People to be thankful for?

"We give thanks to God always for all of you." 1 Thessalonians 1:2

It's the day before Thanksgiving, and of all the things I am thankful for, that for which I am most thankful is people. Most of all, I am thankful for my family, those dear people God has knit me together with most closely, my wife, my children, and my grandchildren. But there are many, many other people for whom I am thankful.

Paul's words, however, are amazing if you think about them. Two words jumped out at me as I read this verse, "always" and "all". I recognize that these may not have been literal expressions, but knowing Paul, I wouldn't be surprised if they were. Paul says "We give thanks to God always for all of you." I was forced to ask myself, "Am I always thankful for all the people in my life?" What about the person who cuts me off in traffic? What about the fast food worker who messes up my order? What about the in-law coming for Thanksgiving dinner who always, always has to be "right" about everything? I've been reading "Tour de France, Tour de Force" lately and one of the competitors even talked about how thankful he was for the competition, the other competitors who rode so hard that it forced him to ride even harder.

Upon rereading Paul's words I noticed that he didn't say, "We are always thankful for all of you." He said "We always give thanks for all of you." There's a difference. I'm sure that my family is not always thankful for me, especially when I'm being selfish or I lose my temper. But they can always give thanks for me. And when I give thanks to God for another person, it will improve my attitude toward that person, even if I am not thankful for them at the moment.

As I look back on my life I am thankful for so many people. I am thankful for my godly mother who loved me and all five of her children unconditionally. I am thankful for my grandfather, who loved God and his family dearly. I am thankful for my wife, the most tenderhearted and sensitive person I have ever met.

But even when I look at the people in my life who have caused me pain or let me down, I can give thanks. I can give thanks for the things I learned from them, if only by negative example. I can give thanks for the ways I grew as a result of their hurt or disappointment in my life. I can give thanks for the privilege of forgiving them, even as I have been forgiven by God.

Perhaps you can take some time today or tomorrow and make a list of the people in your life, both past and present. Maybe it can take a form something like this, "I give thanks to God for [name] because..." I'm guessing that when you're done your heart will be overflowing with gratitude and your attitude towards some of those people will be just a litte bit better. Happy Thanksgiving!

Grateful

"But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith." Philippians 3:7-9

This is Thanksgiving week. It's time to count our blessings and thank our God for them. Traditionally this has meant thankfulness for the harvest, for food and shelter, for the necessities of life that God so graciously provides, almost always beyond our needs. Through the years as we Americans have gotten fatter and happier, it's meant less thanksgiving and more celebrating with feasting and football.

In Philippians 3 Paul puts things in perspective for us. For the sake of Christ Paul suffered the loss of everything, ultimately even his life, and never regretted it. He counted every earthly benefit as rubbish for the sake of knowing Jesus and being right with God through faith in him.

I wish I could honestly say I've reached that point of spiritual maturity. If forced to choose between Christ and the comforts of this life, I believe that by the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit I would make the right choice. But since I'm not in that position, I have to confess that I still enjoy the many earthly blessing that God so graciously showers on me.

So as Thanksgiving approaches I will thank God for the beautiful and conformtable home that I live in. I will thank Him that it's in a nice warm climate where I can enjoy riding my fabulous road bike almost any day of the year. I will thank Him for hills to climb and descents to race down, and for good food to fuel up on after a long, hard ride.

But as I give thanks this year I will especially give thanks for my family. For a beautiful wife I've been privileged to love for a lifetime. For a daughter who is studying hard in pursuit of a career and a future for herself and her son. For another daughter who is working to teach immigrants about English and life in America. For a hardworking son-in-law who loves his wife and son. And especially for two handsome, happy, healthy grandsons whom I have been privileged to love all of their short lives and who bring me great joy every day.

And while I'm at it, I will also give thanks for the privilege of continuing in ministry, preaching and teaching God's Word to God's people without all the pressure of full-time ministry as a Senior Pastor.

Above all I am thankful for my Savior. For the righteousness of faith that He has bestowed on me through His perfect life, His willing sacrifice, and His glorious resurrection. I am thankful that because of Him I have the hope of heaven.

This Thanksgiving week I'm particularly thankful for my family. I am thankful that I can serve my family in love each day. I am thankful that I can seek to be a Christ-like example to them. I am thankful that I can pour the love of Jesus into their lives both through my words and actions. I am thankful too, that I can breathe the grace of God into the lives of God's people at Concordia as I share God's Word. I am thankful for God's forgiveness when I fall short, as I frequently do.

Yes, this Thanksgiving week I will take time to thank God that I am blessed beyond measure! No response could ever be adequate, so, what can I say, but "Thank you, dear Lord!"

Loved First

We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19)

At the bottom of my blog is a picture of my bike. It's labelled "My Pastor's Appreciation Gift." I received that gift three years ago, but I keep that picture there because I'm still overwhelmed by it. That bike is one I could have never owned except as a gift. It's too good a bike for my caliber of cyclist. It's too expensive to purchase for myself. And it still the best ride I've ever experienced. So why did my congregation honor me with that gift? There's only one word to explain it... love.

When I received that gift I had been pastor of the congregation for seven years. I'm sure they never would have made such a gift to me when I first walked in the door. Yes, they were glad I had accepted their call, and they were pleased to have a pastor after a long search, but they did not yet love me enough to make that kind of sacrifice. So why did they do so after seven years? Because I loved them.

Now that doesn't make me a hero. I loved God's people and ministered faithfully to them not because I'm such a great guy. I did it because God first loved me and gave His Son Jesus to die on the cross for my sins. Because I know the wonder of God's unconditional, undeserved love for me, it enables me to love others.

All genuine love originates with God. God is love. A lot of the time, things that we call love are very self-serving. "You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours." But whenever love is freely given, without any expectation of return, and without any merit or worthiness on the part of the recipient, then we see real love that flows from God. Because that's how God loved us.

We would be completely incapable of loving and serving God if He had not first loved us. The only reason we can ever choose God is because God loved us from eternity and chose us in Christ to be His very own. So whenever I ride my bike or even see that picture of it I say, "Thanks be to God!" Because unless God first loved me I never would have loved God's people, who in turn loved me and blessed me with that gift.

Do you need some love in your life? Turn to God. He loves you unconditionally. When you experience His love in Jesus, then you will be able to love someone else. And when you love someone else, some of that love will come back to you. But it all goes back to God, since... We love because God first loved us.

Works or Workmanship?

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:8-10)

I just finished reading "Lance Armstrong: Images of a Champion." It was interesting to read his own account of his first Tour de France win in 1999 and compare it with Johan Bruyneel's account in his book, "We Might as Well Win." Sometimes when you read two different people's accounts of the same events you will get very different stories. That wasn't the case in this instance. Lance agreed that it was Johan who first made him believe that he could win the Tour de France. Now, it's true that Lance could not have won even once, let alone seven times, without a huge effort on his part. Nevertheless, he may not have won at all, not even once, unless Johan had approached him to say, "I think you can win."

I thought of this when I read Ephesians 2 today. This chapter contains my favorite verses in the whole Bible, the verses I quoted above. In fact, a lot of Christians claim Ephesians 2:8-9 as their favorite Bible verse, but most don't include verse 10. Those first two verses remind us that we can never make ourselves right with God. The third verse gives God the credit for anything good we are able to accomplish.

This is a reminder we desperately need. In our sinfulness, we try to fool ourselves into thinking that we can earn God's favor by the good works that we do, as though, somehow they could offset, overcome or compensate for the sin in our lives. Because of our sinful pride we want the credit for those good deeds to go to us, as though we were responsible for them.

Our sinful pride tempts us to think that our situation is like Lance Armstrong's. His victory was initiated by the encouragement of Johan Bruyneel who convinced him that he could win. In a sense, you could say that Lance was Johan's "workmanship" because he prepared Lance in advance to win the Tour. But Lance knows very well how much training, effort, pain and suffering went into those victories on his part. Therefore, while some of the credit for Lance's victories should go to Johan, much of the praise is due to Lance for his own hard work.

The reality of our situation is completely different. In our situation all of the credit, praise and glory belongs to God and God alone. We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works that God planned for us to complete long ago, in fact, before the foundation of the world. The fact that we are able to do anything good is not because of ourselves. It's entirely because of God and His grace at work in us, as Paul said in Galatians 2:20: "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Thus, if there is anything good in me, or if I am able to accomplish any good in my life, it is all because of Christ! The good in me is not my own, it is only because Christ lives in me and works through me.

I highly doubt that Lance Armstrong would ever give all the credit for his Tour de France wins to Johan Bruyneel. Some of it, yes. All of it, no. But that is exactly what we must do. We must give all the credit, all the glory and all the praise for every good work to God and God alone. God tells us that "all our righteous acts are like filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6) Only through faith in Christ do we become God's workmanship, new creations who are able to do the good works that God planned for eternity for us to accomplish to His glory. So thank God that you are saved by Him, not by your works. Thank GOd that it's His workmanship that matters, not your own works. On our own, we could never win, not even once.