Sermon Isaiah 35:1–10 “The Holy Way”

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Pittsgrove Presbyterian Church
Sermon Isaiah 35:1–10 “The Holy Way”
December 15, 2019

We have arrived at the third Sunday of Advent.   We have been looking at the writings of the 8th-century prophet, Isaiah.   The 8th-century, as we have clearly seen, was a dangerous time for the people of God.  The northern kingdom, Israel, was destroyed and the people of God were scattered.   The southern kingdom, Judah, was threatened.   The Assyrian army surrounded Jerusalem and threaten its destruction.  Throughout this time the Prophet Isaiah warned the people of the approaching danger and gave them great hope.  Remember his words.

Isaiah 2:2 In days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it.  3 Many peoples shall come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.  4 He shall judge between the nations and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

Judah was saved by God.  The Assyrian army was defeated, not by the weak Judean army, but by God Almighty.  And Prophet Isaiah again spoke a word of great hope.  The Kingdom of Judah, now just a stump, with grow again.

Isaiah 11:1 A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.  2 The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might,  the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. 3 His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.  He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; 4 but with righteousness, he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.  5 Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins.  6 The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.  7 The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.  8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den. 9 They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.  10 On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.

This vision of the coming of a Messiah has filled the people of God with hope for thousands of years.

Today, we are still looking at the 8th-century before Christ.   And many of God’s people have been displaced from their homes.   Will they ever returned to the land that God has promised their ancestors?   Once again the Prophet Isaiah came forward to give them hope.   We will get to this, but first, let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, we have drifted far away from you.   We feel like strangers in a strange land.   Help us to return to you.   Give us a way, a road, that we can travel to get back to you.   We pray this in our savior’s name, Jesus the Messiah.   Amen.

For the first time since entering the promised land, many of God’s own people found themselves displaced and scattered all over the former Assyrian empire.   What will happen to them?   Will they ever return home?  With these questions ringing in his ear, the Prophet Isaiah proclaimed a word of God to all of God’s people.

Isaiah 35:1 The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus 2 it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing.  The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.  They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God.

For the people of God herding their sheep in the desert the promise of God is that the spring rains will and water the dry land.   Grasses will grow and there will be ample food for the goats and sheep to eat.  So the shepherds will rejoice at this renewal from God.

But many of the displaced people of God were fearful.   Would the Assyrians return and oppress them?   How can we make a living displaced from their farms?  Many of them must have fallen into a deep depression.   To them, the Prophet Isaiah spoke these words to fearful people.

3 Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees.  4 Say to those who are of a fearful heart,  “Be strong, do not fear!  Here is your God.  He will come with vengeance, with terrible recompense. He will come and save you.”

Isaiah’s promise to them and to all of us is that God himself is a savior.  We do not have to save ourselves.   We do not have to depend on others to save us.   All we have to do is trust in God to save us.

But many of those living in exile were disable.   The blind, the deaf, the lame and the speechless were all fearful.   In the system that God established, they were cared for by their families.  But now families have been separated.  They no longer have their ancestral farms for economic support.   And so they cried out to their savior God.   And God responded through his Prophet Isaiah.

5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped;  6 then the lame shall leap like a deer and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. 

The disabled of God’s people were filled with hope that a savior will come to heal them.   So too with us.   When we are in the hospital facing surgery, we pray to our savior for healing.   When we are at home recovering from strokes, we pray to our savior for healing.   When our heart is not working properly and we are fatigued, we pray to our savior for healing.   When a child is having behavioral problems or is sick, we pray to our savior for healing.  And we trust that Jesus heals.

The people of God in the 8th century before Christ trusted in God.   But they never expected that God would bless them with abundance.   But this is exactly what God did.  Let’s return to Isaiah.

6 For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert;  7 the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp, the grass shall become reeds and rushes.

The world tells us that we live in a time of shortages.   We must conserve and share if we are to get through.   But God tells us that we live in a world of abundance.    All we have to do is believe and God will bless us.

The biggest concern of the displaced people of God was the burning question, “Will we ever go home.”   They have been relocated to other places in the Assyrian empire.   Many were content to stay in their new homes.   But many wanted to return to the homes they left.   Will they ever go back?   To answer this question God spoke to his prophet Isaiah.

8 A highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Holy Way; the unclean shall not travel on it, but it shall be for God’s people; no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray. 9 No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. 10 And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

What a glorious promise.  God will build a road in the wilderness, and the people of God will use it to come home.

These promises of God as spoken to the Prophet Isaiah have comforted God’s throughout the centuries that followed.   Two hundred years later, when the Kingdom of Judah was finally conquered by the Babylonian empire the people of God were comforted by the words of the prophet.   They believed that God would bless them while living in exile.   They believed that God would calm their fears.  They believed that God would care for the disabled.   They believed that they would live in a world of abundance.   And they believed that God would provide for them a way home.   God proved faithful in all of these.   God was their savior.

And then, eight hundred years after the Prophet Isaiah, another prophet came from the region of Galilee.   He entered into his own synagogue, opened the scroll of Isaiah and read these words.

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

20 And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Jesus is our savior.    He is the one who will bless us in whatever exile we experience.   Jesus will calm our fears.  Jesus will make sure the disabled are supported.  Jesus will heal us.  Jesus will provide for us a world of abundance.   Jesus will be our way back to God.   And Jesus is coming at Christmas.  Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for sending your son as our savior this Christmas.   Bless us with fruitful lives.   Calm our fears.   Help us to care for those in need.  Heal our infirmaries.   Give us a world of abundance.   Thank you for our savior, your son, Jesus the Messiah, in whose name we pray.   Amen.

Sermon Isaiah 11:1–10 “World Filled With The Knowledge of God”

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Pittsgrove Presbyterian Church
Sermon Isaiah 11:1–10 “World Filled With The Knowledge of God”
December 8, 2019

We are continuing today with our look at the Book of Isaiah.   Isaiah was a prophet from the 8th century, before Christ.  He wrote beautiful poetry giving people hope during a turbulent time.   As we saw last week, the Assyrian Empire was on the rise.   The neighboring kingdoms, Israel and Syria, had been conquered.   Judah, under King Ahaz, had become a vassal state.   Assyrian gods were being worshiped in the Jerusalem temple.   Yahweh, the Lord God of Israel, had been forgotten. 

Into this seemingly hopeless situation, the prophet Isaiah spoke a word of hope. 

Isaiah 2:2 In days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it.  3 Many peoples shall come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.  4 He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

Filled with hope, the nation of Judah welcomed a new king, Hezekiah.   Hezekiah restored the covenant between God and his ancestor King David, the son of Jesse.  He removed the Assyrian idols from the temple.  The worship of Yahweh resumed.  He did everything right.  And he nearly lost his kingdom.   We will get to this, but first, let’s pray.

Heavenly Father, on this second Sunday of Advent, renew in us our hope for a return of Christ and fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy promising peace on earth.   We pray all this in the name of the Messiah who came and will come again, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

King Hezekiah removed the Assyrian idols from the Jerusalem temple and the Assyrians were angry.  The Assyrian army began an invasion of his kingdom.   Town after town fell before the onslaught until Sennacherib, the leader of the Assyrians, arrived at Jerusalem.  Only a stump remained of the once-proud kingdom of David, the son of Jesse.  So King Hezekiah entered into the Jerusalem temple and turned to God in prayer.

2 Kings 19:15 “O Lord the God of Israel, who are enthroned above the cherubim, you are God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. 16 Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. 17 Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, 18 and have hurled their gods into the fire, though they were no gods but the work of human hands—wood and stone—and so they were destroyed. 19 So now, O Lord our God, save us, I pray you, from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O Lord, are God alone.”

At this time of national despair, King Hezekiah has turned to his one and only savior, God.  And the prophet Isaiah proclaimed to the people a message of hope.

Isaiah 11:1 A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.  2 The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might,  the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. 3 His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.  He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; 4 but with righteousness, he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.  5 Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins.  6 The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.  7 The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.  8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den. 9 They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.  10 On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.

Sennacherib and the Assyrian army were no match for the God of Israel.   Here is how God answered Hezekiah’s prayers. 

2 Kings 19: 35 That very night the angel of the Lord set out and struck down one hundred eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians; when morning dawned, they were all dead bodies. 36 Then King Sennacherib of Assyria left, went home.

Like King Hezekiah, we have one savior.  Our only savior is God.   Turn to him, keep his commands, and believe in his son.   He will save you.

This prophecy of Isaiah has been the hope of God’s people for almost 3000 years.   We long for the day when creation is reborn and the oppressed and the oppressor will join together in love.

Our hope is that a messiah will come, a descendant of David, son of Jesse, whose spirit will bring wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, knowledge and the fear of the Lord.  We hope for a messiah who will lead us in righteousness and faithfulness.   We hope for a savior who will bring peace of earth.

And two thousand years ago some shepherds, in a field near Bethlehem, heard this from some angels.

Luke 2:10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,  14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

Isaiah’s prophecy was fulfilled with the coming of the Messiah.   He was born in Bethlehem and was named Jesus. 

Put your faith in him, for he is your savior.  He will save you from whatever Assyrians are threatening you.  Maybe your health is a concern.   Turn to Jesus in prayer.   Maybe you are worried about finances.   Turn to Jesus in prayer.   Maybe you are concerned about a loved one.   Turn to Jesus in prayer.   Jesus is your Messiah.  He will save you. 

Jesus has “The Spirit of wisdom and understanding”.   This endows him with discernment to make good decisions in governing his kingdom.  He has “The Spirit of counsel and power”.  This will give him diplomatic and military authority to rule.  He has “The Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord”.  This will keep him close to God.  The “knowledge” here is not merely intellectual correctness or assent to the truth, but an intimate relationship with God.  “The fear of Lord” was at the heart of Jewish faith.  This leader, contrary to all others, will be centered on Yahweh, living a life of pure piety.  Indeed, more than anything else, his greatest delight will be his relationship with God.  Obviously, this describes Jesus as the Son of Man and Son of God.  This shoot from the stump, unimpressive in his birth and in his appearance, will be awesome in his reign because it will be characterized by righteousness and faithfulness in all he does.  The world has never seen a leader like this, but it is dying for one.  Isaiah promises that such a one is coming.  https://cep.calvinseminary.edu/sermon-starters/advent-2a-2/?type=old_testament_lectionary

By this time next year, we will have selected new leaders for our nation.   I won’t be telling you whom to vote for.   But I can suggest some characteristics you should look for in candidates.  Here is what God looks for in a leader.

Isaiah 11:2 The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might,  the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. 3 His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.  He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; 4 but with righteousness, he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.  5 Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins.

Let’s pick our leaders wisely.  Let’s pray.

Heaven Father, we thank you for the hope expressed by the prophet Isaiah that a messiah will come to save us.   We thank you for sending your son as that messiah and for the blessings of having a messiah in our lives.   And we thank you for the hope that Jesus will come again and complete the work of bringing peace on earth.   This we pray in Jesus’ glorious name.   Amen.

Sermon Isaiah 2:1-5 “Out of Zion Goes Instruction”

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Pittsgrove Presbyterian Church
Sermon Isaiah 2:1-5 “Out of Zion Goes Instruction”
December 1, 2019

Today we start a new church year with the Season of Advent.   Advent is a period of four Sundays leading up to our great celebration of Christmas.  During Advent, we look at the prophecy and events of Jesus’ birth and we anticipate his coming again.  For our Thursday mornings, our Bible study will look at the Book of Luke and examine the story of Jesus’ birth.   Beginning today on Sundays we will look at the Book of Isaiah and examine some of the prophecies of Jesus’ coming.  Today we look at a vision of the prophet Isaiah which is the foundation of our hope as Christians.   We will get to this, but first, let’s pray.

Heavenly Father, as we begin this Advent season by examining the prophecies of your son’s birth, bless us with wisdom and understanding.   Help us to know the Savior we worship.  And prepare us for his coming into the world.   We pray this in Jesus’ glorious name.  Amen.

The eighth century before Christ was a time of trial for the small, vulnerable, kingdom of Judah.  Since the time of David and Solomon, Judah had been blessed by God with peace and prosperity.   A security agreement with the neighboring countries of Israel and Syria had kept enemies at a distance.  But all that was about to change.  The Assyrian Empire was growing.   Syria and Israel fell like dominos before the Assyrian onslaught.   And Judah was next.   Ahaz, a descendant of David and King of Judah,  had to make a decision.  Here is what he faced.

The Judean army was no match for the Assyrians.  So there was no military solution available  King Ahaz.  What he should have done was to rely on Yahweh, the Lord God of Israel, for protection as his ancestors had done.  He should have relied on the covenant between God and King David.  And if he did God would protect him and his country.  Here is the covenant between God and Ahaz’s ancestor David.

2 Samuel 7:16 Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me;[c] your throne shall be established forever.

But King Ahaz was afraid.   He refused to rely on this covenant with God.  So he went to see Tiglath-Pileser, King of Assyria, to beg him for peace.   Tiglath-Pileser agreed and told Ahaz what he had to do.   The Assyrian gods were to be worshiped in the Jerusalem temple.   And King Ahaz agreed to this blasphemy.
So God sent a prophet, Isaiah, with a message for King Ahaz.

Isaiah 1:2 Hear, O heavens, and listen, O earth; for the Lord has spoken:  I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me.  3 The ox knows its owner, and the donkey it's master’s crib; but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.

King Ahaz and the nation of Judah had abandoned God.   But God had compassion on them and wanted his people to come back.

18 Come now, let us argue it out, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be like snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.  19 If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; 20 but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

The choice was up to King Ahaz.   Will he and his country return to God or not?  Will he remove the Assyrian gods from the Jerusalem temple or not?  And if he does return what will God do for him?  Here is God’s answer.

Isaiah 2:2 In days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it.  3 Many peoples shall come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.  4 He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

God’s promise is that Jerusalem will be on the “highest of mountains”.   Now, I have been to Jerusalem twice.  It is built on a small hill.  It only takes a few minutes to walk down from the temple mount area to the Kidron Valley.  In fact, the Mount of Olives, on the other side of the Kidron, is much bigger.  So I don’t think that God is talking about geological height. 

God is talking about authority and power.   Jerusalem will have the greatest authority on earth.   And all people on earth will respect this authority.   What is the source of this authority?  The highest authority on earth is this, the Bible, the holy word of God.

In ancient times, empires built their capitals on mountains surrounded by walls for protection.   They projected their authority and power by sending out armies.    These armies plundered surrounding kingdoms and brought back loot to pay for the military expeditions.  But Jerusalem will not be projecting its authority and power by sending out destructive armies.  No!  They will be sending out teachers equipped to proclaim the word of God.   

And what happens when everyone on earth respects the authority of scripture?   Wars come to an end.   And the implements of violence are melted down to become things that serve us.   “They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks.”

This prophecy of Isaiah was partially fulfilled, two thousand years ago, when Jesus was exalted on the mountain of Jerusalem while nailed to a cross.  News of Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension have gone forth from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. 

The promise of scripture is that the day will come when Jesus returns to earth with a new Jerusalem.   All nations will come to the city and bow their heads to Christ our Lord.  And we will have peace on earth. 

Shortly after Jesus’ return to heaven, a group of apostles, empowered by the Holy Spirit, left Jerusalem as witnesses of what Jesus said and did.   They took this good news to the ends of the world to prepare the world for his return.  And today we proclaim this word of God as the highest authority on earth praying for the day when Jesus will return as the Prince of Peace. 

King Ahaz was succeeded by his son King Hezikiah.  Hezikiah accepted the Lord’s offer to protect the nation.   He removed the Assyrian idols from the Jerusalem temple and returned the nation to God.   In return, God blessed him and his nation and protected them from the Assyrians.  Although the Assyrian army encircled Jerusalem, God would not let them enter and sent them home defeated.  This demonstrated that our God is the most powerful force on earth.  And his word goes out with supreme authority.

Like Jerusalem of the eighth century before Christ, American has enjoyed God’s protection and prosperity for hundreds of years.   The first settlers in this area believed that they were coming to a shining city on a hill, the promised land.   This church was established as a place where the word of God would go forth projecting God’s authority and power through the proclamation of the gospel throughout this land.

But today, sadly, the influence of the church is waning.  Our congregations are smaller.   Many people refuse to worship God.  Many people reject the authority of scripture.  Many people are worshiping gold and silver and the things these idols can purchase.   According to popular television commercials, our supreme God seems to be a Lexus with a big red bow sitting in the driveway.
This is dangerous.   If we as a people decide to break our covenant with God, then God’s protection may be lifted and our peace and prosperity vanish.   So return to God.   Help your family to return to God.   Witness to the work of God in your lives to everyone you meet.  Let’s bring this land back to the God of our ancestors.

Our popular culture tells us that the sounds of Christmas are jingle bells.  But we Christians know that another kind of bell will ring this season.   If will be the sound of a hammer on an anvil turning the implements of violence and war into things that make life better for all.   This is our Christian hope. Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, help us to remain the shining city on a hill as our ancestors expected.   Keep us ever faithful to the covenant relationship with you.   Help us to bring others to the saving faith in Jesus Christ.   Help the world to accept the Bible as the supreme authority in all matters of morals and faith.   And send the Prince of Peace, our Lord Jesus Christ, to return and bring peace on earth.   This we pray in his glorious name.   Amen.

Sermon – 2 Corinthians 9:6-15 – Planting Seeds of Thanksgiving

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Sermon – 2 Corinthians 9:6-15 – Planting Seeds of Thanksgiving
Aldine Methodist Church - Community Thanksgiving Service
November 27, 2019

Happy Thanksgiving!  Today we give thanks to God for all the blessings we have received.  And I pray that this spirit of thanksgiving will be rooted in your hearts. Please give thanks for all of your blessings from God, as you gather with family and friends for your Thanksgiving feast.   Let pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

I have learned a lot about farming over the years having pastored some churches in rural areas.  At one point in my ministry, I had a group of farmers meet with me every Friday morning at 6 am for Bible study and breakfast. Each week I would ask them what was happening on the area farms.  In the fall they talked about combines and the harvest of corn.  I now know that in order to harvest corn in the Fall you must plant it in the Spring.  In fact, you must plant it around the start of the baseball season so that it will pollinate before the heat of summer.  And provided that there is just the right amount of rain, and the harmful nor’easters and hurricanes stay away a bountiful harvest can be expected.

According to the apostle Paul, this is exactly how thanksgiving works.  You must first plant the seeds of thanksgiving before you can harvest it.  And this explains why some people are thankful on Thanksgiving Day while others find it very difficult to be thankful.     Those who approach Thanksgiving with a spirit of thankfulness have planted seeds of thanksgiving long before.  And these seeds of thanksgiving have been nurtured, weeded, watered and fertilized.  This has allowed them to harvest thanksgiving just in time for our big celebration.   But sadly, others have failed to plant the seeds of thankfulness or allowed them to be choked by weeds or burnt up in the sun or blown down in the wind and thus find no thankfulness to harvest at Thanksgiving. 

Where do we find these seeds of thankfulness?  You won't find them at Lowes or Walmart.    They aren't in any seed catalog.  The only place to find these seeds is in scripture.  So let's turn to scripture and see if we can find out about the seeds of thankfulness that we need to plant to experience the harvest of thanksgiving.

 2 Corinthians 9: 6 The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work. 9 As it is written,
“He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor;
    his righteousness[a] endures forever.”

10 He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.[b] 11 You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us; 12 for the rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs of the saints but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God. 13 Through the testing of this ministry you glorify God by your obedience to the confession of the gospel of Christ and by the generosity of your sharing with them and with all others, 14 while they long for you and pray for you because of the surpassing grace of God that he has given you. 15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

The Apostle Paul was writing to the church at Corinth.  Corinth was a wealthy trading center.  The Apostle was writing them to raise money for the church in Jerusalem which was in trouble. Tensions were rising in Jerusalem as Christians are being persecuted.  The Romans were concerned with maintaining order.  The church desperately needs help so Paul was accumulating the resources he needed to help the mother church in Jerusalem. 

Since Corinth was surrounded by a rich agricultural area he made his appeal to the Corinthians with an agricultural metaphor.  Just as corn seeds have to be planted in the Spring for corn to be harvested in the Fall so too must the seeds of thankfulness be planted for thanksgiving to be harvested.   And what are the seeds of thankfulness that must be planted?  According to these Apostle, the seeds which we must plant are called in Greek aploths. This word, aploths, has no single English equivalent.     Modern translators usually translate it as “generosity”.  But since it is crucial that we understand what it is that we plant in order to grow a bountiful harvest of thanksgiving let's take a closer look at what this word might mean.

Ordinarily, in our culture, we do things expecting to get something in return.  We work all week and expect a paycheck on Friday.  We put money in the bank and expect to get it back with interest.  We give to the church and expect a quality worship service and visits from the pastor.    This quid pro quo is apparent even in nature.  Isaac Newton observed that every action has an equal but opposite reaction.  Every act of kindness comes with an expectation that it will be reciprocated.

But the Greek term aploths is the opposite of this.  The seed of thanksgiving consists of giving without the expectation of receiving something in return.    There is no duplicity; rather we act with singleness, simplicity, sincerity, uprightness, and frankness.  Obviously, generosity is a part of this.  But aploths is much more.  It is an attitude where you joyfully give away what you have expected nothing in return.

This is the attitude that was present in the churches established by Paul.  And that is why they were so successful in adding new members.    Their friends and neighbor saw the changes in their lives when they became Christian.  People who would never give something for nothing suddenly changed when they joined the church.  Christians were people who gave without expecting any compensation.  According to Paul, this attitude of giving without receiving is the seed that grows into thanksgiving.

So how did Paul know this?  And what caused the earliest Christians to have a gracious world view where they joyfully gave away what they had?  The answers to these questions rest in the very character of God as revealed to us in Jesus Christ.  You see God forgives.  Our sins are washed away by the blood of Jesus.  This comes to us as a gift from God with no strings attached.  God gives us salvation with no expectation of receiving anything in return.   Aploths is a characteristic of God.  And so we who receive so many blessings from God and have received the blessing of salvation without any obligation are motivated to give our blessings to others expecting nothing from them because we are created in the image of our gracious, generous God.

You know the story of Dickens' A Christmas Carol.  Ebeneezer Scrooge is compulsive about never doing anything without getting something in return.  He won't give to poor and needy.  He won't give a borrower an extension on a loan.  He won't give his assistant a day off on Christmas, because none of these things would benefit him.  But God wanted Scrooge to think in a new way and sent three ghosts to talk with him.  That night the Ghost of Christmas Past showed Scrooge how he had received so many gifts and nothing was required from him.  The Ghost of Christmas Present showed Scrooge how his stinginess adversely affected the people of his day.  And the Ghost of Christmas Future showed Scrooge that loneliness and death would be the outcome of his stinginess.  Scrooge learned that the only way to be thankful was if he gave without the expectation of receiving anything in return.

Just imagine what would happen if suddenly all the Christians in South Jersey began doing things for others expecting nothing in return.  What would people be saying about us?  What would they be saying about the God we worship?  We wouldn't have enough space in our churches for all the people looking for what we have. 

Remember that each time you give without expecting something in return you are planting a seed of thanksgiving.  These seeds of generosity will grow, and you will harvest a great joy called thanksgiving.  Happy Thanksgiving!   Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father, we ask that you bless us with new hearts.   Help us to give to others expecting nothing in return.   And let these seeds thus planted grow into a glorious Thanksgiving.  This we pray in the name of our savior who gave so much to us.  In whose name we pray.  Amen.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Sermon – Matthew 6:25-33 Don’t Worry be Thankful

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Pittsgrove Presbyterian Church
Sermon – Matthew 6:25-33 Don’t Worry be Thankful
November 24, 2019

This morning we will be remembering the blessings that we have received in our lifetimes:  the blessings of our birth and loving parents, the blessings of our youth, education, and moral development, the blessings of our spouses, families, jobs, and church, the blessings of retirement, travel, and lifelong friendships.  We have so much to be thankful for.  So God has given us this week to be thankful for all of our blessings.

Will you pray with me?  Father in heaven, we approach your throne this morning thankful for all you have done for us.  Purge from our minds the worries that often overwhelm us.  Help us to focus this week on all that you have provided for us, especially our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.

If you are anything like me you worry most of the time.  I worry about the stock market going down and what might happen to my retirement funds.  I worry about my parents getting older and how they will be cared for.  I worry about this church and the problems each of you face.  I worry, like so many others, about paying the bills each month.  Worry is a part of my life and I am sure that worry is a part of your lives too.

The Israelites were worried as they wandered in the wilderness.  Just a few days after God freed them from slavery in Egypt with the miraculous parting of the Red Sea they ran out of water.  Moses, who had been a shepherd in this desert for forty years, guided them to a watering hole, but the water was bitter and people were worried.  “O Moses, what have you done?  We had plenty of water in Egypt.  It would have been better to die there than die here in the desert of thirst.”  God knew they were worried so God led them to an area with twelve springs, one for each tribe. 

But a few days later the Israelites ran out of food.  They worried again.  “O Moses, what have you done?  We had plenty of food in Egypt.  It would have been better to die there with full stomachs than to die out here in the wilderness of hunger.”  God knew that they were worried so he rained down bread from heaven each morning and had quails fly by every evening so that the Israelites would never be hungry. 

You would think that with all these blessings from God the Israelites would never worry again.  After all time after time, God had provided for them.  But when the spies returned from the Promised Land with a report that the people of Canaan were powerful, and descended from giants the Israelites were worried, really worried.  “O Moses, what have you done?  In Egypt, we weren’t facing slaughter.  It would have been better to remain, slaves, than to all be killed in this strange place.”  With that their God, who was slow to anger and abiding in steadfast love had enough.  God was ready to wipe out his people and start over.  But Moses intervened and reminded God of God’s love for God’s people.  So God relented, and permitted the Israelites to wander around the desert for forty years where they could worry all the time until a new generation, free from worry, could take what was being offered, a land flowing with milk and honey.

Worry is part of our lives.  We do it well because we practice it all the time.  We are worried about the economy and the values of our retirement investments and homes.  We are worried about keeping our jobs or finding a job.  We are worried about our health and what will happen to us as we age.  We are worried about our families and their future. 

The Christians of the Protestant Reformation were also filled with worry.  As William of Orange organized the rebel forces in the Netherlands to fight for political independence from Spain and religious independence from Rome the Reformed Christians worried about their churches, their country, and their lives.  They gathered into churches and confessed their faith which sustained them through these most dangerous times.  In the midst of their worry here is what they confessed.

“We gather together to ask the Lord’s blessing; He chastens and hastens His will to make known; the wicked oppressing now cease from distressing, sing praises to His name; he forgets not His own.  Beside us to guide us our God with us joining, ordaining, maintaining His kingdom divine; so from the beginning the fight we are winning; Thou, Lord wast at our side; all glory be Thine!  We all do extol Thee, Thou leader triumphant, and pray that Thou still our defender wilt be, let thy congregation escape tribulation; thy name be ever praised! O Lord, make us free!”

Whenever we are overwhelmed by worry there is a simple solution.  All we have to do is to turn to God with praise and thanksgiving.  By praising God our faith increases, which allows us to withstand anything that the world might throw at us.  We are able to face our worries with confidence only when we have first approach God in praise. 

And this brings us to this morning’s scripture and Jesus’ teachings on worry.

Matthew 6:25-33  25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink,[a] or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?[b] 28 And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But strive first for the kingdom of God[c] and his[d] righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

According to Jesus, the antidote for worrying all the time is service to others.  If we feed someone who is hungry today then we will not be worried about being hungry tomorrow.  If we clothe someone who is naked today then we will not be concerned with what we will wear tomorrow.  This is how the Kingdom of Heaven works.  God provides us with everything we need and all God asks us to do is to provide for the needs of others.  By caring for others we realize all the blessings that we have received and become a thankful people praising God in the highest.

Craig Barnes, a prominent Presbyterian pastor, tells a story about one Thanksgiving.  On Thanksgiving morning at about 11AM while his family was preparing for a great feast the telephone rang.  It was a nurse at a local hospital saying that a member of his church was dying.  Craig was worried about the interruption this would cause in his family’s plans for the day.  He arrived at the hospital to find Jean, a seventy-eight-year-old member of the congregation surrounded by her family.  She had had another heart attack and was not expected to make it through the day.  Jean was about to die.  After Craig prayed with the family and read some scripture someone mentioned that it was sad for Jean to die on Thanksgiving.  But Jean replied that it was a glorious Thanksgiving because she would soon be with the Lord.  She then prayed for everyone in the room and died.  While driving home Craig realized that Jean was a saint. She had taught Sunday School for thirty-five years until her eyesight failed and then settled into a ministry of prayer for others.  Jean had no worry about her fate because of her service to others in the kingdom.  She was grateful for all that God had done for her.  Craig arrived home just in time to carve the Thanksgiving turkey, but Jean was on his mind, and all he could say as he carved the bird was that this truly was a glorious Thanksgiving.

When we live lives of service to others we stop worrying about what the future will bring and become thankful people who praise God of our blessings.  As Christians, we are thankful for all the blessings God has provided for us:  the blue sky and bright sunshine, families coming together for the Thanksgiving feast, the food, water and clothing that our planet provides, and our saving faith in Jesus Christ.  All these and so much more have been provided to us by our loving God.  So we have come here today to thank God for all that God has done for us, to express our gratitude for all the blessings we have received, and to commit ourselves to lives of service to others.  As we gather together let's give our worries to God and be thankful for all the blessings we have received.  Let’s pray,

Gracious and loving God, we are a people who gather around tables. On Thanksgiving Day, many of us will gather around dining tables or kitchen tables or tray tables and share a meal with our family and friends. We give thanks to you, O God, for food and the time to enjoy it together. As we are seated at our tables, help us also remember the table where we gather in worship to celebrate the Lord’s Supper. At this table, we are all God’s people gathered in communion with Christ. May our joy-filled celebrations of Thanksgiving Day remind us of the joyful feast of the people of God. Thank you, God! Amen.

Sermon Luke 21:5-19 “An Opportunity to Testify”

Rev.  Jeffrey T. Howard
Pittsgrove Presbyterian Church
Sermon Luke 21:5-19  “An Opportunity to Testify”
November 17, 2019

The scripture I have for you today is from Luke 21:5-19.   Listen to the word of God.

Luke 21:5 When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, 6 “As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.”

7 They asked him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?” 8 And he said, “Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is near!’ Do not go after them.

9 “When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.” 10 Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; 11 there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.

12 “But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. 13 This will give you an opportunity to testify. 14 So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; 15 for I will give you words[c] and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. 16 You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. 17 You will be hated by all because of my name. 18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By your endurance, you will gain your souls.

Jesus seems to have gotten out of the wrong side of the bed.   For some reason, Jesus wants to talk about persecution, betrayal, and hatred.  You are probably wondering why we have to deal with this today.   But Jesus has a pearl of great wisdom in the midst of all this.   And we will get to this.  But first, let’s pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (Calvin)

Jesus’s ministry on earth was coming to an end and he wanted to prepare his followers for what was coming.   Jesus knew that hatred for the Roman occupiers was growing among the Jewish population.   Jews believed that the Messiah would come leading a great army to overthrow the Romans and restore the Davidic kingdom of Israel.  Many people expected Jesus to be this kind of messiah.

    But Jesus was not on earth to lead a Jewish army against Rome.  Rather, he came to start a movement of peaceful resistance.   But he knew that violence was coming and that the Romans would respond by destroying Jerusalem and the beautiful temple they were in.  Jesus wanted to prepare them for the temple’s destruction and what would follow.   Jesus knew that just 35 years later the temple would be destroyed by the Romans and this would unleash a period of violence against both Christians and Jews.

So Jesus warned them to watch out for war as the world’s great powers collide.  He also warned them about earthquakes, famines, and plagues.  And Jesus told them that many of these things will come as surprises.   They won’t know when disaster will fall.   So they have to be ready for it to happen at any time. 

When the disciples heard all this they must have wondered what we are wondering right now.   Why must all these terrible things occur?  If Jesus can still a storm and raise people from the dead, then certainly he can prevent war and natural disasters.  Right?  Well, yes, unless, of course, Jesus has a really good reason for letting these terrible things occur.   So what might this really good reason be?  Jesus told us this in verse 13.

13 This will give you an opportunity to testify.

So according to Jesus, there will be war, persecution and natural disasters so that we will have the opportunity to tell others about what Jesus has done for us.

The world we live in is fallen.   It was created by God to be good.   But sin has destroyed it.   And so we now have war, persecution and natural disasters.   The world’s only hope is that it will be redeemed by the grace of God.  And the only way the world will know about the grace of God is if we tell them about the grace we have received.  So according to Jesus, the reason we have war, persecution and natural disasters is that these give us the opportunity to share our faith with others.

When nations engage in war, we can talk about our God who desires peace.   When Christian are persecuted around the world we can tell people about our prayers for their safety.   When people suffer from natural disasters we can talk about our God whose followers mobilize to help those who are suffering. 

So all we have to do is tell others about our experience with our gracious God.  But all of this is difficult.   We have a hard time talking about our faith.  We just can’t go up to people and talk about our faith.   We can’t bear witness to the grace of God in our lives to people we don’t know.   We can’t tell people about Jesus.  We do not have the ability to testify.

I have been working with a small group in our Sunday morning Bible study.   And we have been looking at this problem of being unable to testify about our faith in Christ.   So can any of you, from that class, remember the solution we found to this problem? … That’s right, we must first be empowered by the Holy Spirit before we can testify to others about our faith.  Jesus put it this way.

15 … I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict.

So Jesus promises to empower us by giving us the words we will need to talk about our faith with others.   Whenever we are in conversations about war in the Middle East, impeachment in Washington, or fires in California, Jesus will help us through his Spirit to respond by testifying to the grace of God in our lives. 
In a couple of weeks, you are going to be gathering around tables with your family for Thanksgiving.   And no doubt the conversation will turn to war, politics, and natural disaster.   If we are willing, Jesus will give us the words we will speak about God’s grace in our lives. 

How will our family and friends respond to our testimony about Jesus?  Jesus knew exactly what will happen.

16 You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. 17 You will be hated by all because of my name.

So Jesus wants us to do something that will generate conflict around the Thanksgiving table.  Jesus wants us to testify to our faith knowing that some of our family and friends will be offended by what we say, may hate us and may even respond violently.  I don’t know about you, but I certainly don’t want to do this around the Thanksgiving table.  But Jesus responded to our objections this way.

18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By your endurance, you will gain your souls.

Jesus’ promise is that if we testify about our faith to others he will protect us.  We are to remain persistent in our testimony as if our own souls depend on us sharing our faith.

Let me tell you a story about someone’s testimony of faith in the midst of suffering.    Thomas Dorsey was a songwriter and pianist.   To make ends meet he would perform in clubs at night and at church on Sunday mornings.   In August of 1932, Thomas left his pregnant wife in Chicago and traveled to St. Louis to perform at a large revival.   While in St. Louis he learned that his wife had died in childbirth.   His son died the next day.  While suffering intense grief Dorsey wrote and recorded his testimony about his gracious God.

“Precious Lord, take my hand.  Lead me on. Let me stand.  I am tired.  I am weak.  I am worn.   Through the storm, through the night, lead me on to the light.  Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.”

As Christians, we live in a fallen world.   We suffer from war, persecution and natural disasters.   In our suffering, we are called to give our testimonies about the gracious God who loves us.  Jesus will empower us to give testimony by giving us the words to speak.  Jesus will protect us if the people we talk to feel offended and angry.   We are to be persistent and share our faith with others.   The testimony of our experience of a gracious God is what a fallen world really needs. Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, keep us ever faithful.   Protect us from war, persecution and natural disasters.   Help us to speak a word of grace into this fallen world.  Empower us and give us the words to speak that will bring others to faith.   This we pray in your son’s name.  Amen.

Sermon – Malachi 3:6-12 – "The Tithe"

Rev.  Jeffrey T. Howard
Pittsgrove Presbyterian Church
Sermon – Malachi 3:6-12 – "The Tithe"
November 10, 2019

This morning we will be talking about money.  I won’t be talking about the budget of the church or what you need to give to keep all of this going.   That is important and the session of the church wants you to at least think about these issues, but what I will be doing this morning is talking about our relationship with God and how God wants us to use our money.  This is a very different topic, but somewhat related to the church budget.  So I will ask you to be generous when you give to the church, but I will ask this out of the larger question of how God wants you to use your resources.  Before we get to this please pray with me.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (Calvin)

Today we will be looking at Malachi 3:6-12.

Malachi 3:6-12 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
6 For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, have not perished. 7 Ever since the days of your ancestors you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, “How shall we return?”

8 Will anyone rob God? Yet you are robbing me! But you say, “How are we robbing you?” In your tithes and offerings! 9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me—the whole nation of you! 10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house, and thus put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts; see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing. 11 I will rebuke the locust[a] for you, so that it will not destroy the produce of your soil; and your vine in the field shall not be barren, says the Lord of hosts. 12 Then all nations will count you happy, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.

It’s the fifth century before Christ.  The people of God were living in a province of the Persian Empire named Yehud.  A governor was appointed by the imperial government, and taxes were very high.  The empire needed high taxes to fund building projects and military expeditions. The people of Yehud were not prosperous and not content.  It looked to them like the only way to get ahead was by lying and cheating.  God seemed to be missing.

The Temple of God had been rebuilt in Jerusalem.  This was to inaugurate a new age of glory and peace.  The Empire had permitted the reconstruction of the temple as a token of autonomy and so the people could maintain their identity as followers of Yahweh.  But the new age of glory and peace had yet to arrive.  The people found themselves just trying to maintain their religious traditions while living difficult lives.

In this context, the prophet Malachi delivered a difficult message from God.  He told the people that by their actions they had turned away from God.  Justice demanded that they be punished for their disobedience.  But the prophet assured them that God is faithful, and will return to Jerusalem if the people repent, turn from their evil ways and turn toward God.

Malachi’s words confused the people and they asked him: “How are we to return to God?”

The prophet’s response was that the people were robbing God.  God’s covenant with the people was clear.  God provided land to the farmers.  They had everything they needed from God, sun, rain, good soil and seed, to grow plentiful crops.  And the farmers were to bring ten percent of the harvest to the storehouses so that those with no land could eat.  The church workers, the widows, the orphans, the poor, the needy, the aliens in the land all needed to eat.  And the only way they could eat was, if the ten percent, the tithe, was delivered to the storehouses.  But given the economic conditions of the times, the high imperial taxes, and the poverty of the farmers, who could spare another ten percent?  So the farmers delivered what they could. 

But God said that was not enough.  Ten percent was the deal.  God had blessed the farmers with land, sunshine, and rain so that the crops would grow and the farmers should bless those without land with food to eat.  Ten percent of the farm output was needed in the storehouse to do this.  So Malachi told them to go back to their farms and bring the full tithe.

The people told Malachi, “We can’t do this.  After we pay our taxes we barely have enough to feed our own families.  How can we bring even more?  You can’t squeeze blood out of a turnip.”  And Malachi told them.  “Do it anyway.  Bring your tithe.  Test God.  See what happens.”

God’s promise was that if they returned to him, by obeying his command of the tithe, then the blessings of heaven would pour down upon them.  The windows of heaven would be opened, not with a devastating flood, but with a gentle rain to water the crops.  The brown stink bugs wouldn’t mess with their soybeans and wheat.  The dear wouldn’t eat their corn.  The chickens would be free from disease. And all would prosper in the land that God has given them.

For many years I didn’t give ten percent to the church.  I figured that I needed to invest in my business to make it grow.  And I rationalized that there were many people in my church who made a lot more than me. “They had plenty of resources to support the church, I thought.  For many years I gave just a token.

But as my relationship with God became closer I realized that I had to give ten percent.  It was the least I should do.  So for many years now, I have been giving 10% of my income to the church.  Every month I send 10% of my pay to Pittsgrove church.  Every month I have to pay for rent, food, utilities, gas, insurance, car repairs, and medical bills.  So our monthly budget is very tight.  We would live more comfortably if I did not tithe to the church.  But we keep our expenses down and live frugally because I fully expect that God will bless us more than we could ever imagine.

It is difficult to tithe to the church, especially today in modern America because we have forgotten the virtue of thrift. We once believed in living below our means.  John Wesley told us to “Make all you can; save all you can; give all you can.”  Benjamin Franklin said, “If you would be wealthy, think of saving as well as getting.”  Thrift is the virtue of spending less than your income and saving what’s leftover.  Today, “thrift” is confused with the word “cheap” and low quality as in “thrift stores.”  But that is a misuse of the word.  God wants us to be thrifty and live within our means.

Our culture tries to make the accumulation of wealth synonymous with greed.  Making money and showing a profit is somehow evil and a sign of corruption.  It’s true that the virtue of thrift can be twisted into the sin of greed by hoarding what we have.  But if we use what we have accumulated to care for others, if we obey the law of the tithe, then thrift never becomes greed.

A few years ago I read a biography of Andrew Carnegie.  My grandfather worked for a Frick coal mine which was owned by Carnegie.  Carnegie was thrifty and always kept his costs below his revenue.  By doing this he became one of the wealthiest people in the world.  And before he died he gave away 90% of his fortune.  He built 1,700 libraries across America, sponsor programs for peace, and funded schools all over the country.

The principle is that thriftiness allows us to be generous.  So if we are careful not to accumulate too much debt, if we always live within our means, and if we save for the future we will have the resources we need to be generous. 

Dr. John Templeton said in his book Thrift and Generosity: The Joy of Giving, “Thrift is not so much a matter of what we have, but of how we appreciate, value and use what we have.  Everyone, regardless of income level, has opportunities to exercise the virtue of thrift.  We practice thrift by monitoring how we spend our time and money and then by making better decisions.” This is good advice for America today.  Thirty years ago our savings rate was between ten and twelve percent.  Since 2005 the savings rate in America is below zero.  We are consuming our wealth and losing our financial freedom. 

The late Senator, Everett Dirksen once said, “Let God give me strength, that I might help  to get America back on the beam and elevate thrift to the pedestal it rightly deserves because thrift and opportunity have been the great horsemen of progress in America.”  So resist the allure of advertising that tells you to spend more than you have.  Resist the call of government to spend our way out of economic problems.  And remember that debt is toxic to your economic health.

So put your economic house in order.  Live within your means.  Get out of debt.  Increase your savings. And tithe 10% to prevent your thrift from turning into greed.  And the promise of scripture is that God will bless you with abundance, more than you could ever imagine.

Frank von Christierson was an international student from Finland who graduated from San Francisco Theological Seminary in 1930.  In 1960 he was serving two small Presbyterian Churches in Southern California.  They had small membership and great financial needs.  He wanted the members to understand the meaning of stewardship.  So he wrote a poem, which we sang earlier today.  Here is what Pastor Christierson wrote:

"As those of old their first fruits brought
Of vineyard flock and field
To God the giver all of good
The source of bounteous yield
So we today our first fruits bring
The wealth of this good land
Of farm and market, shop and home,
Of mind and heart and hand."
Amen.

Sermon Ephesian 2:8-9 “Salvation by Grace through Faith”

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Pittsgrove Presbyterian Church
Sermon Ephesian 2:8-9 “Salvation by Grace through Faith”
October 27, 2019

Today is Reformation Sunday.   This is the day we remember the great Protestant reformers from five hundred years ago.   These men were protesting the errors that had come into the church over its 1500 year history.   They advocated reforms that reflected biblical principles.  This was dangerous work.   And some of these men lost their lives.   But we still have some of their writings.   And today’s worship features prayers of the Protestant reformers.    The rallying cry of the Protestant Reformation was “Salvation by Grace through Faith”.    We will get to this, but first, let’s pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy Heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

A few years ago I was visiting a member of my church in a hospice facility in Salisbury MD.   Cliff had been a faithful follower of Jesus Christ and he, his daughter and son-in-law all attended Beaver Dam church.  But Cliff had been in declining health for a couple of years and the end of his life was near.

As I entered the hospice facility a nurse stopped me to talk about Cliff.   Cliff had been unresponsive for a day and a half.  He had nothing to eat or drink during that time.   She told me to not expect any response from Cliff.   He probably wouldn’t wake up again.   And she had removed his hearing aids so he probably couldn’t hear anything I was saying.   So with this is mind I entered Cliff’s room and began to pray.

I took my cell phone out of my pocket and clicked on the Bible app.   Then I went to the 23rd Psalm and read out loud:

“The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul.”

Then I looked up and Cliff’s eyes were wide open.   He turned his head to look at me.   And he said, “Pastor, where am I going?”
I responded, “O Cliff, your next stop is heaven!”

Why was I so sure, absolutely certain that Cliff was going to heaven? 

Most people think that the way to go to heaven is by being a good person.   They think that if you are good then God will love you and bring you to heaven.  In fact, there is a show NBC and Netflix called The Good Place based on this very idea.   Good people go to the Good Place and bad people go to the Bad Place.   Jesus had a discussion with someone who believed this way. 

Mark 11:17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’[d]”
20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”
21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

According to Jesus, “no one is good”.  Only God is good.   So all of us are not good enough.   It is impossible for us to do enough good work to earn our way to heaven.  As Americans, we believe that we can do anything with hard work.   But restoring our relationship with God is not something we can do alone.   We cannot do enough good to save ourselves.

So, what do we do?  Let’s turn to our scripture for today.

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— 9 not the result of works, so that no one may boast.

Our only hope of salvation comes not through good works but by the grace of God.   God’s unmerited favor blesses us with forgiveness of sin and the promise of eternal life.   Salvation is a gift, not something to be earned.
This brings us to a question.   Does everyone receive this gift or only some of us?   The answer is that only some of us receive the gift of salvation because our salvation by grace comes through faith.    So we must have faith to be saved. 
This brings us to another question.   Do we have enough faith to receive God’s gracious gift of salvation?  And how can we know if we have sufficient faith for salvation or not?    Let me suggest that there are three tests that you can give yourself to determine if God has graciously given you saving faith or not.  Let us look at the first test.

John 3:1 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
(Jesus replied) 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

So Jesus came to earth from heaven and after his resurrection, he returned to heaven. No one could believe that Jesus came from and returned to heaven unless they are blessed with faith from the Holy Spirit. If you believe that Jesus came from and returned to heaven, then this is strong evidence that God has graciously blessed you with faith and the promise of eternal life.

So we have seen the first test.   If we believe that Jesus came from and returned to heaven then we have received the saving faith that leads to eternal life.   Let’s go to the second test. 

Acts 2:14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say.
21 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
38  “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

So, according to Peter, the second test we have to know whether or not we have received the gift of salvation is if we find ourselves repenting from sin and desiring baptism.

Repentance simply means to turn around.   One day you are pursuing your own sinful desires.  Then you turn around and desire to follow God and what God wants for your life.   You begin to read the Bible and pray every day to see where God is leading you.   You also attend worship every Sunday and go to Bible study.  If you find these things happening in your life then this is a sure sign that you have received the gift of salvation from God.

Peter also says that with repentance goes baptism.   In baptism, we pass under the baptismal water symbolically dying to our old sinful desires and then we emerge from the water to new life as children of God.   So if you desire baptism for yourself or your children, or if you have been baptized already then this too is a good sign that you have received the gift of salvation from God. 

So far we have two tests.   Do we believe that Jesus is the Son of God who came from heaven and returned to heaven?  And do we experience a strong desire to repent and be baptized?  If the answer to both of these questions is “yes”  then you can feel confident that God has blessed you with saving faith.
Now let’s turn to the third test from Paul.

Romans 10:1 Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. 2 For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. 3 Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4 Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

  9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

So here we have the third test.  Do we have the desire to publicly declare that Jesus is our Lord?   Will you stand before the congregation of the faithful and declare that you will follow Jesus?  If you do this then you can also declare that you have received the gracious gift from God of the promise of eternal life.
There is a second part of this test.   You need to answer this question.   Do you believe that Jesus was resurrected from the dead?   Jesus’ resurrection is a historical fact.   There were many witnesses of the resurrected Jesus.   And many of these wrote down what they experienced.   Do you believe all this?   Do you believe that Jesus was resurrected from the dead?  If so then you have a very high degree of assurance of your salvation.  And remember that every member of a Presbyterian Church has publicly declared his or her faith saying that Jesus is Lord and believing that he was resurrected from the dead. 

So we now have three tests.   Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God who came from and returned to heaven?  Have you experienced repentance and baptism?   Have you professed with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that Jesus was resurrected from the dead?  If the answer to all three of these is yes then you can be absolutely assured of your salvation and the promise of eternal life.   If you are unsure of a positive answer to any of these questions then please come to see me because we need to talk and pray with each other. 

Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, we know that forgiveness of sin and the promise of eternal life is not something we can earn.   Our only hope is that you will give us the gift of salvation.  So give us faith that your Son came to earth and returned to heaven.   Help us to turn from sin and turn to you and be baptized.  Help us to profess publically that Jesus is Lord and believe that Jesus was resurrected from the dead.   For this great gift of salvation, we thank you and pledge to follow your Son and to receive your Spirit.  Amen. 

Sermon – Luke 18:1-8 – Prayer

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Pittsgrove Presbyterian Church
Sermon – Luke 18:1-8 – Prayer
October 20, 2019

Two weeks ago, we talked about mustard seed faith which is planted in us by God and grows into mature faith throughout our lives.   Then last week we talked about the gratitude we owe as a result of all the blessings we receive from God.  Today we will see that prayer will shape our hearts so that we begin to work for justice.  But before we get to this,  please pray with me.

Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen. (Calvin)

Luke 18:1 Then Jesus[a] told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. 3 In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’ 4 For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, ‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.’”[b] 6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? 8 I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Our scripture today is about God’s call to justice.  We live in a world of grinding poverty where many people live in squalid conditions on less than a dollar a day.  We live in a country where many of us are unemployed, have no savings and depend on food stamps.  People are crying out for justice continually day and night.

Widows in ancient times were the poorest of the poor.  They had no job prospects and no family for support.  God required that the government of the day support the widows by mandating that their husband’s family care for them.  But when the husband’s family refused to take care of her, her only recourse was to go to a judge demanding justice.  Judges had been commanded by God to order the husband’s family to do their duty.  But they often refused the command and ignored God.  But, God was patient and called on widows to press her case over and over again.

The ancient Hebrews were no strangers to grinding poverty.  After most of the population of Judah was carried off to Babylon the ones left behind, the poor, the needy, the widows, and the orphans, all those who could not support themselves were left behind. 

In the face of grinding poverty, we, who have been blessed by God, are called to keep our eyes open for any injustice and, like the widow, make our demands for justice continually day and night.  If we see someone being treated unfairly, if we hear about someone being taken advantage of, if we find someone who has fallen through the cracks, then we are called to respond to injustice by demanding justice.

Jeremiah asked this question, “to deprive a man of justice would not the Lord see such things?” (Lamentation 3:36).  Of course, God sees injustice in the world and like the widow in our story today we are called to demand justice continually until justice is fully realized.

Let’s see what Jesus has to say about all of this.

6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? 8 I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them.

When I was a pastor in California in my first called I started a new Sunday evening worship service and dinner.   While passing out fliers in the community I noticed that the homeless population was growing in our community.   People were living in their cars.   On Sunday nights they would come to the church hoping for a hot meal.   We gave them that, but we also invited them to worship.   Our evening worship service became a worship service for the poorest people in the community.   Over 60 people came to Sunday evening worship.   We prayed for justice.

This scripture is about justice for the oppressed.   But it is also about prayer.  We see a widow praying for justice, but her prayer seems to have to effect.  All of us have prayed for things to happen.  Maybe a loved one is sick.  Maybe you are looking for a job or a spouse or you want children.  You pray over and over again and nothing happens.  And you begin to think that God must be sleeping or on vacation or something.  You pray and pray and pray and God’s seem to never respond.

Jesus is telling us today to keep praying every day, morning and night.  Be persistent.  Don’t stop.  God wants us to keep praying and will respond in God’s own time.  We have to be patient and continually pray, trusting that one day God will act.

The widow in our story today prayed for justice, day and night, every day and every night until one day the judge finally responded to her call for justice and acted on her behalf.  Rest assured in your prayers that God loves you and hears you when you pray.  God wants you to keep on praying continually and be patient, as God is patient until the world is ready for God to act.

As a pastor, I have met many people with loved ones suffering from chronic diseases.  These people have been praying for years.  Day and night they pray for healing.  They pray for wisdom for their doctors.  In their prayers, they hope that one day God will act.  But now they have to be patient and keep praying.

I know something about constant prayer.   I wanted to be married and have a family.   I prayed for this for years.   Year after year nothing happened.   Then at age 47, I went to seminary.   There I found Grace, the perfect pastor’s wife.

In the passage read earlier from Timothy, Paul tells us of a time to come.

2 Timothy 4:3 For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths.

That time has arrived.   People are turning away from true faith turning toward anything that suits themselves.   People today believe that all religions are basically the same.   Jesus is just one way; there are many others.  What should we do in this environment?   Paul says that we must be persistent.

I solemnly urge you: 2 proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching.

That’s God’s call to us.  Keep praying, morning and night.  Pray over and over again.  Keep praying the same thing every day if you have to.  God never tires of what you have to say.  And be filled with the hope that one day God will act in God’s own way.

We need to patiently and continually pray, assured the God will respond.  We have to pray continually before we can see injustice in the world abolished.
So these go together: praying day and night to bring God’s justice to the world.

This then is the mission of the church.  We are called to pray unceasingly.  Pray every day, confident that God hears your prayers and one day will respond.  As we pray our hearts will change.  We will begin to see injustice in the world, and we will find ourselves motivated to end that injustice.  As we work for God’s justice on earth we will find the need to pray even more.  So prayer and justice go together.  Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, help us to keep praying.  Open our eyes, ears, and hearts to recognize injustice when we see it.  Help us to respond to that injustice.  And equip us in prayer.  We pray in Jesus’ name who prayed continually and worked to end injustice. Amen.

Sermon – Luke 17:11-19 – Thanksgiving

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Sermon – Luke 17:11-19 – Thanksgiving
Pittsgrove Presbyterian Church
October 13, 2019

Last week we looked at Jesus’ teaching on faith.   We all have been given a mustard seed faith which must grow to sustain us as we live our lives.   So we engage in spiritual practices, worship, prayer, and Bible study, which nurture our growing faith.   Today we will watch as Jesus crosses boundaries to serve people, and in response these people are thankful.   We will look at the idea of thanksgiving, but first, let’s pray. 

Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen. (Calvin)

11 On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, 13 they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” 14 When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. 15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. 16 He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? 18 Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”


We have all heard this story before.  Sunday school teachers love to tell it to children.  They point out that ten people were healed by Jesus, but only one returned to thank him.  The teachers tell the children to be like the one who returned to Jesus.  And they give the children a principle to live by:  Always give thanks whenever someone does something for you.  And this is very good advice.  Always have those thank you cards ready and remember to write them for those gifts and meals you receive from others.

But if we look closely at this parable it becomes a little troubling.  After all, didn’t the nine do exactly what Jesus told them to do?  Remember what Jesus said, “Go present yourselves to the priests.”  Nine lepers did exactly what they were told to do.  And one disobeyed Jesus.  So why are we admiring the one who was disobeying Jesus?  And why does Jesus seem to commend him for his disobedience while being critical of the others who obeyed his command?  Like much of what Jesus said we have to dig a little deeper to see what he is trying to say to us.

The narrator of this passage, Luke, tells us that Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem.  Jesus had begun this journey all the way back in Luke chapter nine.  And we know from Luke chapter nineteen that his route to Jerusalem passed through Jericho.  So he and his disciples were traveling down the Jordan River to Jericho and then took the Roman road from Jericho to Jerusalem.  This is the normal root for Jews, traveling from Galilee to Jerusalem, who wish to avoid Samaria.  So how could it be, as our passage says today, that Jesus was on the border of Galilee and Samaria?  The answer is that Luke is not giving us a geography lesson.  He is doing something else. The border between Galilee and Samaria is not just a matter of territory.  It is also a religious and cultural barrier.  And this was the border the Jesus was crossing. 

Almost 20 years ago I traveled to the Holy Land on a mission and pilgrimage with my church.  The Jerusalem office of World Vision International took us into Gaza.  At the border, we were stopped by the Israeli army and told to get out of the bus.  Our passports were taken away.   We walked a few yards to an ancient bus that was waiting to take us into Gaza.  Off in the distance, I saw Palestinians making the mile and a half walk from the buses in Gaza that had brought them to the border to the buses that would take them to work in Israel.  I saw gigantic differences between the Palestinians and the Israelis.  They were separated by physical, economic, cultural and religious barriers at this border. 

So let’s look at the cultural and religious barriers that separated the Samaritans and Jews in the first century.  Samaria was the sight of an ancient city built in the ninth century before Christ by Omri, king of Israel.  It served as the capital of the northern kingdom until it was destroyed by the Assyrians in the eighth century.  From that time on it was occupied by various ethnic and religious groups.  In the third century BC, Alexander the Great conquered the area and a new community was established.   This community became known as Samaritans.  Their religion was similar to Judaism but their Bible consisted of only the Torah, the first five books of our Old Testament.  They rejected all the wisdom and prophetic literature that we have in the Old Testament.  Culturally, they adopted many of the customs of the Greeks. 

Because of these religious and cultural differences, there were conflicts between the Jews and the Samaritans.  A major conflict occurred in the second century BC when the Greek ruler ordered that all temples begin worshiping Zeus.  The Samaritan temple, on Mt. Gerazim, was dedicated to Zeus.  This outraged the Jews and in the war that followed a Jewish general destroyed the Samaritan temple.  So centuries of hatred and mistrust had passed resulting in a great division between the Jews and the Samaritans.  And Jesus stood at the boundary between these two peoples.

There is another boundary in our story today.  This boundary was set up between the Jewish community and those with contagious skin diseases which the Bible lumps together under the term leprosy.  Just outside of a village, ten people with skin diseases stood at a distance from Jesus. They had been quarantined to protect the community from contracting their disease.  The Book of Leviticus has clear instructions about diagnosing skin infections and what must be done to limit the spread of infections.  It says,

Leviticus 13:45-46   45 "The person with such an infectious disease must wear torn clothes, let his hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of his face and cry out, 'Unclean! Unclean!'  46 As long as he has the infection he remains unclean. He must live alone; he must live outside the camp.

All ten of the people with skin infections obeyed these instructions and cried out to Jesus for healing. The lepers hoped for healing from Jesus.  Probably they heard about the healing he had done in Galilee and wanted it for themselves.  So they approached Jesus and asked to be healed.

Those who were Jewish knew the story of the General Naaman of Aram whom the prophet Elisha had healed from leprosy because it was in the Hebrew Bible. Those who were Samaritans had no knowledge of this story because the Book of Kings was not in their Bible.  The Jews, therefore, knew that healing was possible from a prophet like Jesus.  But the Samaritans could only hope for something extraordinary to occur. 

We are told that Jesus did heal all ten of the lepers.  Nine of them, presumably Jewish, did exactly what both Jesus and the Book of Leviticus told them to do.  They went straight to a priest who would examine them for any sign of the infection and if none was found would reintroduce them into society. 

But one of the lepers was so overwhelmed with gratitude he went to Jesus to praise God.  This act revealed the leper’s belief that Jesus had healed him.  He was probably a Samaritan.  We don’t know why this leper did not go with the others to be checked out by a priest as the others had done.  Maybe he thought that Jesus was his priest.  What we do know is that Jesus crossed a boundary.  A Jewish rabbi became the priest for a Samaritan, and a healed Samaritan became a faithful follower of Jesus Christ with praise and gratitude in his heart for all the blessings he had received from God. 

The Samaritan was thankful for the healing he had received from Jesus and for the effect that transformation would have on his life.  He was thankful for being restored to what God had created him to be.  In his gratitude he glorified God and this demonstrated his faith in Jesus Christ.  This is the model for us to follow.  We, who have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, should be thankful for the blessings God has given us.  We, who have been sanctified by the Holy Spirit, should be thankful for our transformation into disciples of Jesus Christ.  And we, who have the saving faith in Jesus Christ, should be thankful for the assurance we have of eternal life.

After their encounter, Jesus told the Samaritan to go on his way.  There must have been a strong desire to just hang around Jesus.  Maybe the Samaritan wanted to be a disciple.  Maybe he was afraid to go off alone.  But Jesus told him that he had received the best gift of all.  Yes, being healed was an important gift.  But the bigger gift was the gift of faith, which Jesus said was what really healed him.  So the former leper, a Samaritan, went on his way confident, healed and thankful for all that God had done for him and filled with faith in Jesus Christ which will sustain him whatever happens for the rest of his life.

This offer has been made to us too.  We have been filled with faith in Jesus which sustains us in this life and assures us of eternal life.  It would be tempting to just hang around church all the time.  But just like the Samaritan leper, we are sent on our way to our own lives, with all the problems and possibilities lives have.  And we will be sustained and assured as we live those lives by our faith in Jesus Christ.  So God calls us to be thankful by blessing us richly with the gift of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

The singer Kelly Clarkson has a song called “Thankful”.  Here us part of what it says:
I’m thankful for the blessings and the lessons that I’ve learned with you by my side.
I’m thankful so thankful for the love that you keep bringing in my life
I’m thankful for the moment when I’m down you always know how to make me smile.
I'm thankful for the moments & the joy that your bringing to my life.
For the lessons that I’ve learned
For the trouble I’ve known
For the heartache & pain that you’ve thrown my way
When I didn’t think I could go on
But you made me feel strong. With you I am never alone
Thankful so thankful

Three thousand years before Ms Clarkson another singer sang these words.

Psalm 30:1-12   I will exalt you, O LORD, for you lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me.  2 O LORD my God, I called to you for help and you healed me.  3 O LORD, you brought me up from the grave; you spared me from going down into the pit.  4 Sing to the LORD, you saints of his; praise his holy name.  5 For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.  6 When I felt secure, I said, "I will never be shaken."  7 O LORD, when you favored me, you made my mountain stand firm; but when you hid your face, I was dismayed.  8 To you, O LORD, I called; to the Lord I cried for mercy:  9 "What gain is there in my destruction, in my going down into the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it proclaim your faithfulness?  10 Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me; O LORD, be my help."  11 You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,  12 that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever.  Amen.