Jesu Juva

“Prayers of and for Thanksgiving”

Text: 1 Timothy 2:1-4; Luke 17:11-19; Deuteronomy 8:1-10

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

What compelled Paul to write what he did to Timothy? We heard a few verses from that letter tonight. But why did he write what he did? Surely there is a myriad of things he could have written; a myriad of things Timothy needed to do to care for his flock. But he says first of all, first of all pray. Pray for all people, and especially kings and people in high positions; people of prominence and authority.

Good advice, certainly. But there’s more to it, I think. Namely, that for Paul, it was thanksgiving. Not the holiday, of course. That wouldn’t happen for another 1600 or 1800 years, with the pilgrim’s feast and the declaration of Abraham Lincoln. So to get to Paul’s thanksgiving, we have to follow the little word “then.” Which could also be translated therefore. First of all, then, therefore, I urge you, Timothy, to pray. With that word Paul is referring to what he had written just before this, as the basis for this instruction. So what had Paul written?

Well, he had just written about himself and his former way of life. So when he tells Timothy to pray for all people, especially those in authority, maybe he was thinking about himself. For in his former life, Paul had authority from the Jewish leaders to arrest and imprison Christians, and he was highly successful. He was ravaging the church (Acts 8:3). And while he was doing this and ascending in prominence, he was also descending closer and closer to hell.

But he was rescued. And maybe, maybe he would find out later, because those he was persecuting were praying for him. Jesus had told them to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you (Matthew 5:44). And number one on that list of persecutors would have been Paul. But look at him now! Rescued from the threatening perils of his sins, and filled with thanksgiving. Himself living proof that, as we heard tonight, God wants all people to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.

And if God could save him, there is hope for all people. Caesar? Yes. Annas and Caiaphas? Yes. Pontius Pilate? Yes. King Herod? Yes. Pray for them all, he says. For as his fellow apostle James had written, the prayer of a righteous person has great power (James 5:16).

But also, Paul says, when praying for them, not only pray for their conversion or that their evil ways could come to nothing, but pray with thanksgiving for all these people. To which we say: whaaaaat? How can that possibly be?

Well it can only be if prayer is not a matter of understanding but of faith. That we pray not because we understand all God is doing and how things will work out, but because we believe they will. Because we believe we have a heavenly Father who is working all things for our good (Romans 8:28). And isn’t this a problem all children often? They don’t understand their parents or what they do or why they do it. Why do I have to eat my yucky vegetables? Why do I have to go to bed at this time? Why can’t I do what everyone else is doing? And maybe they think their parents are being mean or unfair. But later, they may understand. And get it.

So for us, as we gather on this Thanksgiving, we give thanks not because we know all the blessings God has bestowed on us or because we know all that He is doing in our lives and are thankful for it. We give thanks because as children of God, we trust that our Father is working all things for our good. That He is our Father - not because of anything we have done, but because of everything HE has done, and especially in sending His Son to save us. That He is a God and Father who can bring great good out of even the most trying and difficult and unlikely of circumstances . . . like a cross. Or 40 years in the wilderness. Or leprosy. In all these things He was working salvation, whether they knew it or not.

For if you had told that leper, while he was still a leper, to count his blessings, leprosy would not have been one of them. If you told Israel to count their blessings in year 23 of their time in the wilderness, the wilderness would not have been on their list. If you told the apostles to count their blessings while witnessing Jesus betrayed, arrested, whipped, and then bleeding and dying on a cross, that would not have even remotely entered their mind! And yet . . . what a blessing all those things turned out to be. That one leper not only healed of his disease but of his sin. Israel forced to rely on God and grow in faith and witness His faithfulness and goodness and long-suffering with them. And learning that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. And, of course, without the cross, no resurrection, no forgiveness, no life without end.

Those were the blessings Paul was on the road to missing. Was the church praying for him? I believe so. Confused as they might have been as to why God was allowing this and this man to be! But God worked wonders through Paul, because of his past!

So, Paul goes on to say, pray in this way, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. That is, holy and worthy of respect. Because you can live your life in a frenzy and worried and anxious about what we see happening in the world and in our lives. But that does not lead to a peaceful and quiet life. That is not the life of faith. Instead, Paul says, pray. And that’s not down the list of things to do! First of all, he says, first of all, pray. For this benefits those you pray for, and you. As you entrust all things to the care of your heavenly Father. As you remember He is in control, not you. As you trust that He will work everything out for your good, whether you see it or not, or understand it or not. And from that faith comes not only a peaceful and quiet life - even in the midst of a not-very-peaceful and not-very-quiet world! - but from such faith comes also thanksgiving.

So we’ll do that tonight. We’ll get a jump on the holiday and start tonight. For as we’ll hear again, it is truly meet, right, and salutary that we should at all times and in all places give thanks to you, holy Lord, almighty Father everlasting God, through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Through Jesus Christ, in whom we are children of God through baptism.

Through Jesus Christ, in whom we are forgiven and healed from the leprosy of our sin.

Through Jesus Christ, who feeds us with the food and drink we need in the wilderness of this world, His true Body and Blood.

Because like Paul, we were also lost and on the road to hell. But someone prayed for us. And not just someone, but Jesus Himself. And then He provided all we need for life now and life forever.

And so while we have a Day of National Thanksgiving, which is good, in the Church, every Sunday is Thanksgiving. For every Sunday we gather at the family table to pray and be fed and give thanks. First of all. On the first day of the week. As the first thing in the day. That we lead a peaceful and quiet life. With the peace of God which passes all understanding, and hearts quieted with God’s love and forgiveness. Thats the life God has for you in Christ Jesus.And to that, what more can we say, but Thanks be to God!

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.