Excerpts from a service I did in 2003… Scripture is from 1 Timothy 2: 1-6 and Matthew 6: 25-33…

GOD, all things come from you. There is nothing that happens in our lives without your knowing. We have so much, God. We take it all for granted. The sun comes up in the morn­ing. The ocean rolls in to the shore. The stars shine. The leaves change color. Thank you, God, for these gifts. Thank you for the people who love us in spite of ourselves. Thank you for your son who was nailed to the cross. Thank you for the independence and perse­verance of our forefathers who saw beyond their own existences and created this nation.    Amen.

1 Timothy 2: 1 – 6

I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men-the testimony given in its proper time.

Jesus truly was a man of peace. He taught us to love one another… He taught us to love our enemies… and He taught us to love God… His Father!

We Christians have learned, over the years, that… while we need to strive for and work towards world peace… the only peace that we often have any control over is the peace that Jesus brings inside of us… that personal peace that comes from a deep, strong relationship with Him.

But can you imagine what the world would be like if we all lived in actual peace with one another? What discoveries might be made if our scientist were all concentrating on finding cures or improving life instead of developing weapons, or defenses against them? How high would the soul and consciousness of humankind soar if we were focused on our love for one another instead of our differences?

There was a song, during the late sixties that told a story of how the people in the valley coveted the treasure of the mountain people above them. The mountain people offered to share, but the valley people wanted it all. So, grabbing their swords and mounting their horses, they killed the mountain people… so they got their just reward. Do you remember it? When they uncovered the treasure what they found was ‘Peace On Earth!’

Sometimes, wanting and believing in peace isn’t enough. The mountain people believed in peace… yet, in the song, all died! The United States of America… this wonderful country of ours… has taken a leadership role, over the years, in standing up for the oppressed and the downtrodden… for attempting to bring peace to those who so desperately are in need of it… even to the point, sometimes, of attempting to force it upon them! I will grant you that many of these attempts have been political in nature, and therefore questionable. But at the heart of our country… at the heart of our laws and our constitution and our intents… are the principals of Christianity! And it these principals that need to be presented around the world!

Sometimes we must fight for those principals… sometimes we must defend ourselves because of them… but let us never forget that those who wear a uniform in our name are also, generally, in the service of spreading God’s message… the message of peace and love to ALL people… and the Good News of Jesus Christ, His Son!

Matt. 6: 25 – 33

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.  Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Part of a Bible study I once wrote said, “We live in a world that often says that we are nothing more than a collection of appetites to be satisfied. We’re surrounded by billboards and ads for products that say; ‘Use me, buy me, wear me, drink me, drive me, put me in your hair – and you will be content.’ Be we are NOT content! The distance between ‘more’ and ‘enough’ is an unbridgeable chasm.”

       We also read author Mike Ballah’s comment that, “To be content is… not to have all that you want, but to want only what you have.” That is very profound! But the truth is, we in this country have so many things that we can hardly tell, sometimes, what we don’t have! And we get all caught up in both the pursuit and the control of those things.

       But in these verses, Jesus is telling us to not worry about things… not to worry about getting ‘just one more’! But to be aware of and focus on that which is of true importance… spending eternity with Him!

       Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day… a day that has been set aside for us to reflect on some of those ‘things’ in our life that God has been so generous with. And God has been generous! Consider that you drove to this service this evening… how many people are there around the world who have no choice but to walk. Consider the warm clothes that you are wearing and this heated building we are meeting in, as well as that nice warm bed waiting for you at home… and think how many people around the world are naked and cold and homeless. Consider the size of that turkey or ham sitting in your refrigerator right now waiting to be consumed sometime tomorrow… then count how many will die tonight from malnutrition.

       God has blessed us… He has blessed you! Let us lift His name on high and be truly thankful to Him everyday… not just Thanksgiving!

Let me close by reading something that made the rounds of the internet some years ago… I never knew who wrote it, but it is called, “An Interview With God”…

I dreamed I had an interview with God

“So you would like to interview me?” God asked.

“If you have the time,” I said.

God smiled.

“My time is eternity . . . what questions do you have in mind for me?”

“What surprises you most about humankind?”

God answered,

“That they get bored with childhood, they rush to grow up, and then long to be children again.”

“That they lose their health to make money . . . and then lose their money to restore their health.”

“That by thinking anxiously about the future, they forget the present, such that they live in neither the present nor the future.”

“That they live as if they will never die, and die as though they had never lived.”

God’s hand took mine and we were silent for awhile.

And then I asked, “As a parent, what are some of life’s lessons you want your children to learn?”

“To learn they cannot make anyone love them.  All they can do is let themselves be loved.”

“To learn that it is not good to compare themselves to others.”

“To learn to forgive by practicing forgiveness.”

“To learn that it only takes a few seconds to open profound wounds in those they love, and it can take many years to heal them.”

“To learn that a rich person is not one who has the most, but is one who needs the least.”

“To learn that there are people who love them dearly, but simply do not yet know how to express or show their feelings.”

“To learn that two people can look at the same thing and see it differently.”

“To learn that it is not enough that they forgive one another, but that they must also forgive themselves.”

“Thank you for you time,” I said humbly.  “Is there anything else you’d like your children to know?”

God smiled and said . . . “Just know that I am here.”  “Always.”