(a story of being thankful for something positive)
Rudyard Kipling was a great writer and poet. Many people enjoy reading The Jungle Book. Kipling, unlike many older writers was able to enjoy his success and his money.
Apparently one day a journalist approached him and said, "Mr. Kipling, I just read that the money you make from your writing works out to be over a hundred dollars a word; Mr. Kipling raised his eyebrows and said, "Really, I certainly wasn’t aware of that."
The journalist then reached into his pocket and pulled out a one hundred dollar bill and gave it to Kipling and said, "Here’s a hundred dollar note, now Mr. Kipling give me one of your hundred dollar words."
Rudyard Kipling looked at that hundred dollar note carfully, then put it in his pocket and said, "Thanks."
It is easy to be thankful for good things
But what about when we are living amongst difficult situations
Throughout scripture we see situations when people are thankful for the blessings they receive during their difficulties and even as a result of difficulties
Listen to St Paul speaking to us through 2 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 10
"That is why for Christ’s sake, I delight in weakness, in insults, in hardships, in persecution, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong..."
(story of being thankful during difficult situations)
There is the story of a lady who had just completed university
She had been offered a job with an accounting firm
She is a mother of three who were at the time were 12, 15 and 18
but just before she takes up the position she has a regular check up and her doctor discovers she has cancer
not long after this her husband leaves her
Her oldest son is frequently in trouble with the police
On some days she was so tired and lathergic
That she spent most of the day in bed
And yet she was still able to say
I am not necessarily thankful for the having cancer, but i am thankful for the time I have now have to listen to my children
to spend time with family and friends
and my loving God
So what are you thankful for?
What can you think of that you are thankful for God for?
Over the next two or three minutes you are invited to share with the people next to you what are some things you are thankful for and why? This does not have to be elaborate....
(after 3 minutes)
There are many things to be thankful for aren’t there
Some things are obvious others are not
In our reading from Deuteronomy 26:1-11
It becomes apparent that there are many things that we can thankful God for.
In verse 5 we hear
Then you shall declare before the LORD your God: “My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous.
A wandering Aramean
In otherwords a person who didn’t fit in
Wasn’t at home
In your life
Do you ever feel out of place?
Feel confused….a little lost
Well the good thing is that even amongst those times of confusion and being lost God suprises you
Amongst the messes we live in God is still at work bringing about many good things that we can be thankful for
Despite being lost the wandering Aramean, became a great nation, powerful and numerous
Be thankful that our life doesn’t need to be in order or perfect to experience some of God’s blessings
But staying lost and confused is a problem
Listen to verse 6
But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, subjecting us to harsh labor.
Now to understand the problem of hard work we need to jump into Exodus chapter 5:1-5
Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh
and said, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the wilderness.’”
Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD and I will not let Israel go.”
Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God, or he may strike us with plagues or with the sword.”
But the king of Egypt said, “Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work!” 5Then Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you are stopping them from working.”
The problem with hard work is when it prevents people spending time with God
when it stops people from worshipping God
Now we don’t have the Egyptians mistreating us
But we do have other things that mistreat us and make us suffer
Subjecting us to harsh labor, don’t we?
What are the things making your life difficult?
We know that life is not easy
What are some of the things in your life that frustrate you in spending time with God?
But be assured when we are experiencing difficulties
God sees our difficulties
God hears our cries for help
Listen to verse 7
Then we cried out to the LORD, the God of our ancestors, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression.
What are the things distressing your now?
What brings you misery, toil and oppression?
What are the things in your life that get in the way of you spending time with God?
Let us spend a few moments crying out to God for help
I will lead the prayer…and you are welcome to join in during the time of silence either praying aloud or silently
You can stand, kneel or remain seated
(Pray to God crying out for help with those aspects of our life that bring us misery, toil or oppression)
In Psalm 34:17 we hear
17 The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears
them; he delivers them from all their troubles.
Be thankful that God hears your cries for help
Now God will rescue us from these troubles
the troubles we have cried out to him
Listen what happened to the Israelites
From verse 8
So the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with signs and wonders.
We need to remember that God will rescue us from our troubles and difficulties
But it will be his way…
In his time
And maybe even in ways we think are causing us more problems
But he is always with us
Remember the Exodus story…did the israelites reached the promised land in 40 minutes, it wasn’t even 40 hours or 40 weeks....it took 40 years of walking through the wilderness… at times they winged there was not even a enough food and that they would be better back under slavery
But God rescued them in took them to a better place
As God rescues you from troubles be prepared to go on adventure with Him
Through some wild country…and beautiful paths
And also remember the great rescue he has for us….
Rescuing us as Martin Luther summarises from scripture that we are resuced from ourselves, sin, death and the power of the devil
Be thankful that God rescues us from all troubles
But the beauty of God
He doesn’t stop there
Listen to verse 9
He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey;
For the Egyptians God didn’t just rescue them from slavery and drop them in a place with little to offer
He lead them to the promise land
God does just rescue us and leave us
Nor does he rescue us and say
You should be thankful for what you have
He rescues us and blesses us in other ways
Remember at the start of the service when we shared what we are thankful for
These are blessing from heaven
Small glimpses of heaven
As he leads us to not just a better place, but an exceptional place
Be thankful that God is leading us to an exceptional place
And how do we get to that place
By relying on Jesus
His forgiveness
As Jesus says in John 14:6
I am the way, the truth and the life
Be thankful that Jesus’ life, death and ressurection not only resuces us but that it leads us throughout our lives to God’s heavenly home
So what can you be thankful for
Be thankful that our life doesn’t need to be in order or perfect to experience some of God’s blessings
Be thankful that God hears your cries for help
Be thankful that God rescues us from all troubles
Be thankful that God is leading us to an exceptional place
Amen
