in the veil of great surprises

A sermon from the conclusion to 1 Thessalonians:

Rejoice; always! Pray; without ceasing. Give thanks; in all circumstances…

This is what you’ve been called too, beloved. This is God’s will in Christ Jesus, for you. For you…

Alright?

Well, it takes a lot to run a church, doesn’t it? Honestly, it’s more than any of us know. Myself included. 

We have no idea of all the little sacrifices that happen daily to run this church. One of us drops in to take care of some thing or another and it goes unnoticed 90 percent of the time. None of us have any idea how many consistently and faithfully say a pray for us each evening…

All of that, never noted… 

And, all it takes, is for one of those small things to go undone, and everything to comes to a screeching halt, doesn’t it?

Precariously, and yet powerfully, are we held together. It’s a wonder, isn’t it? 

We have so much to be thankful for today, don’t we?

And there’s the rub: The temptation for us today, is to take credit for that which we give thanks. We are tempted to give thanks merely for volunteers. To accept thanks as merely people of goodwill…

Which is, truly, to have contempt for one another. For God even…

…Every now and then, you will try and thank a person. Only to have them ward off your gratitude. And heaven help you, should you try and give thanks in a public setting…

Now, no doubt there is ambiguity in this. Nothing persuades me this is pure humility. At its best, though, this aversion to gratitude, stems from honesty. 

Truthfully, often what we are giving thanks for, was never intended for us!

The sisters and brother we thank, were never trying to do us a favor in the first place!
You see, they were serving God. God.

And there’s a lesson there: The best way we can serve one another, is to serve God.

But, let’s be honest. Often there’s another reason folks will squirm under the light of our gratitude. 

Because that favor they did, it wasn’t them at all…

Their service, it was the Spirit at work in them.
And not just any spirit, either. But The Spirit. The Spirit of Our Lord Jesus Christ; who came not to be served, but to serve. 

In a way we have trouble explaining but know deep down, much of our life is the word of the Spirit.
It’s at least obvious enough to us anyway, that we can feel disingenuous accepting the thanks we’ve been offered. We have a sense we can’t take credit for it! We squirm because we know we’re stealing thanks that truly belongs to God. 

In the end, all our efforts, all our time, all our giving; it was never ours to begin with…

And deep down, we know this. Don’t we? 

• Look back over your own life. Can you take credit for our own existence? For that gifts you have to share?

This is also true for our Life Together too, you know.

That these congregations have continued. Through trial and tribulation. Through our humble efforts, and our shameful arrogance. It’s been God sustaining us. Holding us together. 

Yes, precariously, and yet powerfully are we held together. 

In fact, this, what’s happening right now, it ought to be more than enough evidence to show that it’s been God at work, not us, all along! 

After all, we couldn’t have come up with this on our own, could we? 

That’s what this day is about. That’s why we’re gathering today and giving thanks for one another. 

Honestly, that’s what your whole life is about, too. 

That’s not all. That’s what this congregation, Faith/Trinity, is about. 

In fact, that’s even what all of history is about: The kind of God we have. The kind of God who shows up in people and places like us. In a savior, like Jesus. 

The exhortations Paul gives us today, as he draws his letter to First Lutheran in Thesalonika to a close, they’re pretty daunting: Rejoice; always. Pray; without ceasing. Give thanks; in all circumstances. That’s a lot. 

If we’re going to embark on this kind of life, we’d better have the kind of God who will show up. The kind of God who will forgive. 

Or, as Paul puts it, we’d better have the kind of God who is faithful, who will do this.

This life we have, this life we have together. What we give thanks for today, (and ought to everyday) is a life we can live, because Jesus is raised from the dead. Because his Spirit insists on showing up in bodies, your body. My body. Our body, together: Trinity Lutheran / Faith Lutheran. Our collaboration. 

These exhortations Paul tenders, did you notices that these are none other than the gifts of the Spirit he lists in other letters.
Do you get it?

Paul isn’t giving lofty commands. Paul is telling us to let God do, what God has determined to do - through you. 

In fact, what we’re doing today, giving thanks, this too is a fruit of the Spirit! Martin Luther called giving thanks, the art of the Holy Spirit.

Take a moment to let that sink in… 

Do you have eyes to see it??? Open your ears, that you may hear. Right now, Paul’s command is fulfilled. Right now as we give thanks for one another, the Holy Spirit is at work making us to bear the fruit of Jesus himself!

Paul was right all along! Our Lord is faithful. He will, he has, done this!

The God who has called you, is the kind of God who is faithful. 

So today, we take a moment, to pause and look back. To give thanks. That God has been faithful. That God is faithful! 

God has been, God is, at work here. In humble ways. In small and surprising ways. In people like us. In a pledge that’s kept. A prayer that’s offered. In a combined choir. In the basement with ductwork. In removing the toilettes so new flooring can go in. In the hallway with bulletins. For all this, and so much more, we give thanks because Jesus has done all this… 

That’s what we do today: give thanks. And not just any thanks, either. Thanks empowered by, not our good intentions, but The Holy Spirit!

We give thanks for the kind of God we have. 

The kind of God who insists on claiming us. On showing up. Showing up here. Showing up in us, in you and in me. We give thanks that, as Paul put it; the one who calls us is faithful, and he will do this. God has been faithful, hasn’t God? 

We give thanks that God has made us into the kind of people marked by the Spirit. The kind of people who can give thanks. 

Thank God, that God has called us. That God is making us to be the people Paul describes. A people who rejoice, always. A people who pray, without ceasing. A people who give thanks, in all circumstances. 

Precariously, and yet powerfully are we held together.

So, with the God you have, give thanks. 

Thanks that God has been, is at work. Right here. Right now. Amongst you and me as we do something we couldn’t without God; this. Giving thanks.

So you, you give thanks. 

Give thanks for our many, many laborers in the Lord. Give thanks that God has empowered these sinner/saints. Give thanks that God empowers you. That God is doing that right now.

What else is there to say? 

Nothing, except “thanks be to God.”

For you, beloved. I give thanks.