Some Pre-Thanksgiving Lessons from Turkey
In setting the
table for this part of the narrative, allow me to say that no Thanksgiving holiday would
be the same without travel… (v. 13-14).
Now Paul and his companions set sail from
Paphos and
came to Perga in Pamphylia.
And John left them and returned to
Jerusalem,
but they went
on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia.
And on the Sabbath day they went
into the synagogue and sat down.
They sailed north to Perga, then it is likely
that they hiked a fairly rugged 100 miles over the mountains to Pisidian
Antioch (there were as many as 16 different cities named Antioch at that time).
Where is Pisidia? It is in modern Turkey, hence the subtitle of this message,
As it is appropriate that we examine ourselves
before taking communion so that we don’t take it for granted. I wonder if, as
we approach the Thanksgiving Holiday this week, it might help enrich our expression of gratitude to remember a few things.
1.
Remember Where We Came From
(13:17-18)
After the
reading from the Law and the Prophets,
the rulers of the
synagogue sent a message to them, saying,
“Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people,
say it.”
So Paul stood
up, and motioning with his hand said:
“Men of Israel
and you who fear God, listen.
The God of this
people Israel chose our fathers
and made the people great during their stay in the land of
Egypt,
and with
uplifted arm he led them out of it.
And for
about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness.
God took a people who had not been a nation,
much less his nation and made them one. He delivered them from Egyptian
slavery and planted them in the Promised Land! However, over time, they
demonstrated profound and enduring unfaithfulness to the Lord their
Deliverer. As a result, they came to be known prophetically as “not my people,
not loved, and scattered” in Hosea. The Lord instructed the prophet to name his
children in a way that described the northern kingdom of Israel at that time.
Here are the names and the related passages from Hosea 1.
Jezreel (Scattered): v.3-5 So he went
and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. And
the Lord said to him, “Name him Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will
punish the house of Jehu for the bloodshed of Jezreel, and I will put an end to
the kingdom of the house of Israel. On that day I will break the bow of Israel
in the valley of Jezreel.”
Lo-ruhamah (no mercy): v. 6-7 Then she conceived again and gave birth
to a daughter. And the Lord said to him, “Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no
longer have compassion on the house of Israel, that I would ever forgive them. But
I will have compassion on the house of Judah and deliver them by the Lord their
God, and will not deliver them by bow, sword, battle, horses or horsemen.”
Lo-ammi (not my people): v.8-9 When she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived and gave birth
to a son. And the Lord said, “Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not My people and I
am not your God.”
Thankfully the story doesn’t end there for in the next
chapter the Lord proclaims,
I will betroth you to Me forever;Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice,In lovingkindness and in compassion,And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness.Then you will know the Lord.“It will come about in that day that I will respond,” declares the Lord.“I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth,And the earth will respond to the grain, to the new wine and to the oil,And they will respond to Jezreel.“I will sow her for Myself in the land.I will also have compassion [Ruhamah] on herwho had not obtained compassion [Lo-Ruhamah],And I will say to those who were not My people, [Lo-Ammi]‘You are My people!’ [Ammi]And they will say, ‘You are my God!’” (Hosea 2:19-23)
In many ways, the people in the synagogue that day were
still awaiting the fulfillment of this promise. Paul had the joy of proclaiming
the answer to their heart longing! Thankfully, the answer is still in place for
us today!
2.
Remember What God Has Done
For Us (v.19-22)
And after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan,he gave them their land as an inheritance.All this took about 450 years.And after that he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.Then they asked for a king,and God gave them Saul the son of Kish,a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.And when he had removed him,he raised up David to be their king,of whom he testified and said,‘I have found in David the son of Jessea man after my heart, who will do all my will.’
In this section, Paul retells some of the high
points of the Spiritual history of Israel.
- God chose them
- God made them great
- God delivered them from slavery and death
- God put up with their whining in the wilderness for 40 years
- After destroying 7 wicked nations in Canaan, God gave them a place to live—their land as an inheritance.
- He gave them a government—judges until Samuel, Saul (people’s choice), and David (God’s choice)
Just as it was helpful for
those in the Synagogue that day to review what God had done for them as a
people in preparation for their receiving the Gospel message I think it is
helpful for us to consider what God has done for us as churches and families as
a primer for a release of thanksgiving. Questions such as… What is our spiritual
history? How did the love of Christ get a hold of our lives? What path did he
take us on to meet him? How has he transformed us since he came into our lives?
How thankful are we?
3.
Remember God’s
Promises (v.23-29)
Of this man's offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior,Jesus, as he promised.Before his coming, John had proclaimed a baptism of repentanceto all the people of Israel.And as John was finishing his course, he said,‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he.No, but behold, after me one is coming,the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’“Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham,and those among you who fear God,to us has been sent the message of this salvation.For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers,because they did not recognize himnor understand the utterances of the prophets,which are read every Sabbath,fulfilled them by condemning him.And though they found in him no guilt worthy of death,they asked Pilate to have him executed.And when they had carried out all that was written of him,they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb.”
Yahweh is a promise-making and promise-keeping
God. Even before we existed he had set his plan for our redemption in motion!
Blessed be the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual
blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless
before him. (Eph. 1:3-4)
Some of the promises God made include the idea that he
will rescue his people, and will not allow them to perish, and that he would
send the promised Messiah. He would raise up a Son of David (Isaiah 11). In
fact, there are a vast number of promises in the Old Testament, some are conditional while others are unconditional.
What are some promises that we cling to today? Or do we even
have any?
4.
Remember that Jesus is the fulfillment
of God’s Promises (v.30-41)
But God raised him from the dead, andfor many days he appeared to thosewho had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem,who are now his witnesses to the people.And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers,this he has fulfilled to us their childrenby raising Jesus,as also it is written in the second Psalm, [Ps 2:7]“‘You are my Son,today I have begotten you.’And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead,no more to return to corruption,he has spoken in this way,“‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’ [Isa55:3]Therefore he says also in another psalm, [Ps 16:10]“‘You will not let your Holy One see corruption.’For David, after he had servedthe purpose of Godin his own generation,fell asleep and was laid with his fathersand saw corruption,but he whom God raised up did not see corruption.Let it be known to you therefore, brothers,that through this manforgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you,and by him everyone who believes is freed from everythingfrom which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the Prophets should come about:“‘Look, you scoffers,be astounded and perish;for I am doing a work in your days,a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you.’” [Hab. 1:5]
Let it be known
to you therefore, brothers,
that through this man
forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you,
and by him everyone who believes is freed from
everything
from
which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.
It has long been
jokingly said that the answer to every question in Sunday School is “Jesus” and
2 Corinthians 1:20-22 makes it official!
For all the promises of God find their Yes in him.That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
For this, we should ever be thankful!
5.
Remember to Thank
God even in Difficult Times (v.42-52)
As
they went out,
the people begged that these things might be told them
the next Sabbath.
And
after the meeting of the synagogue broke up,
many
Jews and devout converts to Judaism
followed
Paul and Barnabas,
who, as they spoke with them,
urged them to continue
in the grace of God.
The next
Sabbath
almost the
whole city gathered
to hear the word of the Lord.
But when
the Jews saw the crowds,
they were filled
with jealousy
and began to contradict what
was spoken by Paul, reviling him.
And
Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying,
“It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to
you.
Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal
life,
behold, we are turning to the
Gentiles. For so the Lord has
commanded us, saying,
“‘I have made
you a light for the Gentiles,
that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
And when the Gentiles
heard this,
they began rejoicing
and glorifying the word of the Lord,
and as many
as were appointed to eternal life believed.
And the word of the Lord was
spreading throughout the
whole region.
But
the Jews incited the devout women of high standing
and the leading
men of the city,
stirred
up persecution against Paul and Barnabas,
and drove them out of
their district.
But
they shook off the dust from their feet against them
and went to Iconium.
And
the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
I am comforted to be reminded that I am not the first to experience difficult or tumultuous times or to thank a
very present God during the storm (1 Thess. 5:17-18;
Eph. 5:15-21). It also helps me
to consider that opposition is not necessarily a sign of God’s anger… in
fact, God is with us in our trials
(v.45).
The witness of the apostles is clear that we
should let gratitude arise in prayer before there is a change in our circumstances.
In fact, gratitude may be the gate through which God’s peace enters our hearts
and minds!
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;do not be anxious about anything,but in everything by prayer and supplicationwith thanksgivinglet your requests be made known to God.And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 6:5-7)
6.
Remember That We Are Part of
God’s Story Today (v. 51-52)
But they shook off the dust from their feet against themand went to Iconium.And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
Paul, Barnabas, and the saints were all part of
the Lord’s team. We too are included! So, for what can we be thankful for
today? Are there those who feel they will never add up? Jesus is the answer,
being more than worthy to make a way for us. Are there those on the outside
feeling that they will never be good enough? Jesus is good enough in our place.
Are there those who are looking to serve a cause bigger than themselves? To
serve Jesus is the greatest adventure! He has chosen us, qualified us, and prizes his relationship
with us more highly than we know.
In answer to the words of Hosea considered
earlier, Peter writes,
But
you are a chosen race,
a royal priesthood,
a holy nation,
a people for his own possession,
that
you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you
out
of darkness into his marvelous light.
Once you were not a
people, but now you are God's people;
once
you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (1 Pet. 2:9-10)
7. This
Week’s Thanks Album
It is too easy for us to forget our happy
thoughts! We need to be intentional about remembering those times when God
delivered us, times when he spoke to us clearly through his Word, times when we sensed the love of
Jesus through others, perhaps through something that seems odd but has “been
necessary” and has been used by the Lord to bring us closer to him!
If you were to make a mental photo album of
gratitude towards God what pictures would it contain? What are the memories you
would put in the album? I won’t ask you to do anything weird like acting like a
mannequin but if we write down one thing for which we are thankful to the Lord for
the next 4 days then on Thanksgiving we will have something substantial to
share with others… as we declare the praises of him who called us out of the darkness and into the light!
Sunday—Something for which we are grateful besides the Seahawks and this
Sermon… for which we are all thankful.
Monday—What has God done for us in the past?
Tuesday—Is there a promise for which you are thankful?
Wednesday—How have we experienced Jesus’ love in a surprising way?
Thursday—Share with others!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Your comment will become visible after it is seen and approved by the blog administrator. Thanks for your patience and thanks for engaging this topic.