Our Sermons

Bible Passage:2 Samuel 7:18-22
Pastor: Pastor Schlicht
Sermon Date:  November 23-24, 2022

The other day I found myself sitting second in line at a red light. And as soon as the light turned from red to green, I expected the car ahead of me to get going, but it didn’t move. Maybe they were daydreaming, maybe they were looking at their phone, maybe they were fiddling with the radio, who knows. But I was put in an awkward position. I didn’t want to honk my horn and be impatient, but I was also conscious of the other cars behind me. So I don’t usually do this, but I laid on the horn and boy, was it effective! The car ahead of me lurched forward and zoomed away in embarrassment…I didn’t mean to startle them, but  everyone knows that the green light means GO! It’s absurd not to move when you see a green light.

When you think about all the blessings the Lord has given you, when you think about how great our God is, that’s like seeing the light turn green. It’s absurd not to be moved! It’s absurd not to give thanks! That’s why I love Thanksgiving, because as Christians, we have a green light to give thanks everyday, but this holiday is a dedicated reminder to step on the pedal of gratitude. It’s almost like hearing a car horn, it wakes us up from the distractions of our complaints and worries, and moves us forward in thanks.

Ironically, stepping on the pedal of gratitude means sitting here in church today. That’s the same thing that King David did on his day of thanksgiving. You see, King David wanted to build a house for the LORD, but God flipped the script. The LORD told him that he wouldn’t build the temple, but the LORD was going to build a house for David—a house of kings, a dynasty that would last forever! This promise was the green light for David. We read this: Then King David went in and sat before the LORD… David didn’t need anyone to honk at him, he heard the news from the prophet Nathan and went straight to the tabernacle and sat down to give thanks in God’s presence, just as we are here today.

King David’s prayer of thanksgiving doesn’t begin with thanks but with surprise. He is breathless over the LORD’s grace and opens his prayer by staggering underneath it. I don’t know if I can quite capture the feeling, but let’s look at the three key points of his beautiful prayer of Thanksgiving. First David marvels over past grace: “Who am I, Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?” Gratitude can never forget—nor explain—the past. How can David fathom why the LORD’s plan ever centered upon him? Why did God choose this ruddy little boy from the pastures of Bethlem, to go from tending sheep to ruling over God’s people? Bethlehem was only six miles from Jerusalem, but for David crossing that distance took twenty chapters and over ten years of danger and escape, treachery and loyalty, loneliness and friendship, despair and confidence. Yet here he sits as king, against all odds, or rather by the sheer grace of God. All he can do is wonder, “Who am I?” And that’s a good question, because it wasn’t anything about him, it was the LORD whose hand had been guiding him through every trial. The LORD brought him to this point and David can only sit down and wonder about how blessed he is…

As you think back over your life, can you say the same thing? “Who am I, Sovereign LORD, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?” Think back over the trials God has brought you through. The undeserved joys he’s brought into your life. The strength of faith his Spirit has grown in your heart. Should we not also sit in God’s house today and marvel over his past grace? What well-worn paths of grace have we walked on? How have his severe mercies often turned us away from an evil road? How many times did we doubt his love, only to realize later that he was with us the whole time, that his rod and staff were always there to comfort us? Let us give thanks for the past grace of our great God!

David goes on to marvel over the LORD’s present and future grace: “And as if this were not enough in your sight, Sovereign Lord, you have also spoken about the future of the house of your servant—and this decree, Sovereign Lord, is for a mere human!” As if preserving David from a thousand deaths was altogether too trivial, the LORD had committed himself to an amazing promise regarding David’s dynasty. David sees that his reign would bring rest not only to Israel in the present but would extend the LORD’s blessing to all of humanity in the future! The Davidic dynasty would last forever, a King would come who would reign eternally! This is the fulfillment of the ages, the seed of Abraham, the Son of Eve, promised Messiah! This is about Christ!

The house of David would find its forever king in a little baby born in Bethlehem, the town of David. No one was very thankful for him the night he came into our world. There was no room in the inn and this great sovereign King laid his head in the straw of a manger. But this little infant was the fulfillment of David’s house…1000 years after David lay in the dust, Jesus came to live and die for your soul, even though he was the King of heaven and earth. Talk about green light to give thanks!? Our sins are completely forgiven—even those times we’ve complained while holding God’s grace. Jesus has covered them all with his sacrifice. And the true Davidic King didn’t just die, he lived. He lives today and forever to give us life today and forever! Let us give thanks today for the present and future grace of our great God!

Shortly after World War II ended at a small lutheran church in Wisconsin, there were two couples waiting to talk with the pastor after the service. The first couple said, “Pastor, our son came home safely yesterday, we would like to give $500 as a thank offering.” (A lot of money in those days.) The second couple then came into his office, not having heard what the first couple talked about, and they said, “Pastor, as you know we lost our son in the war, and we’d like to give $500 as a thank offering.” When you understand the present and future grace of God, the light is always green for thanksgiving. There will be some empty seats around the Thanksgiving table for some of you this year. Give thanks to your Sovereign LORD who both gives and takes away. Give thanks for the present gift of having known and being shaped by those loved ones while they were on earth, and then give thanks also for the future grace of seeing them in heaven around the throne of Christ the King forever.

Finally, David marvels over what I’ll call sovereign grace: “What more can David say to you? For you know your servant, Sovereign LORD. For the sake of your word and according to your will, you have done this great thing and made it known to your servant. “How great you are, Sovereign LORD! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears.” The LORD’s plan arises solely out of his choice and desire, not from human ingenuity, least of all David’s, least of all yours or mine. So David continues to be lost for words at the LORD’s sovereign grace. He can hardly believe how the LORD has brought him to this point, that he has by his Word, made unwavering promises about his line that will embrace all of humanity, and all of this was done simply by his grace! Simply according to his will…The LORD has taken his breath away… “What more can David say to you?” 

Isn’t this the happy frustration that meets us on Thanksgiving? The LORD’s sovereign grace has doomed our worship to inadequacy. Like David we begin by asking “Who am I?” and we end by saying, “There is one like you!” There is no one like our God. Thanksgiving is the horn that startles us to see the blazing green light of God’s Grace! Grace that turns our hearts from a standing still to lurching forward in embarrassed praise. What more can we say? How Great You Are, Sovereign LORD! 

Amen.