Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Psalm 100
Pastor: Pastor Schlicht
Sermon Date:  November 28, 2019

There are certain times I realize that I’m a bit weird. Have you ever had that experience? It happened to me the other day as my wife and I were watching the Great British Baking Show. There was a technical challenge where the bakers had to make something called a Pavlova. It is this delicious dessert made of meringue, custard, and fruit. And as I watched this, I thought to myself, this is just like Psalm 100! That’s when I knew I was a bit weird. But I stand behind that weirdness, because Psalm 100 has the exact same structure of a pavlova!

A Pavlova has 2 base layers of meringue on which lie the two levels of toppings! Psalm 100 is the same, except in Psalm 100 the base layers aren’t made out of meringue, they are truths about God. And the toppings aren’t custard and fruit, they are ways that we live in thankful response! This is really the structure of any healthy Christian life! Our words and actions should be based upon who God is and what he has done for us. The topping need the base for support! There must be a Giver who is the basis for our thanksgiving. So let’s look at the wonderful pavlova of Psalm 100 and the structure of a delicious life of thankful living.

As with baking, you need to start with the base. The first part of base knowledge or truth about God that we find in Psalm 100 is this: “Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.” At the base of Thanksgiving, we acknowledge that God is our Creator and that he takes care of us as a shepherd. He not only created our universe, he not only brought all matter into existence, but he also has taken the time to knit each one of us together in our mother’s womb. But this can be hard to maintain in our world today, can’t it? Our public society and media is ruled by a secular mindset which constantly assumes that this world was not created. And there is such an air of maturity that comes along with it—”Let us put away childish belief in God and get with the program.” It attacks faith at a fundamental level. 

Additionally, the world is filling up with the creations of humans and less and less can be seen of the natural works of God’s Creation. I like to imagine what it would look like years ago, before everything was flattened and covered with concrete. Before the sidewalks and the skyscrapers, before the road signs and powerlines. Those who lived in ancient times had nothing but time to ponder the majesty of God’s creative power; they could see the stars at night and realize how small they were in comparison with the greatness of God’s work; they had to take the life of the animals they ate to sustain themselves, instead of eating prepackaged, plastic-wrapped food which we pluck off of shelves without a second thought; they were daily connected to the more immediate provision of God as they planted and harvested. I remember going to the Boundary Waters a few years back and it was incredible just to see a little piece of God’s creation that is almost untouched by humans. But those places are few and far between. We are tempted intellectually to deny him as Creator and we are tempted visibly to forget the works of his hands and the provision of his grace. And though we might not turn our backs on him, our readiness to give thanks is often blunted. If we deny our Creator and the design of his good creation, then we have nothing to be thankful for. It was all chance and we are simply lucky that matter somehow existed,  life somehow happened, that the earth just randomly had the perfect condition to sustain life, and that humans somehow evolved into creatures with conscience and reason that are absent in every other species. If that were true, we would have nothing to thank but sheer, dumb luck. But the truth of God tells us that if there is a beautiful creation, there must be a Creator. My friends, it is natural and reasonable to believe that this world was created. Don’t let anyone deceive you. As the Apostle Paul wrote, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20) People often say they feel closer to God when they are in nature and this is why. God isn’t closer or further away if you’re on a mountain or on your couch. But you are more aware of his invisible qualities, his power and wisdom, as you experience what he has made. This is the fundamental  base of thanksgiving: know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his.

The second base of truth that we find in Psalm 100 is this: “For the Lord is good. His mercy endures forever. His faithfulness continues through all generations.”  The Lord is good. Do you believe that? Do you really believe that God can be good when you look at our world? Do you really believe that God is good when you think of the things he could have prevented in your life? Many believe there is a God, but have rejected this truth. In fact, the very first sin was doubting that the Lord is good. The Devil convinced Eve that God didn’t truly have her best in mind when he told her to abstain from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. And the Devil  has convinced so many people based on earthly experience of that same lie. The truth is that God is good, but not for the reasons we usually assume. God is not good because we have a full Thanksgiving table or because we made it another year in good health. God is not good when things go well. Because if that is where we find his goodness, we must also assume that he despises us when things are hard. That God is bad when life is bad. Remember, God sends rain upon the wicked and the righteous. Certainly God seems good on a warm spring day when the sun shines down and the flowers come up. But there he’s only showing us his hand. There’s another place he shows us his heart. On a dark day, on a skull shaped hill outside the city walls, where rejected by all, we see a naked, bloodied, wreck of a man suspended between heaven and earth. We God’s goodness here at the Cross of Jesus Christ. Here where an innocent man is condemned we find justice. Here where a Son is forsaken by his Father we find acceptance. Here where blood is shed in sacrifice we find forgiveness for all sin, even those times we have doubted the goodness of our God. The Lord is good. His mercy endures forever. It endures, it perseveres, it remains, regardless of what this world throws at us. His faithfulness continues through all generations, from the beginning of time to this day, and on to eternity his faithfulness will never end. This is the truth, truth which the child of God stands on as the base of a life full of thanksgiving!

What does that look like? Well, let’s look at the toppings of Psalm 100! #1: “Shout to the Lord with joy, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness.” One aspect of a life of thanksgiving is joyful service! On the basis of the truth that our Lord is a good God who cares for us, we serve others with that same love. #2: “Enter his gates with thanksgiving, his courtyards with praise.” This refers, of course, to worship! A life built upon the truth of God’s Word is one of worship. That’s why we are here tonight! We are here to worship, to receive God’s gifts, to sing hymns, to pray, to encourage each other. Worship is an integral part of what it means to be Christian.

The third and final topping, which we specifically celebrate tomorrow, is that of thanksgiving, which really incorporates all the others. “Give thanks to him and bless his name.” The wonderful thing about standing on the base of God’s truth is that we always have a reason to give thanks. There was once a teenage girl named Joni who took a reckless dive off a pier into shallow water. She was a pretty girl who always been athletic, so it felt like the end of her life when the doctor told her that she was paralyzed from the neck down. In the coming months she laid in bed and hated God. She even asked her mother to end her life, but her mother said that God had a plan for her. And it was true. God permitted something that he hates, like paralysis, in order to accomplish that which he loves. Joni grew in faith and began to give thanks for the little things in her life that she could do, like eat and speak. Eventually she wheeled out of her dark bedroom and began to live a life of thankfulness. She developed a talent for painting by holding the brush in her teeth. As she gained recognition for her paintings she began to speak about her paralysis and started a company called “Joni and Friends” which connects diabled people around the world to local churches and holds retreats for families who have children with disabilities. Today she says that she thanks God for allowing her paralysis.

Give thanks for the LORD is good. He created you, he redeemed you, and he has a good purpose for you regardless of your current circumstances. Stand on the base of this truth and live a life topped with thanksgiving!

Amen.