October 13, 2024
Thanksgiving

Lighting the Christ Candle

Welcome and Announcements

Call to Worship
In deep gratitude we come to worship God.

We recognize God as the source of all goodness.
All good gifts come from the Spirit of God:
love, peace, joy, patience, kindness, gentleness are all of God.
We come with grateful hearts, not for things, but for who God is.
We gather to show our gratitude in song and prayer.

Hymn:  802 For the fruits of all creation

Prayer of Adoration
Lord God, our Provider.  We worship you as the one who meets our needs, who grants our daily bread, who restores our humanity.

We worship you as the God who knows human need from experience, who knows want, and thirst and humiliation.

And we worship you as your people, in a world where wealth is mixed with poverty; where in all circumstances we have all we need, because the blessing comes from you and continues to come from you.

So, open our eyes, open the eyes of our hearts, that we may know our place in this world, as your people.  May we offer our thanksgiving not only for what you give us, but also for what you give through us.

Where there is need, teach us to learn where our wealth lies, and help us to give.

Where there is injustice, teach us to learn the causes, and help us to fight.

Where there is brokenness, teach us to learn of our own brokenness, and help us to bring wholeness.

Show us how to worship you, the crucified God, the risen God, the God who provides.

Help us to carry our cross, to accept your gift of new life, to bring that gift to others.

Open our eyes to see and know our place as your people as we bring you our prayer of confession:

Prayer of Confession:

God of Grace, we bring to you our ingratitude for all that you have done for us, our impatience when prayers seem to be ignored, our selfishness when prompted to give or share, our unfaithfulness when wandering from your way.
We bring to you our lack of faith when we fail to see the ways you bless us and continue to bless us.    We ask for your forgiveness, through Jesus Christ who gave all, that we might learn to do likewise.
Amen

Assurance of Pardon

When we confess our sins, the Lord helps us to empty ourselves of those things that hinder us from knowing the fullness of his love.

When we confess our sins God fills us with those things that will make us all that he wants us to be.

In the gift of forgiveness we have the presence of the Lord.

In the gift of forgiveness we have the Lord’s anointing.

In the grace and forgiveness of Jesus we are touched by God, and filled with his Spirit and he makes us whole.  Praise be to God

Passing the Peace

Hymn:  410  Joyful joyful we adore  you

Scripture:

Joel 2: 19, 21-27
Responsive Psalm 126

Sermon:  The Lord has done great things

Joel prophesies that God says, “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten.

Given the current state of our lives, it seems like there are times when we feel as if the locusts have descended.

In our time, the first locust was the pandemic.

Then we had supply chain problems.
Then high interest rates.

Then debilitating wildfires.

Then freezing winters that destroyed crops.

Then inflation.

Followed by drought.

The latest locust has resulted in the failure of the grapes, the cherries, and the peaches.

Is it any wonder that we may feel that we are carrying a heavy load as we come to celebrate Thanksgiving.

What if we had sung the hymn come, ye thankful people come?  Could we with a full heart have sung:  raise the song of harvest home, all is safely gathered in?  Could the farmers and the orchardists have sung that with confidence?

Yet, even in the years when the harvest is scarce, we come in thanksgiving for all that God does for us.

Of all the Harvest Thanksgiving hymns in the book, the one we sang today says, “for the ploughing, sowing, reaping, silent growth while we are sleeping, the future’s needs in earth’s safekeeping thanks be to God.

We give thanks for all of it despite the size of the harvest, because we also know that God holds the future and that the future needs of the earth are in God’s safekeeping.

That also means that the future needs of the people are in God’s safekeeping.

That truth puts our act of giving thanks into perspective.  It is true that not all things are well in our world.  Yet we are reminded that the lack of harvest and the increasing cost of living is currently in  God’s keeping, and will remain in God’s keeping forever.

That is the point that Joel drives home to the people of Israel.  He reminds them that the locusts have eaten the crop and stolen the harvest.  He reminds them that life has been tough and that they have come through difficult days.

But most of all, Joel reminds them that God is faithful, and that God’s promises mean a restoration of the land and the crops and the people.

Once again there will be abundant grain.  They can look forward to an abundance of olive oil.  The trees will once again bear fruit.  The vines will yield their riches.

How will this happen?

By autumn rains and abundant showers.

Will it happen all at once?  Maybe.  Maybe not.

Certainly, last summer’s failure of the olive harvest, changed this year into an abundant harvest.  Good news for those of us who use olive oil.

And there are signs, of the goodness of the restoration of the earth, even here.

We have had a cooler summer and a milder fire season.

The autumn rains are starting to make a difference in the moisture in the soil.  Some regions in our province are no longer considered to be in drought conditions.  Not in every area, but in some.

Maybe there will be more rain to come before the frosts settle in.  Maybe the predictions of a wetter, colder winter will also help.

These predictions are not a promise.  They are merely predictions and the endless variations of what weather conditions can or will be may not work in our favour.

Maybe things will get better—maybe they won’t.  If not this year, maybe next year. Maybe.

When we keep our eyes on the world, uncertainty is all we can know.

What we need to remember is that none of that changes God’s grace or his promise to watch over us and care for us.

Joel expands on the promise of God, saying:   “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten—
the great locust and the young locust,
the other locusts and the locust swarm[b]—
my great army that I sent among you.
26 You will have plenty to eat, until you are full,
and you will praise the name of the Lord your God,
who has worked wonders for you;
never again will my people be shamed.
27 Then you will know that I am in Israel,
that I am the Lord your God,
and that there is no other;
never again will my people be shamed.  (Joel 2:  25-27 NIV)

Nothing will stop God, from coming into our lives and filling them with his blessing.

From there Joel goes on to outline the promises to the people, it wasn’t a part of the reading today, but let’s look at it now, because it is important to how we will live out our thanksgiving.

Joel writes:  “And afterward,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams,
your young men will see visions.
29 Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days.  (Joel 2: 28-29 NIV)

When God restores the earth and the earth’s future, he also restores the people, and then we, like the earth, are expected to produce a harvest.

What will that harvest look like?  From the hymn for the fruits of all creation we learn that it will include many things.

There will be a just reward for our labour, and God’s will can be seen in the help we give to our neighbours.  We will be deployed in a world-wide task of caring for the hungry and the despairing.  The hymn goes on to refer to this as the harvest of the Spirit and that it will be full of wonders and astonishing things.

These verses are a reminder of what Joel is saying that there will be a restoration of soil, of the animals of the field, of the fig tree and of the people.

The entire harmony of nature will be restored.  Green fields, fruit trees, animals, and people.

The promise is that God will speak and that we will hear God speaking.

Never once in scripture does a drought or an exile become permanent.  Every time, God restores the fortunes of the earth and the people.  Every single time.

Out of the trauma comes a better world.  Prophets will dream of a prosperous future.

The problem with being a prophet is that you are trying to encourage frightened and distraught people.

And the problem with traumatized people is that they are unable to see beyond the devastation.

That is why thanksgiving, even in hard and difficult days, is so important.  When we thank God for what he has given us and what he will give us, it changes our focus.  It even changes our hearts.  We will remember what God has done and we will remember to trust that God will do it again.

That memory comes with a few tasks.

First ,we are called to join the ranks of the prophet and to speak to the people.  Then, we are called to look at the abundance God gives us, even in the drought and scarcity and to share it with those who don’t even have that.

The commentators on Joel and the Psalm talk about the ways in which the thanksgiving of the people is expressed in faithful living.  Always, always, always, we are called to live faithfully and put God’s mark on the world and the people.

We share the harvest.

We share the love.

We share the Spirit.

We share the hope.

Why?
Because God has already done those great things that he has promised.  This truth does not require the evidence of our eyes.  This knowledge comes with confidence out of our hearts as we recall what God has done in the past.

Do we want to know what God is going to do in the future?

Then we look at what God has always done in the past.   God’s record is his promise.  What he has done, he will do again.

According to the Psalmist, when we remember in our hearts that God is good, we rejoice.

I love the way the Psalm describes our rejoicing.

God will fill our mouths with laughter.

It doesn’t come from us.  God will fill our mouths with laughter.

Not a few giggles.

Not a soft chuckle.

But uncontrollable, tear inducing, knee slapping, belly-aching, guffaws that will spread through the crowds.

Think Pentecost.

What happened that day was that God took a bunch of frightened people hiding behind locked doors and sent them out into the streets, with a new language and hearts overflowing with a story to tell.

That’s exactly what the Psalm tells us will happen when God restores the earth…the tongues of the people will be filled with shouts of joy.

We will speak of God’s greatness.

We will proclaim God’s goodness.

We will remind the world of what God has already done.

We will point out what God is still doing.

We will confidently proclaim that God will do that all again.

We will experience God so fully and deeply that we will be known for our joy and confidence.

Does that mean our current problems are over?

Maybe.  Maybe not.

What it does mean is that God is with us, yesterday, today and tomorrow.  Yesterday, today and tomorrow and forevermore.

This is why we are God’s thankful people.  Thanks be to God.  Amen

Affirmation of Faith
God of harvest, gardener supreme, you place us at the centre.   You feed us, equip us and, having provided for us, look to a different harvest—a fruitfulness of lives in service to you and others.

God of harvest, feed us prune us, and harvest us that our lives might bring glory to you.  Amen

Hymn:  425  We praise you O God

Offering and Doxology 830

Offertory Prayer
Lord, you are the bread of heaven,

giving life to the world.

You fill our emptiness with your goodness.

You come to our weakness with your strength.

Take and use these gifts to bring in a rich harvest

of your heavenly food and life-giving refreshment.

Gathering Prayer Requests
Prayer of Thanksgiving and Intercession

God, on this Thanksgiving we have come to give thanks. Our prayers our are filled with a list of the blessings we recount.  The list is longer today, because it’s thanksgiving.

When we remember your faithfulness through all ages, through all circumstances, and for all eternity, we pause to wonder about our place in all this grace.

We ask, what if thankfulness has nothing to do with lists?
What if thankfulness is more like the difference between night and day, the difference between being shut in and being free,  the difference between holding on and reaching out?  What if thankfulness is not something to be grasped, not something that can be simply said,
not some thing at all?

Remind us that thankfulness is transformation.  A revolution of the heart, a re-centering, from our selves to your Son.  A movement from life to death,  and beyond the grave to resurrection. Encourage us to wonder:  What if Thanksgiving is Christmas, Good Friday  Easter and Pentecost all rolled into one.
When we are tempted to simply list our thanks,  or give our thanks, show us the wider horizon, where we are the extravagant gesture, pressed down, shaken together, running over–thankful people actively serving in your image.

We are reminded that our thanksgiving is presented in service.

Help us to remember that our prayers need to be filled with our commitment to labour for that which we pray for.

Therefore we list our Joys and Thanksgiving

We pray that our living into the world will be how we live our gratitude before you.

Therefore we list our concerns for those whom we love.

We pray that you will show us how to be a source of hope, grace and encouragement for all those who we remember in prayer this day.

Therefore we list our concerns for the whole world.

We pray that you will show us how to thank you by the ways in which we reach out and touch the world with the grace and love of Jesus.

All these things we ask in the name of Jesus, who taught us to pray saying,

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:  457 Now thank we all our God

Benediction
Blessing Song:  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.
Public Domain 3 Fold Amen