Tag: thanksgiving

What’s in a Name?

Background Passages: Luke 1: 28-33; Matthew 1:20-23; John 1:1-14; and Philippians 2:6-8

Parents have some options when it comes to naming their children. They can run with family names, names of cultural significance, or simple alliterative names or nicknames that sound good together. They have choices.

I try to help when I can.

When my cousins Paul and Robbie Jo started their family, I suggested Wyatt, as in Earp, and Walker, as in “Texas Ranger.” It took a few years, but Wyatt eventually made the cut.

When my nephew and niece were expecting their second child, I had a dream that Amy gave birth in a school library. Naturally, I suggested Dewey, as in “decimal system.” It’s hard to believe they went with James.

Before my grandson Eli became Eli, Adam pushed hard from some rather unorthodox options. My first-born grandson could have been Theodore Roosevelt Lewis…or Gilgamesh Lewis…Archimedes, Hannibal or Atila Lewis. I know I would have loved him despite the historical or scientific references, but I’m glad he’s Eli.

In her Shakespearean soliloquy, Juliet, pondered “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

Juliet’s love for Romeo was imperiled by the family feud between the Montagues and Capulets. Juliet lamented that she would have chosen a different name for either her or Romeo because any other name would smell as sweet and enable them to openly marry. She didn’t have that choice, however.

“What’s in a name?” asks Juliet.

As we transition from Thanksgiving to Christmas, it’s a great question.

With her heart and mind racing, Mary heard the news from an angel that she would have a baby. A most unexpected child, both in conception and timing. Pledged to be married to Joseph, a local builder, Mary and her family were making plans for a wedding day a few months down the road. Before the marriage was consummated, an angel appeared with a surprising word.

“Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary. You have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever. His kingdom will never end.” (Luke 1:28-33)

It’s difficult to understand the depth of faith it took to accept all that the angel told her, but Mary gave herself in obedience to what she had heard. After finding a way to break the news to Joseph, the angel had another bewildered and troubled soul to soothe. Joseph, as honorable a man as one could hope to meet, considered the tough decision to dissolve their relationship quietly, giving Mary options to avoid the scorn that would surely come.

He agonized over the decision into the night until the angel came with words or reassurance.

“Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet. “The virgin shall conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means, “God with us.”). (Mattthew 1:20-23)

What’s in the name Jesus?

There are many names or titles given to Jesus throughout scripture. Isaiah ran an impressive list of descriptors of the one who would come to save.

He will be called Wonderful Counselor. Mighty God. Everlasting Father. Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

Jeremiah refers to the coming “King who will reign wisely” and shares that “This is the name by which he will be called, ‘The Lord is our Righteousness.’”

The descriptors tell us how Jesus would relate to us in our times of need…As counselor amid our troubles. As an all-powerful God amid our weakness. As an eternal father amid our loneliness. As the giver of true contentment and peace amid life’s turmoil. These descriptors speak to his work among us, but the titles don’t tell us much about who he is.

What’s in the name Jesus? Why did God have the angel so strongly make the point that the baby already had a name chosen by his father in heaven since the beginning of time itself? Why were they to call him Jesus.

There is nothing holy or sacred about the arrangement of letters or the phonetic sounds associated with the name of Jesus. Depending on the language one speaks, the name will not sound the same. When it was shared with Mary and Joseph, it was a fairly common name in Judea and Galilee.

Jesus is an English rendering of the Greek name “Iesous,” which is a translation of the ancient Hebrew “Yehoshua.” We see it written also in the English Old Testament as “Joshua.” Jesus. Iesous. Yehoshua. Joshua.

Whether written in English, Greek or Hebrew, the name of Jesus is formed from Hebraic roots suggesting “Jehovah is salvation.” There’s the first hint of who he is. He isn’t some form of salvation. He is salvation personified. While the message would not have been lost on Mary, it was clearly given to Joseph who was told to name him Jesus because “he will save his people from their sins.”

How could this child soon to be born to Mary and Joseph be salvation? How is it possible for this baby to be salvation and ultimately how is it possible for him to achieve what he was sent to do?

Mary and Joseph get this word as well.

While Mary was told to call the baby Jesus, other people will know him as and call him “the Son of the Most High.” Jesus. God’s son. Conceived in her by God’s spirit. Given to her and Joseph to love, care and teach. Make no mistake, though, he is God’s son. While the angel told Joseph to call the child Jesus, he said others will call him Immanuel, “God with us.”

This idea is the message of Christmas found in the gospel of John and reinforced by Paul in his letter to the Philippians.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:1-14)

“Who, being in very nature god, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even to death on the cross! (Philippians 2:6-8)

As we end today in the shadow of Thanksgiving and the dawn of the coming Christmas, I find great joy in the name of Jesus. I am thankful to God for sending his son into the world.

Though his life lived 2000 years ago looked markedly different than the life I live today, so much of it still rings the same. The same worries. The same temptations. The same heartaches. The same joys. The same relationships. I’m grateful that through his life he still teaches me how to live. Such remembrance makes this a Happy Thanksgiving.

I find such hope for this Christmas season in the birth of the one God sent as Jesus…the one he promised from the beginning to be our source of salvation. One whose very name reminds me that Jehovah saves. The Son of the Most High. Immanuel. God’s son. God with us. God’s son would be with us.

I find in the name of Jesus the promise of another very Merry Christmas.

Encounter with a Prayer Warrior

Background Passages: I Samuel 1:10, Daniel 9:3-4, and James 5:13-16

I’m almost a week late with this Bible study. I sat down several times last week to study and prepare. My heart wasn’t in it. The words wouldn’t come.

I wish I could attribute my delay to writer’s block, but the reason was far more personal. My oldest son was in St. Luke’s dealing with the aftermath of a stroke. The tension of those early, uncertain days hit with full force every time I sat still for any length of time. Clearing my mind sufficiently to write a coherent sentence bordered on the impossible.

Before I go further, I’ll share a praise to God and the doctors and physical therapists he placed in Adam’s life. Our son is home now with his family, his condition and situation vastly improved over this time a week ago. Physical therapy will continue, but the prognosis is incredibly positive for full recovery.

Adam and Jordan dealt with the immediate impact of his situation while we could only stand at a distance, help take care of our grandchildren and pray. As those not directly and immediately impacted by the crisis, we discovered again what we knew to be true, but chose to forget from the last family crisis we experienced. Life goes on. It doesn’t respect our need to process the situation. It keeps coming. That’s not always a bad thing when God is at work.

As a part of my volunteer work in the community, I chair the Steering Committee of the McDonald’s Texas Invitational Basketball Tournament. The role carries with it a responsibility to be present and engaged with sponsors, coaches, officials and volunteers during the three-day event. Unable to go to the hospital due to Covid restrictions, Robin and I attended the games with our hearts troubled and our brains in a deep fog.

The two of us grabbed dinner and sat at an empty table in one of the hospitality rooms. Neither of us said much. Lost in our own thoughts. A woman entered, picked up her dinner and sat at an empty table next to us. Robin invited her to sit with us. She picked up her tray and sat next to me. We began to visit, my mind doing its best to focus on the conversation.

Nzinga Rideaux told us she was a board member for the Houston area Fellowship of Christian Athletes. She was helping man the organization’s booth at Phillips Fieldhouse. The conversation turned to family and I shared with her about Adam and his condition.

In a room filled with 35-40 volunteers, coaches and referees, she pushed her plate aside, grabbed my hand and said, “Let’s pray right now.” The words she spoke for the next two minutes were both heaven sent and heaven directed. The power in her spirit flowed as eloquently as her words. With that final “Amen,” I recall thinking, there is no way God could ignore that petition. So powerful were her words, it seemed God now had little choice but to make Adam well. How could he refuse that woman?

Chinese pastor Watchman Nee might have had a woman like Nzinga in mind when he said, “Our prayers lay the track down on which God’s power can come. Like a mighty locomotive, his power is irresistible, but it cannot reach us without the rails.” In my life last week, Nzinga drove the Golden Spike into God’s trans-spiritual railroad. She lifted my heart from its despair and renewed my hope.

I know Robin and I had prayed fervently for God’s hand upon Adam. I know God heard our prayers. Nzinga, however, is the pure definition of a “prayer warrior.” I’m pretty sure he sped up the process when Nzinga prayed.

A prayer warrior is someone known for regularly interceding before God on behalf of others. Someone who stands between you and the trouble afflicting your life, calling down the presence and power of the Lord. A prayer warrior is someone who knows God’s blessings and knows without doubt those blessings are ours to claim.

Think Hannah.

Barren for years, she prayed for a child. Though years passed, she continued to pray, despite her aching heart. She continued to pray even when she reached the end of her rope.

“And she was in bitterness of soul and prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish.” (I Samuel 1:10)

Hannah prayed intently and purposefully with tears of frustration and sorrow. She prayed persistently and passionately until Samuel was born. It’s nice to know God is not offended by our questioning, our frustrations and our confusion.

Think Daniel.

When God revealed to Daniel as a young man that Israel would be taken into captivity and exiled from their land, Daniel interceded on behalf of his people.

“I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said, “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant and mercy with those who love him, and with those who keep his commandments. (Daniel 9:3-4)

This was the prayer of a man who recognize the path he was on and claimed the blessings promised by a faithful father. Daniel’s path would not be easy. Neither will Adam’s path be without challenge.  Still, Daniel knew the path would be paved with the promises of God. Adam knows that as well.

Nzinga’s prayer that night was Hannah and Daniel personified in the presence of an African-American woman with a deep, abiding faith. Intense. Purposeful. Persistent. Passionate.  Confident in the promises of God.

It’s Thanksgiving.

We have much for which to sing praises of gratitude to our God.

When we gathered today as an extended family around our table for our non-traditional Thanksgiving meal of beef and chicken fajitas, Adam sat among us. How could you not be thankful in such a moment?

In the moment of our Thanksgiving prayer, I silently thanked God that we were all together. I thanked him for Adam’s life and his prospects for a full recovery. I thanked God for Adam’s wife, Jordan, who was and is his rock throughout their crisis. She reminds me so much of my Mom. I thanked God for Robin who was my anchor in the storm.

I thanked God for the doctors, physical therapists and caregivers who tended to my son. I thanked God for every word of encouragement and hope they offered.

I thanked God for our church staff and congregation who lifted our family in prayer, interceding on our behalf. I expressed my gratitude for friends at work and at church who wrapped their arms around Adam and his family. I thank him for those individuals in my life whose words and touch sustained Robin and me during our days.

I thanked God for my new friend Nzinga. I know he put her at our table with heavenly intent. I also thanked him for the other prayer warriors I know who stood in the gap between our family and the troubles we faced as they called down the power and presence of God.

This journey for Adam and his family is not over. The extended outpatient therapy will hopefully lead to full recovery in a matter of weeks or short months. I continue to covet your prayers for the days ahead…for stamina, endurance, patience, hope and end result that will give God all the glory.

James spoke about the prayers of the faithful.

“Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord…The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” James 5:13-14,16b)

I still don’t know if I strung together a cogent sentence today. Forgive a father for his incoherent ramblings and let God share with you what I’m trying to say.

I do, however, know this one thing. I know today how powerful and effective the prayers of a righteous person can be. And, I know without a doubt that God is good.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all.

Grateful

Background Passage: Psalm 106:1

We approach the most joyous of holiday seasons from Thanksgiving to Christmas this year under the darkening shadow of Covid-19 as the long-promised fall surge in corona virus cases hits our nation with a vengeance.

We continue to endure a bitter political season that has fractured our country with seemingly no one willing to walk the higher ground. Suspicion invades our hearts, leaving our country teetering in its wake.

Many among us feel…

Isolated and alone.
Divided and angry.
Worried and scared.
Suspicious and accusing.
Pessimistic and hopeless.

That seems to be the condition of the world. I’m not so naive that I cannot see these issues or feel their impact around me. As a Christian, I am not immune to its gravity, but I refuse to let these events steal my joy.

I…we…have so much for which to be grateful even during this uncertain time for God’s gifts and grace transcend pandemic and politics. Surrounded by family, friends and God’s ever-present love, there is a place of peace even in the turmoil of the day. For such things, I am eternally grateful.

So, I remind myself in this week of Thanksgiving to take a deep breath and relax.

We use the term “overwhelmed” to express that feeling of being swamped by the circumstances around us. We rarely, if ever, talk about being simply “whelmed.”

Yes, it’s a word defined in Webster’s Dictionary as “an act or instance of flowing or heaping up abundantly; a surge.”

Rather than feeling overwhelmed, I want us to feel whelmed…to feel a surge of thanksgiving as we reflect on the blessings of life granted by a loving God.

I cannot speak to those things for which you could be grateful. You alone can do that.

As I sit in the quiet of this moment, I am thankful for my parents, my brother and sister, my wife, my two sons and their wives, and my grandchildren. I am grateful for an extended family of “laws and in-laws” who have forever accepted me for who I am. I am grateful for love given and love received.

I am grateful for friends from childhood to present day who, even today, continue to create and share in the best moments of my life.

I am grateful for God’s gift of this community as a place of service and belonging. A people who let me serve and who served me in my times of need.

I am grateful for a church who for four decades has been my spiritual foundation, filled with fellow imperfects who love each other into a more perfect understanding of God’s grace and peace. A people who know their responsibility to be the face, the hands and feet of Christ not just within the walls of the church, but in the city, state, country and world beyond.

I am grateful to my God who saved me and loves me in spite of myself. Whose presence brings healing and comfort to every hurt and need in my life. Whose blessings and grace deepen the joy I feel in my connections and relationships with those I encounter. Whose spirit continues to open my eyes to the vitality of his word.

A host of scripture speaks to our need to express thankfulness to our God. Here are a couple of my favorites.

“Oh, give thanks to the Lord for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever.” (Psalm 106:1)

The language of the psalm is an imperative, a command. To the believer loved by God, the call to thanksgiving is not an option. Thankfulness ought to be our natural response as recipients of God’s unmerited favor.

We respond with thankfulness because of God’s goodness. Our limited understanding of goodness, tempered as it is through our lens of sin, is a pale facsimile of goodness that is truly in God. Jesus told us as much in Luke 18:19 when he told the rich, young ruler, “no one is good, except God alone.”

To declare that God is good is to know with certainty that his every word and act is always true and right. It is his goodness that offers redemption to a sinful world…the ultimate act of goodness through the sacrifice of his own son.

When you read “steadfast,” think resolute, unwavering. God’s love never fails. Never abandons. Never falters. Never withdraws.

God’s love always provides. Always sustains. Always nurtures. Always remains. Always embraces. Always comforts. Always endures.

Thanksgiving is a good day to remember. If you dig deeper in Psalm 106, you find that the people of God lost their way when they failed to remember what God had done for them.

“…they did not remember your many kindnesses…” (vs. 7)
“…they soon forgot what he had done…” (vs 13)
“…they forgot the God who saved them…” (vs. 21)

I don’t ever want to be guilty of their forgetfulness. I think that’s why the Psalmist makes his statement in the form of a command, “Give thanks…,” as an on-going directive to always remember what God has done for us.

We are a forgetful people with short-term memories and a “what have you done for me lately” mentality. Thanksgiving is remembering in gratitude a God who does not forget his people nor his promises.

Those people I mentioned earlier, the ones for whom I expressed my gratitude, they came into my life sent by God to be a part of my life. They have been before and beside me the face and hands of his steadfast love and his unfathomable goodness all the days of my life.

I am eternally grateful.

Thank you, God.

When Jesus Said ‘Thanks’

Background Passages: John 6:11, John 11:41, Luke 10:21, Mark 14:22-24

I married into a family with odd holiday traditions. Pizza on New Year’s Day. Steak on Thanksgiving. Reuben sandwiches on Christmas Eve and Hamburgers on Christmas Day. Nothing against turkey, but I’ve never been wild about dressing, even though everyone else thought a serving of my Mom’s oyster dressing was close to perfection. Adopting the new traditions worked for me.

Our family Thanksgiving meal morphed a little over the years. On this Thanksgiving morning I stood over my grill, cooking chicken and beef fajitas, the new family standard for the holiday.

There were 22 people in the house and one-half of them were active, noisy and fun-loving children under the age of nine. At some point after all the running and all the games…after hours of chasing the little ones in circles upstairs…after eating my weight in fajitas, guacamole and coconut cream pie…after having no time to just relax, everyone left. With a cursory effort at straightening the house my wife and I plopped down on the couch in a state of mind we call “blessed exhaustion.” Parents and grandparents know the feeling.

I’m as tired as I’ve ever been, but I am eternally thankful. I love my family and love my time with them. I am thankful for their presence in my life.

Thanksgiving as a holiday was not a tradition in biblical times. Offering thanks to God, however, was a natural part of their worship. It made me wonder about the times Jesus expressed his thanks to God and if those times might be instructive for today’s daily living.

A quick review of my Bible Concordance shows four distinct times when Jesus offered thanks to his father in heaven. Let’s take a look at that for which Jesus was thankful.

*****

Looking out on a sea of hungry people, Andrew tugged at Jesus’ sleeve and introduced him to a young boy who shyly placed a woven basket filled with five loaves of bread and two dried fish into Jesus’ hands…an innocent offering to help the great teacher feed the multitude.

“Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish,”

In this first instance, Jesus offered thanks to God for his provision. The Bread of Life thankful for the bread of life.

It seems proper to me to be grateful for God’s provision…for food, clothing, health, shelter, family, love, hope…every blessing of God bestowed upon his people. That which I possess in material and spiritual things is far greater than I deserve and far surpassing anything I expected in life. I am thankful to God for his provision.

*****

While ministering to people in Galilee, Jesus received word that Lazarus, one of his best friends, lay gravely ill a great distance away in Judea. With work still to be done where he was and knowing that God was at work in both places, Jesus stayed for two more days before he journeyed to Bethany. In the days it took for Jesus to arrive in Bethany, I believe Jesus spent time praying for his friend and that God would use the circumstance for the glory of God.

As he neared the village days later, Mary and Martha met Jesus with news that their brother Lazarus died. They buried him four days prior. After comforting the sisters of Lazarus, Jesus asked the people to move the stone away from the entrance of the tomb. Jesus stood outside the tomb and prayed again a prayer of thanksgiving.

“Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said it for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”

It never ceases to amaze me the confidence Jesus expressed in the availability of God’s power. In the words, “You have heard me…” Jesus knows God has heard his prayers and will provide him the power to work a miracle in order to give glory to God. His desire was not for personal gain, but that those who witnessed the miraculous could turn toward Jesus as the promised Messiah.

Do you, like me, find it incredible that God, creator of the universe, takes the time to listen to our prayers. I am thankful that, through the intercession of the Holy Spirit, my prayers are heard by an Almighty God. Even when I cannot articulate my need, nor express my feelings, he hears the cry of my heart. Because he hears, God’s power to sustain me in times of greatest need is a prayer away. I am thankful that I can walk through life knowing that God hears my prayers and acts on my behalf.

*****

At one point of his ministry, Jesus paired up 72 of his followers to travel ahead of him proclaiming the good news to the villages and towns. As he commissioned them for the mission work, he told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.” God blessed their efforts and many people put their faith and trust in Jesus. When these disciples returned to report all that God had done through them, Jesus was overjoyed.

“I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to little children.”

Jesus often chided the Pharisees for relying on the ritual and rule rather than truth and spirit of God’s word. Because they had hardened their hearts against Jesus and could not see who he was, they missed out on the blessings that come with a life lived in faith. Jesus expressed his gratitude that God would reveal his truth to the unlearned, the leper, the tax collector, the sick and afflicted, the sinner. That God would reveal his word to someone like you and me.

On this Thanksgiving, I am thankful for parents, every pastor, every Sunday School teacher, every Bible study leader, every friend who modeled Christ in the way they lived and who introduced me to Jesus. I am thankful for my wife as my spiritual partner. I am eternally thankful for the work of the Holy Spirit in my life as he revealed each new message and meaning of scripture throughout my life.

*****

Jesus offered his final word of thankfulness in the quiet of the upper room, hours before his arrest and crucifixion. Jesus reclined at a table, sharing a meal with his closest followers. He knew without a doubt what the next few days would bring. He knew what his disciples would face in the time to come.

When the moment was right, he got their attention.

“While they were eating, Jesus took bread and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to his disciples saying, ‘Take it. This is my body.’ Then, he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them and they all drank from it. ‘This is the blood of my covenant, which is poured out for many.’”

In that prayer of thanks, Jesus acknowledged the sacrificial purpose for which he was sent. Offering his body and his blood for the atonement of the world’s sin. Though he knew what was to come, he expressed his thanks to God for the opportunity to be the agent of salvation to all who would believe. Jesus could have chosen to step away. Instead, he stepped up and allowed himself to be hung on a cross as a sacrifice for the sins of the world.

I am thankful for the work of God’s Son on the cross and the new life he gave to me. I am thankful that he is still at work in the hearts of people around the world. I am eternally grateful for his sacrifice.

Through his words and actions, Jesus teaches us to give thanks. I am grateful this Thanksgiving, not simply for his provision, but also for his desire to hear and answer my prayers. I am thankful that God choses to reveal his truth to anyone willing to listen and learn. I’m thankful for those who serve as his teachers. Finally, I am thankful to God for sending his Son to live among us, to die on the cross and rise as the living Lord of my life since the day I accepted him as savior when I was nine years old. He has been a sustaining presence in my life since that day.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all.