November 27, 2024
Thanksgiving Eve
Rev. Karl-John N. Stone
Exodus 20:18-24; Psalm 16; Mark 8:1-10
The scripture readings tonight all talk about blessings. In the first reading from Exodus 20, God says to Moses: “In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you.” It’s a blessing that moves from heaven to earth.
In the second reading, from Psalm 16, we pray: “I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel; my heart teaches me night after night.” It’s a blessing that goes the other way, moving from earth to heaven.
And then in the third reading, from Mark 8 (the feeding of the 4,000), Jesus takes the seven loaves that the disciples gave him, gives thanks, then breaks the bread and gives it to the disciples to distribute. After that, Jesus blesses the few small fish that the disciples gave him, and he asks the disciples to distribute the fish. We see here the connection between giving thanks and blessings; they are basically the same thing or at least interconnected. And this time the blessing doesn’t come from heaven down to earth, or go from earth up to heaven. This time the blessing is done horizontally, from person to person.
Blessings in many forms continue to be given to us by God. Our faith in Christ is itself a blessing we have been given by the Holy Spirit. Your blessings might also be talents or possessions, ways of being or ways of relating to others; your blessings might be an occupation or vocation, an experience that you’ve had, or a special time you’ve spent with someone. Perhaps you were blessed by being forgiven, or being able to forgive someone else.
God speaks to us through the blessings we receive and give. And when God gives you a blessing, God also calls you to share that blessing in some way with others. Sharing your blessings is one way that we return thanks to God for the blessings he has given.
So now we will move to our Faithful Innovation experiment. Move around and get into groups of maybe 4 to 6 people, and then each take a couple minutes sharing your blessings by doing the following:
Tell about a blessing you received that you were able to share with someone else.
OR
Tell about a blessing you saw in someone else, which they were able to share with someone else.