Third Sunday in Lent
3 March 2013
Saint Faith’s Anglican Church
Vancouver BC
Shining with the Glory of God That Is in
Us: Thanksgiving
Isaiah 55.1-9; Psalm
63.1-8; 1 Corinthians 10.1-13; Luke 13.1-9
As the summer of 1986 drew to a
close, Paula and I were facing a number of changes that would have long-lasting
effects in our lives. Paula was nearing
the end of her pregnancy with David and we were making all the plans that new
parents make as the due date approaches.
I was also entering a crucial semester in my doctoral studies during
which I was preparing and researching the ten questions that would be part of
my candidacy examinations, the last step before writing the thesis. As you can imagine, it was a time filled with
hope and apprehension.
Then the unexpected happened. I received a telephone call from David
Holeton, then Professor of Liturgics at Vancouver School of Theology. I knew that the School was looking for David’s
successor, but the idea of applying had quickly slipped off my radar, especially
since the notion of moving to Canada was the furthest thing from my
self-identified career path.
It turns out the that School had
already interviewed one set of candidates with no satisfactory candidate having
been found. My seminary mentor, Louis
Weil, had been asked if there were any doctoral students he would
recommend. Louis gave the School my name
and the rest, as we say, is history.
I hope that all of you have teachers
who were instrumental in shaping who you are --- for the better not for the
worst. Louis Weil is one of those people
whom I credit for anything I have taught, written or said that has been of any
importance in helping Christians live out our baptismal vocation to be the body
of Christ given for the life of the world.
I remember speaking to Louis after
he had experienced a significant disappointment. I cannot now remember what that
disappointment was, but I do remember that it was represented a setback for
something that Louis had been working on, long and hard, for a number of
years. I also remember what he said to
me: “Thanks be to God. There is still work to be done.”
Here was this teacher I respected,
this priest whom I hoped I would imitate in my own exercise of ordained
ministry, giving thanks to God after a major setback. It still seems counter-intuitive to give
thanks to God after years of work have been sent down the drain by the lack of
vision of others. But that is what Louis
did.
On page 129 of The Book of
Alternative Services is a prayer of thanksgiving that is not used very
often. One day I may dig around in the
archives of General Synod to find its source, but today I will ask you to turn
to it and say it with me.
Accept, O Lord, our thanks and praise
for all you have done for us.
We thank you for the splendour of the whole creation,
for the beauty of this world, for the wonder of life,
and for the mystery of love.
We thank you for the blessing of family and friends,
and for the loving care
which surrounds us on every side.
We thank you for setting us tasks
which demand our best efforts,
and for leading us to accomplishments
which satisfy and delight us.
We thank you also for those disappointments and failures
that lead us to acknowledge our dependence on you alone.
Above all, we thank you for your Son Jesus Christ;
for the truth of his word and the example of his life;
for his steadfast obedience,
by which he overcame temptation;
for his dying, through which he overcame death;
for his rising to life again,
in which we are raised to the life of your kingdom.
Grant us the gift of your Spirit,
that we may know Christ and make him known;
and through him, at all times and in all places,
may give thanks to you in all things.
Amen. [1]
My sisters and brothers, it is very
easy to give God thanks ‘for the splendour of the whole creation, for the
beauty of this world, for the wonder of life and for the mystery of love’. And who among would not give thanks to God ‘for
the blessing of family and friends, and for the loving care which surrounds us
on every side.’ These are precious gifts
that we all yearn for and that we sometimes take for granted. But when our memories are stirred, the words
of praise and thanksgiving flow readily from our lips.
Perhaps it is a bit more difficult
to thank God ‘for setting us tasks which demand our best efforts, and for
leading us to accomplishments which satisfy and delight us’. I do remember one of my classmates, after his
first year as a parish priest, talking about being severely tested by the
parish in which he was serving. One of
our other classmates quoted 1 Corinthians to him: ‘God is faithful, and he will not let you be
tested beyond your strength’ (1 Corinthians 10.13b). ‘Well,’ said my weary classmate, ‘God has
seriously overestimated my strength.’
But there is a sense of gratitude and satisfaction that comes at the end
of a difficult task or challenge. At
that moment it is ‘right and a good and joyful thing’ to thank the Holy One who
sustains us.
But it is the truly mature person of
faith who can give thanks ‘for those disappointments and failures that lead us
to acknowledge our dependence on [God] alone.’
When we have worked for years, given our very best efforts, committed
ourselves wholeheartedly to some work or other, how is it possible to give God
thanks in the aftermath of a disappointment or failure?
It is possible if we are firmly
rooted in the belief that God is working out God’s purposes for us and for the
whole creation. It is possible if we
understand ourselves to be partners with God in the work of creation, of reconciliation
and of renewal. Not only are we partners
with God, we are partners with all people of faith who have committed themselves
to the common good of all God’s creatures, human and non-human. We can give thanks because we are not alone
but are members of a vast communion of human beings who share in this labour of
love. Our disappointments and failures
are not the last word in God’s act of restoration, of enabling every creature
to shine with the glory of God.
So, my friends, our prayers are
prayers of adoration and confession. But
perhaps even more important are our prayers of thanksgiving, especially those
that we raise when we realize that our work is not yet finished and that there
is still much to be done. May God grant
us the grace to offer such prayers.
And just as the faces of Moses and
Jesus shone with the glory of God, so our faces will shine, revealing the life
of God within us. Amen.
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