THANKFUL FOR WHAT?

A sermon by the Rev. Dr. James G. Kirk

Harundale Presbyterian Church

Glen Burnie, Maryland

November 24, 2002

Text: “I do not cease to give thanks for you.” (Ephesians 1:16)

First Reading: Ezekiel 34:11-16,20-24

Second Reading: Matthew 25:31-46

It got to the point with Doreen Coates that she had to do something for pain management. It began when she was in an automobile accident twelve years ago. The pain in her shoulders and upper back would not go away. Surgery hadn’t helped and the doctors said she would have to learn to live with the pain. Five weeks ago she began what she hoped would be a solution. The doctor would inject cortisone into her neck and shoulders and that would help the muscle spasms and bring her relief, which it did for about three weeks. A week ago she went in for another such treatment and the procedure went terribly wrong. The doctor, while inserting the needle with the cortisone, nicked her carotid artery, causing a blood clot to go to her brain. She suffered a stroke and has since been in and out of consciousness as the doctors seek to reduce the swelling on her brain.

At this point Tim is thankful that she’s alive.

Two years ago, Ed Mikeska, John’s brother, had enough seniority to leave the steel mill and work in the office. But he liked being out in the plant so much that he turned down the opportunity and chose to continue to stoke the furnaces as he’d done most of his life. Three weeks ago one of the furnaces blew up and caught Ed in the fury of the blast. He was rushed to shock trauma with burns over fifty percent of his body and now faces weeks of care and rehabilitation as they begin the arduous process of skin grafting. John, Patti and the family are thankful that he’s alive

On Friday of this past week we had a service for Jack Stephens. Jack touched many lives in this congregation, with his willing spirit to take on any task that came his way and his uncanny ability to fix things. While he was our sexton he was a permanent fixture around this place. He then went on to become an integral part of the McDonald’s Ministers and continued to serve in the many capacities they took on. Thanksgiving will forever be a difficult time for Carol, since it was only last year at this time that her mother died. And yet she said time and again how grateful and thankful she was that she and Jack had had 17 wonderful years together and that she had been able to share a tiny thanksgiving meal with him before he died.

This past Thursday, we had a luncheon for the philanthropist of the year. This year it was awarded to Creston and Mary Jane Tate for their gracious gifts to the community. Over the past few years they’ve given over $250,000 to the Anne Arundel Community College, one million dollars to the new Emergency Department at North Arundel Hospital, 1.5 million dollars to its new cancer center and they built the Hospice House for the Hospice of the Chesapeake. When he spoke at the luncheon, he told us how he’d always dreamed of making a million dollars, but he never thought he’d be in a position to give away over three million dollars. Yet, he said over and over how thankful he was for the good fortune he’d received and how important it was to give back to the community.

In the midst of tragedy we hear how thankful people are. In response to death we hear how thankful people are. As recipients of great wealth we hear how thankful people are. When we read our scripture this morning we hear how thankful Paul is. And Paul in his prayer for the saints in Ephesus highlights just why it is that people may be thankful in the midst of tragedy, they may be thankful in response to death and how they may be thankful as recipients of great wealth.

In the midst of tragedy we hear Paul pray, “that with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you.” Tim has that hope every day as he watches Doreen taking baby steps toward healing. The other night when we visited her she couldn’t speak except with her eyes. Yet those eyes were enlightened with hope as in spite of her being on a ventilator she could smile a little at our presence and squeeze our hands in hers.

That same hope sustains John and Patti Mikeska as daily they count on the prayers of this congregation to sustain them throughout their painful ordeal. What a blessing it is to be a part of a praying congregation. Whenever I visit someone who’s had surgery or an illness that has put them on the prayer list they can’t wait to tell me how many cards and well wishes they’ve received. It’s as though their mailbox has been full each day with someone sending them prayers that they will get better.

In response to death we hear Paul pray, “what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints.” That was Jack’s inheritance we gathered here to celebrate this past Friday. We draped his casket with the pall to remind us all of our baptism and how in Christ we are baptized into eternal life. The past few years had been difficult ones for Jack. He was no longer able to do all the work he’d enjoyed so much and increasingly he got more and more frustrated. Then the cancer took over, the pain increased and we could honestly pray that for Jack death was past and pain was over and he had entered into the joy of eternal life.

As recipients of great wealth we hear Paul pray, “what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe.” Everyone who spoke at the luncheon on Thursday spoke of the power of philanthropy. These people were schooled early in life that everything they received was a gift and, as such, a portion of that gift was to be given back to the community. One woman told us how when she was five she made her first contribution. Her parents taught her well. Today, she’s one of the major benefactors of the arts in Baltimore.

I read in a church newsletter this past week the following from an elder in a church in New York: “Still vivid in my mind is the Pastor’s introduction to the offering with the words ‘Giving brings more blessings than receiving.’ Brought up at the Mission by a Presbyterian teacher and his dedicated wife, we were constantly immersed in the tradition of giving. Giving to our neighbor in keeping with the love your neighbor commandment, and giving to God to uphold his work. For how else would God’s Household thrive? Thus despite our Papa’s meager missionary teacher’s salary, we were each given for tithing every single Sunday morning coins of varying sizes. The older you grew, the bigger your coin grew.” What Papa was doing was building a culture of giving. (Sign of Jonah, Riverdale Presbyterian Church, Nov. 2002)

What Paul is doing is building a culture of thanksgiving, thanksgiving in the midst of tragedy, thanksgiving in response to death, and thanksgiving as recipients of great wealth. “I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him.” We all have a great deal to be thankful for and may this Thanksgiving be a time when we tell God just how thankful we are!

Thanks be to God,

Amen