Good morning. We are celebrating today, the
first Sunday of Advent, New Year's Day in the Christian.
Liturgical. Year and this is the day when we
anticipate the coming of Jesus. For Christ has died.
Christ. Is risen and.
Christ will. Come again, the one holy,
Catholic and Apostolic. Church, we look forward to the.
2nd Advent of Jesus, when He will judge the living and the
dead. But how should we prepare for
Jesus? 'S second coming I want to show
you in today's message. The priority?
Of giving thanks. Yes, this is a.
Pivotal sermon We're pivoting from Thanksgiving to Advent, and
I want to. Show you the value of both.
Individual and corporate Thanksgiving, looking
particularly at 2nd Corinthians Chapter 9, our New Testament
reading, page 910 in the. Church Bibles encourage you to
look there. We're going to see how we can
celebrate Thanksgiving all the year round as we make ready for
the advent of Jesus. Let's pray, we praise.
And thank you, Lord, that we can gather this morning together in
worship. Of you, we're so grateful.
For song and for scripture, and for the presence of your Holy
Spirit among us. Bless our study of Your Word.
And. Bless our hearts as we devote.
Them to you again. That we would.
Follow you faithfully when we leave this.
Place for we. Pray in Jesus name, Amen.
Thanksgiving is, of course, an American holiday.
I don't think I've ever preached a Thanksgiving sermon before.
But there's a. Christian idea, Christian
impetus behind it. Of course.
And we should rejoice that our country.
Has set aside. A day and.
Keeps this day. For Thanksgiving every year
since, this is just. What God calls us to do
literally every day. In response to the.
Grace that. He has shown us in Jesus.
For all of us. Like sheep have gone astray,
haven't we? We've all turned.
Each of us. To our own.
Way yet our. Father and his mercy sent Jesus
into. Our world.
And has laid upon him the iniquities.
Of us all, so that by his grace. We might be rescued from sin and
death and so. We say every.
Sunday when we're. Together it is right our duty.
And our joy always and everywhere to give thanks to
you, Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth, in response.
To His lavish gift of grace to us.
Why is it right? Why is it?
Our joy and our duty, always and everywhere to give thanks,
because Thanksgiving is the. Proper.
Response to God. 'S grace.
The intimate connection between. God's grace.
And our Thanksgiving is in fact woven through the New Testament,
but we often miss it in our English Bible translations.
So please forgive me in advance and permit me to do a very nerdy
thing and to teach you a. Little bit of biblical Greek,
we'll go. Down a little.
Biblical Greek side road first. To make sense of how these are
connected. The Greek.
Word for Thanksgiving. Is Eucharistia.
Can you say? That Eucharistia.
And it is from this. Word.
That we get one of the old names for Holy Communion, namely the
Eucharist, also sometimes called the Great Thanksgiving
Eucharistia. Eucharistia combines the.
Prefix. U which means good with another.
Root word karis. Can you say?
Karis. And that translates grace.
Or gift. Can you see the connection now
between Thanksgiving, Eucharistia and.
Grace or gift, Karis Karis. Is right in the middle.
Of Eucharistia. Every time we engage in
Thanksgiving. There is grace.
Right in the very center. Of the word at least.
In the Greek Bible and so the. First readers of the.
Greek New Testament would have heard this connection every time
they came. Across the word Eucharistia,
they. Share the same root.
Now this word. Grace Karis is very, very.
Common in the New Testament and one of the reasons.
Is because. It was a greeting in the ancient
world, in the ancient Greek. World what?
People would say to one another. Is grace to you or Karis to you?
And it's in fact how St. Paul the Apostle the the Jewish
Apostle. To the Gentiles.
Would greet people. In every one of his letters.
He would say. Shalom.
That's the Hebrew. Greeting of peace.
And he would say. Karis to you.
And so it would. Be every letter.
Grace and. Peace to you.
In Jesus. Christ our Lord.
And that's where some of the instances.
Of grace occur. In the New Testament, but there
are so many, many more 145 times, Paul.
In his letters uses the word grace or charis.
It's even more frequent than his use of the.
Word love. And Paul?
Writes Eucharistia. Thanksgiving another 36 times,
often in connection with grace. So that's the nerdy stuff.
That's all I. Just needed to take a minute get
it out of my system. Now I can get to the.
Practical stuff. I I got that degree for
something, I like to use it once in a while.
So now here are the practical implications of the Bible's link
between Thanksgiving and grace. And the first one is that
Thanksgiving is the proper response.
To God's grace it is the. Polite thing to do.
Right to say. Please and to say thank you,
Remember that it all began as I said.
Before, with God's lavish gift of His.
Son Jesus on Christmas and a few.
A few verses. Earlier than our chapter in
Second Corinthians chapter 8, Paul wrote that you know the.
Grace, the caress of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was
rich, yet for your. Sake.
He became poor. So that you by his.
Poverty might become. Rich so that.
You might become rich, and in particular he.
Says while. We were sinners.
Jesus died. For us, so God's.
Redeeming Grace was extraordinarily generous in all.
Of the history of the world. No other gift has been nearly as
generous. As God's gift of.
His only son, so it is. Right, it is our.
Duty and our joy, always and everywhere to give thanks.
Eucharistia to give. Thanks to God.
Now, secondly, another practical implication.
Is that lavish gifts are always life.
Changing and certainly and especially.
God's lavish. Gift of redemption in Jesus.
Our lives ought to be radically. Transformed because of God's
generosity to us. And you can think of this just
in terms of the transformative nature of huge material gifts.
Think for example. Of a full.
Tuition scholarship to college given to someone and how that
changes. Their whole life trajectory just
because. Of that one gift some of.
You here have have received such a gift.
Or consider a homeless family. Barely.
Surviving the chaos. Of what shelter?
Are we in tonight? What shelter are we in the next
day and that sort of living in the moment, worrying.
About safety and. Survival And imagine a donor who
comes forward and says. I have a house.
For you, fully furnished and I'm setting up a trust fund for you.
That will provide. For the maintenance of.
The house. And for the utilities and so on
for the rest of your lives. And think about how that
transforms that family from worrying about momentary
survival to being. Able to look.
Ahead into the future and live in such a way.
That they have security? What?
A A transformative gift, and in the same way that these gifts
change people's lives. God's lavish gift of.
Redemption in Jesus a Jesus became poor so that we might
become rich that. Lavish gift should.
Change our lives. For it is the greatest gift of
all. Is far more consequential than
the. Largest lottery payout, right?
It is so. Huge and.
Those of us who have received God's gift should have lives
that reflect. That kind of transformation
because of it. Does this describe?
You think? About how Jesus gift has.
Changed your life? Do.
You live like someone whose life has been completely, radically
transformed by. God's lavish.
Generosity, are you overflowing with Thanksgiving?
Because. Of God's gracious gift.
Of life in Christ? Or could you use more
Thanksgiving in your life? I know that I could.
Now we're a Protestant church, and I hear sometimes these kinds
of objections when I talk. This way.
From our Protestant brothers and sisters who might.
Say why? Should it matter at?
All how I live if it if it's, if I have.
To respond differently, doesn't that detract from God's
generosity? Doesn't that make it less of a
gift and a kind of quid? Pro quo, but.
That's not at. All the case, God's gift of.
Grace in Jesus. Is so.
Wonderfully extravagant, so unexpected and deserved.
It it. Necessarily transforms our
lives. It must transform our.
Lives just like. A full tuition.
Scholarship or just like the free.
Home for the Homeless and God's Gift is intended in the same way
to. Lift us up out of the poverty.
Of sin and death to life eternal to lift us.
Out of just. Thinking.
About our lives. Short term.
To life. Long term in Jesus Kingdom.
And so while we could never earn God's grace, we must respond to
it. We have no choice but to respond
to it. And not responding to it would
be the pinnacle of rudeness. It is the polite thing to do to
respond to it and. Because lavish gifts are always
life. Changing God's.
Grace ought to. Cultivate within us.
A posture. Of continual Eucharistia,
continual Thanksgiving, which is in fact what Paul is depicting
for us in 2nd Corinthians 9. So now we get to look at.
The passage together. And I want to zoom in on a
couple of lines beginning in Chapter 9 verse. 8 if you look.
At that with me, Paul writes that God is able to make.
All grace. Abound to you.
That's that word charis or grace so that.
Having all sufficiency in all things at all times.
That pretty much covers it. So having all sufficiency in all
things at all times, you may abound in.
Every good work. This is Paul, the apostle of
grace. Talking about the transformation
of our lives as a consequence. Of the lavish.
Generosity of God in Christ and this use of.
The word grace here is. One of those 145 times that Paul
mentions it and the point that he's making is that.
God's lavish. Grace makes us.
So secure at all. Times in every way.
That it ought to. Produce lavish generosity in.
Us as well. That's what Paul means by that
last. Phrase.
Abounding in every good. Work.
Now, the good works that Paul envisions are not primarily
random acts of kindness, like helping your elderly neighbor
bring groceries in from the car, though that's a very nice thing
to do and you should do. That but.
Paul is talking about us growing into the likeness of God in such
a way that we become people whose intentional strategic
generosity regularly transforms the lives.
Of others, that's what. Paul is talking about.
It is. It is a.
Thoughtfulness a purposefulness in the.
Way that we. Practice our generosity.
For. The sake of the Kingdom for the
transformation of the world. And this gets clearer in verses
11 and 12. Where Paul writes.
You will be enriched in every. Way to be.
Generous in every. Way which through us will.
Produce Eucharistia Thanksgiving.
To God. For the ministry of this service
is not only supplying the needs of the Saints.
But is also. Overflowing in many
Eucharistias, many Thanksgivings.
To God and. What Paul is saying here is
absolutely extraordinary. He's saying that God's.
Grace multiplies through our. Thanksgiving, God's grace
multiplies through our Thanksgiving.
Let me read it again for you to hear.
You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way.
Which through US will produce. Thanksgiving to God for the
ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the
Saints. But is also.
Overflowing in many Thanksgivings.
To God, God's grace. Multiplies through our
Thanksgiving. And so here's a third
implication. Very practically, not only is
our giving giving thanks the polite thing to do.
Before the Lord, it's also strategic.
It's also missional because our Thanksgiving magnifies.
God's gift of grace. It multiplies the.
Grace of God. It's like a good investment.
Our Thanksgiving compounds grace, making it bigger and
bigger and bigger. In fact, Paul.
Illustrates. This in this chapter with a
lesson from farming and in those days planting seeds and reaping
a bigger. Harvest was like.
Investing in the stock market today I I I feel fairly
confident that if Paul was writing this today, you would
talk about investing in the stock market.
But if he. Uses a farming illustration
because that was the. Ready.
Illustration of how things putting a little in.
Will get. A little out, putting a lot in
will get a lot. Out that's the that's what he's.
Talking about. Here there was.
Some risk. But there was also the.
Expectation that under normal circumstances the seeds planted
would generate a. Harvest Thirtyfold.
Sixtyfold. A hundredfold.
This is the kind of language. That Jesus uses.
Over and over again in the parables talking about the same
thing so. Verse 6 of this chapter, Paul
says. Whoever sews sparingly.
Will. Reap sparingly, whoever.
Sows. Bountifully will also reap
bountifully, and again, his point is that God has.
Lavishly poured out his charis his.
Grace upon us. Which should.
Result in our. Eucharistia Our.
Thanksgiving and a complimentary and expanding multiplying
generosity towards others. In other words, our Thanksgiving
ought to be a greenhouse that is growing the the the bounty.
Of the Gospel for. Everyone all around us,
multiplying God's. Grace for the life of the world.
Now let me. Illustrate it.
In another way, in terms of gift giving, which is of course
something we think about during the Advent season and back in
the ancient world and in many. Cultures today outside.
Of the Western. World there is.
A A A sense of generosity begetting generosity.
Gift giving begets gift giving. When someone invites you into
their home, for example, you bring them.
A gift and. When someone gives you something
special, you give them something special.
It's not necessarily. Of equal value because we're
all. Of different means, but the
honorable thing to do is to reciprocate someone's gift to
you. With.
Commensurate giving in proportion to your own means and
this kind of gift giving may sound burdensome, but that's not
the intent. In ancient cultures and in the
cultures around the world today, reciprocal giving, rather, is
Sacramento. It is an outward and visible
demonstration of the inward bonds of affection that.
Hold the culture together that hold people.
In in close fellowship with one another.
In other words, it's a tangible way of saying what is.
True about a close. Relationship which is my my
house. Is your house.
You. You're my.
Brother, what I have is yours. That's the way a gift giving
works in those cultures. You know our brother Romani
often times sits. Back here he.
Is one of the most generous. People, I have.
Ever met? I've known him.
For a decade. And I have lost count long ago.
All the gifts. That Romani has given me.
You know, he grew up in a Christian orphanage in Egypt.
And yet. He is fabulously.
Generous. And the reason I think is
because. Of the the.
Wonderful work of. Grace the Lord.
Has done in his heart and it gives him this amazing.
Security to to. Just go around and give.
Gifts to people. All the time demonstrating hey
I, I'm covered. The Lord has.
Me the. Lord is is.
Keeping me and he's saying to us over and over again.
What I have is yours. My house.
Is your house? Why does he do that?
Because Jesus has said that to us.
Jesus has said my house. Is your house?
What I have is yours. And so we should respond with
Thanksgiving, with Eucharistia and we.
Should reciprocate by. Showing the same generosity.
To others. And as.
We do this. Jesus's investment in US begins
to bear. Fruit.
Thirtyfold. Sixtyfold.
A hundredfold in the lives of the people around us.
Now that's. The way God.
'S lavish generosity. Should.
Work in our lives. So it's sadly.
It often doesn't work in that way because.
We get greedy. We.
Become. Rather than conduits of God's
grace, we become cul de sacs. We hold it all in.
We don't share. It with others.
It's the American way. Yet our failure.
Doesn't begin with greed, I don't think.
I think we can trace it back to ingratitude.
I think that is the core sin here.
Instead of Eucharistia, we begin to.
Regard our hurts. And our disappointments as
having a. Greater weight.
Than what Jesus has done for us, we begin to.
Value our. Hurts and disappointments more
than the grace of God in our lives.
Instead of seeing ourselves as beneficiaries, we feel
underappreciated and overlooked. And.
Instead of celebrating our familial bonds with one another,
all of. The people of God.
Adopted into his family, we can to play the victim we look for
community among others who are unhappy and disaffected we tend
to spread discontent and look for.
Scapegoats for? Our own unhappiness and within
the church. This has a.
Sinister way of shutting down. The the spread of grace.
It has a sinister way of shutting down Eucharistia, the
Thanksgiving that ought to. Characterize us.
And has a way of shutting down. The Gospel growth of 30. 60A
hundredfold instead of a bountiful.
Harvest of grace. Upon grace it just.
Yields a. Brew of bitterness, full stop,
nothing more. What a selfish.
And short sighted way to live. Because if you invest nothing,
you'll make nothing. If you sow.
Sparingly. You'll reap sparingly.
So we ought rather. To sow bountifully.
We ought to. Expect the.
Greater harvest that our Father. Put into motion and has given.
To us, through Jesus, we ought to expect that.
Kind of. Growth of.
Grace and generosity due to his inestimable.
Gift of Jesus. That set this all into motion.
We ought to. Practice Thanksgiving every.
Day for what do we have that we. Haven't been given now in this
passage the occasion for Paul's remarks was the collection that
he was taking up for the Saints in Jerusalem famine relief and
this was a multi. Effort.
Multi church effort. Among the.
Churches that Paul. Had started here and there and
he is writing from Macedonia, kind of the Philippi region to
the church in Corinth down in the lower.
Part of Greece. And he is writing to them about
this collection and back in verse 2 of Chapter 9.
Paul said that he boasted about the.
Corinthians generosity amongst the Macedonian churches where
he's writing from, and then. In verse three, he said he.
Was sending his. Co laborers to.
Corinth. To ready the church for the.
Collection to prevent everyone from being humiliated and it's
hard, I think for me probably. Hard for you?
Not to. Read this through.
The lens of a modern pledge drive, like Paul's trying to get
that thermometer up. To the top right that.
Is not what he's doing at all. He has no goal that he's trying
to reach financially. That is not what he's talking
about. Instead, he's seeking to.
Protect. And to.
Preserve this. Multiplicative culture.
That he has he, he. Has nurtured in the church in
Corinth when he was present with them.
Now he's away from them. He doesn't want that.
Multiplicative culture to die. He's trying to nurture it and
sustain it because not only does the.
Welfare of the. Christians in Jerusalem depend
upon this generosity. But.
So does our welfare over. Time because if those churches
in Philippi and Corinth and other places turn inward and
become quarrelsome and divisive, there will be no missions, there
will be no gospel spreading out from those.
Churches to the rest of the. World and none of.
Us today. Would know the Lord as a
consequence. So it is.
Vitally important. That those churches.
Remain in this investment mode of generosity.
That they. Are growing and they're.
Lavish with their. Generosity because of.
God's great. Generosity to them.
We also are called. To mission in this way, and
money is muscle for mission. But where the Corinthians?
Succeeded, I fear. That the American church is
failing miserably today we are among the.
Wealthiest people. In the world.
Yet American Christians contribute.
Far, far less. Than the biblical minimum of a
tithe. To their churches.
And the. Fruit is that.
Christianity is shrinking at an alarming rate in the West, and
the churches aren't these greenhouses of gospel generosity
and growth and vitality now. This church is special.
God has blessed us with a. Vibrant church, let's be
vibrantly generous. Let's cultivate that.
Same kind of infectious generosity that results not only
in financial strength, but in contagious and courageous
mission. And we should practice
Thanksgiving every day. And we should.
Always put our money where our mouth is.
Having said that, it's. Even more important than
generous giving. That.
We become this. People of Eucharistia.
That Thanksgiving is our. Way of life day after day after
day for. What we do with our money is
only one. Aspect of this.
Greater calling on our lives. To be a Eucharistic people, A.
Thanksgiving people, just as every Sunday we take up a
collection of tithes and offerings.
We bring that up and then we come to the Lord.
'S table. For the great Thanksgiving,
money ought to be one small. Part of the.
Sort of generous and and gregarious sharing of grace
coming out of our church. We need to be that kind of a
greenhouse. For the Lord.
Has done this. For us, we ought to.
Respond in the same way by multiplying Thanksgiving.
We. Prepare the world.
For the return of the king so. How should we?
Respond to the inestimable inestimable gifts.
Of cares of. Grace in God giving his Son.
Jesus to us. We should respond with
Eucharistia. We should respond with
Thanksgiving and with. Our whole lives that should
characterize. Us not only with all of our.
Wealth, but also with all of our hearts.
Everything we are should be given back to God, multiplying
grace upon grace until. The earth is.
Filled with the knowledge of the.
Glory of the Lord as the waters cover the seas, let's pray
together. Thank you almighty.
God for your. Gift of grace in Jesus make us a
thankful people. Make us show it.
With our lives. And our money.
And our hearts, by the power of your.
Holy Spirit, enable us. To do this with joy, with love.
And with missional zeal we pray this in the name of Jesus our
King, Amen.