Sermon this week
Perhaps you have heard the story of the old farmer who, with his wife, wascelebrating fifty years of married life. Life on a farm can be tough;commitment is required. And you have to be frugal.Their children gave them a party during which lots of friendscongratulated the honoured couple. They looked at old pictures, brought outold phonograph records. The fifty-year couple even danced a bit to theold, familiar music. When the party was over and all had gone home thehappy couple found them selves alone. It was a tender moment. The oldfarmer, who was careful with his money and even more frugal with hiswords, felt moved to speak."You know, Ma, over these fifty years, sometimes I've loved you so muchthat I really had to stop myself from telling you" She reached for a hankie,dabbed her eyes and said: "Thank ya', Pa."Why are we so reluctant to let others know how we feel? Why are we sostingy and so slow to speak words that others long to hear, so private insaying things that cry out to be said?
Who are we say thank you to today? You may be here saying I have nothing to give thanks for, there is no reason to give thanks, you don’t know what I have gone through. You maybe there saying I am thankful, but I still feel lost, that there is so much on the horizon, things that are going to swamp me and those I love in the next few days and weeks that I cannot enjoy what I have, how can I enjoy what God has given me because of what the future may hold!
We all understand and appreciate the importance of gratitude. How it canradically change relationships. In fact, one of the first things we weretaught and that we teach our children is to express their gratitude. Someone gives them some candy and we say: "Now what do you say?" And the childlearns from an early age the answer "Thank you." And certainly we all knowas adults that we appreciate being thanked. Yet, when it comes to givingthanks to our heavenly father, we so often miss the mark.And when it comes to giving our thanks to God, I don't suppose there isany story in the Bible that is so endearing to us, so timelesslyappropriate, as the story of Jesus healing the ten lepers. We have allheard the story many times, but like so many Bible stories, we never tireof it.The story begins: "And as he entered a certain village there met him tenlepers, and they stood at a far distance." Don't ever think for a momentthat death is the worst thing that can happen to a person. It's not. Andthe scene this morning is a case in point. These ten men walked the earth.They breathed and ate. They had hopes and fears and aspirations andfeelings just like you and me. Yet, there was a tragic sense in which theywere already dead. They were walking dead. Leprosy was the most dreaded ofall ancient diseases. It ate away at the body and left its victim maimedand disfigured. There was no known cure. In their hopes for a family life,a useful occupation, plans for the future-they were dead men.Their situation was made worse because leprosy was believed to be highlycontagious. Actually, we know today that it is not. But tell that toancient superstition. The scripture made it quite clear that as theselepers approached Jesus they stood at a far distance. Jewish law clearlyprescribed that a leper could not get within fifty yards of a cleanperson. Everywhere these poor men journeyed they heard familiar wordsyelled out: "Unclean," "Leper." And then some would hurl stones at them tokeep them away. Leprosy was a serious public health concern but it wastinged with the religious element of ritual uncleanness. So it was thatthey not only had to live with their physical handicap, but they were alsoisolated. They had to live in the hell of loneliness. That can do more todrain a person's energy for living than the most horrible of diseases.But even in the midst of this horrible situation these lepers hadsomething to be thankful for. In their common misery they had bandedtogether. They had found each other. It is interesting to note that one ofthese ten lepers was a Samaritan. Now a good Jew in that day in time wouldhave no dealings at all with a Samaritan. They looked upon Samaritans asdogs, half-breeds. Yet, in the common misery of their leprosy these menhad forgotten that they were Jew and Samaritan and realized only that theywere men in need. Some of you might say, well it was a case of miseryloves company. Maybe so. But I know that there is power in fellowship,especially the fellowship of people who have a common need. Even lepersfound it so. Which, I think, brings us to the point of the story, which issimply this: even in the midst of our problems....1. There is always something to be thankful for.2. Thanksgiving needs to be expressed.
I want to assure you this morning wherever you are, whatever you are feeling, God will bring blossoms in the desert, this fantastic passage in Isaiah, speaking after the challenge of chapter 34, where God will judge the nations, esp Edom the near neighbours of Israel, who were the persecutors of God’s chosen people, the prophet says that even in the hardest wilderness, there will be life. In the midst of the desert the rose will bloom.
We live in the now but not yet, Isaiah was looking to Jesus we look back at Jesus as well as looking forward, God has moved, is moving and will move once more, and we live in knowledge of Jesus and that gives us opportunities that even Isaiah the prophet never had, to share the love of the long awaited messiah with others who don’t yet know him!
God is saying to people of Israel that things are tough at the moment, but there will be a time when he will move and they will receive the blessings of his action, that the wilderness will no longer be a place of fear, but of beauty and joy, Isaiah mentions Lebanon, Carmel, Sharon all places of beauty, that there will be transformation for the people. I believe that God still works this way today, that even when we are in the lowest place, where our souls thirst, where are body is in pain, where we suffer great hurt, God can transform us, from wasteland into wholeness, I love the idea that when God moves in us we will burst into bloom and rejoice and shout for joy, God wants this for us, but too often the world, our attitude our experiences weigh us down and we never see what God is desperate to give us, his love that is found in Jesus that gives us life in all it’s fullness. Even small things make a difference
In the book "A Window on the Mountain," Winston Pierce tells of his highschool class reunion. A group of the old classmates were reminiscingabout things and persons they were grateful for. One man mentioned thathe was particularly thankful for Mrs. Wendt, for she more than anyone hadintroduced him to Tennyson and the beauty of poetry. Acting on asuggestion, the man wrote a letter of appreciation to Mrs. Wendt andaddressed it to the high school. The note was forwarded and eventuallyfound the old teacher. About a month later the man received a response. It was written in a feeble longhand and read as follows: "My dear Willie,I can't tell you how much your letter meant to me. I am now in mynineties, living alone in a small room, cooking my own meals, lonely, andlike the last leaf of fall lingering behind. You will be interested toknow that I taught school for forty years and yours is the first letter ofappreciation I ever received. It came on a blue, cold morning and itcheered me as nothing has for years. Willie, you have made my day."
As Christians do we make a difference? Who’s day can we make today?
In the time of Isaiah, the pilgrims wanted to go to Jerusalem to remember their God, but they were persecuted by the stronger nations, to be a pilgrim meant to experience great fear to have no real expectation, but to trudge on.
We are too often like the pilgrim with no hope, we think what is the world coming to, all we do never makes a difference even the work we do for God is not doing any good, but God promised those pilgrims of days gone by and we pilgrims today to be strong and have no fear, for he will come to rescue us, the streams will flow in the desert.
The pilgrims had to trudge through the desert with no path for their feet, we too feel that we trudge through God’s will on the journey he has called us to travel, but God promised the way in the desert a road to make travel easier. This is of course a call to travel upon the way that Christ has shown us, he is the way the truth and the life, he points us to the Father, he makes travel in this world safer and easier, in the sense that we know where we are going and who travels with us, the redeemed walk there.
God has redeemed us, this originally was the legal term for buying someone’s freedom from slavery, this is what God has done for us, when he sent Jesus, to die for us so that we may be restored in relationship with the Father, the way we were created to be, we are the ransomed people, God has delivered us from the slavery of sin, we are no longer the slaves to sin, we are the servants of God, we are the brothers and sisters of Jesus, we are the family of God, travelling this world together in the promise that God is with us, going before us and behind us to the holy city.
When the pilgrims saw the city they would break forth in joy singing with gladness that they had found the city. But you know, we are already in that city, when Christ died on that cross we arrived in that city, we are still journeying to meet with God one day in the world to come, but today we have access to that city the minute we turn and acknowledge God as our saviour through his grace.
At no point do we ever need to be alone, at no point should we fear, even when we hurt and suffer we are still comforted by the presence of God, God goes with us, we are in his presence today, he promises to never leave us or forsake us, when we don’t give thanks for what he has done, the wilderness takes hold once more, when we criticize, when we gossip when we fail to help others in need, the desert chokes the bloom, but when we let God’s Spirit grow in us when we let God’s love flow through us, then water will flow in the wilderness, the flowers burst into bloom, when we give thanks for what God has done and will continue to do in our lives if we let him, we bloom, our Church blossoms and God is honoured, that is where I want to be!
Now Thank We All Our GodYou can even be thankful during the most difficult of circumstances inlife. It's true! We see an especially inspiring example of a brave andthankful heart in the story behind one of the church's most popular hymns,"Now Thank We All Our God." This particularly hymn was written during theThirty Years War in Germany, in the early 1600s. Its author was MartinRinkart, a Lutheran pastor in the town of Eilenburg in Saxony.Now, Eilenburg was a walled city, so it became a haven for refugeesseeking safety from the fighting. But soon, the city became too crowdedand food was in short supply. Then, a famine hit and a terrible plague andEilenburg became a giant morgue.In one year alone, Pastor Rinkart conducted funerals for 4,500 people,including his own wife. The war dragged on; the suffering continued. Yetthrough it all, he never lost courage or faith and even during the darkestdays of Eilenburg's agony, he was able to write this hymn:Now thank we all our God,with hearts and hands and voices,Who wondrous things hath done,In whom the world rejoices...[So] keep us in His grace,and guide us when perplexed,and free us from all ills,in this world and the next.Even when he was waist deep in destruction, Pastor Rinkart was able tolift his sights to a higher plane. He kept his mind on God's love when theworld was filled with hate. He kept his mind on God's promises of heavenwhen the earth was a living hell. Can we not do the same - we whose livesare almost trouble-free, compared with the man who wrote that hymn?Whom can you say "thank you" to?
Perhaps you have heard the story of the old farmer who, with his wife, wascelebrating fifty years of married life. Life on a farm can be tough;commitment is required. And you have to be frugal.Their children gave them a party during which lots of friendscongratulated the honoured couple. They looked at old pictures, brought outold phonograph records. The fifty-year couple even danced a bit to theold, familiar music. When the party was over and all had gone home thehappy couple found them selves alone. It was a tender moment. The oldfarmer, who was careful with his money and even more frugal with hiswords, felt moved to speak."You know, Ma, over these fifty years, sometimes I've loved you so muchthat I really had to stop myself from telling you" She reached for a hankie,dabbed her eyes and said: "Thank ya', Pa."Why are we so reluctant to let others know how we feel? Why are we sostingy and so slow to speak words that others long to hear, so private insaying things that cry out to be said?
Who are we say thank you to today? You may be here saying I have nothing to give thanks for, there is no reason to give thanks, you don’t know what I have gone through. You maybe there saying I am thankful, but I still feel lost, that there is so much on the horizon, things that are going to swamp me and those I love in the next few days and weeks that I cannot enjoy what I have, how can I enjoy what God has given me because of what the future may hold!
We all understand and appreciate the importance of gratitude. How it canradically change relationships. In fact, one of the first things we weretaught and that we teach our children is to express their gratitude. Someone gives them some candy and we say: "Now what do you say?" And the childlearns from an early age the answer "Thank you." And certainly we all knowas adults that we appreciate being thanked. Yet, when it comes to givingthanks to our heavenly father, we so often miss the mark.And when it comes to giving our thanks to God, I don't suppose there isany story in the Bible that is so endearing to us, so timelesslyappropriate, as the story of Jesus healing the ten lepers. We have allheard the story many times, but like so many Bible stories, we never tireof it.The story begins: "And as he entered a certain village there met him tenlepers, and they stood at a far distance." Don't ever think for a momentthat death is the worst thing that can happen to a person. It's not. Andthe scene this morning is a case in point. These ten men walked the earth.They breathed and ate. They had hopes and fears and aspirations andfeelings just like you and me. Yet, there was a tragic sense in which theywere already dead. They were walking dead. Leprosy was the most dreaded ofall ancient diseases. It ate away at the body and left its victim maimedand disfigured. There was no known cure. In their hopes for a family life,a useful occupation, plans for the future-they were dead men.Their situation was made worse because leprosy was believed to be highlycontagious. Actually, we know today that it is not. But tell that toancient superstition. The scripture made it quite clear that as theselepers approached Jesus they stood at a far distance. Jewish law clearlyprescribed that a leper could not get within fifty yards of a cleanperson. Everywhere these poor men journeyed they heard familiar wordsyelled out: "Unclean," "Leper." And then some would hurl stones at them tokeep them away. Leprosy was a serious public health concern but it wastinged with the religious element of ritual uncleanness. So it was thatthey not only had to live with their physical handicap, but they were alsoisolated. They had to live in the hell of loneliness. That can do more todrain a person's energy for living than the most horrible of diseases.But even in the midst of this horrible situation these lepers hadsomething to be thankful for. In their common misery they had bandedtogether. They had found each other. It is interesting to note that one ofthese ten lepers was a Samaritan. Now a good Jew in that day in time wouldhave no dealings at all with a Samaritan. They looked upon Samaritans asdogs, half-breeds. Yet, in the common misery of their leprosy these menhad forgotten that they were Jew and Samaritan and realized only that theywere men in need. Some of you might say, well it was a case of miseryloves company. Maybe so. But I know that there is power in fellowship,especially the fellowship of people who have a common need. Even lepersfound it so. Which, I think, brings us to the point of the story, which issimply this: even in the midst of our problems....1. There is always something to be thankful for.2. Thanksgiving needs to be expressed.
I want to assure you this morning wherever you are, whatever you are feeling, God will bring blossoms in the desert, this fantastic passage in Isaiah, speaking after the challenge of chapter 34, where God will judge the nations, esp Edom the near neighbours of Israel, who were the persecutors of God’s chosen people, the prophet says that even in the hardest wilderness, there will be life. In the midst of the desert the rose will bloom.
We live in the now but not yet, Isaiah was looking to Jesus we look back at Jesus as well as looking forward, God has moved, is moving and will move once more, and we live in knowledge of Jesus and that gives us opportunities that even Isaiah the prophet never had, to share the love of the long awaited messiah with others who don’t yet know him!
God is saying to people of Israel that things are tough at the moment, but there will be a time when he will move and they will receive the blessings of his action, that the wilderness will no longer be a place of fear, but of beauty and joy, Isaiah mentions Lebanon, Carmel, Sharon all places of beauty, that there will be transformation for the people. I believe that God still works this way today, that even when we are in the lowest place, where our souls thirst, where are body is in pain, where we suffer great hurt, God can transform us, from wasteland into wholeness, I love the idea that when God moves in us we will burst into bloom and rejoice and shout for joy, God wants this for us, but too often the world, our attitude our experiences weigh us down and we never see what God is desperate to give us, his love that is found in Jesus that gives us life in all it’s fullness. Even small things make a difference
In the book "A Window on the Mountain," Winston Pierce tells of his highschool class reunion. A group of the old classmates were reminiscingabout things and persons they were grateful for. One man mentioned thathe was particularly thankful for Mrs. Wendt, for she more than anyone hadintroduced him to Tennyson and the beauty of poetry. Acting on asuggestion, the man wrote a letter of appreciation to Mrs. Wendt andaddressed it to the high school. The note was forwarded and eventuallyfound the old teacher. About a month later the man received a response. It was written in a feeble longhand and read as follows: "My dear Willie,I can't tell you how much your letter meant to me. I am now in mynineties, living alone in a small room, cooking my own meals, lonely, andlike the last leaf of fall lingering behind. You will be interested toknow that I taught school for forty years and yours is the first letter ofappreciation I ever received. It came on a blue, cold morning and itcheered me as nothing has for years. Willie, you have made my day."
As Christians do we make a difference? Who’s day can we make today?
In the time of Isaiah, the pilgrims wanted to go to Jerusalem to remember their God, but they were persecuted by the stronger nations, to be a pilgrim meant to experience great fear to have no real expectation, but to trudge on.
We are too often like the pilgrim with no hope, we think what is the world coming to, all we do never makes a difference even the work we do for God is not doing any good, but God promised those pilgrims of days gone by and we pilgrims today to be strong and have no fear, for he will come to rescue us, the streams will flow in the desert.
The pilgrims had to trudge through the desert with no path for their feet, we too feel that we trudge through God’s will on the journey he has called us to travel, but God promised the way in the desert a road to make travel easier. This is of course a call to travel upon the way that Christ has shown us, he is the way the truth and the life, he points us to the Father, he makes travel in this world safer and easier, in the sense that we know where we are going and who travels with us, the redeemed walk there.
God has redeemed us, this originally was the legal term for buying someone’s freedom from slavery, this is what God has done for us, when he sent Jesus, to die for us so that we may be restored in relationship with the Father, the way we were created to be, we are the ransomed people, God has delivered us from the slavery of sin, we are no longer the slaves to sin, we are the servants of God, we are the brothers and sisters of Jesus, we are the family of God, travelling this world together in the promise that God is with us, going before us and behind us to the holy city.
When the pilgrims saw the city they would break forth in joy singing with gladness that they had found the city. But you know, we are already in that city, when Christ died on that cross we arrived in that city, we are still journeying to meet with God one day in the world to come, but today we have access to that city the minute we turn and acknowledge God as our saviour through his grace.
At no point do we ever need to be alone, at no point should we fear, even when we hurt and suffer we are still comforted by the presence of God, God goes with us, we are in his presence today, he promises to never leave us or forsake us, when we don’t give thanks for what he has done, the wilderness takes hold once more, when we criticize, when we gossip when we fail to help others in need, the desert chokes the bloom, but when we let God’s Spirit grow in us when we let God’s love flow through us, then water will flow in the wilderness, the flowers burst into bloom, when we give thanks for what God has done and will continue to do in our lives if we let him, we bloom, our Church blossoms and God is honoured, that is where I want to be!
Now Thank We All Our GodYou can even be thankful during the most difficult of circumstances inlife. It's true! We see an especially inspiring example of a brave andthankful heart in the story behind one of the church's most popular hymns,"Now Thank We All Our God." This particularly hymn was written during theThirty Years War in Germany, in the early 1600s. Its author was MartinRinkart, a Lutheran pastor in the town of Eilenburg in Saxony.Now, Eilenburg was a walled city, so it became a haven for refugeesseeking safety from the fighting. But soon, the city became too crowdedand food was in short supply. Then, a famine hit and a terrible plague andEilenburg became a giant morgue.In one year alone, Pastor Rinkart conducted funerals for 4,500 people,including his own wife. The war dragged on; the suffering continued. Yetthrough it all, he never lost courage or faith and even during the darkestdays of Eilenburg's agony, he was able to write this hymn:Now thank we all our God,with hearts and hands and voices,Who wondrous things hath done,In whom the world rejoices...[So] keep us in His grace,and guide us when perplexed,and free us from all ills,in this world and the next.Even when he was waist deep in destruction, Pastor Rinkart was able tolift his sights to a higher plane. He kept his mind on God's love when theworld was filled with hate. He kept his mind on God's promises of heavenwhen the earth was a living hell. Can we not do the same - we whose livesare almost trouble-free, compared with the man who wrote that hymn?Whom can you say "thank you" to?
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