Thankful

Yesterday I had the chance to go take a free yoga class on the North Shore. They said the focus of the class was gratitude, and we were to hold an image in our mind for which we were grateful. I chose baptism, the Spirit-filled waters that are teeming throughout our faith, sanctifying us and claiming us as Christ's own. Over the Thanksgiving Holiday, when we think about what we are grateful for, we should begin at baptism, for that is the moment when we recognize how much God has given to us so that we might have a relationship with God.

Romans 6:1-11

6What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? ²By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? ³Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. ⁵For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. ⁶We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. ⁷For whoever has died is freed from sin. ⁸But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. ¹⁰The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. ¹¹So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

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Each sin of ours was washed away, cleansed by the blood of the lamb. Upon that cross, each one of our sins was nailed by the force of love, held up there by the gift of a Savior, and it was gift we hadn't even thought to ask for yet. We were claimed by love, and all we have to do in return is to be grateful for the gift, for the opportunity to live as a forgiven and renewed people. What is Thanksgiving? It is an opportunity to recognize the new creation that has taken place within us and to claim that as our true identity, to be windows to the cross and mirrors to God's unchanging and eternal love.

Thanks be to God!!

John 16:25-33

25-28"I've used figures of speech in telling you these things. Soon I'll drop the figures and tell you about the Father in plain language. Then you can make your requests directly to him in relation to this life I've revealed to you. I won't continue making requests of the Father on your behalf. I won't need to. Because you've gone out on a limb, committed yourselves to love and trust in me, believing I came directly from the Father, the Father loves you directly. First, I left the Father and arrived in the world; now I leave the world and travel to the Father."

29-30His disciples said, "Finally! You're giving it to us straight, in plain talk—no more figures of speech. Now we know that you know everything—it all comes together in you. You won't have to put up with our questions anymore. We're convinced you came from God."

31-33Jesus answered them, "Do you finally believe? In fact, you're about to make a run for it—saving your own skins and abandoning me. But I'm not abandoned. The Father is with me. I've told you all this so that trusting me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I've conquered the world."

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We speak most plainly through our actions. That is how the world realized who Jesus Christ was. That is how others will realize where our eternal treasure is, also. If we act in ways that show who it is we truly love, then others will see our actions and wonder what it is that drives us to serve others, to love others, to reach out to those in desperate need of hearing about God's love. Over the Thanksgiving weekend, it is a challenge for us to be a thankful people, but also to be a people focused upon the needs of others, for this is a time of year when those needs are so apparent. Remember that as we give thanks, thousands all around us are in desperate need of warm food, a dry room and someone to show them they are loved. Perhaps, as Dan Sansbury says, 'you are the answer to their prayers.'

Blessings

John 16:16-24

16"In a day or so you're not going to see me, but then in another day or so you will see me."

Joy Like a River Overflowing

17-18That stirred up a hornet's nest of questions among the disciples: "What's he talking about: 'In a day or so you're not going to see me, but then in another day or so you will see me'? And, 'Because I'm on my way to the Father'? What is this 'day or so'? We don't know what he's talking about."

19-20Jesus knew they were dying to ask him what he meant, so he said, "Are you trying to figure out among yourselves what I meant when I said, 'In a day or so you're not going to see me, but then in another day or so you will see me'? Then fix this firmly in your minds: You're going to be in deep mourning while the godless world throws a party. You'll be sad, very sad, but your sadness will develop into gladness.

21-23"When a woman gives birth, she has a hard time, there's no getting around it. But when the baby is born, there is joy in the birth. This new life in the world wipes out memory of the pain. The sadness you have right now is similar to that pain, but the coming joy is also similar. When I see you again, you'll be full of joy, and it will be a joy no one can rob from you. You'll no longer be so full of questions.

23-24"This is what I want you to do: Ask the Father for whatever is in keeping with the things I've revealed to you. Ask in my name, according to my will, and he'll most certainly give it to you. Your joy will be a river overflowing its banks!

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Joy. Pure joy. The kind of joy that comes only from knowing that the Almighty God who created heaven and earth is in control of the world. This is the kind of joy Jesus talks about. It isn't the joy we get when we get paid, or when we discover that it's double-coupon day at Bi-Lo (although those are good days!). This is a deeper joy, one that rests in the soul and bursts forth upon our faces and we can't control how widely we smile because all of the fear and anxiety is driven away, leaving us face-to-face with the reality of our risen Lord. When we sing 'Joy to the World' this holiday season, think about real joy, Christ-centered joy, the joy that drives us to go out and spread the joy, spread out gifts out so that others may live. Let's go into the world and offer some of that joy that Christ has given us.

Blessings

John 16:1-15

1-4 "I've told you these things to prepare you for rough times ahead. They are going to throw you out of the meeting places. There will even come a time when anyone who kills you will think he's doing God a favor. They will do these things because they never really understood the Father. I've told you these things so that when the time comes and they start in on you, you'll be well-warned and ready for them.

The Friend Will Come

4-7"I didn't tell you this earlier because I was with you every day. But now I am on my way to the One who sent me. Not one of you has asked, 'Where are you going?' Instead, the longer I've talked, the sadder you've become. So let me say it again, this truth: It's better for you that I leave. If I don't leave, the Friend won't come. But if I go, I'll send him to you.

8-11"When he comes, he'll expose the error of the godless world's view of sin, righteousness, and judgment: He'll show them that their refusal to believe in me is their basic sin; that righteousness comes from above, where I am with the Father, out of their sight and control; that judgment takes place as the ruler of this godless world is brought to trial and convicted.

12-15"I still have many things to tell you, but you can't handle them now. But when the Friend comes, the Spirit of the Truth, he will take you by the hand and guide you into all the truth there is. He won't draw attention to himself, but will make sense out of what is about to happen and, indeed, out of all that I have done and said. He will honor me; he will take from me and deliver it to you. Everything the Father has is also mine. That is why I've said, 'He takes from me and delivers to you.'

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What do you think of the translation of Holy Spirit as 'Friend'? Seems strange, doesn't it? I am accustomed to Comforter, but friend? Maybe it pushes us in a new direction. I think what Christ is saying is that we need to be prepared to think of the Spirit as a friend, as someone who will be with us always, pushing us to grow, to be challenged, to see the world through God's eyes. The Spirit won't let us be comfortable and simply accept the things around us, but rather compel us to go out into the world and be the hands and feet of Christ. The life of Christ is a blessing beyond words; the Friend reminds us to go forward and be a blessing to others.

Blessings