The Lutheran Hour

"Getting Around To God"

#76-11
Presented on The Lutheran Hour on November 23, 2008
Speaker: Rev. Ken Klaus
Copyright 2025 Lutheran Hour Ministries

Text: 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! If this day finds you filled with dark gloom and beset by darker despair, the words of the resurrection angel can bring a transformation. Because Christ is risen, sin, death, and Satan have been defeated. Because Christ is risen, we are given a genuine reason to give thanks. By the Holy Spirit’s power, may those who have been redeemed be granted a heart filled with appreciation. By God’s grace, may all who hear these words receive the thanksgiving which comes through Christ alone. Grant this, Lord, unto us all. Amen.

For many people in the United States, this week marks a time of thanksgiving. Years ago, I heard the story of one such family, who, as they gathered around their table heaped with turkey and trimmings, made it a practice to pray. Starting with the eldest, each person expressed appreciation to the Lord for things which were special to him or her. So the food didn’t get cold, most of the family kept their thanks to a minimum – “I’m thankful for health.” Another would say, “I’m thankful for family.” Everyone understood the rules, except for one year, and one six-year-old boy.

The boy gave thanks for the turkey, then the boy gave thanks for mother who had cooked the turkey, and father who had brought the bird home from the store. He gave thanks for the checker who had bagged the bird, and the store which had sold the bird, and the company which had processed the bird, and the farmer who had raised the bird. From egg to table, the life of that turkey was covered in the young boy’s prayer. Finally, taking a breath, he asked, “Did I forget anyone?” In a second his little brother shot out the obvious: “You forgot God.” And the six-year-old gently countered, “I was getting around to Him.”

Sadly, this Thanksgiving Day there are many people who won’t, because of destiny and design, get around to thanking God. “Look at the world,” they say. The stock market is flopping around like a fish out of water; my job is, at best, uncertain; the neighborhood is going down hill; my children are coming home from school with all kinds of habits and words which are unacceptable; my favorite football team isn’t doing as well as it should; I’ve got a health problem and I’m afraid to talk to the doctor about it; the dollar isn’t strong overseas; the national debt is skyrocketing; the country is at war; and all of the in-laws are coming to stay for a week over Christmas. This Thanksgiving Day many people are discouraged, despondent, depressed, disheartened, dejected, dispirited, and downcast. This year, destiny is going to keep many people from giving thanks.

But there’s more. This Thanksgiving Day, human design will also stop multitudes from expressing any kind of appreciation to the Creator and Provider of every good and perfect gift. Human design – which willingly writes God out of our history and our lives. Consider the fourth-grader who stood up to give a report about the origins of the Thanksgiving holiday. Although he worked hard at putting together his report, he was bound by what his teacher would allow in the classroom. The teacher was bound by what the School Board said was allowed. The Board was bound by what the State allowed, and the State was bound by what the Government said was allowed. With all of these censors in place, the boy’s report went something like this:

“The pilgrims came here seeking freedom of – you know what.

When they landed, they gave thanks to – you know who.

Because of them, we can worship each Sunday – you know where.”

An exaggeration? Possibly, but I have heard of classrooms where students have been told Thanksgiving was when pilgrims were thankful to the Native Americans for their kindness. No mention was made of God, or the faith of these early settlers. Now, I deeply respect the kindness, the often-unappreciated benevolence of the Native Americans who welcomed these settlers. Even so, to put the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe of Massachusetts in the place of the Lord is not right. This year, by design, people will not be thanking God. Years ago, in the Hall of Congress, there hung a picture of the founding fathers gathered in worship. The picture has been removed. Students are taught the Civil War was fought about State’s rights and to free slaves. No longer are the young told how the Civil War was fought because Christian pastors and Christian citizens remembered slaves were souls loved by God and should be treated as such.

I have little doubt our first Congress, which authorized the printing and distribution of Bibles, would have problems with today’s design of rewriting history and removing religion from the public sector. Most certainly Governor Bradford of Plymouth Colony would grieve. He and his compatriots had left everything to follow Christ. Theirs was a costly decision. During December of their first winter, six people died; in January, eight more passed away. In February, 17 breathed their last, and in March, 13 were buried. Four entire families were wiped out and only one family made it through that first winter without losing someone. Of the 18 married women, 13 died. In spite of these losses, the pilgrims gave thanks. After that first winter, after the first harvest, Governor Bradford called for a day of thanksgiving which lasted three days. Sincerely and without cynicism they gave thanks to God, not to the Indians; they praised the Savior, not their native neighbors. The pilgrims understood the words of St. Paul who, centuries before, had shared this Spirit-inspired encouragement. To the church in Thessalonica he said, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

And for those of you who are thinking, “Easy for Paul to say. What did he know of job security and trying to live on a senior citizen’s fixed income?” Well, Paul knew a lot about the troubles which can come upon a person. Writing to the church in Corinth, Paul gave a litany of the difficulties he had encountered. He says, “Five times I received…39 lashes; three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea…” He said he had been in danger from rivers, in danger from robbers, in danger from Jews and Gentiles, in danger in the city, in the wilderness, at sea, and from false prophets. He had gone many nights without sleep, lived through hunger, thirst, cold, and exposure (Paraphrase 2 Corinthians 11). In spite of all that, Paul could encourage, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus.” Enduring all these things, eventually even suffering martyrdom from a headsman’s ax in Rome, Paul could honestly claim: “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content” (Philippians 4:11).

Obviously, Paul’s days of thanksgiving were not based on the stuff and sundries most of us find so desirable. Paul had no smoke detector to tell him when the turkey was done. He had no dishwasher to clean the special plates and good silverware before the family came tramping back to the kitchen to make turkey sandwiches out of the leftovers. Goodness, Paul didn’t even have a turkey. No, the thanksgiving Paul had was in his heart; the thanksgiving he encouraged in others was for the sinless Son of God who had come into this world to seek and save the lost; who had been born to live a life that by its perfection, would break down the high and insurmountable wall which sin had built to separate humanity from its loving Father. Paul gave thanks for the Christ who had resisted every temptation, every inclination toward greed, envy, lust, and hatred which entice, corrupt, doom, and damn us. Paul gave thanks as hundreds of millions of Christians give thanks, for a Savior who, by His resurrection from the dead, had guaranteed forgiveness and eternal life to all who are given this unearned and most valuable of gifts.

That this week many of our tables will be filled with food as we are spared the hunger which stalks so many others is an added blessing and bonus which comes undeserved from the hand of our compassionate and caring God. Undeserved, but it should not be unappreciated. Yes, things may not be as good as we would like or as bountiful as they have been in other years; yes, these last months may have brought some financial hardships to your home and clouds to your future. Even so, even in the most pitiful of conditions and circumstances, believers continue to know they are blessed. If they had nothing else other than the sacrificial love of Jesus Christ, they would remain rich beyond measuring. If they had no other arms reaching out to help them other than His nail-pierced hands, believers could still count themselves most blessed. If they knew all their tomorrows would be dreary and dark, but because of Jesus, their eternity would be bright beyond imagining, they are truly able to give thanks in all circumstances. They can give thanks – indeed, they will give thanks – because, through Jesus’ sacrifice they are saved; through His death they are delivered; through His resurrection they are redeemed. They are rich beyond calculation, and as St. Paul suggests, they are able to give thanks in all circumstances.

That is what Thanksgiving should be in your home and in your heart. It should be, but honesty forces me to say many of you think that what I have just said is bogus, both silly and stupid. You are thinking: It doesn’t work that way. Every one of us has to do the best we can, for ourselves, by ourselves. Every one of us is on our own. I have seen too much of life to think some big guy up above cares about me. Maybe I wish I did, but I don’t.

If that is what you are thinking, I understand. All of us have times when it is tough to be thankful. It’s tough to be thankful when we’re sick; when life has let us down; when we can’t have something or someone we really want. It’s hard to be thankful when life clobbers us; blindsides us; rips us apart. It’s hard to have a heart of thanks and appreciation when you are blaming God for all that has gone wrong in your life, for all that you have done wrong in your life. Yes, it’s hard to sing, “Now thank we all our God.”

“Now thank we all our God.” That grand, old hymn is going to be sung by many churches this Thanksgiving Day. I hope your voice joins with them. And if you wonder why it should, let me tell you about the composer of that hymn, a man – a minister by the name of Martin Rinkart. Martin, the son of a coppersmith, managed to work his way to the completion of a good education. In the year 1617, he became the pastor in his hometown of Eilenburg, Germany. The year after Martin became a pastor, a war – a war known as the Thirty Years War – broke out. That war lasted the entire life of Martin’s ministry – all except the last year. Even more, Eilenburg’s location meant Martin frequently had soldiers quartered in his home, it meant his furniture, his food, almost everything, was carted off by looters.

But a Thirty Years War was not the only cross Martin Rinkart had to carry. In 1637, the plague hit his refugee-swollen town with terrible consequence. In that first year alone 8,000 people died. All of the town council, except for three, succumbed to the disease. School children, clergymen from the neighboring towns, dropped down and died. Rinkart spent his days at the bedside of the sick and failing. He buried more than 4,000 people – 4,000 people, including most of his family. The plague was followed by a famine – a famine so terrible that when a cat or crow died on the streets of Eilenburg, thirty or forty people would fight over the carcass. Rinkart tried to organize aid; he gave away all he had, except for the most meager of rations for what was left of his family. The poor and starving camped on his doorstep.

In spite of this, in spite of all he had suffered; in spite of his pain and loss, Martin Rinkart managed to write these words:

Now thank we all our God With heart and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things hath done, In whom His world rejoices;
Who from our mother’s arms Hath blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love, And still is ours today.

Oh, may this bounteous God Through all our life be near us,
With ever joyful hearts And blessed peace to cheer us;
And keep us in His grace And guide us when perplexed
And free us from all ills In this world and the next.

All praise and thanks to God The Father now be given,
The Son, and Him who reigns With them in highest heaven:
The one eternal God, Whom earth and heaven adore!
For thus it was, is now, And shall be evermore.

Now thank we all our God. Do you understand? Rinkart wasn’t thanking God for a Thirty Years War; he was giving thanks for a God who took people through that war, and if they didn’t manage to make it through the war, the Lord, because of Spirit-given faith in Jesus, would take believers home to a place where there was no war. Rinkart wasn’t thanking God for a plague which wiped out and ripped apart families; he was giving thanks for a Savior who would take all who believed on Him to a place where every plague and each pestilence has been eradicated. I’m sure, when RInkart did funeral 3,999, that worn out old pastor must have wondered if there would ever be an end to the sufferings. Then, as one of Christ’s redeemed, he would have remembered, and relied upon the promise of Revelation where it says Jesus “will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4).

Now thank we all our God. Do you understand when Paul urged the Redeemer’s followers to give thanks in all circumstances because it was the will of God in Christ Jesus; that apostle wasn’t giving thanks for his beatings, or his shipwreck, or his stoning, or starvation, or cold, or loneliness, or any of the other horrible events which he had endured? No, Paul was giving thanks that he followed a Savior who had been with him; who had supported him; who had delivered him; who would one day take that apostle to heaven where the hatred of others, the horrors of life, would be banished forever.

Do you understand? Today I do not encourage you to give thanks for the falling dollar, for the high price of gas, for job insecurity, for the possibility you might lose your home. I am not asking you to be thankful for children who are misbehaving, a spouse who is uncaring, a boss who is unfair. This Thanksgiving week I am not urging you to give thanks because the tires on your car are bald, or because your hair is thinning, or there are road repairs going on all around your home. I am not asking you to be thankful because your daughter didn’t make the cheerleading squad, or because your son sat on the bench for the entire football season. I am not asking you to give thanks for Alzheimer’s or cancer, or heart attack, or stroke, or MS, or MD, or AIDS, or arthritis or…. Would you like to fill in the blank with your particular pain or problem?

These things are all the result of sin and our disobedience and disrespect of God. I would be a fool to ask you to give thanks for those things. Not even Jesus gave thanks for the cup of suffering He had to drink to bring about our salvation. No, I’m asking, I’m encouraging, you to give thanks that this world has a God, a loving, an unbelievably gracious God, who, knowing what you would suffer, sent His Son to do everything – everything necessary so you could, one way or another, be delivered from distress and difficulty, from personal plagues and private problems.

Look to the manger of Bethlehem, stand before the cross of Calvary, run to the empty tomb of Resurrection Sunday and know whatever you are enduring will, because of Jesus Christ, have an ending. If you see the Savior who carried your sin and bore your sorrows, this Thanksgiving Day will not be demoted and devalued into a Turkey Day. This Thanksgiving, do not spend all your holiday sitting in front of a television set more stuffed than the bird you had for dinner. Let the crucified and risen Christ transform this Thanksgiving Day into a holy day where you give thanks to the Lord for having given His Son so you might, so you would, give thanks in all circumstances. This is God’s will for you in your life; Jesus is the Savior you need. Which is why today, we at The Lutheran Hour extend this Thanksgiving invitation: let us introduce you to Jesus – your cause for thanksgiving. Please, call us at The Lutheran Hour. Amen.

LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for November 23
Samuel’s Ghost

ANNOUNCER: Now Pastor Ken Klaus responds to questions from listeners. I’m Mark Eischer.

KLAUS: Hi, Mark.

ANNOUNCER: Today we have a question from one of our coworkers here at The Lutheran Hour.

KLAUS: That’s fine. Staff is allowed to have questions, too. What did he, or she, want to know?

ANNOUNCER: Well, it has to do with ghosts in the Bible. First, a little background. According to a recent study from Baylor University, traditional Christian faith greatly decreases belief in such things as ghosts, fortune-tellers, and the usefulness of astrology. The study also found that non-believers and those who belong to liberal Protestant denominations tend to be much more likely to believe in the paranormal and in pseudoscience than do evangelical Christians. Which brings us now to our coworker’s question. What does the Bible say about ghosts? Are they real? And are they always of demonic origin?

KLAUS: In Scripture, things are pretty much either good or evil – of God or of the devil. There’s not a whole lot of in-between. They are either forces and powers loyal to the Lord or to the opposition. Scripture also shows how the Lord uses angels to deliver His messages.

ANNOUNCER: In fact, isn’t that what the word “angel” means? It means “messenger.”

KLAUS: Yes, exactly. And if the message isn’t coming from God or one of His angels, we should assume that it is some kind of demonic deception.

ANNOUNCER: Sort of like what St. Paul says in Ephesians chapter 6 (v. 12) when he writes, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

KLAUS: Exactly. Mark, you said there was more to the question.

ANNOUNCER: Well, it refers to a specific incident in the Bible – the story of King Saul and the witch of Endor as it’s recorded in 1 Samuel chapter 28. Our colleague wants to know: is it really the ghost of Samuel that appears or is it some other kind of apparition?

KLAUS: Well, others have suggested both ways.

ANNOUNCER: OK. After all, the “visitor” does correctly prophesy that Saul is going to die the next day, and Scripture says only God can predict future events with accuracy, right?

KLAUS: I don’t know if I’d agree with that. I think evil definitely does have the ability to share the truth if the outcome of that sharing might serve his purpose. In this case, the sharing of the truth leads to Saul’s fear, his depression, discouragement, and a general feeling of hopelessness.

ANNOUNCER: Our coworker said the notes in his study Bible maintain the witch actually had nothing to do with this manifestation – you know, as far as actually causing it to happen. She merely provided an occasion for it to happen. Couldn’t God send a departed soul as a messenger instead of sending an angel? What do Bible scholars say about this curious incident?

KLAUS: Actually, Mark, Bible scholars pretty much say what the questioner says. There seems to be a lot of division.

ANNOUNCER: Well, is there any place where they agree?

KLAUS: There is. First the scholars all agree that Saul’s relationship with the Lord was out of whack. They agree on the fact that Saul did something terribly wrong by going to the witch rather than seeking the Lord for guidance. They agree on the fact that something unusual happened.

ANNOUNCER: That’s right. According to Scripture, even the witch was shocked when she saw the presence of whatever it was she saw.

KLAUS: Yes, and scholars also agree that the message she delivered to Saul proved to be accurate.

ANNOUNCER: But can you really say whether that spirit was sent by God or whether it was really Samuel, or a demon, or something else?

KLAUS: On that there is no consensus.

ANNOUNCER: OK. Do you have a personal opinion?

KLAUS: I do.

ANNOUNCER: And that opinion would be…?

KLAUS: A personal opinion.

ANNOUNCER: OK.

KLAUS: Well, as long as it’s just between you and I … I think the Lord let Samuel show up from beyond the grave.

ANNOUNCER: Really? Why do you think that?

KLAUS: A number of times the text says it was Samuel. It could just as easily have said it was somebody, or a demon, or something that looked like Samuel. It doesn’t say that.

ANNOUNCER: And with that we come to the close of our program for another week. Thanks for listening. We hope you will join us again next time. If you have questions or comments, call us at our toll-free number 1-800-876-9880. This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.

Music selection for this program:

“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by John Leavitt. Concordia Publishing House/SESAC

“Now Thank We All Our God” by J.S. Bach. From Bach for All Seasons by the Holy Trinity Bach Choir (© 1999 Augsburg Fortress)

“Now Thank We All Our God” by Michael Burkhardt. From Hymn Improvisations, vol. 1 by Michael Burkhardt (© 1993 MorningStar Music Publishers)

“Our God, Our Help in Ages Past” by Timothy Moke and Georg Masanz. From Magnificent Christian Hymns, vol. 1 by Timothy Moke (© 2002 T. Moke Recordings)