November 27, 2024 • 27 mins
The holiday of Thanksgiving is often recognized as a day of being thankful for all we have. However, sometimes we forget who we are thanking. Perhaps we need to shift focus this year. Pastor Guy Roberts has some ideas on how to do just that
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
We believe, as it says in Philippians chapter four, and
my God will supply every need of yours according to
the riches and glory in Christ Jesus.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
And he tells us all we have to do is ask.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Good morning, and welcome to peace. To you from peace
Lutheran Church and Ourvada, Colorado. Thank you Lord. Have you
ever thought about the witness you give when you say
those words? This week we celebrated Thanksgiving in our gatherings,
in worship and with our family, we stop to say,
thank you Lord. In this act of worship, we give
(00:51):
witness to what we believe. We declare our belief that
all we've been given and all that we will be
given by Him. He is the gift. Listen now, as
Pastor Guy encourages, let's to never forget that on Thanksgiving
we are giving thanks to the Giver. Now here's faster. Guy.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Have you ever heard of that metaphor of the frog
and the boiling water. It's kind of been around a
long time. It's pretty demented when you really think about it.
And I've never tried it out just once, you know,
I've never done it personally. But the theory is is
if you take a frog and you throw it into
a boiling water, what will it do? They'll jump out
like ah hot out of goes.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
But if you put the.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Frog in the water, it's lukewarm and then you turn up,
it'll stay in the water until it is boiled alive.
Pretty gross, huh. But it seems like, you know, make
a point. And I think I've been doing this all morning,
and I'm not sure. I haven't been able to conclude yet,
but I think that I may have come across a
(01:56):
frog being boiled a live moment with all.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Of you, like for you who have lived here.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
In this Denver metropolitan area for a long time, I think,
having come from elsewhere and be kind of seeing it
from an outsider perspective, I think I may have come
across one of these half cooked frog frog moments. And
it seems like only right for me, as pastor in
love and Christian care, to make you aware of it.
And it happened like I haven't preached for three weeks,
so last time I preached was on Reformation Sunday, and
(02:24):
it was Confirmation Sunday, Reformation Sunday, and right after that
it was Halloween, and the next day after Halloween. There
was a radio program I listened to and the host
said this. They were doing this like poll, one of
those things, and people were calling in and they were like,
when do you start celebrating Christmas? Is it the day
after Halloween or the day after has when I heard
(02:49):
something like this before. Okay, I had never heard that
question ever asked before.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
No joke.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
I've served in the Upper Midwest. There's a very clear line.
It goes like this. It goes Halloween and then Thanksgiving
and then in fact, there was a day where Christmas
could begin, and the Internet, I know ruined it, but
it was called Black Friday, which is a weird thing,
(03:18):
but anyway, that's the day that Christmas could begin. Everyone
would line up and wait forever at stores and all
kinds of crazy things. And so it was both culturally
and within the church. It was very clear Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas,
and the least important of those three was.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Which one Halloween.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Now you may be just lounging in your jacuzzi tub
like a frog getting cooked alive right now and not
even aware of it.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
I have never heard anyone.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Say that you could start your preparations and celebration for Christmas.
After Halloween, I was.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Like, what this is an option? And I thought, what
is going on here?
Speaker 1 (04:03):
And so it began three weeks of listening to people
and listening to them talk, and literally a meeting people
who have started. They've set up their tree the day
after Halloween. You look around the sanctuary, Now what do
you see?
Speaker 2 (04:16):
And I was like, what beautiful? Isn't it? It's gorgeous?
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Now let me pause right here. I've been doing this
song enough to note that you could take an off
ramp here and be like, Pastor doesn't think we should
decorate till after Thanksgiving. I could care less when you
decorate or celebrate Christmas. Celebrate Christmas in July. Maybe you're
one of those weird people listen to Christmas music all year.
Good for you, high fives, BSh Does that make sense.
(04:43):
I won't drive with you in the car because that
sounds horrible. But in general, in general, that's not what
I'm talking about at all, because something like I realized
something we got to talk about. This is something I
see that's happening here. It could be an issue for
us because this is what we know. Halloween is a
secular holiday. There's no Christian value to that. It's not
celebrating to the church, never has been, never will be. Amen,
(05:07):
that's a secular holiday. Christmas is a Christian holiday that
has a secular track that's guided by hallmark and consumerism
and all the rest. So even if you're not a Christian,
you could celebrate Christmas and have a good time. But
Thanksgiving is not, in fact, it's not only is it
not a secular holiday, it doesn't even make sense. It
(05:30):
doesn't even make sense as a holiday. If you don't
believe there's a God who is providing all the things
that you need to give thanks for, then what is
Thanksgiving for you? You just sit around and give thanks
to yourself. That seems a little pretentious as a holiday,
you know what I'm saying. And yet I did some checking.
(05:50):
Thirty one percent of the Denver metropolitan area, when asked
in twenty twenty one what religion they affiliate with, said none.
That's the one percent that won't even put their name
next to something, let alone people.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
That are serious about it.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
So I think we could safely conclude that half of
all the people that live in this area don't really
ascribe all giving all the things that they have has
been given by who is that fair? And so you
live in a culture like this, it maybe isn't a
surprise that once Halloween, which is way bigger here than
(06:25):
anywhere else I've learned, I don't know if it lived.
I don't know if you know this. People do not
spend thousands of dollars on decorations.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
All the other places.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
I've lived, and here they celebrate hard. Halloween is they
go hard, and then the next day they turn their
attention to what. Yeah, so it's no surprise that Thanksgiving
has just been kind of leaped over if half the
people don't even recognize that all things come from God.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
But I am not concerned with them. I'm concerned with
you and.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
That you might be a frog in a pot getting
half cooked, because we believe all things come from God. Amen,
that all the things that you have have come from
and belonged to who God? Did you know where Thanksgiving
came from? Because again, I had three weeks to do
lots of research. Thanksgiving was started by the Puritans and
(07:18):
the Colonials back in the day when they were literally
trying to survive from year to year. They would do
their harvest and collection of all the things to survive
the winter, and they would stop around this time of
the year and give thanks to It didn't become a
national holiday until Abraham Lincoln decided to use it in
order to bring unity and healing to the nation after
the Civil War. This is from the transcript when it
(07:43):
was made a national holiday on October third, eighteen sixty three.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Let's read it.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Oh, I'm gonna have to go over here, it's too small.
It has seemed to me fit and proper that they
should be solemnly, they meaning United States citizens, solemnly, reverently
and gratefully acknowledged as one with heart and one voice
by the whole American people. And they are those who
have lost loved ones in this conflict. Okay, and then
(08:10):
I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part
of the United States, and also those who are at
sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to
set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next
as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent
Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to
(08:31):
them that, while offering up the ascriptions justly due to him,
for such singular deliverances and blessings. They do also with
humble penitence for our national perseverance and disobedience command to
His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, sufferers,
and the lamentable civil strife in which we are now
(08:52):
unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty
hand to heal the womd of the nation and to
restore it as soon as maybe consistent with the Divine purposes,
to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union. Now,
(09:12):
Thanksgiving existed in our culture and existed as a thing
that Christians did in Abraham Lincoln. Certainly he just what
he did is simply take that and apply it to
a country that was war torn, the divided you divided
states of America, that we may find peace and comfort
in him.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
That's what he did. But it doesn't even make.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Sense to have this holiday unless the one whom he
references and we reference, is there central in all things,
the giver of all things, God Almighty.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
This is what we believe.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
And I don't want you to be a half cooked
frog in a pot. I could see it.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
I jumped out.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
I heard this radio broad test, and I'm like, whoa, wha, whoa.
You can't get rid of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is the one
thing we got where we stop and give thanks to who.
You could put up trees, you could whatever. But don't
bypass the thanks, at least if you're a Christian. Do
not bypass the thanks because we believe some things. Next slide, Please, Cheryl,
(10:09):
we believe that the earth is the Lord's and everything
in it, the world and all who live in it.
Next slide. We believe all the things that you read
in SALOMONO. For it's really long. We're not going to
go through it again, but I encourage you to take
that home and read it and see it all the things.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
It gets so detailed.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
It's an incredible witness to God's providence.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
Next slide.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
Please, we believe, as it says in Philippians chapter four,
and my God will supply every need of yours according
to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus, and he
tells us all we have to do is ask, it
says in our gospel reading that we read today, it
says from Matthew six. Therefore, I tell you do not
be anxious about your life, or what you will eat,
or what you will drink, about your body or what
(10:51):
you'll put put on. It is not life more than food,
and the body more than clothing. And we believe that
this is provided all by our Lord and King. It
continues in that passage towards the end, it says, therefore,
do not be anxious saying what shall we eat, or
what shall we drink, or what shall we wear? For gentiles,
for the nuns, for the people who don't believe in God.
(11:12):
They seek after all those things. But your Father knows
you need them. We trust that he knows what we need.
We are rather to seek first the Kingdom of God
and his righteousness, and all these things will be added
to you. And then finally, we pray every week, as
he has taught us, give us this day are what,
not because he won't provide for the world, but because
(11:34):
we're the ones so easily who forget. So it is
easy to get half cooked. It's not just here in
Denver or metropolitan area. It's easy for all of us
to lose sight of where all of this has come from.
And yet once a year at least, as a national holiday,
with a weird thing like Christmas has got gifts, Halloween
(11:54):
has got all kinds of candy, and Thanksgiving has turkey?
Thought about that? I hadn't thought about that until I
heard a mom of one of the kids at the
school that my kids go to say when I ask
them what they're doing for Thanksgiving, and they're like, the
first thing they said is I don't really like turkey,
so we're going.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
To do something else.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
And I thought, whoa, I mean, Turkey's kind of a
sidel you can do haym, did you know this is
an option? Like you could do other things, but the
day is about giving thanks to.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
God. Okay, so here we go.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
I do therefore invite my fellow members of the Body
of Christ at Peace Lutheran Church, in every part of
our congregation, to set apart the fourth Thursday of every
November as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our
generous Father, and so as to be clear and our
witness to His providence, commit to renaming this holiday from
(12:51):
Thanksgiving Day.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
To thanks to the Yamen.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
All right, let's practice it happy thanks to the It's
right in there. I know it's super cheesy, but if
you want to be a witness. It's not even hard
go to your family gatherings. As I joked about, you
could talk about politics. If you want to mess with
your friends and family, go for it. That would be fun.
But when you greet them at the door, rather than
say happy Thanksgiving and say happy thanks to.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
The leave no doubt.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Damen we pray, Almighty God, your word is cast like
seed into the ground. Now let the de of Heaven
descend and righteous fruit abound.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
I'm in.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
Good morning, pastor guy, morning ken, and happy Thanksgiving or
thanks to.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
The giver, the giver today. There you go.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
I love that. Well. You know, you started off with
an analogy about the boiling of a frog. You know,
a frog hops in there. If it's boiling, he's gonna
hop right back out again. But if it's nice and
warm and kind of toast, he's gonna sit there and
then he'll slowly just boil to death, which was really disgusting.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
It was fun to say that in church and watch
some people's faces.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
But yeah, that's great.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
Well, in this situation, I know somebody that got away
from got away from the church and got away from
the community of the church and started doing other things.
And you know, I told him, I said, you know,
this reminds me of the whole analogy or of the
story about the boiling frog. You know, when you drop
(14:40):
away from the church and you're not going on a
regular basis and things, you slowly fall into the grasp
of the world and what the world says and what
the world does. And that's what happened to him. He's
slowly but surely kind of turned his direction and went
a different route. But it took a long time. It
(15:01):
took over ten years for him to kind of turn
that battleship, you know, and say, Okay, well maybe I'm
questioning my faith now and maybe what they're saying is right,
you know, and these people, and I can tell you
it was in California, so a lot of people can relate.
But the thing is that he did. He fell away.
He fell away, and he has yet to come back.
(15:23):
And it's been six years. Yeah, he's yet to come back.
But he's been boiled. And I think that's your point, right.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
That's for sure.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
In this like when I was talking to the Congregation
of Peace, we get the idea that if you go
to CHURCHI will be fine. And yes, in a sense,
We'll be fine if we stay in christ. But you
can even be a faithful Christian worshiping every week and
have this happen. And I think, what's happening culturally here,
at least in the Denver metropolitan area with Thanksgiving having
(15:56):
come from the outside a different place me because when
I this month, I got plopped into this idea that
Thanksgiving is kind of optional for the first time, and
I just hopped right back out.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
I'm like, what is this? No way you know that
I'm not doing any that's what you know.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
And yet all the people I'm talking with about this,
they're like, kind of well, what's the deal?
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Feels good? You know, like I like Christmas. Christmas is
the best, and I really like.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
Halloween and I don't like Turkey, and I mean, you
just start hearing all these kinds of weird things and
you go, wow. I wonder if even here in the
heart of where we gather to be, you know, safe.
I wonder if people realize that they might be in
the water, they might have had the heat turned up
over the last twenty years on this idea. And really
(16:46):
what it comes down to is when you remove the
object of all the things, when you remove the one
who is the giver from life, what's the.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Point of Thanksgiving?
Speaker 3 (16:57):
Exactly?
Speaker 1 (16:58):
It doesn't even make sense. And now they're saying makes sense,
like I don't even like turkey. Why would I get
to I don't like my family? Why would I get
together with the point family and turkey? This is the
lame holiday. On Halloween you get candy and you get
to have a dress up, you know. On Christmas you
get to have presents or whatever. I can celebrate those
and get behind those and totally remove God from those
(17:19):
and get you get behind those. But when you remove
God from Thanksgiving, it becomes well, well what's the point
of this exactly?
Speaker 3 (17:27):
And you nailed it when you were when you when
you read what President Lincoln had said and that whole proclamation, Yeah,
it was amazing.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
It doesn't like that's something that Americans had practiced. It's
from the influence at the beginning, and they were all
like living from year to year hoping they have enough
in the harvest.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
You know.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
So when you're an agrarian society and you're living off
of the harvest, you you understand providence, You understand where
things come from. Well, even like on Sunday when I taught,
a large percentage of the room couldn't define providence. Like
it's not a word that they use or understand. It's
not that they're not smart or intelligent, it's just not
(18:08):
a word that is applied today. We don't think this way,
and we think of our own self reliance and that
we provide these things for ourselves, and you know, and
so it's kind of a it's Thanksgiving. Can actually never
thought about this until this month, but Thanksgiving can become
kind of arrogant, like if you practice it and don't
believe that there's someone who gives all things, Now, what
(18:31):
are you going to do? Sit around and give thanks
to yourself?
Speaker 2 (18:34):
Right? Like that's kind of pretentious, you know.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
So like this is a I just had never thought
about this, And to be honest, I'm not sure that
I would have been any less cooked on this issue
if I had stayed where I was, it would have
come eventually there too, and I would have just been
floating in the water going Thanksgiving. It's kind of whatever,
you know, But now being dropped here where you're farther
(18:57):
down that road, it was like who wha, whoa whoa,
you know, and so I was in a privileged place
to be able to point it out at least and say, hey, listen,
and even go so far as let's just change the name.
Let's help ourselves out when you and I talk about
Thanksgiving here as a Christian church, let's change it from
Happy Thanksgiving Day and just go right to the heart
of the issue, happy thanks to the Giver day to
(19:19):
the giver.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
And you know, it's something that a lot of us
don't think about and just what he does. And I've
talked to a lot of people, and I've watched some
of these silly things on TV where I think it
was Jay Leno that went out and talk to people
where does food come from? You know? And yeah, and
it's amazing the store. Yeah, well yeah, but you've got
(19:41):
all the vegetables and fruit and meat and everything else
Where do they get it?
Speaker 2 (19:45):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
Yeah, it'll think about so.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
We live in a world where they go they might
go back to well then the farmer.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Yeah, but what we're saying is, no, you missed it.
Even there, you have to go one more step, you know,
it goes to the giver.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
And I would I would say that I didn't really
get to talk to too many people after the services.
But I'd be really interesting if if you could really
get transparent and just ask the question, do you feel
like you were maybe half you think you maybe were
half cooked before today, like in all honesty, you know,
and see what people thought, because I would say that
(20:24):
if we're honest with ourselves, this is it's a really
easy temptation to rely on ourselves and thanksgiving for what
it actually is doesn't allow for that.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
And I know during the pandemic there was people that,
you know, they said there was food shortages, there was
going to be food shortages and food safety, you know
that type of thing, And there was a lot of
folks that finally kind of hit them between the ice.
You know, Lord, we can starve to death here. You know,
(20:55):
we we need that food, We need you. The farmer's
not going to produce the rain, the farmers. You know,
we rely on God for those things, but so many
people refuse that, they refuse to want to believe that, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
Yeah, it's one at piece here.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
We're going to be going on these mission trips, right
and we're going to build as many houses for as
many families as we can to Guatemala, and people are
We've only been doing this for a little bit, and
people are incredibly generous. We've received gifts up for up
to five houses, you know, and we have enough people
to build two right now. And when I talk to
people again, we're just getting started. I have no doubts
(21:35):
God will provide. But one of the things that keeps
coming up is is it safe?
Speaker 2 (21:42):
Right?
Speaker 1 (21:42):
And it's like, well, I mean, I think we chose
the one that is the safest of all, you know,
foreign mission trips, it really is. But no, it's not
safe or and none of your life is safe, like
you know, just go down old town Neravada, there's it
(22:03):
gets kind of gets a little sketchy down there, yeah,
you know, and then go down to Denver, downtown Denver
for dinner with your family. Can can get a little
sketchy down there, you know. And there's just no such
thing as safe in this world. Every minute has lived
under His providence, his protection, and his care. And that's
I mean, we know that, we know that, but yet
(22:25):
we kind of walk around with a false idea that
we can somehow protect ourselves.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
And we take that stuff for granted. You know, there's
going to be food in the star there's going to
be that. We take that for granted. We take God
for granted. You know, I'm just something as simple as
I know the sun's going to come up tomorrow morning. Yeah,
I know he's going to do that. Yeah, But we
take that just for granted. Is like, Lord, thank you
for this day, you know, and the sun coming up
(22:51):
and in this beautiful weather that we have. But most
of all, during this time of the year, thank you
for what you've given us.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
And that's you know, that's what's so powerful about these
mission trips and why they change your life is because
you you step.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
Out of control.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
And you go and you say lead me, Lord, and
you do that for like a week, you know, and
then you come back and it changes the way you
see life. Like listen, this was never my thing in
the first place. And that's what providence is. That's what
it means to live under a God, almighty maker of
heaven and earth that he is.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
This is his love for us.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
And so certainly one thing I didn't emphasize enough in
that sermon, and when I think back on it, because
I was really focused in on the first article or
God the Father and teaching that faithfully is that then
his providence, ultimate love is his son, whom he provided
to stand in our place exactly.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
And so I didn't emphasize that enough.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
I think we get it enough that it'll all will
survive it as far as one sermon goes. But that is,
like you want to see what God's love looks like,
then it's in the daily brand, it's in the things
from day to day. But it's the pinnacle of it,
the height of it, you can't get away from it,
is that his son is his love, like he would
(24:11):
not do that for people he did not love.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
And that's one of the most important parts for me.
You might have gone on a lot of mission trips,
but just to convey that message to these people, you know,
and these people I mean we think about you know,
like you said, our vadest kind of sketchy down there,
downtown Denver is a little sketchy, and people are afraid,
you know, is it safe? Well, has it been safe
for those people down there and those little children down there? No,
(24:36):
it hasn't been safe for them. Yeah, the Lord's laying
it on our heart, yeah, to help them well.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
And it goes to every area of life, Like I
have a teenager started driving this year. Oh like when
you said it's awesome, Now, yeah, I got used to it.
But like those first couple of times sending them out
into the city, especially a big city that we just
moved to. You know, this isn't country roads in Minnesota anymore,
you know. And and you just listen, this is not
my child. Lord, I after get used to this, he's
(25:04):
going to be heading out into this world. And uh
and and it reminds you and and so for us,
that's what Thanksgiving is. As we approach this Thanksgiving, my
only encouragement you can celebrate Christmas whenever you want.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
Don't get don't get sidetracked.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
Is that whether it be for Thanksgiving or every day
of life, we should be at people who is good
at giving.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
Thanks to the giver.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
Yeah, stay tuned. You have more information from Reuben as
we move forward and through the month. But our goal
is to kind of uh move into this this kind
of ability to widen the net.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
So very good.
Speaker 3 (25:36):
All right, Well, thank you again for being here.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
And then God bless you week, God bless you too.
Speaker 3 (25:41):
Thank you.
Speaker 4 (26:01):
Thank you for joining us for peace to you at
Peace Lutheran Church in Arvada. Colorado. If you have no
church home, we'd be delighted for you to join us
at five six seven five Field Street in Arbana. Services
are at eight and ten thirty am, with Bible classes
for all ages at nine fifteen am. You can easily
(26:23):
access our services online on our YouTube channel Peacearbada at
YouTube dot com or wherever podcasts are found. Coming this January,
tune in to the new video podcast at peaceto you
on YouTube dot com, or listen wherever podcasts are found.
Now from the entire broadcast team at Peace Lutheran and Arvada,
(26:47):
I'm Reuben Hollenbeck, and may the Peace of our Lord
be with you now and always
We believe, as it says in Philippians chapter four, and
my God will supply every need of yours according to
the riches and glory in Christ Jesus.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
And he tells us all we have to do is ask.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Good morning, and welcome to peace. To you from peace
Lutheran Church and Ourvada, Colorado. Thank you Lord. Have you
ever thought about the witness you give when you say
those words? This week we celebrated Thanksgiving in our gatherings,
in worship and with our family, we stop to say,
thank you Lord. In this act of worship, we give
(00:51):
witness to what we believe. We declare our belief that
all we've been given and all that we will be
given by Him. He is the gift. Listen now, as
Pastor Guy encourages, let's to never forget that on Thanksgiving
we are giving thanks to the Giver. Now here's faster. Guy.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Have you ever heard of that metaphor of the frog
and the boiling water. It's kind of been around a
long time. It's pretty demented when you really think about it.
And I've never tried it out just once, you know,
I've never done it personally. But the theory is is
if you take a frog and you throw it into
a boiling water, what will it do? They'll jump out
like ah hot out of goes.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
But if you put the.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Frog in the water, it's lukewarm and then you turn up,
it'll stay in the water until it is boiled alive.
Pretty gross, huh. But it seems like, you know, make
a point. And I think I've been doing this all morning,
and I'm not sure. I haven't been able to conclude yet,
but I think that I may have come across a
(01:56):
frog being boiled a live moment with all.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Of you, like for you who have lived here.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
In this Denver metropolitan area for a long time, I think,
having come from elsewhere and be kind of seeing it
from an outsider perspective, I think I may have come
across one of these half cooked frog frog moments. And
it seems like only right for me, as pastor in
love and Christian care, to make you aware of it.
And it happened like I haven't preached for three weeks,
so last time I preached was on Reformation Sunday, and
(02:24):
it was Confirmation Sunday, Reformation Sunday, and right after that
it was Halloween, and the next day after Halloween. There
was a radio program I listened to and the host
said this. They were doing this like poll, one of
those things, and people were calling in and they were like,
when do you start celebrating Christmas? Is it the day
after Halloween or the day after has when I heard
(02:49):
something like this before. Okay, I had never heard that
question ever asked before.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
No joke.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
I've served in the Upper Midwest. There's a very clear line.
It goes like this. It goes Halloween and then Thanksgiving
and then in fact, there was a day where Christmas
could begin, and the Internet, I know ruined it, but
it was called Black Friday, which is a weird thing,
(03:18):
but anyway, that's the day that Christmas could begin. Everyone
would line up and wait forever at stores and all
kinds of crazy things. And so it was both culturally
and within the church. It was very clear Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas,
and the least important of those three was.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Which one Halloween.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Now you may be just lounging in your jacuzzi tub
like a frog getting cooked alive right now and not
even aware of it.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
I have never heard anyone.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Say that you could start your preparations and celebration for Christmas.
After Halloween, I was.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Like, what this is an option? And I thought, what
is going on here?
Speaker 1 (04:03):
And so it began three weeks of listening to people
and listening to them talk, and literally a meeting people
who have started. They've set up their tree the day
after Halloween. You look around the sanctuary, Now what do
you see?
Speaker 2 (04:16):
And I was like, what beautiful? Isn't it? It's gorgeous?
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Now let me pause right here. I've been doing this
song enough to note that you could take an off
ramp here and be like, Pastor doesn't think we should
decorate till after Thanksgiving. I could care less when you
decorate or celebrate Christmas. Celebrate Christmas in July. Maybe you're
one of those weird people listen to Christmas music all year.
Good for you, high fives, BSh Does that make sense.
(04:43):
I won't drive with you in the car because that
sounds horrible. But in general, in general, that's not what
I'm talking about at all, because something like I realized
something we got to talk about. This is something I
see that's happening here. It could be an issue for
us because this is what we know. Halloween is a
secular holiday. There's no Christian value to that. It's not
celebrating to the church, never has been, never will be. Amen,
(05:07):
that's a secular holiday. Christmas is a Christian holiday that
has a secular track that's guided by hallmark and consumerism
and all the rest. So even if you're not a Christian,
you could celebrate Christmas and have a good time. But
Thanksgiving is not, in fact, it's not only is it
not a secular holiday, it doesn't even make sense. It
(05:30):
doesn't even make sense as a holiday. If you don't
believe there's a God who is providing all the things
that you need to give thanks for, then what is
Thanksgiving for you? You just sit around and give thanks
to yourself. That seems a little pretentious as a holiday,
you know what I'm saying. And yet I did some checking.
(05:50):
Thirty one percent of the Denver metropolitan area, when asked
in twenty twenty one what religion they affiliate with, said none.
That's the one percent that won't even put their name
next to something, let alone people.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
That are serious about it.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
So I think we could safely conclude that half of
all the people that live in this area don't really
ascribe all giving all the things that they have has
been given by who is that fair? And so you
live in a culture like this, it maybe isn't a
surprise that once Halloween, which is way bigger here than
(06:25):
anywhere else I've learned, I don't know if it lived.
I don't know if you know this. People do not
spend thousands of dollars on decorations.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
All the other places.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
I've lived, and here they celebrate hard. Halloween is they
go hard, and then the next day they turn their
attention to what. Yeah, so it's no surprise that Thanksgiving
has just been kind of leaped over if half the
people don't even recognize that all things come from God.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
But I am not concerned with them. I'm concerned with
you and.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
That you might be a frog in a pot getting
half cooked, because we believe all things come from God. Amen,
that all the things that you have have come from
and belonged to who God? Did you know where Thanksgiving
came from? Because again, I had three weeks to do
lots of research. Thanksgiving was started by the Puritans and
(07:18):
the Colonials back in the day when they were literally
trying to survive from year to year. They would do
their harvest and collection of all the things to survive
the winter, and they would stop around this time of
the year and give thanks to It didn't become a
national holiday until Abraham Lincoln decided to use it in
order to bring unity and healing to the nation after
the Civil War. This is from the transcript when it
(07:43):
was made a national holiday on October third, eighteen sixty three.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Let's read it.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Oh, I'm gonna have to go over here, it's too small.
It has seemed to me fit and proper that they
should be solemnly, they meaning United States citizens, solemnly, reverently
and gratefully acknowledged as one with heart and one voice
by the whole American people. And they are those who
have lost loved ones in this conflict. Okay, and then
(08:10):
I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part
of the United States, and also those who are at
sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to
set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next
as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent
Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to
(08:31):
them that, while offering up the ascriptions justly due to him,
for such singular deliverances and blessings. They do also with
humble penitence for our national perseverance and disobedience command to
His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, sufferers,
and the lamentable civil strife in which we are now
(08:52):
unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty
hand to heal the womd of the nation and to
restore it as soon as maybe consistent with the Divine purposes,
to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union. Now,
(09:12):
Thanksgiving existed in our culture and existed as a thing
that Christians did in Abraham Lincoln. Certainly he just what
he did is simply take that and apply it to
a country that was war torn, the divided you divided
states of America, that we may find peace and comfort
in him.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
That's what he did. But it doesn't even make.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Sense to have this holiday unless the one whom he
references and we reference, is there central in all things,
the giver of all things, God Almighty.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
This is what we believe.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
And I don't want you to be a half cooked
frog in a pot. I could see it.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
I jumped out.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
I heard this radio broad test, and I'm like, whoa, wha, whoa.
You can't get rid of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is the one
thing we got where we stop and give thanks to who.
You could put up trees, you could whatever. But don't
bypass the thanks, at least if you're a Christian. Do
not bypass the thanks because we believe some things. Next slide, Please, Cheryl,
(10:09):
we believe that the earth is the Lord's and everything
in it, the world and all who live in it.
Next slide. We believe all the things that you read
in SALOMONO. For it's really long. We're not going to
go through it again, but I encourage you to take
that home and read it and see it all the things.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
It gets so detailed.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
It's an incredible witness to God's providence.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
Next slide.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
Please, we believe, as it says in Philippians chapter four,
and my God will supply every need of yours according
to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus, and he
tells us all we have to do is ask, it
says in our gospel reading that we read today, it
says from Matthew six. Therefore, I tell you do not
be anxious about your life, or what you will eat,
or what you will drink, about your body or what
(10:51):
you'll put put on. It is not life more than food,
and the body more than clothing. And we believe that
this is provided all by our Lord and King. It
continues in that passage towards the end, it says, therefore,
do not be anxious saying what shall we eat, or
what shall we drink, or what shall we wear? For gentiles,
for the nuns, for the people who don't believe in God.
(11:12):
They seek after all those things. But your Father knows
you need them. We trust that he knows what we need.
We are rather to seek first the Kingdom of God
and his righteousness, and all these things will be added
to you. And then finally, we pray every week, as
he has taught us, give us this day are what,
not because he won't provide for the world, but because
(11:34):
we're the ones so easily who forget. So it is
easy to get half cooked. It's not just here in
Denver or metropolitan area. It's easy for all of us
to lose sight of where all of this has come from.
And yet once a year at least, as a national holiday,
with a weird thing like Christmas has got gifts, Halloween
(11:54):
has got all kinds of candy, and Thanksgiving has turkey?
Thought about that? I hadn't thought about that until I
heard a mom of one of the kids at the
school that my kids go to say when I ask
them what they're doing for Thanksgiving, and they're like, the
first thing they said is I don't really like turkey,
so we're going.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
To do something else.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
And I thought, whoa, I mean, Turkey's kind of a
sidel you can do haym, did you know this is
an option? Like you could do other things, but the
day is about giving thanks to.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
God. Okay, so here we go.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
I do therefore invite my fellow members of the Body
of Christ at Peace Lutheran Church, in every part of
our congregation, to set apart the fourth Thursday of every
November as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our
generous Father, and so as to be clear and our
witness to His providence, commit to renaming this holiday from
(12:51):
Thanksgiving Day.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
To thanks to the Yamen.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
All right, let's practice it happy thanks to the It's
right in there. I know it's super cheesy, but if
you want to be a witness. It's not even hard
go to your family gatherings. As I joked about, you
could talk about politics. If you want to mess with
your friends and family, go for it. That would be fun.
But when you greet them at the door, rather than
say happy Thanksgiving and say happy thanks to.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
The leave no doubt.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Damen we pray, Almighty God, your word is cast like
seed into the ground. Now let the de of Heaven
descend and righteous fruit abound.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
I'm in.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
Good morning, pastor guy, morning ken, and happy Thanksgiving or
thanks to.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
The giver, the giver today. There you go.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
I love that. Well. You know, you started off with
an analogy about the boiling of a frog. You know,
a frog hops in there. If it's boiling, he's gonna
hop right back out again. But if it's nice and
warm and kind of toast, he's gonna sit there and
then he'll slowly just boil to death, which was really disgusting.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
It was fun to say that in church and watch
some people's faces.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
But yeah, that's great.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
Well, in this situation, I know somebody that got away
from got away from the church and got away from
the community of the church and started doing other things.
And you know, I told him, I said, you know,
this reminds me of the whole analogy or of the
story about the boiling frog. You know, when you drop
(14:40):
away from the church and you're not going on a
regular basis and things, you slowly fall into the grasp
of the world and what the world says and what
the world does. And that's what happened to him. He's
slowly but surely kind of turned his direction and went
a different route. But it took a long time. It
(15:01):
took over ten years for him to kind of turn
that battleship, you know, and say, Okay, well maybe I'm
questioning my faith now and maybe what they're saying is right,
you know, and these people, and I can tell you
it was in California, so a lot of people can relate.
But the thing is that he did. He fell away.
He fell away, and he has yet to come back.
(15:23):
And it's been six years. Yeah, he's yet to come back.
But he's been boiled. And I think that's your point, right.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
That's for sure.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
In this like when I was talking to the Congregation
of Peace, we get the idea that if you go
to CHURCHI will be fine. And yes, in a sense,
We'll be fine if we stay in christ. But you
can even be a faithful Christian worshiping every week and
have this happen. And I think, what's happening culturally here,
at least in the Denver metropolitan area with Thanksgiving having
(15:56):
come from the outside a different place me because when
I this month, I got plopped into this idea that
Thanksgiving is kind of optional for the first time, and
I just hopped right back out.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
I'm like, what is this? No way you know that
I'm not doing any that's what you know.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
And yet all the people I'm talking with about this,
they're like, kind of well, what's the deal?
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Feels good? You know, like I like Christmas. Christmas is
the best, and I really like.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
Halloween and I don't like Turkey, and I mean, you
just start hearing all these kinds of weird things and
you go, wow. I wonder if even here in the
heart of where we gather to be, you know, safe.
I wonder if people realize that they might be in
the water, they might have had the heat turned up
over the last twenty years on this idea. And really
(16:46):
what it comes down to is when you remove the
object of all the things, when you remove the one
who is the giver from life, what's the.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Point of Thanksgiving?
Speaker 3 (16:57):
Exactly?
Speaker 1 (16:58):
It doesn't even make sense. And now they're saying makes sense,
like I don't even like turkey. Why would I get
to I don't like my family? Why would I get
together with the point family and turkey? This is the
lame holiday. On Halloween you get candy and you get
to have a dress up, you know. On Christmas you
get to have presents or whatever. I can celebrate those
and get behind those and totally remove God from those
(17:19):
and get you get behind those. But when you remove
God from Thanksgiving, it becomes well, well what's the point
of this exactly?
Speaker 3 (17:27):
And you nailed it when you were when you when
you read what President Lincoln had said and that whole proclamation, Yeah,
it was amazing.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
It doesn't like that's something that Americans had practiced. It's
from the influence at the beginning, and they were all
like living from year to year hoping they have enough
in the harvest.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
You know.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
So when you're an agrarian society and you're living off
of the harvest, you you understand providence, You understand where
things come from. Well, even like on Sunday when I taught,
a large percentage of the room couldn't define providence. Like
it's not a word that they use or understand. It's
not that they're not smart or intelligent, it's just not
(18:08):
a word that is applied today. We don't think this way,
and we think of our own self reliance and that
we provide these things for ourselves, and you know, and
so it's kind of a it's Thanksgiving. Can actually never
thought about this until this month, but Thanksgiving can become
kind of arrogant, like if you practice it and don't
believe that there's someone who gives all things, Now, what
(18:31):
are you going to do? Sit around and give thanks
to yourself?
Speaker 2 (18:34):
Right? Like that's kind of pretentious, you know.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
So like this is a I just had never thought
about this, And to be honest, I'm not sure that
I would have been any less cooked on this issue
if I had stayed where I was, it would have
come eventually there too, and I would have just been
floating in the water going Thanksgiving. It's kind of whatever,
you know, But now being dropped here where you're farther
(18:57):
down that road, it was like who wha, whoa whoa,
you know, and so I was in a privileged place
to be able to point it out at least and say, hey, listen,
and even go so far as let's just change the name.
Let's help ourselves out when you and I talk about
Thanksgiving here as a Christian church, let's change it from
Happy Thanksgiving Day and just go right to the heart
of the issue, happy thanks to the Giver day to
(19:19):
the giver.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
And you know, it's something that a lot of us
don't think about and just what he does. And I've
talked to a lot of people, and I've watched some
of these silly things on TV where I think it
was Jay Leno that went out and talk to people
where does food come from? You know? And yeah, and
it's amazing the store. Yeah, well yeah, but you've got
(19:41):
all the vegetables and fruit and meat and everything else
Where do they get it?
Speaker 2 (19:45):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
Yeah, it'll think about so.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
We live in a world where they go they might
go back to well then the farmer.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Yeah, but what we're saying is, no, you missed it.
Even there, you have to go one more step, you know,
it goes to the giver.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
And I would I would say that I didn't really
get to talk to too many people after the services.
But I'd be really interesting if if you could really
get transparent and just ask the question, do you feel
like you were maybe half you think you maybe were
half cooked before today, like in all honesty, you know,
and see what people thought, because I would say that
(20:24):
if we're honest with ourselves, this is it's a really
easy temptation to rely on ourselves and thanksgiving for what
it actually is doesn't allow for that.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
And I know during the pandemic there was people that,
you know, they said there was food shortages, there was
going to be food shortages and food safety, you know
that type of thing, And there was a lot of
folks that finally kind of hit them between the ice.
You know, Lord, we can starve to death here. You know,
(20:55):
we we need that food, We need you. The farmer's
not going to produce the rain, the farmers. You know,
we rely on God for those things, but so many
people refuse that, they refuse to want to believe that, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
Yeah, it's one at piece here.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
We're going to be going on these mission trips, right
and we're going to build as many houses for as
many families as we can to Guatemala, and people are
We've only been doing this for a little bit, and
people are incredibly generous. We've received gifts up for up
to five houses, you know, and we have enough people
to build two right now. And when I talk to
people again, we're just getting started. I have no doubts
(21:35):
God will provide. But one of the things that keeps
coming up is is it safe?
Speaker 2 (21:42):
Right?
Speaker 1 (21:42):
And it's like, well, I mean, I think we chose
the one that is the safest of all, you know,
foreign mission trips, it really is. But no, it's not
safe or and none of your life is safe, like
you know, just go down old town Neravada, there's it
(22:03):
gets kind of gets a little sketchy down there, yeah,
you know, and then go down to Denver, downtown Denver
for dinner with your family. Can can get a little
sketchy down there, you know. And there's just no such
thing as safe in this world. Every minute has lived
under His providence, his protection, and his care. And that's
I mean, we know that, we know that, but yet
(22:25):
we kind of walk around with a false idea that
we can somehow protect ourselves.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
And we take that stuff for granted. You know, there's
going to be food in the star there's going to
be that. We take that for granted. We take God
for granted. You know, I'm just something as simple as
I know the sun's going to come up tomorrow morning. Yeah,
I know he's going to do that. Yeah, But we
take that just for granted. Is like, Lord, thank you
for this day, you know, and the sun coming up
(22:51):
and in this beautiful weather that we have. But most
of all, during this time of the year, thank you
for what you've given us.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
And that's you know, that's what's so powerful about these
mission trips and why they change your life is because
you you step.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
Out of control.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
And you go and you say lead me, Lord, and
you do that for like a week, you know, and
then you come back and it changes the way you
see life. Like listen, this was never my thing in
the first place. And that's what providence is. That's what
it means to live under a God, almighty maker of
heaven and earth that he is.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
This is his love for us.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
And so certainly one thing I didn't emphasize enough in
that sermon, and when I think back on it, because
I was really focused in on the first article or
God the Father and teaching that faithfully is that then
his providence, ultimate love is his son, whom he provided
to stand in our place exactly.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
And so I didn't emphasize that enough.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
I think we get it enough that it'll all will
survive it as far as one sermon goes. But that is,
like you want to see what God's love looks like,
then it's in the daily brand, it's in the things
from day to day. But it's the pinnacle of it,
the height of it, you can't get away from it,
is that his son is his love, like he would
(24:11):
not do that for people he did not love.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
And that's one of the most important parts for me.
You might have gone on a lot of mission trips,
but just to convey that message to these people, you know,
and these people I mean we think about you know,
like you said, our vadest kind of sketchy down there,
downtown Denver is a little sketchy, and people are afraid,
you know, is it safe? Well, has it been safe
for those people down there and those little children down there? No,
(24:36):
it hasn't been safe for them. Yeah, the Lord's laying
it on our heart, yeah, to help them well.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
And it goes to every area of life, Like I
have a teenager started driving this year. Oh like when
you said it's awesome, Now, yeah, I got used to it.
But like those first couple of times sending them out
into the city, especially a big city that we just
moved to. You know, this isn't country roads in Minnesota anymore,
you know. And and you just listen, this is not
my child. Lord, I after get used to this, he's
(25:04):
going to be heading out into this world. And uh
and and it reminds you and and so for us,
that's what Thanksgiving is. As we approach this Thanksgiving, my
only encouragement you can celebrate Christmas whenever you want.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
Don't get don't get sidetracked.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
Is that whether it be for Thanksgiving or every day
of life, we should be at people who is good
at giving.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
Thanks to the giver.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
Yeah, stay tuned. You have more information from Reuben as
we move forward and through the month. But our goal
is to kind of uh move into this this kind
of ability to widen the net.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
So very good.
Speaker 3 (25:36):
All right, Well, thank you again for being here.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
And then God bless you week, God bless you too.
Speaker 3 (25:41):
Thank you.
Speaker 4 (26:01):
Thank you for joining us for peace to you at
Peace Lutheran Church in Arvada. Colorado. If you have no
church home, we'd be delighted for you to join us
at five six seven five Field Street in Arbana. Services
are at eight and ten thirty am, with Bible classes
for all ages at nine fifteen am. You can easily
(26:23):
access our services online on our YouTube channel Peacearbada at
YouTube dot com or wherever podcasts are found. Coming this January,
tune in to the new video podcast at peaceto you
on YouTube dot com, or listen wherever podcasts are found.
Now from the entire broadcast team at Peace Lutheran and Arvada,
(26:47):
I'm Reuben Hollenbeck, and may the Peace of our Lord
be with you now and always
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