Philippians 4:4-9 (NIV)
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Reflection:
You know I thought this week would be easy- Thanksgiving – piece of pumpkin pie! But it didn’t turn out that way.
First it’s COVID. So I know some of you would usually be sitting around tables surrounded by family and/or friends. But maybe this Thanksgiving some of you are planning to have some form of phone or video time as a way to affirm our relationships with family and friends and to see at the heart of this distancing we can still connect with each other and convey our caring and love.
Then I looked at the lectionary reading for today. Luke 17:11-19, where Jesus heals ten men who have leprosy. He sends them away to be accepted as cleansed by the priests but one of the ten returns praising God and thanking Jesus. He is thankful for the healing- really Jesus has given this man a whole new life or maybe even given him his old life back. It makes sense he would be grateful. It makes sense that he would praise God, this was a real upturn in his life. It is easy to praise God, to thank people when they have done something for you that makes you happy. That the man took the time to go back and thank Jesus is important because we too should take the time to thank others for their kindness. I believe most of us would acknowledge that we haven’t become the people we are without the love, care and attention that others have shown us in our lives. And for those things and those people we are truly grateful.
I know it’s Thanksgiving and we are thanking God for all that we have, food, shelter, relationships, medical care and that despite COVID changing our lives, life is still good.
And for all those things and people who make our lives better everyday we are truly thankful.
But that story about manna in the desert a few weeks ago is still rattling around in my heads and it seems to me that maybe wandering for 40 years eating manna and quail might have made freedom look quite depressing at times. There are many times in our lives when giving thanks is not the first words in our prayers. Times when gratitude is not what we are feeling. When joy and happiness seem very far away. What then?
Those are the times when we feel we have no where to turn, no one to listen, when we don’t know what the future holds and maybe God is our last resort. Times when our tears and our fears mingle. Those are the times when our faith is strongest because we are reaching out into a darkness – finding light where there appears to be no light, finding Presence where there appears to be nothing, finding solace and hope and comfort where there was just an abyss.
I don’t think God sends trials our way just to strengthen our faith, I don’t believe God tests us, I don’t believe God sends evil into our lives – but things do happen in life, our lives and I believe in all that happens good or bad, joy or sadness, abundance or scarcity, God is there. We are not alone,we live in God’s world.
Thanksgiving, giving thanks, being grateful, being open to the grace that God brings into our lives each and every day are all part of living a faith filled Christian life. Paul writing to the congregation at Philippi ends his letter with our scripture passage today. He encourages them to be the best they can be and assures them that God is always near. We are not alone. God is always there to listen when there is no one who can listen, God is always there to bring comfort when our lives are in turmoil, God is always there to bring peace into our hearts. And for that we are truly grateful.
Prayer of Thanksgiving
We come before you, O God, on this day set apart for giving thanks.
We thank you and praise you for your creation.
We are truly amazed by the gifts we have received in this life: the gifts of relationship, of nature, of art and music and poetry and above all the gift of being your people.
We pray that each day our hearts become more open and tender to the joy and pain that life brings to us. We pray for those who are facing struggles, who may find it hard to be thankful today, who can see nothing but emptiness and loss.
Let your creation be filled with signs of hope and let us be a sign of hope for others. Amen
Minute for Mission
Access to Education in Zambia
Women for Change is a Mission & Service–funded global partner that empowers girls and women through education. Access to education is a major challenge in Zambia, especially in rural areas where the majority of people live below the poverty line. An estimated 500,000 children
of primary and secondary school age are not enrolled in school. Rural children, especially girls, are more likely to drop out of the school system or never be enrolled at all. Traditional attitudes toward women, poverty, early marriage, gender-based violence, lack of sanitation facilities, and the decision to use scarce resources to educate boys rather than girls all block girls and women from fully participating in educational opportunities.
When the United Church Women heard stories of girls and women in Zambia, they wanted to help and decided to support Women for Change as their major project for three years.
The people behind Women for Change know that it takes more than just money, books, and shoes to motivate girls to remain in school. There are few role models, particularly in rural areas—women who have received higher education and can inspire girls by showing them the difference an education can make.
With the support of United Church Women and through Mission & Service, Women for Change will focus on programming to create opportunities to give girls and young women living in rural areas the encouragement they need to remain in school.
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Reflection:
You know I thought this week would be easy- Thanksgiving – piece of pumpkin pie! But it didn’t turn out that way.
First it’s COVID. So I know some of you would usually be sitting around tables surrounded by family and/or friends. But maybe this Thanksgiving some of you are planning to have some form of phone or video time as a way to affirm our relationships with family and friends and to see at the heart of this distancing we can still connect with each other and convey our caring and love.
Then I looked at the lectionary reading for today. Luke 17:11-19, where Jesus heals ten men who have leprosy. He sends them away to be accepted as cleansed by the priests but one of the ten returns praising God and thanking Jesus. He is thankful for the healing- really Jesus has given this man a whole new life or maybe even given him his old life back. It makes sense he would be grateful. It makes sense that he would praise God, this was a real upturn in his life. It is easy to praise God, to thank people when they have done something for you that makes you happy. That the man took the time to go back and thank Jesus is important because we too should take the time to thank others for their kindness. I believe most of us would acknowledge that we haven’t become the people we are without the love, care and attention that others have shown us in our lives. And for those things and those people we are truly grateful.
I know it’s Thanksgiving and we are thanking God for all that we have, food, shelter, relationships, medical care and that despite COVID changing our lives, life is still good.
And for all those things and people who make our lives better everyday we are truly thankful.
But that story about manna in the desert a few weeks ago is still rattling around in my heads and it seems to me that maybe wandering for 40 years eating manna and quail might have made freedom look quite depressing at times. There are many times in our lives when giving thanks is not the first words in our prayers. Times when gratitude is not what we are feeling. When joy and happiness seem very far away. What then?
Those are the times when we feel we have no where to turn, no one to listen, when we don’t know what the future holds and maybe God is our last resort. Times when our tears and our fears mingle. Those are the times when our faith is strongest because we are reaching out into a darkness – finding light where there appears to be no light, finding Presence where there appears to be nothing, finding solace and hope and comfort where there was just an abyss.
I don’t think God sends trials our way just to strengthen our faith, I don’t believe God tests us, I don’t believe God sends evil into our lives – but things do happen in life, our lives and I believe in all that happens good or bad, joy or sadness, abundance or scarcity, God is there. We are not alone,we live in God’s world.
Thanksgiving, giving thanks, being grateful, being open to the grace that God brings into our lives each and every day are all part of living a faith filled Christian life. Paul writing to the congregation at Philippi ends his letter with our scripture passage today. He encourages them to be the best they can be and assures them that God is always near. We are not alone. God is always there to listen when there is no one who can listen, God is always there to bring comfort when our lives are in turmoil, God is always there to bring peace into our hearts. And for that we are truly grateful.
Prayer of Thanksgiving
We come before you, O God, on this day set apart for giving thanks.
We thank you and praise you for your creation.
We are truly amazed by the gifts we have received in this life: the gifts of relationship, of nature, of art and music and poetry and above all the gift of being your people.
We pray that each day our hearts become more open and tender to the joy and pain that life brings to us. We pray for those who are facing struggles, who may find it hard to be thankful today, who can see nothing but emptiness and loss.
Let your creation be filled with signs of hope and let us be a sign of hope for others. Amen
Minute for Mission
Access to Education in Zambia
Women for Change is a Mission & Service–funded global partner that empowers girls and women through education. Access to education is a major challenge in Zambia, especially in rural areas where the majority of people live below the poverty line. An estimated 500,000 children
of primary and secondary school age are not enrolled in school. Rural children, especially girls, are more likely to drop out of the school system or never be enrolled at all. Traditional attitudes toward women, poverty, early marriage, gender-based violence, lack of sanitation facilities, and the decision to use scarce resources to educate boys rather than girls all block girls and women from fully participating in educational opportunities.
When the United Church Women heard stories of girls and women in Zambia, they wanted to help and decided to support Women for Change as their major project for three years.
The people behind Women for Change know that it takes more than just money, books, and shoes to motivate girls to remain in school. There are few role models, particularly in rural areas—women who have received higher education and can inspire girls by showing them the difference an education can make.
With the support of United Church Women and through Mission & Service, Women for Change will focus on programming to create opportunities to give girls and young women living in rural areas the encouragement they need to remain in school.
