October 8 2023  Thanksgiving 

Prelude
Lighting the Christ Candle 

Welcome and Announcements 

 

Called to Worship: 

Shouts of joy!
Songs of praise!
Sounds of hope and love!
These are moments of thanksgiving –
thanks giving to our God! 

We enter God’s house thanks giving.
we enter God’s house full of praise!
These are moments of thanksgiving –
thanks giving to our God!
God’s love is never ending.
God is good! Alleluia! 

On this day of the harvest –
we bring our gifts to you, God.
You have brought us into this place
and shared with us this land,

a land flowing with milk and honey,
of orchards full of apples
of gardens from which we feed the hungry,
Bless this thanksgiving, offered now to you!
 

Hymn:  802  For the fruits of all creation

Prayer of Adoration 

Most gracious and loving God, we have tasted your goodness in days gone by and it has satisfied us, but now with this new day we turn to you again for the bread of life that you have prepared for us and for the wine of the Spirit that you pour out for your people.  

Fill us with those things that tend to make us all that you want us to be.   Remind us that we need your presence Lord and that we need your anointing.  

Touch us, we pray, and make us whole.  

We ask it through Christ Jesus your Son. In whose name we bring our confession before you….. Amen 

 

Prayer of Confession: 

We confess our sin, and the sins of our society, in the misuse of your creation.   God our Father, we are sorry for the times when we have used your gifts carelessly, and acted ungratefully.   

We enjoy the fruits of the harvest, but sometimes forget that you have given them to us. We store up goods for ourselves alone, as if there were no God and no heaven.
Forgive us we pray, may our feasting with you, feed the world around us.  Amen 

Assurance of Pardon 

We have come to offer our thanksgiving to God today.  Our words are not empty because we have learned that we can trust in his unfailing love; 

I will rejoice because you have rescued me! 

I will sing to the Lord, 

because he has been so good to me. 

 

The Peace
Passing the Peace 

Hymn:  319  Wherever I may wander

 

Scripture:

Deuteronomy 8: 7-18,
Deuteronomy 14: 22-23                                                                                                  Psalm 65 

Sermon:  A feast of Thanksgiving 

There are those times when we come upon the commands to be thankful in Scripture when we realize that we just don’t feel thankful.   Those moments, because they don’t last, usually come when we are struggling with some difficult issues, and have difficulty seeing God’s activity in our lives.  At those times we know grief and anger and don’t know what to do with all those emotions.   

How do we even begin to express them to God?   

Do we dare?   

What will God think of us if we do? 

 

Yet in spite of the twirling multitude of feelings and the guilt we put on ourselves, when we stop, and consider the ways in which God has been present, we do recall his goodness, often given in unexpected ways.  When we do stop and recall, then we are more able to see how God’s hand has been active all along.  It is only after the fact that we realize just how much. 

The first reading from Deuteronomy is a reminder that we constantly live in the blessings from God.  It is a good thing that we are reminded to be thankful people, because all too often we take God for granted, and we forget what he has done and continues to do. 

Do we have water to drink? 

Is the harvest safely brought in?   

Do we have bread on the table? 

What about the fruit of the vines?   

What about oil and honey? 

Those are the simple things of life that form the essentials for human life and prosperity.   

Food and drink that sustains us.  Wine and honey that bring us pleasurable moments.   

Even in its basic simplicity life is full of blessings. 

WE forget that.  

 Too often when we think of blessings, we look for something bigger, more memorable, even miraculous. 

 

Being called to be thankful at least once per year is essential for us to keep our eyes on God who is our strength and salvation. 

Even better would be if we cultivated the habit of regular thankfulness.   

What would that look like? 

Giving thanks for the beauty of the sunset. 

Finding joy in the unexpected.  Like last week when that beautiful dog wandered into worship.  A part of me wanted to just stop and say, my aren’t you a gorgeous fellow… and I will admit the memory of him wandering in to check us out, kept me smiling for days. 

But we all have those unexpected things that bring a moment of joy and we don’t pause often enough to reflect on them.  

 Things like the smile of a stranger.   

Like a person who waves us ahead at the stop sign.   

The sound of children laughing as they play outdoors.   

The beauty of the fall colours. 

No matter what is going on, there is always something happening that is a reminder to give thanks. 

There are always the things in our daily lives that remind us that God is good and his blessing is ours, and always have been. 

 

That is why this passage from Deuteronomy reminds us that when we pause to give thanks, we also need to look back.   

When we look back and recount the deeds of God along the way, it is a strong reminder that no matter how bleak life looked, God was present. 

 

For the people of Israel, they are warned that when they are settled, and the crops are plentiful and they have eaten their fill to stop and remember what God did for them in bringing them up from Egypt.   

In the good times it is easy to remember God and give thanks, but the good times also hold the temptation to think that the good things have come out of our own labour, and we forget the loving care of God.  

And when we forget God, we forget everything that God has given us. 

 

So, we are called not just to thank God for the blessing of today, but also the blessing that came in the difficult days when we did not even realize he was with us.  

The people of Israel are asked to remember 

The escape from Egypt. 

The rescue from slavery. 

The parting of the waters. 

The journey through the desert. 

The manna from heaven. 

The quail by the shore. 

The water from the rock. 

What would our list look like, when we stop to compile it. 

Strength in illness. 

The gift of friends to encourage us in difficulty. 

The friends who gave of themselves when we had nothing to give. 

The strangers who came into our lives and provided new perspective. 

The generosity of people who don’t know us. 

The gift of peace in turmoil and the gift of rest when exhausted. 

The list could go on and on. 

And that is the point.   

No matter what we have gone through, when we look for God, we can see where he has been working, day in and day out and even through the most unlikely of ways and people.  

 

Then we read from Deuteronomy 14 which calls us to bring the harvest tithe into the place where God dwells; bringing the grain, the wine, the fruit and the first born animals and then to feast upon them in the presence of God.   

This feasting is a reminder that everything we have belongs to God and that God is with us in our joys as well as our difficulties.  It is a celebration of God and his goodness. 

 

We are also reminded that thanksgiving isn’t just an obligation, but a joy.  We are reminded that we need to do more than just remember the things that God has done.  Thanksgiving is a time to celebrate with God for all that has come our way.   

This practice of bringing the bounty of the earth before God and feasting in his presence was, for the people of Israel, an important step in remembering God.  It was also an important way in which to look for God and celebrate his presence among them. 

 

As I reflected on this passage this past week, I kept remembering the story of Hannah. 

Hannah was married to a good man named Elkanah.  Elkanah’s other wife was named Peninnah  

Peninnah had children and Hannah was childless. In 1 Samuel we read that every year they came to the Temple to sacrifice and to feast before the Lord. 

The Scripture records:    Whenever the day came for Elkanah to sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters. 5 But to Hannah he gave a double portion because he loved her, and the Lord had closed her womb. 

Now I imagine that Elkanah giving a bigger portion to Hannah probably upset Peninnah greatly, because later we read that she tormented Hannah because Hannah was childless, often bringing Hannah to tears.  This clearly added to the pain of childlessness for Hannah.  Yet she continued to come to the feast and along with her husband and the whole family offer thanks to God. 

 

How many times have we come to worship in tears.  Sometimes tears of grief.  Other times of anger.  And yet we have known that even those tears in the presence of God, have continued to show us that our trust is in God, who is more than capable of ministering to our grief and our anger. 

This was true for Hannah, who in her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly. 11 And she made a vow, saying, “Lord Almighty, if you will only look on your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life.” 

The priest Eli observed her at prayer, and although he initially thought her to be drunk, soon realized she was praying from the depth of her anguish and grief.   He assured her that God heard her prayer and that he would answer her prayer. 

This God did.   

Then Hannah bore a son and named him Samuel and in due time, when he had been weaned, brought him to the Temple at the time of the sacrifice and feasting for thanksgiving, and gave him back to the Lord.   

Now this is significant on so many levels, but for today, what we are asked to remember is that even when we don’t feel thankful, we are still called to be thankful and to engage in the great feast in the presence of God.   

More than that, it seems that when we gather in Thanksgiving before God, it is also the time to pour out what is in our hearts.  There is no pretense here.  Happiness and thanksgiving cannot be faked if we are grieving or angry about injustice.  God wants what comes from our hearts.   

Let us  remember in the difficult days that it is a part of our thanksgiving to pour out our grief and anger before God.  In fact, worship is the best place to bring the depth of those emotions.  All those deep emotions can, if we allow them, become a barrier between us and God.  But if we pour them out before God, then they can become a part of our thanksgiving. 

Hannah poured out her heart before God, acknowledging her grief about being childless and her anger that God had not blessed her with children.  She then bargained with God promising to give him the child back, and when she had a child that is what she did. 

As difficult as this story is to comprehend, this sacrifice on Hannah’s part is a reminder that we are blessed in order to be a blessing. 

 

When we feast with God then we also remember all those who need God, but are not as blessed. 

What we perhaps don’t realize is that when the families brought in the abundance of the first fruits to the Temple that there was much more food and drink than even a large family could consume at one sitting.  That means that there would be enough left over for the priests, and for the widows and for the orphans and for the strangers. 

Feasting with God, puts our blessings into perspective.  We have been blessed.  We know abundance.  Then when we gather to celebrate that abundance, we are reminded that we have been blessed to be a blessing.   

All too often we preachers like to talk about the sacrifice of praise.  What does that really mean?   

We mean that our praise should come from the depth of what is in our hearts.   

But we also mean that we are called to place everything before God.   

Not just praise, but pain, grief, anger.   

It is only when we bring the full harvest before God that we are able to fully enter into the feasting with God that changes the world.   

What is the sacrifice we bring to the feasting today? 

Wealth.  Abundance.  The joy of family.  The gratitude for health.  Surely yes, but let’s also remember to bring the sacrifice of our pain, grief, anger, and disappointment before God.   

Stephen Noble sings about bringing it all before God, saying:  

give them all, give them all to Jesus, shattered dreams, wounded hearts, broken joys.  Give them all to Jesus and he will turn your sorrow into joy.   

 

We bring it all to God with trust knowing that God will receive those broken joys and in return will restore our dreams, our hearts and our joys in the fullness of his grace.  

I believe that when we bring those broken joys before God, we bridge the gap on those days when we don’t feel thankful.   

On the days when we are struggling with the pain and anger resulting from our life circumstance, all we can do is bring our broken joys.   

Then, we discover that when we come to the feast and bring them as a part of our sacrifice;  then our tears, our grief, and our angry hearts are able to become a part of our thanksgiving offering and we will be able to feast in the presence of God.   

Let us bring it all and sacrifice it all before God,  so that with the broken joy restored, we will rejoice and feast in his presence.  Let us be thankful.  Amen. 

 

Hymn: 759 In loving partnership

 

Offering and Offertory
Doxology 830

Offertory Prayer 

Lord of the harvest, we rejoice in the bounty of your world; we thank you for the rich harvests it produces. 

We bring you the gifts of our hearts, as we pour our thanksgiving at your feet.  Take all that we have brought, show us what needs to be done, and how to share the world’s harvest more fairly. 

 Above all, help us to set our hearts on your kingdom of love and justice, and to seek to do your will here on earth, as servants of Jesus Christ our Lord. 

WE bring ourselves and our gifts in gratitude that it is enough.  It is always enough.  Amen 

 

 

Gathering Prayer Requests
Prayers of the People and the Lord’s Prayer 

We begin this day in gratitude, and with thanksgiving that is a match for your self-giving, gratitude in gifts offered, gratitude in tales told, gratitude in lives lived.  We are honoured to be counted as your people.
For all of your creation and mercy we bring you our joyous prayers 

Gatherings of family and friends 

 

 

 

 

 

We bring you our prayers for those in need this day 

Shirley surgery Tuesday 

Those sick and recovering in upsurge of Covid 

 

 

 

 

 

We bring you our prayers for the needs of the world 

All those places at war:  Ukraine invaded by Russia and Israel declaring war on Palestine 

 

 

 

 

In thankfulness, we give our all to you, we tell of your goodness to all whom we meet, we live so that you can use us, seeking to be your gift to the world.
Hear us now as we pray as Jesus has taught us: 

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, for ever.  Amen 

 

Hymn:  803  Come ye thankful people come

Charge and Benediction 

May the broad expanse of God’s love 

and the abundance of His riches in glory, 

shape your perspective on your own life and needs,  

including those things which disappoint you. 

May thoughts of Jesus fill your mind, 

and hunger for God drive your soul, 

May love for Lord guide your speech and your actions.  

And finally, may the grace, peace, and love of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, protect, defend, and empower you all the days of your lives.  Amen 

 

Sung Blessing  Go now in Peace.

   

Go now in peace...never be afraid. God will go with you each hour of every day. Go now in faith, steadfast, strong and true. Know He will guide you in all you do. Go now in love, and show you believe. Reach out to others so all the world can see. God will be there, watching from above. Go now in peace, in faith, and in love.
3 Fold Amen