Sermon - Thanksgiving Eve - 1 Timothy 2:1-4

1 Timothy 2:1-4  

Pray for All People  

2 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 

---

A blessed Thanksgiving Eve to you and yours.   

This day, or rather tomorrow, is a bit unusual in our calendar, as it is a national holiday, a national day of thanksgiving.  Perhaps that’s why some churches don’t really observe it formally at all.  But for Christians, any day is a good day to pray, to gather, and to hear God’s word. 

A national day of thanksgiving may be a good time to give thanks for blessings, both physical and spiritual.  It may be a time to focus especially on the blessings God gives through our own nation, the United States of America.  And some years we emphasize more and different aspects of all these things. 

The Israelites certainly had both secular and sacred blessings for which to thank God, which we hear about in Deuteronomy.  And in Jesus’ healing of the 10 lepers, there are also physical and spiritual blessings.  But this year I’d like to focus our attention on the reading from 1 Timothy.  We’ll come back to that in a moment. 

Also, note that today our order of service is called, “Prayer and Preaching”.  It’s a part of our hymnal we use for some of our school chapels, but not that frequently otherwise around here.   

While the chief gatherings of Christians happen on Sundays and focus on Word and Sacrament, this less solemn occasion affords us an opportunity to simply hear the word and pray (and sing a little, too, of course). 

Prayer and preaching are two key ideas in our Epistle reading.  The preaching connection comes in at the tail end, where Paul tells young Timothy that God desires all men to come to a knowledge of the truth.  Here, he means “THE truth”, that is saving faith in Christ, the Gospel itself.  That which is, of course, preached by Paul, by Timothy, and by all faithful pastors. 

Likewise it is our desire, both at Messiah, and as individual Christians, that all people are saved and come to a knowledge of and faith in Christ, who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.  This is another way of setting forth the main mission of the Church, that disciples would be made of all nations, baptized and taught.   

And perhaps a day of national thanksgiving is a good opportunity for us to recall this idea.  That God in Christ cares for the world, not just Christians, but all people.  All nations, including ours.  All people, including us.  Thanks be to God. 

To the extent that our congregation and its members have taken part in that mission, thanks be to God.  Thanks be to God that sinners are called to repentance and that the Gospel of forgiveness in Christ goes forth from this pulpit, this font and altar.  Thanks be to God for the witness to this faith that our family of faith at Messiah gives in our various vocations in the world.  Would that all of them would come to a knowledge of the truth.  And would that we would grow deeper in this knowledge and in this faith.  God grant it, for Jesus’ sake! 

But even more, Paul here is urging young pastor Timothy that he and the Christians in his care are to pray.  He says, “First, then... I urge prayer.”  It’s been said that for Christians prayer is never a last resort, but always a first option.  We begin our days with prayer.  We begin our meals with prayer.  We even begin our church meetings with prayer.  First things first, and calling upon God in faith and asking his blessing is always in order. 

Next, look at these four types of prayer or descriptions of prayer: 

Supplications.  From the same root word for “supplies”.  It is in our daily prayers that we ask of God for what we need.  Jesus taught us the same, that in his prayer, the Lord’s Prayer, we petition for “Daily Bread”  

Our Small Catechism explains:  

Daily bread includes everything that has to do with the support and needs of the body, such as food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, home, land, animals, money, goods, a devout husband or wife, devout children, devout workers, devout and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace, health, self-control, good reputation, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like. 

That’s a lot to pray for.  But then God loves to give abundant blessings.   

Then there are the “supplies” that we need that fall even beyond “this body and life” And Jesus teaches us to pray for these too, with the words, “forgive us our trespasses...”  Forgiveness, the chief spiritual blessing, is ours in Christ the crucified.  And we have it before we even pray for it.  We have it in abundance.  We have it by his word of promise, and yet we still pray for it, so that we may receive it also with thanksgiving. 

Paul’s second category of prayer is simply, “prayers”.  Generally, we are to pray for all things that accord with God’s will.  Whatever needs may arise, for ourselves and our neighbors, our leaders, our land.  There is no concern too large or small that falls beyond our God.  There is no matter regarding his children for which the Father is unconcerned.  If he even numbers the hairs on your head, he will hear your earnest prayers.  If you are worth more than the grass or many sparrows, he will certainly supply your needs.   

Though, in his wisdom, his answer may not be what you expect, our loving Father always means good for his children.  He won’t give you a serpent when you ask for a fish.  He won’t give you a scorpion when you ask for an egg.  But he will give you according to his good and gracious will. 

Another prayer that may fall into this more general bucket is a prayer of confession.  We can speak to our gracious Father not only of his goodness, but of our sin.  We can boldly confess our tainted thoughts, our twisted words, and our rebellious deeds, because we have no fear.  Christ has taken our punishment, and procured our forgiveness.  Therefore even in our prayers we can, and do, lay bare our sins before the merciful forgiver of all sins.  And he, indeed, forgives. 

And perhaps in this bucket, or in the previous one of supplications, we might put also our prayers for the government.  Paul urges us to pray for our leaders because they need it, and also because through them God blesses us with the ability to “lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.”  Good government punishes evil and rewards good, an agent of God’s wrath and protection.  And so we pray for all those God has placed over us, that they would be a blessing.  

Intercessions.  Here we are reminded not just to pray for ourselves, but for others.  It is a form of loving our neighbor, of fulfilling the law of love. 

Far more than our culture’s sometimes flippant, “thoughts and prayers”, we Christians are a holy nation of royal priests.  And one of the priest’s main tasks and callings is to intercede, to pray for others.  To stand as a go-between and approach God with concerns for our neighbor.  His health.  His spiritual well-being.  His bodily needs.  All things that tend to his welfare, the same as we would pray for our own.   

Here again we are reminded of the one mediator between God and man, the man Jesus Christ.  The great high priest who goes between us and God, goes to God on our behalf, lobbies and appeals for everything that tends to our good, even for our very life, yes, even our eternal life.  Jesus intercedes for us with the Father.  We, too, therefore pray prayers of intercession for our neighbor.  And we pray them in the name of, for the sake of, and through the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ himself.  Thanks be to God for the assurance that he hears these prayers through Christ. 

And finally, Paul urges prayers of thanksgiving.  Which brings us full circle on this day.  Yes, of course, we ought to be thankful, in our lives, in our attitudes, in our speech and especially in our prayers.  Not that God needs our thanksgiving or would be put out if you forget to thank him.  Not that his blessings depend upon our giving thanks. 

But to recognize the giver of all good things is a blessing for us.  To pray prayers of thanksgiving, not just on the national day of it, but always, is to direct the credit where it is due, and not to ourselves.  For every good and perfect gift comes down from above.  We, of ourselves deserve nothing, have earned nothing, and are but poor beggars who have been blessed in every way by a gracious and kind Father.  A Father who loved us so much to even send his own Son for our redemption, and who further, with the Son, sends his Spirit for our sanctification.   

It’s a lot to pray for, isn’t it?  But far from a burden, it is our delight to raise supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings to the one who delights to hear them and supply all our needs.  A blessed Thanksgiving day to you and yours, in Jesus Christ our Lord.