My uncle was only 11 years older than me; he was the cool
one. He was the uncle we watched grow up. He was a teenager while we were young
kids trying to keep up with him. I have
to admit he shaped a few things in my life. He was the one who first introduced
me to R & B music back when I believed rock music was from the devil. Soon
that became the music that first graced my cd player. He continued to lead me
as he invited me to visit the college he attended. During my 8th grade year I stayed
with him at Concordia, River Forest. And
finally he showed me the art of dressing. Long before I ever became a pastor,
he would take me shopping and teach me about clothes. I hit clearance racks and
found ways to buy clothes without spending tons of money, but still getting
clothes I wanted. And once I had them I would keep them. I did everything to
keep them nice. I was so thankful for these blessings. I have clothes that I
have had since college. I have shoes that I have had since high school. The problem
is--no matter how hard I tried, and no matter how thankful I was, eventually
the clothes would wear out. It was almost like a hint of sadness every time one
of them had to hit the trash can.
Every year as we celebrate Thanksgiving this odd thing
happens. We are reflecting on the end of the church year and preparing for the
end of the world. Living in America, we are thanking God for all the blessings
He has given us in this life. At the same time we are anticipating when He will
come back and completely renew the earth, and change it/destroy it. It is like
thanking God for something we know is going to wear out.
This hardly seems something to celebrate. It is hard to
thank God for something I know will soon be gone and tossed away like my
clothes. I don’t want to thank God for cool clothes or blessings, and at the
same time picture them wearing out and needing to be thrown away.
Our two different passages in Scripture this week do exactly
this. In our reading on Thanksgiving we will talk about being content in all
things, and then turn around and hear about Isaiah talking about how the earth
will wear out like a garment. The challenge will be to recognize God’s gifts in
all of our lives, and yet to know that trusting in Jesus means this is just the
beginning. Anything we have in this life is a blessing, but those blessings
will be even better when we are in heaven. It is kind of like celebrating the
wearing out of old clothes. What does it mean to be content with what you have,
but not get so caught up in it that you can’t bear to see it get tossed in the
trash?
This is an odd combination of things, but the truth is that
God wants us to be thankful and rejoice in how He blesses us in this life. Yet,
He also wants us to know that this life will wear out like an old garment, but God
will provide an even better life, eternal life. It is about celebrating our
seasons and yet looking forward to the next one. It is certainly a hard thing
to balance, but we see these kinds of tensions all through our lives. This week
is just the moment when they collide. What a blessing to celebrate Thanksgiving
with our Creator, Savior, and Sanctifier and yet know that He has something
even greater for us to come!
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