Thanksgiving in Bounty, Part 1

I led the devotional at my home church Wednesday evening, November 25 - ambitiously choosing to do a survey of the History of Thanksgiving ... without even getting to American history; just sticking to the Bible. My next few posts will summarize the main points.

In a quick survey of the 144 uses of words in scripture with "thank" as their root, I didn't find any reference to Genesis 4, where the tradition of sacrifice seems to begin.

Cain and Abel offer gifts before God, evidently having heard dad Adam and mom Eve speak of hearing God walking in the garden in the cool of the day and reasoning that a God who could take a form which enjoys walking might also enjoy eating. Scripture doesn't record either God or their parents requiring them to do so. I believe that, knowing God was Lord of all His creation - giving growth as well as life - they made these offerings out of the thankfulness in their hearts.

Cain offered "some" of the fruits of the soil. Abel offered the fat portions of the firstborn of his flock - the ones he had known longest; which had, in a world with few people, been most familiar and most dear.

So the first references to that root word "thank" in scripture are about thank offerings and how to offer them. And they emphasize that both the meat sacrifices (Abel) and grain sacrifices (Cain) were acceptable and to be appreciated.

The sons of Adam and descendants for generations afterward offered these gifts to God out of the gratitude of their hearts until Abraham was asked by God to sacrifice his own son Isaac, something which - in spite of any reasoning that God could raise him to life again (Hebrews 11:19) - almost certainly could not have been done out of gratitude. So God put a stop to it, and provided out of the bounty of His creation a ram with horns caught in the brush (Genesis 22:13). The next verse adds: "So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, 'On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.'"

This centuries-long chain of thank offerings leads me to believe that the first kind of thanksgiving that people celebrated - recognizing God's bounty - was most pleasing to Him when celebrated from the heart.

Planting v. Building

I'm a little uncomfortable with the term "church planting."

I understand that it's trying to describe something more organic than building and filling church facilities; something that communicates growth and change, and that the alternative term "church-building" would have attached to it all of the baggage of "church buildings." But "church planting" isn't really a scriptural term.

Yup, I'm aware of Jesus' parables of the sower and the seeds and the soil (Matthew 13, 25:24-26; Mark 4; Luke 8); that Paul would take up the metaphor also (1 Corinthians 9:11; 3:6-8). And while they may well have application to gospel-sowing on a community-wide as well as individual scale, I keep coming back to the impression that - with these metaphors - Jesus and Paul were talking about sowing gospel seed in individual, sin-soiled hearts. Their subject was "soul-planting."

When they spoke about "church-building", they used the words associated with church-building.

"And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it." ~ Matthew 16:18 - one of only two times Jesus used a word translated "church" or "assembly" in scripture.

Paul even switched metaphors to make his point:

"For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building. By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ." ~ 1 Corinthians 3:9-11

And neither was talking about brick-and-mortar building(s); they were talking about using stone - rock-solid faith that will not shift in storms of persecution and floods of doubt.

Peter, the one whose pebble-faith was grown to boulder-sized conviction, agreed:

"As you come to him, the living Stone — rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him — you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." ~ 1 Peter 2:1-11 (partial quote here)

Sure, I know that using a stone-masonry metaphor today will also carry with it all the baggage of Masonic imagery, too - but the metaphor is scriptural. It conveys an endurance in storm and persecution; speaks of becoming the altar and "spiritual house" in which "spiritual sacrifices" are made, and talks about building on the foundation of Jesus Christ as God's fellow workers.

When my family and I traveled in Ireland this last summer, we saw - all over the middle part of the island nation - stone walls, some hundreds of years old; others thousands. They marked boundaries, formed sheep pens, walled in gardens. And some out on the barren, wind-blown coastal burrens had no apparent purpose on a soil to rocky to support life of any kind. But the walls persist, carefully hand-laid, stone fitting upon stone.

I have a little bit of fear that when we use the term "church planting," we're bringing with it the very correct impression that as planters we are not responsible for the receptivity of the soil; an impression that can lead to a kind of fatalism and expectation of failure. That is to be expected - on an individual basis - because individual people can reject the seed of the word; let it be snatched out of their hearts by fear of persecution; let it be choked out of their lives by cares and worries of the world.

Churches don't. At least, they shouldn't. They should be built up together, supporting each other, founded on an active faith in Christ that is as enduring as stone. That's why Jesus spoke so much about building on a foundation that lasts:

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash." ~ Matthew 7:24-27

So plant the seed, yes. Be grateful when not all of it falls along the path. Praise God when the seed finds root, and the root finds soil, and the soil is moist and ready for it.

Then work with Him to build a wall, founded on rock-solid faith in Christ, to keep out the birds and the weeds and the thorns.

Slipping

Everyone has times when faith grows weak.

I'm in one of those times. I'm in one of those times when faith seems less genuine and the One in whom I have faith seems less real and more distant.

I know better. I know what scripture says about how close He is. Close enough that unseen armies surround the prophet and his servant. Close enough that a soon-to-be-martyr can see Him on His throne and recognize His face. Close enough that the prime evangelist of century one can tell the polytheists of the Areopagus that He is not far from any of us.

I'm talking about feelings. And if He feels distant - like the old couple talking about why they don't sit as close together in the car seat anymore - I know who has moved, and it isn't the Driver.

I feel like I've slipped back into programmatic worship mode. You know what I mean. I'm talking about where you were before you began to realize that Sunday church inside the right building wasn't the totality of Christian life, service and worship.

(You do know that, don't you? I'm still pretty sure of it. But ...)

I used to know and feel the same thing, and that thing was a life-direction pointed toward Him. It was a recognition of what He has done. It was a sense of gratitude and partnership and humility. It was growth and transformation and sanctification - being set apart for something worthwhile in life.

I remember that feeling.

So I can know enough to write the words, but I can't feel enough to live them.

I can Facebook a little. (I don't really care if I ever tweet again.) I can't blog, though, because when you blog, your head and your heart have to be in it and in it together.

Right now I can't go to a hill with scenes of fear and woe. I can't go to the garden alone, whether dew is on the roses or not. I need to turn around and start back toward Him from where I am.

I need me some Psalms.

But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. ~ Psalm 73:2

He will not let your foot slip — he who watches over you will not slumber ... ~ Psalm 121:3

When I said, "My foot is slipping," your love, O LORD, supported me. ~ Psalm 94:18

Miracles

My friend Tim moved his beautiful wife Nancy to hospice care yesterday. They are the parents of two terrific teenagers. Their daughter had to have surgery to remove a tumor in her brain this year. Nancy has battled cancer for two years.

She is much more than a simple reminder of my mortality. She is a valiant warrior in the faith, an extraordinary mother, a beloved wife, a cherished sister in Christ. She is still the lovely girl Tim introduced me to more than twenty years ago, and when I saw them together, I couldn't help but think, "What a lucky stiff to find someone like her!"

So last night I prayed for a miracle.

My family prayed for a miracle when my dad died and was revived by EMTs, only to remain in an unresponsive coma for a few weeks before slipping away again.

Yet I believe in miracles. That's why I pray for them. I believe that God can, should, would, and does bless His children in supernatural ways (as Dallas Willard phrases it in Hearing God).

Many people don't, because they do not believe those things. - Or, at least, they believe that He can't, shouldn't, wouldn't, and/or doesn't bless His children in supernatural ways anymore.

And they know that there's no point in asking Him, because they don't believe.

In fact, some are so certain of their unbelief that they teach it as doctrine. An article in a fairly recent publication even puts it in boldface: "there were no more miracles needed." (Because putting something in boldface or repeating it to extinction automatically makes it true, so that no logic nor citation of scripture is needed.)

Sounds like Nazareth to me.

Jesus said to them, "Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor." He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their lack of faith. ~ Mark 6:4-6

I don't think this means that their lack of faith prevented Jesus from being capable of doing miracles - because it clearly says that He could still "lay His hands on a few sick people and heal them." I think it means that they could see the miracles and their unbelief prevented them from seeing them for what they were: God's compassion toward His children in a sin-sick and dying world, expressed in a supernatural way.

I think they wrote them off. Coincidence. Illusion. Fakery.

Of such people of unremitting unbelief, Jesus tells the story of the conversation between Lazarus and Abraham in the next life:

"'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'
"He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'" ~ Luke 16:30-31

Some will quote this and John 10:25 and :38 and John 14:11 and conclude that the purpose of miracles was only to verify the Word, or more accurately, Jesus' relationship to the Father. But that is inserting an unwarranted "only" into the conclusion. It's going beyond the Word. In fact, it's contradicting the Word.

The Word says:

Jesus called his disciples to him and said, "I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way." ~ Matthew 15:32

Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him. ~ Matthew 20:34

Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" ~ Mark 1:41

Has God run out of compassion? Can He only answer prayers in the ways to which we limit Him? Is it possible we do not have, because we do not ask? Or we're asking for the wrong things for the wrong motives? (James 4:1-3) Or because we ask, but don't believe God can, would, should or does? (James 1:6)

I'm not advocating all-out gullibility. I'm not saying that I believe (or that you should believe) that every faith-healing televangelist who takes up a collection after the same people have been slain in the Spirit to be healed of their infirmities for the dozenth time in the dozenth city on their tour actually manifest the indisputable power of God.

But there's a vast difference between that gullibility and the kind of unbelief that says, "I don't believe it happens because I've never seen it."

Really?

I have never been a first-hand eyewitness to nuclear fission, human birth, or the moment that someone decides to believe in God. But I see the incredible results of those things happening all around me all the time and - in spite of the fact that to a reactor technician ... to an obstetric nurse ... to a minister of the gospel ... to them, these things may become quite mundane and natural and ordinary - to me, they are quite extraordinary and supernatural and miraculous. God designed them. They were created at His word. The very faith that I have in Him is His gift to me. (Ephesians 2:8)

Maybe you've never seen a miracle because you never believed you would or could or should or did.

But to say "there were no more miracles needed" and to boldface it as if were God's own truth ...?

Try telling that to my friend Tim.