything for them that they needed, and so much more.
Paul was thankful because
he realized that he lived in a world where God was at work in others. He was
happy because others were happy: blessed by God.
This is an important part
of thanksgiving: to see God at work in others, to see God at work in people all
over the earth. This is the fun of being part of a wedding, or a baptism. This is
what makes it fun to do things with kids. But it is more than fun. There is a
deeper pleasure in this. And not because you are being entertained, but because
you see something of great value.
You see a husband or a wife
who is patient with their spouse without treating their spouse as a child, but
with respect and tenderness, because the Lord’s love has taught them what real
love is. You have friends whom you know are deeply praying to be good parents.
You hear the wisdom of the old as they talk about life, and death, and heaven.
You watch friends and neighbors working and playing together to make a
community, or a church. You learn the stories about how the Lord became a
reality to the people around you. Thanksgiving is what you want to do when you
see the gifts and treasures of God in the hearts of others.
The
archeologists who discovered the old Egyptian tomb of King Tut (the Pharaoh Tutankhamen),
when they made their way down the underground passage, and broke a small hole
through the wall that blocked the way into the tomb. At first the hole was just
large enough for one of the men to squeeze his arms and head and shoulders
through, with a lighted lantern in his hand.
As he
did this, in the lamplight, he saw the dusty gleam of gold and the glitter of
precious stones. He must have also, somehow, seen the thousands of years
between them, and the sight made him speechless. He froze at the sight of this;
as silent as the grave. Those standing outsaid wondered what was going on with
him. They kept saying, “What is it? Do you see anything? Do you SEE ANYTHING!!”
Finally,
he got his voice back. He gasped his answer: “YES! Yes! Wonderful things!”
Thanksgiving
comes from being a witness of wonderful things.
In
Eastern religions, the truth is within you, and always was within you. It is
NOT a gift. It has always belonged to you, just as everything is a part of you,
and you a part of everything.
But,
in the gospel, in the good news of Jesus Christ, everything is a gift. You
yourself are a gift. When you are a Christian, you are not thankful for what is
only yours alone; you are thankful for so many gifts beyond you.
God
himself is a gift. God doesn’t belong to you, even though you love him as your
own.
God is
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God gave himself to us as a God of
an almost scary, radical, sacrificial love. God’s love either goes too far to seem
believable, or else he goes so far that you can’t come without God himself, in
Jesus, carrying you to himself; and you can’t come to him without being changed.
And this is his gift.
And
you, yourself, are a gift. “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness
and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.” (Colossians 1:13) The
Lord’s whole purpose is to bring you home, as a gift for himself, a gift shared
by the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
You
are the product of a daring rescue. It is a rescue that takes you from darkness
to light. And part of the light is to see yourself surrounded by gifts. You see
yourself surrounded by a sort of “Gift-Love”: The Gift-Love of God.
God’s
light is our understanding God’s grace, God’s transforming love, in all its
truth, in all its beauty.
Because
grace is such a great thing, its truth is hard to grasp. It is hard to believe
in such an extravagant, unconditional love. But this is really the secret of
the Christian life. It’s this big gift, this big love, that enables us to live
in this world with a truly big faith, love, and hope in return.
There’s
a story about a tourist in a famous museum in an old city. He saw another man
standing in front of one of those famous abstract paintings that are so full of
bright colors and strange shapes. The man just stood there looking, and looking,
and not moving on.
That
other man was almost making a spectacle of himself. So, the tourist decided to
give it a try on his own. He stood beside the other man and looked, and looked,
and looked at what was spoken of as a great masterpiece. Finally, he made a wisecrack:
“I don’t see anything in that!” And the man who had stood there for so long
whispered to him: “Don’t you wish you could?” (Maxie Dunnam, “The Communicator’s
Commentary, vol. 8, p. 342f)
Let’s
pray to see the wonderful things of the Lord around us in other people, and in the
creation, and in our own lives. Let’s pray to see those wonderful things of the
Lord, so that we can be God’s thankful people.
A mother and her little
girl were shopping for fun in a big mall, and they were in the women’s section
of a department store, trying on clothes. The mother was being helped by a sales
woman and, while they were trying on things, the saleswoman gave the girl a
stick of gum. So, the mother prompted her daughter, “Now honey, what do you
say?” And the little girl looked up with a smile, and said, “Charge it!”
We don’t always know how
or when to say, “Thank You!”
Now Paul was almost always
thankful. Even when he had good reason to be angry or frustrated, even when he
was in a dungeon and could be tried and sentenced to death. This was because of
someone he wanted to be thankful for. Sometimes it is as if Paul said, “God
loves you so much, and I love you too. God has given you so much, and done so
much through you. What can I say to keep you going, and growing?”
Paul had a love that
always wanted to give thanks. He always wanted to give thanks for other people,
and for the Lord’s presence and gifts in their lives.
So, Paul (as he sits in
the filth and darkness of his dungeon) writes, in his letter to the
congregation in Colossae, to friends he has never actually met, but only heard
of. Paul says, “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when
we pray for you, because
we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the
love you have for all the saints/ God’s-people) --- the faith and love that
spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have
already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel/good-news that has come to
you.” (Colossians 1:3-6)
Think about this. Paul, in
the stench of a stone-lined hole in the ground, was happy because he was thankful.
Paul was thankful because someone else got the same thing he had gotten from
Jesus. Someone else had confidence in the same Lord who was helping him even
now. Someone else was learning to love others because Jesus loved them. Someone
else had hope because they knew that Jesus was the face of a God who would do
absolutely everything for them that they needed, and so much more.
Paul was thankful because
he realized that he lived in a world where God was at work in others. He was
happy because others were happy: blessed by God.
This is an important part
of thanksgiving: to see God at work in others, to see God at work in people all
over the earth. This is the fun of being part of a wedding, or a baptism. This is
what makes it fun to do things with kids. But it is more than fun. There is a
deeper pleasure in this. And not because you are being entertained, but because
you see something of great value.
You see a husband or a wife
who is patient with their spouse without treating their spouse as a child, but
with respect and tenderness, because the Lord’s love has taught them what real
love is. You have friends whom you know are deeply praying to be good parents.
You hear the wisdom of the old as they talk about life, and death, and heaven.
You watch friends and neighbors working and playing together to make a
community, or a church. You learn the stories about how the Lord became a
reality to the people around you. Thanksgiving is what you want to do when you
see the gifts and treasures of God in the hearts of others.
The
archeologists who discovered the old Egyptian tomb of King Tut (the Pharaoh Tutankhamen),
when they made their way down the underground passage, and broke a small hole
through the wall that blocked the way into the tomb. At first the hole was just
large enough for one of the men to squeeze his arms and head and shoulders
through, with a lighted lantern in his hand.
As he
did this, in the lamplight, he saw the dusty gleam of gold and the glitter of
precious stones. He must have also, somehow, seen the thousands of years
between them, and the sight made him speechless. He froze at the sight of this;
as silent as the grave. Those standing outsaid wondered what was going on with
him. They kept saying, “What is it? Do you see anything? Do you SEE ANYTHING!!”
Finally,
he got his voice back. He gasped his answer: “YES! Yes! Wonderful things!”
Thanksgiving
comes from being a witness of wonderful things.
In
Eastern religions, the truth is within you, and always was within you. It is
NOT a gift. It has always belonged to you, just as everything is a part of you,
and you a part of everything.
But,
in the gospel, in the good news of Jesus Christ, everything is a gift. You
yourself are a gift. When you are a Christian, you are not thankful for what is
only yours alone; you are thankful for so many gifts beyond you.
God
himself is a gift. God doesn’t belong to you, even though you love him as your
own.
God is
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God gave himself to us as a God of
an almost scary, radical, sacrificial love. God’s love either goes too far to seem
believable, or else he goes so far that you can’t come without God himself, in
Jesus, carrying you to himself; and you can’t come to him without being changed.
And this is his gift.
And
you, yourself, are a gift. “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness
and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.” (Colossians 1:13) The
Lord’s whole purpose is to bring you home, as a gift for himself, a gift shared
by the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
You
are the product of a daring rescue. It is a rescue that takes you from darkness
to light. And part of the light is to see yourself surrounded by gifts. You see
yourself surrounded by a sort of “Gift-Love”: The Gift-Love of God.
God’s
light is our understanding God’s grace, God’s transforming love, in all its
truth, in all its beauty.
Because
grace is such a great thing, its truth is hard to grasp. It is hard to believe
in such an extravagant, unconditional love. But this is really the secret of
the Christian life. It’s this big gift, this big love, that enables us to live
in this world with a truly big faith, love, and hope in return.
There’s
a story about a tourist in a famous museum in an old city. He saw another man
standing in front of one of those famous abstract paintings that are so full of
bright colors and strange shapes. The man just stood there looking, and looking,
and not moving on.
That
other man was almost making a spectacle of himself. So, the tourist decided to
give it a try on his own. He stood beside the other man and looked, and looked,
and looked at what was spoken of as a great masterpiece. Finally, he made a wisecrack:
“I don’t see anything in that!” And the man who had stood there for so long
whispered to him: “Don’t you wish you could?” (Maxie Dunnam, “The Communicator’s
Commentary, vol. 8, p. 342f)
Let’s
pray to see the wonderful things of the Lord around us in other people, and in the
creation, and in our own lives. Let’s pray to see those wonderful things of the
Lord, so that we can be God’s thankful people.
