The Lutheran Hour
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"Go Away, God"
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Text: Luke 12:13-21
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Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! A week from today, you will be feeding on Thanksgiving leftovers. The football scores, with their winners and losers, will be posted and many will be headed homeward. A week from today, Thanksgiving 2003, will be a thing of the past, a memory pushed aside by the preparations for December’s holidays. But if you wish to have a thanksgiving that will last, a soul which is secure, and a heart that is filled with unending thanks, look. Look into the empty tomb and know that the Lord Jesus lives.
In the United States, it is Thanksgiving week. Thanksgiving week is a time for families to fight crowds, high gas prices, crowded airport security lines and come together for a few days of relaxation, reunion, and renewal. Thanksgiving week is a time for families and friends to roll themselves up to tables which are groaning under the weight of the sacrificial turkey, corn, cranberries, mashed potatoes, dinner rolls, apple pies and horns-of-plenty filled with plastic grapes and bananas. It is Thanksgiving week, which means it is time for most of us, with all the concentration of General Eisenhower planning the Normandy invasion, to design our day-after-Thanksgiving-shopping invasion of the malls and downtown department stores. It is Thanksgiving week, and serious shoppers are sharpening their machetes so they can cut a swath through the crowds and be first in line for the super-sale extravaganzas. It is Thanksgiving week, and many of us have oiled the buttons on our TV remote controls and, in the newspaper, circled the stations which are carrying the football games that we cannot afford to miss.
Now, careful listeners may have noticed that not a lot of the Thanksgiving traditions I have listed have a great deal to do with “giving thanks.” That’s partly because many folks don’t really feel like giving thanks. Oh, don’t get me wrong. There are plenty of listeners who make up their lists and do count their blessings. Many of them will be giving thanks for reasonable health; for a fair job; for good relationships; loving children; faithful spouses; a God blessed country filled with freedoms. Add to these common blessings, we each have a plethora of personal kindnesses that have also come from God’s gracious hand. For all these things, it is right that thankful hearts come together in worship and prayer, praising Him from Whom all blessings flow.
Still, in some people’s more honest moments, they end up confessing that going to Thanksgiving Day worship is a major speed bump which serves to slow down their stampede to the banquet table, and the afternoon’s carbohydrate created coma. Too many believe a pastor’s Thanksgiving Day sermon should, like the afternoon’s turkey, be equipped with a pop-up timer to tell him when he’s done. We know we shouldn’t feel that way; we want our thanks to be sincere, but something seems to be missing; something seems to be wrong. Deep down inside of us, where nobody else can hear, there is a nagging, and a gnawing, that seems to short-circuit our thanksgivings and keeps us searching for a special something which can miraculously make us thankful. That little voice of discontent keeps urging us, driving us, teasing us. It says we can only be thankful when we’re content. It says us we can only be content when we have enough. And then, it tells us we will never have enough.
The Japanese have an old parable that tells of a man by the name of Tasuku. Tasuku was a poor man who scrimped out a livelihood by cutting blocks of stone from the base of a mountain. One day, a well-dressed prince passed by. Tasuku envied the prince and wished that he could have the kind of security that a prince’s wealth could offer. If he had that security, Tasuku reasoned, he could truly be thankful. According to the legend, Tasuku’s wish was heard, and he was miraculously made a prince. Tasuku, for the first time in his life, felt secure. He had guards. He had an army. He could give thanks.
That secure feeling lasted not more than a few hours. It lasted until the sun came out, and with great intensity, beat down upon Tasuku’s guards and army. Soon his men were suffering from the heat and falling by the wayside. Tasuku no longer felt secure. He could not give thanks. No, he wanted to be secure and strong, like the sun. His wish was heard. Tasuku became the sun. Now he could dry up the fields, scorch the crops, send folks searching for shade. Tasuku was secure; now he could give thanks. But then a storm cloud covered him. He became sad. He made another wish; was granted another change. He became a great cloud, having the power to send storms and floods upon the land. Now Tasuku was secure. Now he could be thankful. But his time of thanksgiving was interrupted when he saw a mountain that had remained untouched by his storms. So Tasuku wished, and became the mountain. Now he was secure. Now he could give thanks. He could be thankful forevermore. And he was, until he felt the chisel of a simple stonecutter chipping at his base. Tasuku never found thanksgiving, because he never found security for his heart.
Of course, that is a story. It could never happen, could it? Years ago, a reporter asked John D. Rockefeller, the richest man of his day, “How many millions does it take to satisfy a man?” The answer was simple, “The next million.” Someone asked Andrew Carnegie, a man who had amassed an immense fortune in steel. “How much is enough?” To that question, Carnegie replied, “Just a little more.” Scripture says, “Godliness, with contentment is great gain,” (1 Tim 6:6) but our little voices tell us, the utopia of fulfillment, the Shangri-La of security and satisfaction, come only when we have accumulated all the right stuff. Little wonder, the Lord Jesus warned: ‘Watch out for all types of greed.’ Little wonder, the best thanksgiving many can muster is unenthusiastic, unimpressed and unexcited. True thanksgiving can only come when your soul is secure.
Do you doubt? Look at our communities. We have been blessed with more material goods, more wealth, and more conveniences than any nation in the world’s history. Do you see contentment, thankfulness, joy? The bookstores are filled with volumes that tell us how to stay young, how to get smart, how to beat illness, and how to buy real estate without a down payment. Magazines instruct us how we can find fulfillment, raise our children to be semi-normal, keep our marriages spicy, and simultaneously save for our kids’ braces, college, and our own retirement. Look in the phone book. There are pages filled with diet plans that will reduce your weight, physicians who will suction the fat off your body, laser your eyes, and make you look young enough so you have to get a new driver’s license. There are fashions which are designed to tell the world that you have achieved success; tattoo artists who will help you show the world your individuality. Still, true thanksgiving only comes when the heart is secure.
The reality of life is this: nobody, at least nobody in this world, has the ability to make you secure. Nothing, at least nothing in this world, can give you total peace. Even Christians, when they give thanks for their material blessings, oftentimes put conditions on their words. They say, “Thank you Lord, for all I’ve got, but I wish I had more.” “Thank you God for my good health, but my hair is getting gray and my joints are a creakin’ and a crackin.'” “Thank you for my home, but it does need a new roof, the garbage disposal backs up when I put anything thicker than orange juice into it and the termites are eating better than I am.” I have a fishing friend who finally saved enough to get himself a large bass boat. Loved that thing. Being on the water gave him a wonderful sense of security. He was thankful for that boat for an entire season. Then he realized that for every hour on the water, he was spending two getting his boat ready, or cleaning it up. He sold the boat. Rather than making him secure, his dream thing only made him stressed. True thanksgiving only comes when your heart is secure.
About 2,000 years ago, as He tried to teach us proper priorities, Jesus, the ultimate Reason for us to give thanks, told a little story about security and thanksgiving. The story begins with a man, a rich landowner, who that year had brought in a bumper crop. How big was that crop? It was so big that his normal means of storing the harvest were obviously inadequate. His was the kind of problem that most farmers I know dream of. Stuck with this delightful dilemma, the man – let’s let the man himself tell you what he decided to do. Scripture says he thought, “I have no place to store my crops.” Then he said, “this is what I’m gonna do. I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. In these new barns I will store my grain and my goods.” That took care of his short-term problem. Then the rich man turned his mind to long-term security. He said, “When those barns are built, and I’m surveying my net worth, I’m gonna smile and think, ‘You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy, eat, drink and be merry.'” (Luke 12:16-19)
The rich man’s plan seemed good on paper. It might have been good, except for one thing: among the many things he had considered, among the many paths he thought his life might take, he never considered the possibility of death. He never thought he might need God’s help. Jesus says, “that night the man died.” In spite of his plans, in spite of his wealth, in spite of his harvest, he died. His security was insecure; his future was fleeting; his tomorrows were terminated.
If you think you can live without God, you’re mistaken. If you think you can be secure without God, you’re wrong. If you think you can be content without the Christ, you’re incorrect. Power cannot give you security or a thankful heart. In December of 2000, Enron stock sold for $84.87 a share. One year later, that same stock sold for 45 cents. Money cannot give you security, or a thankful heart. Do you know the names: Emil Jannings, Janet Gaynor, Lewis Milestone, Frank Borzage? These people won the first academy awards for best actor, actress, and directors. Once their names were known around the world, today they are almost forgotten. Earthly security is a myth. Temporal security is a mist; and everything else humankind can invent will miss the mark. Thanksgiving only comes when the heart and the soul are secure.
In the 1800s, Allen Gardiner served the Savior as a missionary on Picton Island, at the southern tip of South America. During his tour of duty, Gardiner suffered a great many difficulties. In spite of those pains and problems, hurts that would break the spirit of most men who don’t know Jesus, Gardiner remained thankful. In 1851, at the age of 57, he died of disease and starvation. That is not the most pleasant way for a man to go. Dying that way gives a man time to think. It gives him time to shake his fist at the heavens and curse and complain – if he is so inclined. When Gardiner’s body was found, his diary was there with him. It recorded times of hunger, thirst, wounds, and loneliness. The last entry in his little book showed the struggle of his shaking hand as he tried to write. That last entry read, “I am overwhelmed with a sense of the goodness of God.” Thanksgiving comes when the heart and soul are secure in the Savior.
With hearts and souls secure, the martyrs of ancient Rome went to their death singing. They died in cruel ways, but they went thanking God. Saint Paul traveled the ancient world, hounded, hunted, persecuted; but he had a heart that was secure, a soul that could give thanks. He wrote to the church at Rome, “I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)
Do you understand what is being said here? Do you understand the wonderful Gift God is offering? Thanksgiving Day can be more than the consumption of mass quantities of food scarfed down during the halftime programs of a series of football games. It is possible for you, in your life, right now and always, to be secure; for your heart, right now and always, to be filled with true thanksgiving. So that your heart may be secure, so your soul might be cleansed from sin, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ to be your Savior from sin, death, and the devil.
Having Jesus Christ as your Savior makes everything different. The way you see the world – different. The priorities of your life – different. Your goals and the things that are important to you – different. The things that used to make you afraid – gone. Jesus, Who was born to save us, Who lived His life to rescue us, Who fulfilled the law to free us from our sins, brings about a heart of thanksgiving. Believe on Jesus as your personal Savior and know security is sure and true thanksgiving real. Let the world search for things that they think will provide happiness; you in Jesus, have a Savior Who is Good News of great joy. Let others run after fleeting fame and false fortunes; you will have that one Thing which is needful – a Savior Who fulfilled the laws you had broken, carried the sins you had committed and died the death you had deserved.
Believe on Jesus, cast your care on Jesus, trust Jesus Who has come to seek and save the lost. Believe on Jesus Who alone can give a secure heart and a soul filled with thanksgiving. About five years ago, a young African woman who had recently become a Christian, was attending church. The minister spoke about each person giving thanks to the Lord. After the sermon the offering plate was passed. The young woman was poor. She had nothing to give; no money, no earthly belongings, she had not a tenth of what you have. Yet this lady knew, in Jesus her soul was secure, and her heart was filled with thanksgiving. And so as the thanksgiving plate came to her, she did not pass it. No, she did not pass it. She got up, set the plate on the floor, and stood in it. A secure soul. A thankful heart. You have more than that lady; but are you as rich as she was? If not, call us at “The Lutheran Hour.” Let us introduce you to the Savior Who gives secure hearts and thankful souls. Do you have what that lady had? I pray you do. If so, this Thanksgiving Day, I think there’s probably room in the plate for you to stand, as well.
Lutheran Hour Mailbox (Questions & Answers) for November 23, 2003 Topic: Ongoing Revelation
ANNOUNCER: Stay with us now for questions from our listeners; I’m Mark Eischer, here once again with Pastor Ken Klaus, and today’s question is: does God still speak to us nowadays?
KLAUS: Hi Mark – good question. Probably not as easy to answer as you might think.
ANNOUNCER: You know, somehow I’m not surprised to hear you say that. But why wouldn’t it be easy, it seems like the answer would be either yes, God is speaking to us; or no, He isn’t.
KLAUS: Well, the answer is yes – God does speak to us through His Word.
ANNOUNCER: That’s what I thought.
KLAUS: The answer is also no. If we’re asking whether God is sending new revelation, new doctrine, new teachings to church leaders, then we’d have to say – no.
ANNOUNCER: You mean here, the kind of revelations He gave to Abraham, Moses, the prophets, the apostles, and the other inspired writers of the Bible?
KLAUS: Those weren’t necessarily different revelations. They all concerned Jesus, the Promised Messiah and Savior. But if you’re suggesting that God changes His mind from century to century, and now, all of a sudden reveals something totally new that doesn’t include or honor Christ – it doesn’t happen.
ANNOUNCER: But you know, a lot of different religions got started because somebody somewhere claimed to have received a new revelation from God.
KLAUS: Yes, that’s what they say – it doesn’t happen.
ANNOUNCER: How can you make such a blanket statement?
KLAUS: Well, if it were just me, Mark, I’d feel very uncomfortable saying it, but it’s not me. My answer is based on the inspired inerrant Word of God.
ANNOUNCER: For the sake of our listeners, we better define those two words: inspired and inerrant.
KLAUS: Ok. We believe the Bible’s inspired. That is, we believe God breathed into the writers the very words they were to write down. He used their unique gifts and talents to complete the Bible.
ANNOUNCER: And inerrant?
KLAUS: If the Bible comes from a perfect God, and it does, then we have to believe that the Bible is also perfect without errors.
ANNOUNCER: Inerrant. Ok. Now, getting back to revelation, you said your position is based on the inspired inerrant Word of God. What next?
KLAUS: I did. My answer comes from such passages as the words of Jesus found in John 8(:31), He says, “If you continue in My Word, not somebody else’s word.” Matthew 28(:20) the Lord said, “Teach them to observe everything I have commanded you.”
ANNOUNCER: Now that’s certainly doesn’t leave room for additions from other sources, does it?
KLAUS: No, it doesn’t. St. Paul, the other disciples, pick up the same theme. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, “Therefore brothers, stand firm, hold the traditions that you have been taught, whether by Word or our letter.” (2 Thess. 2:15) Paul takes that order one step farther – he cautions, “after my departure, grievous wolves shall enter among you, not sparing the flock, also from your very own, men will rise up, speaking perverse things to draw disciples away after them.” (Acts 20:29-30)
ANNOUNCER: We could also cite the letter to the church in Galatia, where he said, “If somebody even an angel from heaven were to come and preach a different Gospel to you, let him be eternally cursed.” (Gal. 1:8) Those are heavy words.
KLAUS: Paul was serious. The Bible is also serious. That’s why the Christian church tries to base its teachings on the message that’s found in God’s completed revelation.
ANNOUNCER: Now, I understand what you’re saying here, no new revelations, but you also said, yes, when I asked whether God still speaks to us today.
KLAUS: I agree with that. If someone asks, “Is it possible that God could give a revelation to individuals concerning external events in the Church, or concerning the world?” I would have to say it doesn’t contradict scripture to admit such a possibility. But there are caveats here.
ANNOUNCER: Such as?
KLAUS: Any such revelation cannot contradict the Bible, especially what the Bible says about Christ, the Divine Son of God. Any such revelation cannot be a new doctrinal one; any such revelation should not push aside the role of Scripture, or that of the church. The person who has such a revelation cannot demand it be accepted as absolute truth, or that individuals and organizations must accept it, or place their hope and trust in it.
ANNOUNCER: That’s a lot of caveats.
KLAUS: It is. But if those caveats had been understood and observed, the Church might have avoided a great deal of schism and pain over the centuries.
ANNOUNCER: And even in our day. Thank you Pastor Klaus. This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.