Thanksgiving 2024                                                                                                       Pastor Waldschmidt

Luke 19:1-10

DON’T FORGET TO SEE JESUS THIS THANKSGIVING

I.  HIS POWER II.  HIS MERCY  III.  HIS FORGIVENESS

     Do you have a list of things you would like to see this Thanksgiving?  Maybe on that list you have watching the  Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade with its balloons and floats and marching bands.  Or maybe on your list you have seeing (and eating) a nice turkey dinner with pumpkin pie.  Perhaps there’s a good football game on your list of things to see.  Maybe you have loved ones that you can’t wait to see.  Maybe you are just looking forward to seeing your recliner and a good book for a day of taking it easy.  Maybe you can’t wait to see the ads and deals for your shopping list.  Maybe there is a movie you would like to see-Moana 2 or that movie about what started the Wizard of Oz.  All those things are wonderful blessings from our God- things to be thankful for.  But no matter what is on your list of things to see this Thanksgiving, don’t forget to see Jesus this Thanksgiving.  Don’t forget to see Jesus in all of it.    We can take our cue from Zacchaeus.  Let’s see Jesus this Thanksgiving.  His power, his mercy and his forgiveness.

       We are dealing with a clogged sewer pipe over at school.  For the last month it’s been clogged about once per week it seems.  The tax collectors of Jesus’ day were kind of like clogged sewers pipes.  Nobody liked dealing with them.  That’s because tax collectors often cheated their fellow countrymen out of large amounts of money.  The sewer pipe we are dealing with over at school is a sewer lateral, in other words, a main sewer pipe.  That’s what Zacchaeus was. "Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man named Zacchaeus was there. He was a chief tax collector, and he was rich.”   So he was a  chief tax collector in charge of many other tax collectors.  Maybe he had been training them.  He and the other tax collectors had gotten to be wealthy by collecting taxes, in many cases collecting far more than what was owed.   So his name, Zacchaeus didn't fit him very well.  It means "holy" "pure" or "just."  Maybe many people would have been saying Zacchaeus’ name with air quotes and growly voices because of all the evil ways Zacchaeus had defrauded the people out of their money.  Zacchaeus probably turned up people’s noses even if he didn’t smell bad.  But none of that can stop Jesus.   Let’s see his power. 

        In 1863, Abraham Lincoln wrote a pardon saving a turkey that had been given to the president’s family from the dinner table.   Apparently, Lincoln’s son had started to train the turkey to follow him around the White House grounds and he pleaded with his dad to save the turkey.  Lincoln had a soft heart and issued a presidential pardon for the turkey.  Since then, it has become a tradition that Presidents have pardoned a turkey in front of the White Hose.   This tradition lets us know that Thanksgiving isn’t far away.    These words in Luke 19 remind us that the suffering and death of Jesus are coming soon.    He was passing through Jericho on his was to Jerusalem where he would be arrested and killed.   There is a verse in this chapter where Jesus comes to a spot where he can see the city of Jerusalem and tears come to his eyes and he says something like, “If only you had known what would bring you peace, but you couldn’t see it” or would not see it.  Then later in this chapter, we hear of Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem.   Jesus has many things on his mind, yet he takes time for Zacchaeus.   Busy times, the weight of the world on His shoulders, the disgust people felt for this tax collector, nothing can stop Jesus from going to see Zacchaeus.  See His power this thanksgiving.   

     "He was trying to see who Jesus was, but since he was short, he could not see because of the crowd.”  Nobody was going to give up seats so that Zacchaeus would have a better view of Jesus.  So instead, "He ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Jesus, because he was about to pass by that way."  A Sycamore fig tree has real low branches, this made it easier for short Zacchaeus to get up into the tree.  The branches often spread out low over the paths they are near.  It was the perfect spot for Zacchaeus to see Jesus and he got to see Jesus’ power up close. 

     "When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today."  Did you hear that?  Jesus knew his name.  Hundreds, perhaps thousands of people there that day and Jesus knew Zacchaeus' name without asking it.   Jesus not only knew his name, but Jesus used His Xray vision to look into Zacchaeus’ heart.  That's something only God can do.  It’s just a little beam of power from John writes about in Revelation like this, “His eyes were like blazing fire.  His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.”  Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last.  I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.”      

     Fellow Zacchaeuses, short, medium and tall- Your Jesus is strong and powerful.  He sees you this Thanksgiving in your own little sycamore fig trees trying to get a glimpse of Jesus in his word.  Jesus knows your name too.  He can also see into your heart.   He knows that joys and the hurts that you are carrying in your heart.   From your worries about getting the dinner just right to your concerns about getting along with family members to your worries about what that report from the doctor is going to say to your worries about that problem you think cannot be fixed.  Jesus  knows the things that scare you the most.  He sees how sin has ripped apart your life and mine.  Jesus, the one who rides on the clouds and  gives orders to angels has promised you "I will never leave you or forsake you."  Don’t forget to see Him this Thanksgiving. 

      Most of the people who heard Jesus call Zacchaeus’ name were probably hoping that Jesus was going to knock Zacchaeus out of the tree and bust him right in the chops, given the way that the people felt about tax collectors.   Come take a look.   Instead of blasting him, Jesus shows mercy.

     "When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.”  He came down quickly and welcomed Jesus joyfully.   When the people saw it, they were all grumbling because he went to be a guest of a sinful man.”  Zacchaeus was hoping for just a little glimpse of Jesus as he was walking by.  Look what he got!  Jesus talked with him, came to his house and ate dinner with him.   Instead of punishment, Jesus showed him mercy. 

     Thanksgiving is one of those days to especially think about how Jesus shows his mercy to you and to me.  Hasn’t God’s mercy and blessing gone beyond just putting food on the table today?  We deserved punishment but instead Jesus brought mercy.  Haven’t there been times when we have been greedy?  Haven’t there been times when we have only paid lip service to the fact that everything we have comes from God, but in our minds fallen into what God warns about in our Old Testament lesson thinking that what is have is because of our abilities.   Haven’t there been times when we have ignored the “secret of being content in all circumstances” that Paul talked about with the Phillipians?   No matter how hard we try, we cannot undo the evil that we do.  We cannot scoop the evil words that we say back into our mouths.  We cannot scrub our minds with soap and water.  But look at Jesus’ mercy.   He continued through Jericho and into Jerusalem where he would be lifted up on a cross.  God punished Jesus instead of Zacchaeus and you and me.  By that death he removed our transgressions from his sight as far as the east is from the west.  

     The Bible tells us that Jesus is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine."  Jesus comes to eat dinner at our house too.  Whether the house is full of people or if it is just us, Jesus is there with us.  Imagine that, in mercy he comes to us.  “I am with you always,” Jesus says.  He comes to us with mercy in His Word and in His Supper. 

      At the table, the forgiveness Jesus brings was reflected in Zacchaeus' life.  "Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I am going to give half of my possessions to the poor. And if I have cheated anyone out of anything, I will pay back four times as much.  Jesus said to him, “Today, salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”  Those who were standing around and muttering about Jesus going to be the guest of a sinner took great pride in their being physical descendants of Abraham and even based their status with God upon being part of Abraham's family.   But Jesus tells them what Paul explains further to us in Galatians, "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.  If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."   This Thanksgiving let’s see more and more the descendant of Abraham God sent to heal the sin sick heart with forgiveness.  

       So  Zacchaeus’ thanksgiving dinner wasn’t perfect.  There were some there who complained.  In addition to pardoning the turkey in 1863, President Lincoln also issued a much more somber, Thanksgiving Day proclamation.  It hadn’t been a perfect year and it wasn’t going to be a perfect Thanksgiving for many then either.  The Battle of Gettysburg had been fought in July 1863 with 50,000 American casualties. Lincoln’s proclamation urged his fellow  Americans to give thanks and praise to God for His blessings.  Repent of disobedience and perverseness.  Pray and care for those who had been made widows and orphans in the awful battles of the civil war.   Maybe this year has not been a perfect year for you.  Maybe this Thanksgiving won’t be the perfect Thanksgiving for you either.   As Jesus joins us for Thanksgiving, let’s not forget to see Jesus, his power, his mercy and forgiveness.  Amen 

 

November 9-11. 2024 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: 1 Kings 17:8-16 “IT’S TIME TO START THE INSANITY!”

 

PENTECOST 25

November 9-11. 2024

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: 1 Kings 17:8-16

 

“IT’S TIME TO START THE INSANITY!”

1.     Insane Trust.

2.     Insane Generosity.

 

Brothers and sisters, it’s time to start the insanity. I know what those of you who were here a few weeks ago are thinking. “Just wait a minute, pastor. Three weeks ago you told us it was time to stop the insanity and now you are telling us to start it. You can’t do that!” Yes, I can and let me tell you why. The definition of insanity that I’m using is the popular one, extreme foolishness or being extremely irrational. Three weeks ago, I correctly stated that it was extremely foolish for Christians who have Jesus as king to get all bent out of shape over an election in a country which is a drop in the bucket of the world’s population and insignificant in New Testament history. It is extremely foolish to think the King of kings and Lord of lords has to take His cues from an American President. It’s always time for that kind of insanity, extreme foolishness, to stop. Today I’m focusing on the extremely irrational type of insanity, going against logic and reason. And I’m saying that is exactly what we want to do. Why? Because that’s what exercising our faith is. Believing without seeing. Acting on God’s promises that go against our own understanding. That’s insane! Extremely irrational! Exactly what followers of the Christ like you and me want to do.

The Lord teaches us that truth in all of the Scripture readings you heard today but for now let’s focus on the Old Testament reading from 1 Kings. Here is the background. It’s around 850 BC. These are dark spiritual days for the nation of Israel. Wicked King Ahab and wickeder Queen Jezebel rule. They have persecuted and killed true prophets of God and promoted Baal worship. To call the nation to repentance the Lord caused a years long drought that caused a years long famine. People were starving. The prophet Elijah served as God’s true prophet. God wanted him to stay alive. He sent Elijah to a widow woman to get some food. Listen again to what happened. “So he got up and went to Zarephath. He came to the city gate, and there he saw a widow gathering sticks. He called to her and said, “Please give me a little water in a jar, so that I can have something to drink.” ¹¹When she went to get it, he called to her, “Please bring me a piece of bread.” ¹²She said, “As surely as the Lord your God lives, I have no food except a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a pitcher. See, I am gathering a couple of sticks so that I can go and prepare it for myself and my son, so that we can eat it and then die.”

You probably already know what I’m going to say. This is insane. Zarephath is not a part of the nation of Israel. It’s in modern day Lebanon. It was located in the area in which the Baal worship plaguing Israel originated. And God told Elijah to go there and he went? That’s insane! It must have gone against every ounce of Elijah’s being as an Israelite faithful to the one true God. There would be absolutely no reason for a widow in Baal country to share with him. And when he got there things got even worse. The widow had a son and they were preparing to die. Only one meal left. I mean, once you hear that wouldn’t you say something like, “I’m sorry to have bothered you. I’ll be OK. I’ll see if I can find you some more food.” But Elijah plows forward. “Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid. Go and do just as you said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from the flour and bring it out to me. Then go and make another for you and your son. ¹⁴For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says. The jar of flour will not run out and the pitcher of oil will not become empty until the day the Lord sends rain to water the surface of the ground.”

          That’s insane! But Elijah was not the only one with insane trust. Look at this woman. I don’t know how prophets dressed back then or what Elijah looked like but somehow this woman knew he was a prophet. She said, “As surely as the Lord your God lives.” So he was a prophet, but not her prophet. So, let’s get this straight. Some guy shows up on your doorstep in the middle of a famine causing drought as you are preparing the last food you have for you and your only child and asks you to give him the food first, what do you do? A. Run away! B. Yell for help. C. Tell him what you are really thinking or D. Do exactly what he says.  OK, if you picked D, you’re insane! She was. “So she went and did exactly as Elijah said. He and she, as well as her household, were able to eat for many days. ¹⁶The jar of flour did not run out, and the pitcher of oil did not become empty, just as the Lord had said through Elijah.”

          That’s insane. Extremely irrational. Elijah trusted the words and promise of God that told him to go to a place that didn’t make sense, to a woman that didn’t make sense with a demand that didn’t make sense and he did it. Insane trust. The woman acted on the words and promise of God and gave all she had left for herself and her son to Elijah. Insane generosity. And God blessed it, greatly. Not only did she and her son have food for the rest of the famine but if you read the rest of the story she is brought to see that the Lord is her God too.

          Can you think back to all three Bible readings now? Did you notice something that the widow of Zarepheth, the Madedonians and the widow at the Temple all had in common? They were all poor. Their giving that caught God’s eye was not from their plenty but from their little. And that’s good news for us. You know why? If you ask an average American who the rich people are do you know what most will say? Anyone who has more than I do. So that makes us all poor and so capable of insane generosity. But it has to start with insane faith.

          Give a 5 year old $20 and what are they likely to do with it? Give it to missions. Give it away at school for some food or clothing drive. Offer to buy something for mom or dad. Give a 15 year old $20 dollars and what are they likely to do with it? Buy some snack for themselves. Spend it to buy in game bonuses for whatever online game they are playing. Get something for themselves. Give a 75 year old $20 dollars and what are they likely to do with it? Save it for a rainy day. You see that in the area of generosity as we grow up physically we grow down spiritually. The 5 year old has complete trust that mom and dad will provide so why not give it away? As we grow older that childlike faith can fade. But it does not have to. We can live like 5 year olds with complete trust that God will provide for us even if we give what we have away. We also have the words and promise of God enabling us to go against the rational way of thinking of ourselves first and instead help others spiritual and physical needs. Jesus said in Luke 6:38, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be poured into your lap. In fact, the measure with which you measure will be measured back to you.” And the Holy Spirit had Paul write this promise in 2 Corinthians 9, ^“The one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. The one who sows generously will also reap generously.” Those are God’s truths. Acting on them with insane generosity will take insane trust and it is clear to me that He wants us to do this.

          This is what happened last weekend. It was Saturday. Many Jacobi members generously gave of their time to do the preliminary clean up. We were just about done, just a few members remaining. All of the sudden this guy strolls through the carport doors. I hear him say to the members standing in the atrium, “Is the reverend around?” They say, “No, but Pastor Spaude is here.” I ask him if I can help him. He says, “Well, I’m not a member here but I am behind in my tithing and I want to make that right. It’s what God deserves. Here is 10% of what I just got paid.” And he hands me a wad of bills. So some guy comes in off the street the week before the Bible readings for church are about giving and even though he is not a member tithes to God here. You know what that is? That’s insane. Caught my eye. Caught God’s eyes. You and I can too. It’s time to start the insanity! Amen.