I will be a
bit briefer this morning than usual. We have time during our congregational
sharing for whoever wishes to say something about giving thanks. This is my
moment, during which I give my own perspective on thanksgiving.
Psalm 136
Were you at
all uncomfortable as we read the psalm responsively? If you were paying
attention, you might have been. I certainly was.
Give thanks
because God created us. That’s good!
Give thanks
because God delivered us from slavery. That’s good!
Give thanks
because God killed the Egyptians. Wait a minute! Is that good?
Give thanks
because God provided for us in the wilderness. That’s good!
Give thanks
because God has given us a home. That’s good!
Give thanks
because God killed famous kings. Wait a minute! Is that good? Do we want God to
kill “Sihon, king of the Amorites and Og, king of Bashan”? I’m uncomfortable.
Our
discomfort increases when we remember that yesterday was Truth and
Reconciliation Day in Canada. We remember those whom we dispossessed as God
gave us a home here in Manitoba. I have nothing to say this morning about that
issue, except to remind us that truth-telling precedes reconciliation. We must
tell the stories of relationships between the indigenous people of Canada and
those who came later, and we must tell and hear the truth.
I am almost
certain that some of the early settlers of Canada assumed that God gave them
this land to take from First Nations just as God gave Israel the land taken
from the Canaanites. We should be uncomfortable with that fact; and we dare not
dodge it and assume it means nothing. It requires another round table setting where we dig into it and try to work out what was and is going on.
Give Thanks
for What?
You may
notice that I took liberties with the text. The psalm does not say, “Give
thanks because God killed Pharaoh.” It lists the historical events, which
include the death of Egypt’s firstborn and the deaths of kings who opposed God,
but it doesn’t say, thank God for those deaths. Instead, the psalm says, “Give
thanks to the Lord for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever.”
It is true
that the psalmist intentionally lifts up God’s actions in defeating Israel’s
enemies as evidence of God’s steadfast love. That still leaves us with a
problem. In light of the teachings and example of Jesus, we are to love our
enemies, not wish or act for their demise. But my point still stands. The
psalmist thanks God for God’s goodness and steadfast love. He may not yet know
the teaching, “Love your enemy”, but he does know to thank God for his love and
mercy.
That’s the
key: Thank God for God’s love, God’s mercy, God’s faithfulness. In the New
Testament reading, Paul said, “Give thanks in everything.” In Ephesians 5, he
says “Give thanks for everything.” I think both passages come to the same
thing: Thank God for God’s faithful love in every situation of our lives. Life
can be good: Thank God for his faithful love. Life can sometimes be hard and
painful: Thank God for his faithful love.
This
reading makes sense of the repeated refrain: “His steadfast love endures
forever.” Just a brief excursion into the word for “steadfast love”. The old
KJV said, “He mercy endures forever.” Mercy – love – lovingkindness – steadfast
love: The Hebrew word behind them all is Hesed. None of our words gets
at the whole, but the basic idea is of an enduring persistent love and mercy
flowing from God over all God’s people, indeed, over the whole world.
If that is
the case, if indeed God loves us all so much, faithfully and persistently, why
do we experience so much trouble and heartache in this life? The psalmist does
not ask or answer this question, but he does give us an important insight. He
references a series of difficult times between the Israelites’ enslavement in
Egypt and their occupation of the Promised Land.
This is not
a series of triumphs and joys without any problems. The record of their
wilderness wanderings in Exodus through Deuteronomy makes it clear that the
people often struggled to make sense of what was happening to them. They
grumbled and complained because life in the desert was hard. The psalmist does
not give them an easy out and tell them it was really lots of fun. Instead, he
says, “Thank God for God’s Hesed throughout every turmoil and trial.
Thank God for God’s love and mercy, which was there when people attacked you
and when God carried you through. Thank God for God’s steadfast love. God’s
love never fails.”
Reading the
Psalm Today
We also
struggle with life. Sometimes life moves along smoothly, and we are grateful for
the blessings of family and home and food and many other good things. But often
enough we experience problems. Lois and I carry a concern for our younger son
at the moment. He faces a significant challenge this Thanksgiving season: His
employer is restructuring their organization such that a month from now he may
not have a job. Since he and his wife live in Australia, this danger feels even
heavier, due to the distance away they are.
What does
it mean to say, “Give thanks to the Lord for he is good”, when you face the
possibility of being unemployed. We have people in this church who have lived
that question. In the same way, we can ask what it means to give thanks when
grieving the death of a parent or spouse or child. We can wonder how to give
thanks when we lose our home to a fire, or when our pastor resigns. Even
positive changes are hard, so that we find ourselves feeling the stress of
moving from one church building to another even as we thank God for providing
the building.
I observed
earlier that yesterday was Truth and Reconciliation Day. How do we give thanks
when we remember the tragedies and abuse of residential schools? How do we give
thanks when we remember being forced out of homes in the Soviet Union and
migrating across the ocean with only a suitcase and some family members? Life
is full of joy and pain, and we need a faith that can embrace the full
complexity and ambiguity of life. That’s what the Children of Israel had.
Give Thanks
Today
Think of
the Psalm as we might write it today:
Give thanks
to the Lord for God is good: His mercy and love endure forever.
God was
with us when we came to Canada as refugees: His mercy and love endure forever.
God gave us
homes in a new place: His mercy and love endure forever.
Our mother
died when we were far from home: His mercy and love endure forever.
Our child
died and left us behind: His mercy and love endure forever.
God built
us a church to worship in: His mercy and love endure forever.
We
struggled to find work and God provided: His mercy and love endure forever.
We are
separated from family members: His mercy and love endure forever.
God saved
us from the terrors of this world: His mercy and love endure forever.
We can each
write our own version, but you get the point: We give thanks for God’s goodness
and mercy and care as we navigate the troubled waters of this life. I remember
a speaker at Providence describing us about his own journey following the loss
of his son. He told us that his only relief from the darkness of grief came
when actively engaged in praise to God. Grief and thanksgiving came to a climax
one winter’s day as he cleared the snow from his driveway. A voice inside
asked, “Can you thank me for your son’s death?” As he shovelled and cried and
wrestled inside himself, he thought of the closeness with God that had come
with his grief. Finally, he prayed a response to the voice, “Thank you for my
son’s death.” He told us that the darkness lifted, never to return. The pain of
loss remained: That never goes away; but the paralyzing darkness was gone.
This is not
a prescription for everyone, but it illustrates the power of gratitude and the
enduring nature of God’s love. A song from South Africa runs like this: “Even
though we travel through evil and trouble in this world, we are on our way to
Heaven.” God’s goodness and faithfulness is the bedrock of our lives. That is
why we give thanks, now and always.
Amen.
Steinbach
Mennonite Church
1 October
2023
Texts:
Psalm 136 and 1 Thessalonians 5: 12 to 24
Focus: God’s faithful love is the one
constant in a troubled and difficult world.
Looking
Ahead Question: It’s “Thanksgiving”,
and life is really hard. What can we give thanks for?
