First United Methodist Church
August 18th, 2024
Rev. Lauren Hall
Give Thanks in Love
What does it mean to know the will of God? I think before we can answer that question it would help if we understood what God’s will was. We have been told from the beginning of Ephesians that God’s will is to unite all things (1:10–11) in an economy of love (5:1–2) in which Christ has filled us with gifts of love so that being in and filled with the Spirit (2:22) we may walk in love (4:1–2; 5:2). Sounds simple, right?
In our Ephesians text for today, Paul gives us some instructions for living the Christian life. Understanding the will of God, it seems, comes by living wisely, being filled with the Spirit, and giving thanks to God at all times and for everything. Thanksgiving, it seems, is the hallmark of what it means to walk in love. When we are filled with the Spirit, we speak with joy to one another, we are joyful in our hearts, and we give thanks to God.
Imagine how our conversations might change if we replaced all obscene, sarcastic and vulgar talk with the Spirit-filled language of thanksgiving! Instead of expressing our bitterness and anger and complaining when things don’t go exactly the way we planned, what would happen if we instead pointed out what was going well and tried to do more of it? Thanksgiving requires a posture that assumes gentleness, generosity and openness. Thanksgiving is ultimately an act for the other, whether that other is God or our neighbor.
But can we really give thanks for all things at all times in a world that, even though God may be gathering up (or has gathered up) all things in Christ, still hasn’t fully realized that redemption? Do we have to forget all the brokenness in the world and simply give thanks to God for all that is? No. The call to give thanks is not a call to forget but, in fact, to remember. Part of what it means to be children of God is to be attentive to what is possible, even when we can’t clearly see it.
A few years ago I was on the Board of an organization that served a free lunch to the community three times a week. One of our guests has been acting inappropriately and even threatening people from time to time. The purpose of our meeting was to figure out a plan of action if his behavior continued. Our meeting went pretty much the way I assumed it would. The individual’s behavior was discussed, and the conversation evolved into different consequences if it continued. None of us wanted to ban the individual from the meals, but we all agreed that it wasn’t fair for one person to be so disruptive that other people felt uncomfortable or unsafe.
And then one person spoke up and reminded us that Christianity isn’t supposed to be comfortable. “Why do we have this ministry?” he asked. “What is its purpose?” If the church turns him away, where will he go? Jesus didn’t extend his ministry to include lepers and Samaritans to make the rest of us comfortable; no, he healed them and reached out to them because they needed to experience the healing touch of God. The more that we get involved in these kinds of ministries, the more frequently we are going to encounter these kinds of issues.
With that reminder, our conversation changed as we tried to figure out a way to create a welcoming environment for this individual while also sharing our expectations. Now we aren’t naïve, and we realize that we will have to address this same situation over and over again, but as my colleague pointed out, we are the church, and Christianity isn’t supposed to be comfortable.
And so, if we go back to our scripture, and we consider how we might give “thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,” we have to think about what Jesus would do in this situation. Would he kick him out? Probably not.
Thanksgiving, in this circumstance, means recognizing God’s call in our lives and in our ministry and accepting the challenges that accompany them. Understanding what the will of our Lord is means remembering the brokenness that exists right here in our community and realizing that we are called to respond to it even though we may never be able to change it.
How many of you have heard of Jack Lengyel? He’s a Coach in the College Football Hall of Fame, who was inducted with a win/loss record of 9 and 33. No, I don’t have that backwards. Jack Lengyel was the coach who accepted the position at Marshall University the year after their entire varsity team and coaches were killed in a plane crash. His story is told in the movie, We Are Marshall, which I do have, if you would like to see it.
Before hiring him as coach, the president of Marshall asked him why he wanted to do it. He had spoken to several alumni who had refused to accept the responsibility, and he couldn’t imagine why a person who had no connections with the university whatsoever would want to take on such an enormous task. His response was that after reading their story and reflecting about what it would be like for a town to go through that, after considering how hurt he would be if he lost his own family, he thought that maybe he could help.
I think this is what Christ wants all of us to do. I realize that Hollywood takes out a lot of the details when they create movies out of true stories, but Jack Lengyel was a small town football coach. He didn’t have the kind of resume a Division I school looks for when hiring a head coach, and he didn’t have any grand view of his own abilities as a coach. He simply recognized a need and offered to help.
Christ calls us to live our lives the way that he would live. When Christ gave thanks over a few loaves of bread and fed five thousand, when he walked across the water to comfort his disciples, he didn’t hesitate to offer to his followers the things that would fulfill their needs. He recognized what was needed and he acted.
A few years ago, I was approached by a couple who asked if I would officiate their wedding. This was going to be both individuals’ second wedding and they said “they wanted to do it right this time.” The couple approached me early in the spring and told me that I was their last hope, because nobody else was willing to do the wedding. Now, in their defense, some churches just weren’t available that weekend, and others probably refused to do it because they weren’t members and I’m sure there were some other legitimate reasons as well.
But the reason I’m sharing this with you is because I’ve had many conversations with colleagues regarding weddings, and I’m often told, “I don’t do non-member weddings because you put in all that work and then they don’t ever bother to come to church.” But here’s my argument. Don’t you think that if a non-churched person approaches a church and asks us to do something that the church is supposed to do, shouldn’t we do it?
I’ll admit, I spent a lot of time with this family and along the way, they experienced Christ’s love as they were surrounded by Christians who just did what Christians do. The bride was a little overwhelmed with some of the details and we all stepped in and used our gifts to help her out.
The point is, our call is to be the church by loving and serving others through Christian ministry. If we truly want to participate in the building of God’s Kingdom by making disciples of Jesus Christ, then we have to start by loving each other. Regardless of whether this family would become a part of our church or not, they had an opportunity to be a part of our church for this important event in their life – and they were welcomed. Isn’t that what the will of the Lord is?
Let us pray…
At your invitation, God, we often ponder what is most important to us. In your generosity, you give us support and encouragement beyond our requests. Remind us, Lord, to come to you with hearts filled with gratitude, and help us to focus on cultivating the enduring qualities that will sustain us throughout our lives. As we learn to discern your will, Lord, give us the courage to trust you, and use us to meet the needs of others with our generosity and love. Amen.
