Benjamin Franklin once said “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.”  Some days, we’d have to agree with him!  There are, of course, many other pleasures in the world that can bring us delight and happiness.  When we come across certain smells, sounds, sights, touch, or tastes that we like, our senses are stimulated and delight over whelms us, and just for that moment, we seem to enjoy life more, and somehow, we sense God is found in our experience of good things.  Our senses, and the experience of joy they give us, are very powerful.  They seem to trigger our memory to past events in our life.  Its like we are transported, by a certain smell, or taste, back to a happier time, or even to a future anticipated time of happiness.

I have something in this bag (pine tree branch) that I don’t want you to see, but I want you to smell it.  I want you to close your eyes and let your senses take you back or forward to the time when you had or will smell this.  I don’t want you to say anything to anybody until I ask you.  (go around to a number of people)  What did your sense of smell remind you of?  Yes, most of you said Christmas.  The smell of fresh pine needles reminded us and transported us back to the happy time of Christmas with the family gathered around the Christmas tree.  In fact, as you look at the food around the sanctuary, each one of us will see or smell something special that stimulates our memory to a joyous time in the past or to anticipating LUNCH!

We should not be surprised by this, that created things bring us joy, and remind us of happy times; that we feel, in some special way, a part of creation and we have a sense of closeness to God.  We shouldn’t be surprised, because we were created by God out of creation, Genesis 2 records ‘the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.’  We are created by God from the same dust as this tree comes from. 

We live and breathe God’s creation, we eat of God’s creation and till the soil and rule over creation as God has commanded; everything we sense, experience and enjoy is for our good and well being.  God created the world for us, as Genesis says ‘And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground– trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food.’ And the prophet Jeremiah also reminds us of the goodness of God ‘Let us fear the LORD our God, who gives autumn and spring rains in season, who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest.’  Today is Harvest Thanksgiving, when we thank God for his goodness to us.  We display the fruits of his earth to remind us of his providence towards us; to praise him for his wonders.

Sadly, however, because of our sinfulness, we can easily mistake our happiness in creation, and the continual abundance of good things, as a sign that God is happy with us, like Benjamin Franklin’s quote, and so we are content to just chase after worldly happiness and nothing else…after all, if God is happy if I am happy, what else is there to chase after?  We receive so much joy and delight from the things we love, thinking its proof God’s happy, that we forget Jesus’ word of warning in Matthew 5 ‘[My Father] causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.’

God does indeed provide everything for our physical wellbeing, and in that sense, he is happy that we are happy enjoying his creation, but we have a problem, a relationship problem; a spiritual problem that God is unhappy about and cuts us off from eternal life.  While we are glad to receive all physical good from him, we have chosen to make these things into our god, our priority in life, which is a rejection of God’s 1^st commandment. 

We have chosen to love and enjoy the goodness of creation, and not God.  We have chosen to chase after everything that makes us happy, praising our possessions for bringing us self-worth and purpose, rather than looking to God as the giver of all things; who gives us life on earth and in eternity.  God, because of our sin, is forced by his holiness to reject us and exclude us from heaven.

How frustrating and saddening it must have been for Jesus, who came into the world as the bread of heaven, to feed and bring people into life eternal, only to be rejected for earthly, perishable bread; bread that only lasted a while.  Crowds of people gathered around him after he fed them with five loaves of bread and two fish.  Instead of recognising that the miracle pointed to Jesus as the one who gave food for eternal life, they chased him for the perishable bread, so Jesus warned them saying ‘Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.’

Jesus sets before us, two types of food side by side: the perishable and the eternal; the food of the field and the food of heaven.  Both are given by God for us, both are for our good, but one, the bread of the field is limited to this life.  The bread that came down from heaven, Jesus, is food for eternity.  The bread of the field, we eat with our mouths.  We forever eat this bread only to perish.  The bread that came down from heaven, we eat with our ears, by hearing his word, and this bread we eat forever, never to perish.   The bread of the field we toil and labour to eat just a few crumbs; Jesus, the bread of heaven is given to us as a gift.  All of eternity and not just a few crumbs are given to all who eat of Jesus. 

There is no work, labour or toil, to receive the bread that feeds us to eternal life, as Jesus said in his reply to the question ‘What must we do to do the works God requires?” …”The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.’  Here today, believe that Jesus is present feeding you in his word, and present feeding you now through the words of my mouth. 

Believe in Jesus, the one sent from God; Jesus is the one with the seal of approval from God the Father, who said ‘This is my Son in whom I am well pleased, listen to him.’  Why would we want to be fed from anyone or anything else that is only good for this life, instead come to Jesus, as Peter confessed ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.’

As you come to the Lord’s Table, to receive Jesus the bread of heaven, present in the bread and wine, stop, and like you did with the pine needles, smell the fragrance of the fresh bread and the aroma of the wine.  Close your eyes and let Jesus’ body and blood remind you of the joy of the eternal banquet that is yet to come.  Let the aroma and the taste of the wine stimulate your senses to remind you that this is the Lord’s blood poured out for you on the cross for the forgiveness of your sins.  This is your meal, given and shed for you that you may eat of eternal life. 

Sadly, while we are able to feast, there is a famine of heavenly bread just out those doors.  Not that the bread is lacking, its just that many, like in Jesus day, still chase after the bread that perishes.   As we leave the feast today, allow the fragrance of Jesus that is still on your lips, fill your home, your work place and the community you live in.  Let the word of Jesus stir a hunger in those who are full of perishing bread.  Just one or two words of Jesus, spoken by you, as you are prompted by the Spirit, can instill a new spiritual hunger.  You have nothing to lose, yet they have everything to gain. 

Just as you would recommend a great restaurant to your friends, that served fine food, so go in Jesus name and in the confidence that you can recommend such good food that it is heavenly, for the food you bring are the words of Jesus, who declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.’  Amen

I have a video of what it looks like to be engrossed in worry!  (Canadian police chase) What do you think?  Let’s play it again in case you missed the subtle message.

What is happening?  Yes, the robbers know what they want and are determined to get it no matter the conditions and no matter how futile their efforts.  They are to outrun the police and avoid capture at all costs.  The police on the other hand, also know they want and are determined to fulfil their responsibilities.  They are to capture the robbers at all costs.  And that is what they are doing.

However, what is all their worry and effort achieving?  Yes, nothing!  Both the robbers and police are very busy in their jobs, know their roles, know what they have to achieve, but they are in fact achieving very little.  The robbers are so concerned about getting away, so worried about doing it as they always have, with a car chase, they cannot see the bigger picture; they cannot see that their situation is hopeless.  The police, what do they do?  They are no better than the robbers, they are so caught up in the busyness of the chase, so caught up in worrying about the capture they just exasperate the situation.

Close up, just looking at the cars and the robbers trying to avoid capture, it seems pretty normal; something you would expect of a police chase.  But notice as the camera angle moves away from the close action and into the aerial view from the helicopter, what then?  (play again) What does the wider picture reveal?  Yes, no matter how hard they try, as long as they only worry about the problem in front of them…being stuck in the snow, the robbers are never going to get away and the police are never going to catch the robbers.

Are you the robbers or the police?  Is your life like the robbers? Always worrying about trying desperately to keep ahead in life, trying to outrun the busyness of the day; outrun the changes forced upon you by work or family commitments.   Perhaps are you like the police, always worried and focused on the job in front of you and never being able to catch up with the busyness of your day?  You seem to be forever running behind.  Forever chasing dreams, visions and hopes that are set before you, but only to find you never get where you want to be. 

All of us are either robbers or police.  All of us are either running from or chasing after something in our life.  Some of us are always worried about trying to escape the pressures and stresses of life, while others of us are always worried about chasing fading dreams and hopes of a more relaxed life.  Yet how many of us achieve it?  How many of us, by our own efforts, achieve a blissful life without worry? Do the rich, with the wealth to buy everything they want?  Do they poor, with no money or possessions to worry about?  Have you with all your worries and fears about escaping or chasing?

Jesus calls us to get into the helicopter of his word and rise above our escaping or chasing to gain a view of the bigger picture.  He encourages us to call off the pursuit and take a look at what is really going on; to take our focus off the job before us.  He says ‘I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?  Jesus sees our life like that helicopter shot of the police chase.  He can see we are doing a lot of worrying and running around after what we think is important for a good life, but in the end, from the vantage point of heaven, all we gain out of our striving and worry is more of the same.

Again Jesus says ‘do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.’  Like police after robbers, we shop until we drop chasing the dream of a peaceful and worriless life, yet it always eludes us.  Interestingly, John Carrol, in his new book ‘Ego and Soul, the modern West in search of meaning’, writes ‘It is through shopping…you can believe you control your own destiny, make yourself whomever you want to be, and therefore transform your life…like Clarke Kent changes into Superman.’

Jesus is not saying ‘don’t worry about chasing after those things’, because it is wrong.  He is not saying to worry is wrong, or to run from change and stress is wrong, or that chasing after a peaceful life is wrong or shopping is wrong…being superman or Wonder woman for a day is always good for the ego.  No, the key that unlocks freedom from the grind of everyday worry is to begin the day with God.  ‘But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.’  In him, in God and from God, comes our righteousness.  God himself gives us meaning, value and purpose for living.  Listen closely to Jesus words ‘seek first HIS kingdom and HIS righteousness.

St Paul in Romans clearly emphasises Jesus message  ‘For in the good news of Jesus death and resurrection a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is given to us by faith totally and completely, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”  Righteousness before God, being friends with God, because of Jesus death on the cross, gives purpose and meaning to our running our chasing. How?  It gives us a vision of the bigger picture.  Being worth something before God, or in biblical terms, righteous before God, knowing he loves us and wants the best for our life, enables us to get into the helicopter and be lifted up to get a view of our life from a perspective of heaven.  

Have a look at everything God has provided for us.  When we bring just a minute fraction together, we begin to see how much he does provide for us.  Have a look at the sacrament of Holy Communion, God’s righteousness given freely today.  We can see and taste how much he loves us.  Knowing this lifts us up to see beyond our chasing and running to see what lay ahead…eternity with God.

This week, stop yourself in the middle of what you are doing, just when you are feeling frustrated or worthless or angry, running or chasing.  Stop at that point when, like the robbers or police, you are in the midst of a hopeless situation, and by faith step back to get a heavenly perspective on life.  We can do this by remembering Jesus words ‘seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well’.  We are children of God so we have the privilege of looking at life from the vantage point of heaven.  When we do, we can see God’s love for us in all his gifts to us.  From there we can perhaps see a new way of doing things.  We can see how we might change our attitude and see how the bog we find ourselves in, like the police in the snow, may actually be what God is using to assist us in completing the task before us. 

This is what Jesus meant when he said ‘do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?’  For the life that is more important, is the life of righteousness given to us free by the gift of God.

Amen

Why do we say thank you?

o    Our appreciation
o    In recognition of the giver
o    To give honour

Its very easy to give thanks to someone who has given you something directly, because you know them or you can see them and so say thanks mate!  What if we step back one level and think about the person who made the lollies, do we know them?  Can we see them?  Yet should we give thanks to them?  What if we were to take another step back and think about the people who produced the raw material in the first place?  The sugar cane and the cocoa trees, do we know who this is?  Can we see him?  Should we give thanks to them also?

Yes of course, but as you can see, the further we get away from the actual giver, the person who gave us the gift, the harder it is for us to recognise them as the giver. Here in Australia, a civilized country, where science and technology, shops and product outlets provide us with everything we need, we are so far from the actual giver, it is easy for us to forget to say thanks; after all, who do we give thanks to – ebay?

Yes, many of us have lost track of who to say ‘thanks’ to, because face to face giving, where someone actually gives us the present, is becoming a thing of the past.  We are far away givers and receivers.  Often the gifts we give are now posted, emailed, or express delivered, rather than given in person.  And the things we need for daily living, food, drink etc, we simply buy off the self, no face to face service or shaking the dirty and calloused hands of the local producer.  We have what we want without even recognising the giver.

And what is the result of our far-away giving and receiving?  We become focused on the gift and not on the giver.  We become selfish.  The further we remove ourselves from the giver of the gift, or the provider of our needs, the more selfish we become.  Where’s my quality fruit?  Where’s my new years harvest wine?  Little thought goes into the provider; the giver of our needs.

I’m sure that all ten of the lepers that Jesus healed that day, were grateful as they walked away along the road and noticed that their leprosy had been healed. I’m sure they were very thankful to Jesus in their hearts for answering their cry for mercy; curing them from their leprosy. I’m certain they were brimming over with gratitude as they showed themselves to the priest and were welcomed back into their communities.  Yet the distance travelled away from the giver, had its toll on their thanks.  The further they went from Jesus, the less chance they had of returning to him to give him thanks.  Why?

Because the gift becomes the centre of their attention; the further they walked, the more their thoughts turned to the gift.  Wow!  Look at me! Now I can go see my family, now I can do this and now I can do that.  As they walked away, unknowingly and most likely, unintentionally, so did their thanks to Jesus.

The text doesn’t say whether the lepers made it to the temple or not, or whether they went straight home to their families, but one thing is clear; the further they walked away from Jesus, the further they separated the gift from the giver, the less likely they were thank him.  It’s a fact.  It happens.  And it happens in our own lives.  On that special day of our baptism, we are given the greatest gift of all; Jesus heals us spiritually.  In the water we are cleansed of the leprosy of sin, which was killing us.  We are given a second chance at life, just like the lepers were.

And how grateful we are, very thankful to Jesus, and with every good intention, we plan to go to church, to show ourselves in God’s house, yet as we go, the gift becomes the priority over the giver.  Wow, look at me, I am free, no longer under the burden of guilt and fear; I don’t have to do this or that, or can do this and can do that.  And as the years go by, its so easy to distance ourselves from Jesus, travel away from him.  And this is reflected in our failure to give thanks; we no longer give thanks, that is, we no longer stay close to Jesus; we no longer worship. We don’t return to the giver to give him our worship of thanksgiving.

This was not the case however, with the one leper.  The further the Samaritan went from Jesus, the more he realized he was walking away from the giver.  It is most likely that he never even made it to the temple, and why should he.  He realized the place where God is, was not in the temple, but in Jesus.  For him, the place to give thanks for his healing was where Jesus is, for he is the new temple, the new place where God is present.  He fell down at Jesus feet and gave thanks – he worshipped.

To worship is the give thanks to God. Luke uses the word ‘Eucharist’, the verb ‘giving thanks’, Jesus ‘gave thanks’ to God when instituting the Last Supper; that is why the Supper is often called the ‘Eucharist’.  The service of giving thanks to the one who gives the gift of his body and blood for our healing.  In the Lord’s Supper we come to Jesus and he gives us the gift of a second chance at life, the gift of forgiveness and healing; an opportunity to start anew.  And like the one leper, we come to give him thanks; we come to worship; we come to be face to face with our giver, Jesus our saviour.

I often hear people say to me ‘I don’t need to go the church to be a Christian’, and perhaps you have heard this yourself, and perhaps this is what the 9 lepers thought, ‘I don’t need to go to Jesus to give him thanks, I can do it at home’.  But why wouldn’t we want to go to where God is; the gift giver?  Why wouldn’t you want to be were Jesus is?  Why settle for a distant relationship; a far away giving thanks?  Perhaps this is what we are used to, I don’t know.  Perhaps we are afraid of being close to Jesus; perhaps to say our thanks to Jesus, means more than words.

A lady named Barbara began keeping a list of her favourite things as a shy teenager.
Soon the list became second nature; she found herself making additions while riding the bus, eating breakfast, even in the middle of the night. Twenty years later and dozens of spiral notebooks later, she had listed 14,000 things to be happy about. (Why not write your own book?)  As wonderful and important as this is, giving thanks is more than drawing up lists of your blessings, thinking thankful thoughts, and feeling gratitude in your heart.  It means more than just giving lip-service.

To ‘give thanks’ is a verb, a doing word. Giving thanks involves our whole person.
When the one leper returned to Jesus and worshiped him, Jesus gave him a command – Arise, journey, your faith has made you well.  Jesus is on a journey to the cross, a journey to save and he calls those he has healed to join the journey with him.  Once we have come to Jesus in worship, he calls us in faith to arise and journey with him; to no longer travel away from him, but to walk with him; to be with him, so that we may serve others as he has served us.

Just as St John says ‘This is worship, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.’ And this is our thanks, ‘since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.’

Yes, so let us be thankful people of God.  People who are thankful enough to care about those kids in Dubbo North Primary School who don’t know Jesus; who are thankful enough to offer ourselves for service to those in our community; those who don’t fit in, to those in the hospital suffering alone.  We could probably make a list as long as Barbra on the ways we could live out our thankfulness in our community.  But remember, it is Jesus who heals and it is Jesus who is the gift giver, so first and foremost we journey with him; live in him and meet with him face to face and it is to him that we give our thanks and praise.
Amen