November 25, 2021
Walter A. Maier held a doctorate in philosophy from Harvard and taught at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, but is best known for his worldwide radio broadcast, “Bringing Christ To the Nations.” He was heard in over 120 nations. Billy Graham called him the greatest evangelist of the 20th century.
And now, Maier’s Thanksgiving message.
Back in November, 1930, when unemployment was high, farm prices low, bread lines long, shelters for the homeless full, the American Association for the Advancement of Atheism sent a petition to the President asking that the annual Thanksgiving proclamation be omitted. How, these deniers of truth argued, can anyone give thanks with so much suffering and want throughout the land? How can people praise a God who permits such widespread anguish?
Today, from coast to coast Thanksgiving orators have called attention to America’s unparalleled blessing even in war time. Ours is the greatest country in the world. We have immeasurable natural resources hidden in treasure houses beneath our soil, spreading in almost unlimited extent over its surface in forests, fertile farmlands, bounteous orchards. While diseases ravaged large areas in Europe, this country has escaped serious epidemics. Millions in China and Greece hover on the very edge of starvation; yet the past year, despite restriction and rationing, has not deprived our people of necessary and wholesome food. We have had bounteous harvests.
Even in war’s afflictions, God has been good to us. No enemy troops have landed on our shores. No enemy planes have bombed our cities. No enemy invasion has even threatened our borders. We have blackouts, but only for practice.
Add to these material blessings the liberties that are ours. We have a democratic government, while other peoples are crushed beneath the heel of tyranny. Freedom of thought, freedom of expression, freedom of education all these are still ours while other nations are regimented by destructive dictatorships. Above all, we still have religious freedom, the personal privilege of worshiping the Almighty according to His Word without state direction.
Yet despite these reasons for gratitude, many are seized with bitterness because of financial reverses, family losses, personal afflictions. Now, I would speak to you, the lonely, distressed, spiritually shaken, destitute, bereaved but also to you, the satisfied, secure, socially prominent, financially firm with larger incomes than you have ever before received and the heaviest prosperity you have ever enjoyed. To all of you I say in the name of Jesus Christ: Take as your example heroic Daniel, of whom it is written in our text, “He kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God” (Daniel 6:10).
Daniel was in exile in Babylon, far from his beloved Judah and Jerusalem, a stranger in a strange, hostile nation. Many personal enemies surrounded him. The verses preceding our text declare, “all the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counselors, and the captains . . . sought to find occasion against Daniel”
Daniel’s heaviest burden was imposed by Darius’ decree, demanding that all people in his realm pray to him, the king. This meant that, if Daniel continued to kneel before the true God, he would be thrown to hungry lions. His enemies stealthily watched his house, found him on his knees worshiping God, accused him at the royal court, and insisted that Darius sentence him to death.
Unwillingly the monarch obeyed, and before the day closed, Daniel was cast into the lions’ den. Yet, instead of being torn to pieces by the bloodthirsty beasts, he was miraculously protected. The Lord’s servant was rescued and returned to his position. His deliverance provoked another decree, directing men throughout the kingdom to bow before Jehovah, since, as King Darius declared, “He is the living God and steadfast forever.” What a glorious Thanksgiving Day that was for Daniel!
What a blessed Thanksgiving Day this can be for you if with all your heart you follow Daniel by turning to the Almighty in Christ and thank Him for His marvelous mercies! No matter how hard the past has been, how uncertain the future, if you have accepted the Lord Jesus as your Savior, the twenty-four hours of Thanksgiving Day will not be long enough to express your gratitude for His mercy in redeeming you from sin and its sentence of eternal death.
Can you say and believe sincerely, “Jesus died for me”? Then thank God without ceasing for the greatest gift even His love can give you this assurance of your salvation!
Do you own a Bible, the errorless Word of redemption, “which is able to build you up”? Thank God for this sacred truth which can direct you safely in every dark hour, along each uncharted path!
Even if you have been guilty of many and serious sins, read the promises of Sacred Scripture to learn, “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” all through the complete, assured grace of the Savior who gave Himself for you!
Are you tempted to refuse thanking God since your happiness has been small? When the Plymouth Pilgrims observed their first Thanksgiving, they had harvested the yield of only twenty acres of corn, six acres of barley and peas. Their world was but a few square miles surrounded by the perils of pathless wilderness, yet they set aside a special day to praise their Lord. How much more you have for which to sing your gratitude to the heavenly Father! Count your blessings, one by one, and believe that the almighty Creator and Sustainer, with whom “nothing shall be impossible” can, if it be for your eternal good, multiply your earthly benedictions overnight.
The other day I read of a shipwrecked man who managed to reach an uninhabited island. There, to protect himself against the elements and to safeguard the few possessions he had salvaged, he painstakingly built a little hut from which he constantly and prayerfully scanned the horizon for the approach of a ship. Returning one evening after a search for food, he was terrified to find the hut completely enveloped in flames. What a crushing disaster that seemed! Yet by divine mercy this hard affliction was changed into a mighty advantage. Early on the following morning he awoke to find a ship anchored off the island. The captain stepped ashore and explained, “We saw your smoke signal and came.” What the man saw as total disaster was the means to his rescue.
We read of Saint Paul that in one of his many difficulties “he thanked God, and took courage.” May you, my fellow redeemed, on this wartime Thanksgiving praise God for the Savior and take courage in Christ for whatever may confront you! In true courage stand beneath the cross and, with your arm raised in the oath of allegiance to the crucified Redeemer, cry out, “Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!’ The Lord grant you that supreme Thanksgiving joy for the Savior’s sake! Amen.
-30-
No comments:
Post a Comment