text stringlengths 6 507 |
|---|
[2524.20 --> 2554.18] Thank you. |
[2554.20 --> 2584.20] Thank you. |
[2584.20 --> 2614.18] Thank you. |
[2614.20 --> 2616.20] Thank you. |
[2644.20 --> 2674.18] Thank you. |
[2674.20 --> 2704.20] from 2nd, |
[2704.20 --> 2734.20] |
[2734.20 --> 2764.20] |
[2764.20 --> 2794.18] Thank you. |
[2794.18 --> 2824.18] Thank you. |
[2824.18 --> 2854.16] Thank you. |
[2854.18 --> 2884.18] Thank you. |
[2884.18 --> 2914.18] Thank you. |
[2914.18 --> 2944.18] Thank you. |
[2944.18 --> 2974.18] Thank you. |
[2974.18 --> 3004.18] Thank you. |
[3004.18 --> 3034.18] Thank you. |
[3034.18 --> 3064.18] Thank you. |
[3064.18 --> 3094.18] Thank you. |
[3094.18 --> 3124.18] Thank you. |
[3124.18 --> 3154.18] Thank you. |
[3154.18 --> 3184.18] Look at you. |
[3184.18 --> 3214.18] Thank you. |
[3214.18 --> 3244.18] Thank you. |
[3244.18 --> 3274.18] Thank you. |
[3274.18 --> 3304.18] Thank you. |
[3304.18 --> 3305.60] of you. |
[3334.18 --> 3342.64] harvest of your righteousness. Now, righteousness is one of those Bible words that we sometimes |
[3342.64 --> 3349.06] just say and don't have an idea of what it means. And I like to think of righteousness is right |
[3349.06 --> 3356.84] action towards the glory of God. Right? So we do what God has called us and what is obedient to |
[3356.84 --> 3365.28] him and we do it for his glory. Now, that's my normal operating and shared definition of |
[3365.28 --> 3371.00] righteousness, but I think there's something deeper here than even that. Right? I think actually that |
[3371.00 --> 3380.06] Paul, when he is writing this section of scripture, he has in mind Hosea 10 verse 12. Hosea 10 verse 12, |
[3380.06 --> 3388.06] a minor prophet in the Old Testament. He says, sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of |
[3388.06 --> 3394.46] unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground, for it is time to seek the Lord until he comes |
[3394.46 --> 3402.28] and showers his righteousness on you. The Greek translation of Hosea from the second century |
[3402.28 --> 3407.76] BC is the same as what Paul writes here, that showers his righteousness on you in Greek is |
[3407.76 --> 3413.56] increases the harvest of your righteousness. And Paul, who wrote 2 Corinthians as a trained |
[3413.56 --> 3422.32] Hebrew Pharisee, would have these words memorized both in Hebrew and probably in Greek. And so I think |
[3422.32 --> 3430.44] when he's writing this, this frame, this expression is rolling around in his mind and they just ring out |
[3430.44 --> 3437.58] in what he says here. And so what is the harvest of your righteousness? Right? It's more than just |
[3437.58 --> 3443.52] right action for the glory of God. It's actually taking Hosea, it's the fruit of unfailing love. |
[3444.94 --> 3451.32] In fact, John Calvin will take this idea and he calls the harvest of righteousness, the work and office |
[3451.32 --> 3459.34] of love. And so what makes a uniquely Christian thanksgiving is God using it to increase, not your stuff, |
[3459.34 --> 3469.44] but your love for others, right? Your love for him. Christian generosity is about Christian love. |
[3469.58 --> 3475.54] Christian cheerfulness is about Christian love. Christian thanksgiving is about Christian love. |
[3476.28 --> 3482.54] Not the self-idolizing love of the world for itself, but the self-giving love of Jesus for the world. |
[3482.54 --> 3491.58] And so now we begin to see it, right? Thanksgiving is properly about how you can love the world. |
[3492.78 --> 3497.96] That's what makes thanksgiving uniquely Christian. That's our unique expression and what we can offer |
[3497.96 --> 3503.86] here, right? God gives you stuff and some of you abundantly, wealth, riches, possessions, |
[3503.86 --> 3513.46] so that you can give it away in his name for his glory. Thanksgiving for the Christian looks like |
[3513.46 --> 3523.52] giving blessing away. The second thing then that makes thanksgiving uniquely Christian is in verse 13. |
[3524.52 --> 3526.92] Verse 13, we read, |
[3526.92 --> 3548.72] Christian thanksgiving, Christian generosity, Christian cheerfulness. That's part of what it means when he says |
[3548.72 --> 3552.84] the obedience that accompanies your confession. Christian thanksgiving, Christian generosity, |
[3552.84 --> 3561.48] Christian cheerfulness will lead people to praise God, right? And that will start here. As we see that |
[3561.48 --> 3567.40] happening in our midst and in each other, we will be led to praise God. And then that spills out |
[3567.40 --> 3573.60] to your neighborhoods and your workplaces and your third places, whatever they happen to be. People will |
[3573.60 --> 3579.90] look at your life and not because of how rich you are or how blessed you are or however many earthly reasons |
[3579.90 --> 3585.58] you have to be thankful. People will look at your life and they will see you giving it away. They will |
[3585.58 --> 3592.78] see you loving others and they will say, God be praised. And again, not because of the stuff, |
[3593.42 --> 3594.78] but because of how you hold yourself. |
[3596.94 --> 3603.88] Because even in death, you have no fear. Even in poverty, you have the riches of the kingdom of heaven. |
[3603.88 --> 3611.74] Even in sickness, we have God's presence. And when you have Jesus, even if you have nothing else, |
[3611.96 --> 3617.68] you can still be generous and thankful and cheerful, right? That's what makes uniquely Christian |
[3617.68 --> 3623.34] thanksgiving. When by the world's standards, you have nothing to be thankful for, and yet you are. |
[3624.56 --> 3630.00] Right? When by the world's standards, you have nothing to give, and yet you do. When you have nothing |
[3630.00 --> 3639.18] to be cheerful about, and yet you can't stop rejoicing at God your Savior. Even as the cost of |
[3639.18 --> 3645.36] living feels like it's skyrocketing, and I shouldn't even say feels like there because the CPI over the |
[3645.36 --> 3652.56] last year has gone up by 8.4 or some odd percent. Like it's, even if you lose your job or you're |
[3652.56 --> 3658.84] underemployed, even if you have cancer or some other terminal disease, Christians can say, |
[3658.84 --> 3663.12] thanks be to God for his indescribable gift. |
[3665.46 --> 3670.18] Now, that's not saying the cost of living is a gift of God, or the increased cost of living is a |
[3670.18 --> 3675.16] gift from God. That's not saying that, you know, the division that exists in the world through which |
[3675.16 --> 3679.40] we can still be grateful is a gift from God. That's not saying cancer is a gift from God. |
[3679.66 --> 3684.34] Obviously not. What it is saying is that the gift of God far outweighs all of those things, |
[3684.34 --> 3689.08] right? The goodness of God and the gift of his grace are of an eternal weight and glory, |
[3689.08 --> 3693.04] and they far surpass any earthly treasure and any present suffering. |
[3695.16 --> 3701.24] That's what makes our Thanksgiving uniquely Christian. This is the truth of what it means |
[3701.24 --> 3707.26] to be Christian this Thanksgiving, that we know Jesus, that we know the gospel, that we know that |
[3707.26 --> 3712.22] Jesus lived the life I should have lived, and that he gives me his righteousness, that we know that |
[3712.22 --> 3718.12] Jesus died the death that I deserve, and that he takes the wrath of God for my sin on his shoulders. |
[3720.26 --> 3728.76] Today, this Thanksgiving day, is uniquely Christian when you cling to the grace of God. |
[3729.90 --> 3737.26] Thanksgiving for us is uniquely Christian because God uses it to increase love in us, |
[3737.26 --> 3743.44] his love for us, his love for us, our love for him, and our love for others through him. |
[3744.80 --> 3752.56] Because of his love, we are generous. Because of his love, we are thankful. Because of his love, |
[3752.68 --> 3760.12] we are cheerful. Thanksgiving is uniquely Christian because God uses the thankful, cheerful, generous life |
[3760.12 --> 3770.00] to lead others to praise him. And so today, or if it was yesterday, right, whether you sit with family |
[3770.00 --> 3779.28] or if you sit by yourselves, may people look at your life and say, God be praised. Today, when you say, |
[3779.28 --> 3786.42] happy Thanksgiving, may everyone who hears that know the love of God in your words. |
[3786.42 --> 3797.00] And today, and every day forward, may you be generous and cheerful and thankful as God increases the harvest |
[3797.00 --> 3808.16] of your righteousness so that others will praise him. That is a uniquely Christian Thanksgiving. Amen. |
[3808.88 --> 3809.74] Let's pray together. |
[3809.74 --> 3821.10] Holy God, Heavenly Father, increase the harvest of your righteousness among us. |
[3822.72 --> 3830.80] Increase our love for you this Thanksgiving. Increase our love for our neighbors and for the world around us |
[3830.80 --> 3838.82] this Thanksgiving, that in our lives of love and faithfulness, as we are generous and thankful and cheerful, |
[3839.74 --> 3849.90] that we might lead others to praise you. That even when we have nothing by the world's standards, |
[3850.86 --> 3860.96] may we have enough because we have you. And even for those of us who have abundance by the world's standards, |
[3860.96 --> 3877.26] may that not be enough without you. May we know that we need you. That you alone satisfy the desires of our hearts. |
[3877.26 --> 3882.26] May we know that we need you. And that when we find satisfaction in you and from you. |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.