Sermon for Sunday November 25, 2018
Passages: Isaiah 36:1-9; 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10; Luke 12:13-31
In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit Amen!
A beautiful feast to celebrate.
Food for us to eat.
Hours of preparation
On Thanksgiving we will meet.
Our tables are full of several things,
Turkey, stuffing and napkin rings.
As Armenians we’ll also have,
Rice pilaf, sarma and more,
Everywhere food galore.
Our mothers, sisters and grandmothers,
Toil away to clean and set,
While most of us young and old gentlemen,
Try steering clear this I bet.
And on the TV we watch the game,
Bears crushing the Lions
No surprise there.
And if the weather does hold true,
We can be play a game of football
All the way through.
What a beautiful way to celebrate,
A feast of thankfulness.
With traditions from far and near
As we remember how we are blessed.
Yes, one day a year we celebrate
Everything we are thankful for.
Our families, our health, our jobs
And much-much more.
Yet, in this season of feast and more
I wonder if we care,
About our brothers and our sisters
Who are in need of solemn prayer.
I ask this not to put on guilt,
I ask this not to judge,
But I wonder in my heart, I do
So that my soul would start to budge.
Because this feast comes not alone,
But brings with it a day,
Right after we celebrate what we are thankful for,
We covet each other on Black Friday.
No, to have possessions is not so bad,
But does it give us worth?
When today we remember what we are thankful for,
And tomorrow we shove our brother to the earth.
In the Gospel today we read, a man comes to Christ
Asking of him to help divide ownership of property
And all things he holds nice.
And Christ looked at him and began to teach
That his worth is not in what he owns,
“Take heed, and beware of all covetousness” Christ begins to warn.
“For a man’s life does not consist in the abundance” of all materials he holds dear. (Luke 12:13-31)
No my dear brothers and sisters Christ’s teaching is very clear.
Today we’re here, tomorrow not,
Life is not about what we sold or bought
But our worth that should be defining us
Should be found in our action and our loving hearts.
I wonder in this blissful feast,
If we truly see Christ’s words.
In the way we treat each other
In our prayerful words.
Because I fear our pockets
Have become too heavy for us
To rise up to heaven and be with God,
If so we must adjust.
Our prayers seen in action.
We must change our ways, reflect this day,
Not just random chants and hymns,
Not just words to say.
St. Paul teaches each of us,
“We give thanks to God for all that is true”
Our labors of love, our faith, our hope in Him
For He who has chosen you. (1 Thessalonians 1:1-10)
Yes God has chosen each one of us to bring his love to one another
And only in our faith in actions,
Our worth will be seen by our brothers.
Food and football and all possession are blessings given by God.
But the greatest blessing I am thankful for
Is his love in who we are.
Whether we are in pain and sorrow,
Or we are now at peace.
God’s love has never failed us.
God’s love will never cease.
Christ died for our sins and freed us all,
If we just accept,
The banquet table that is here set for us
Truly is the best.
Yes, on Thursday we gathered for food in our homes
And God also invites us to celebrate,
Around this table up in heaven
Within the heavenly gates.
Therefore, my brothers and sisters dear,
Let us remember once more,
What we are truly thankful for
All that God has given for.
Happy Thanksgiving to us all
God love us my dears,
Let us remember these words during this season
Spreading Gods love instead of Gods fear.