Thanks - Whenever!
From Wellington Cathedral of St Paul
10 October 2010: am
The Revd Judith Wigglesworth
- Psalm 66:1-8
- Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7
- 2 Timothy 2:8-15
- Luke 17:11-19
Emotions – complex, unpredictable, wild? Probably all of the above! There are times when our emotions about a particular situation or crisis overwhelm us. Even if you weren’t directly affected by the earthquake in Christchurch, my guess is that in the past few weeks, even now as aftershocks continue, you might have experienced intense emotions about stories of brokenness, or stories of encouragement that have arisen out of the earthquake. My guess is that from media reports this week, you have also experienced strong emotions about the high profile inquests into the deaths of James Webster and the Kahui twins.
So much more then, do our emotions overwhelm us when the events that evoke them affect us very closely. This week a close friend of mine was confronted with a huge range of emotions. A family party for her mother’s 90th birthday had been organised for ages. The whole family planned to gather in Auckland yesterday to celebrate this wonderful milestone.
Earlier in the week, however, tragedy struck this family with the sudden death of another family member - aged 92. So on Friday they gathered to farewell one beloved family member; and yesterday gathered to celebrate the birthday of another. A few days ago my friend and I talked about the huge range of emotions she and her family would no doubt go through in the juxtaposition of these two events: so different, but in many ways so similar.
Both events will have had at their heart an attitude of thanksgiving: thanksgiving for long life, and thanksgiving for the dedication and love of special family members. Both events will have included the sharing of memories and stories. Both events may well have caused tears to flow: tears of joy and tears of sadness.
Thanksgiving is not something that always comes easily. Sometimes we struggle to find the right words to say “thank you”: we agonise over the wording of a thank-you note, or we just can’t seem to find the right moment. On other occasions we treasure a gift or an act of kindness, but, despite our best intentions, forget to acknowledge it. Alternatively, a spirit of thanksgiving may come upon us at a time when we least expect it. A word of encouragement, an unexpected gesture, or a sudden insight through someone else’s words, may fill us with an unbidden sense of thanksgiving.
All of our readings today have within them something of a surprise, and something of thanksgiving.
The Jeremiah reading, which Dean Frank referred to last week, contains a very surprising note of hope. After the sacking of their beloved temple in Jerusalem, the razing of their city, and their deportation to a foreign land, the Israelite people despair. In the midst of this despair, Jeremiah comes up with a surprising message for the exiles in Babylon: build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce; take wives and have sons and daughters. In other words, keep living! Settle and celebrate, give thanks for the new life you can build in that place. You can still find wellbeing, and you can still pray to your God. For people who thought they could sing the Lord’s song only in Jerusalem, this message must have brought them up short, forced a re-think, and perhaps given them a seed of new hope and a sense of thanksgiving to God.
In his letter to Timothy, Paul refers to the hardship he has endured for the sake of the gospel. Even if we are faithless, even if we struggle, Paul’s message is that God remains faithful. He urges Timothy and others in the church to do their best to act as God would wish, to avoid superficial wrangling, and instead focus on what unites them in truth and faith. As we know from Paul’s letters, even in hardship and while languishing in prison, he was able to thank and praise God.
In today’s gospel reading, only one leper says thanks to Jesus. But this would not have been the most surprising thing in this story for the listeners at the time. The most surprising thing would have been who said thanks. It was a Samaritan, regarded as a foreigner and an outsider, who did the decent thing, and thanked Jesus for the amazing gift of healing he had just received. This would have overturned people’s expectations of not only who in that society was worthy of God’s healing, but also who in that society truly modeled faith in God, and took the time to thank Jesus.
The Cathedral Choristers have just spent two full days making music and having fun together. There have been many “thank yous” in the course of their time together. Thanks for food, thanks for singing, thanks for fellowship, and thanks for new things learned, not to mention thanks for the gift of animals and pets! At yesterday’s pet service, a dog chimed in with two barks just at the end of a prayer, as if to add an “Amen”!
Psalm 66, sung this morning, is full of praise and thanksgiving, and it’s very appropriate that the choristers sing it as they give thanks for their two days together. The psalmist encourages everyone – perhaps all of creation, dogs, cats, rabbits, butterflies and all! – to “make a joyful noise to God, to sing the glory of his name”.
Wherever we are, even in difficult circumstances, we are called to have an attitude of thanksgiving to God. Just as the exiles were encouraged to make a new life in a foreign land; just as Paul encouraged faith despite hardship and imprisonment; just as the leper was able to acknowledge Jesus, his healer; so we are called to say thank you in the many different stages and experiences of our lives. These “thank yous” may be in the midst of pain, as my friend and her family will have experienced on Friday. These “thank yous” may be in the midst of celebration, as my friend and her family will have experienced yesterday.
As we gather today in worship, we bring our lives to God. We bring our personal experiences and emotions, and we bring the stuff we share, as we all try to make sense of the world around us. In our lives may be struggles, pain, or difficult relationships. In our lives also may be joy, achievements, deep love and affection.
The beauty of worship is that it enables us to bundle up the complicated package that is our life and at this very moment offer it to God.
All are welcome at the altar of God. So, as you come forward this morning, whether for a blessing or for the Eucharist, know that God will meet you there, in Jesus Christ, and share in both your troubles and your joys. And as you go from here, know that God goes with you.
Both here, and there, may “thank you” be words that we never forget. As a famous German theologian once said: If the only prayer we ever say in our entire life is “thank you”, it will be enough (Meister Eckhart, c1260-c1327).
Amen.
