Sermon for Thanksgiving Eve
A FRAGRANT OFFERING
Theme: Your offerings and your acts of love toward your neighbor are more
valuable to God than you might think.
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen. In tonight’s Epistle, St. Paul thanks his beloved Philippians for their
financial support, which he describes as “a fragrant offering, a sacrifice
acceptable and pleasing to God.”
Dear Christian friends:
The world-famous French artist Edgar Degas (1834-1917) disliked his own
work. He sold his art because he needed the money, but he never thought it was
truly good enough for the public eye. He once said to a friend, “I would like
to be rich enough to buy back all my pictures and destroy them by pushing my
foot through the canvas.” After his death, Degas’ apartment was found stacked
high with unsold paintings and early works he had re-acquired and attempted to
hide. Today those paintings are loved and adored by millions. They grace the
walls of museums throughout the world, placed among the greatest and most
beautiful works of art known to history.
What value do you place on your offerings to God? What is your personal
opinion of your own sacrificial acts? Degas regarded his world-class work as
insufficient and unworthy for the eyes of the world. By comparison, what do you
think of those things you dare to offer the Maker all things?
Writing from prison, Paul thanked the Philippians for the gift they had
sent to him by the hand of Epaphroditus. “The faith and love that spring from
the hope that is stored up for you in heaven” (Colossians 1:5, NIV) had now,
miraculously, done a good work in these people. The Gospel in your ears bears
miraculous fruit (Colossians 1:6) in your life. In the case of the Philippians,
this fruit took the form of cash—money sent to Paul in prison. Did the
Philippians think this sacrificial gift was anywhere good enough to show their
appreciation to God, especially in light of the Word of forgiveness and life
Paul had delivered to them? Probably not.
You probably know yourself too well to think too highly of your gifts
and offerings to God. You likely share Paul’s confession in the book of Romans,
where he states, “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh”
(Romans 7:18). You might even reason to yourself, “If I am sinful, how can my
gifts and offerings be anything other than sinful?”
Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a
fig tree… bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? (James 3:11-12)
Exercise extreme caution, dear saints, when you look at your offerings
to God and consider your sacrifices. It may be that you feel like the widow who
could only give two copper coins while everyone around her dumped much larger
amounts into the offering plate (Mark 12:41-42). The widow’s gift certainly did
not look like much, not even to her, but Jesus gave this woman the highest
praise: “Truly I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who
are contributing to the offering box.” And what does Paul say about the
offering given by the Philippians? “The gifts you sent [are] a fragrant
offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.”
You must follow a middle course when you think about the gifts and
offerings we bring to God, no matter how large or small they may be.
· By all means, carefully guard yourself against the one extreme of
presumption and pride. Require yourself to remember that you give to God
nothing He did not first give to you, and that no gift can ever speak
sufficient thanks and praise for all that He has done and continues to do in
your life.
· Also guard yourself against the other extreme of thinking too little of
your gifts, as Edgar Degas thought too little of his paintings. Would you dare
to kick your foot through the canvas of good works that God has so miraculously
painted into your life? God has poured His living Gospel into you, and His
Gospel bears wonderful fruit! You are fully cleansed of all your sins, which
means there is no spot or blemish in you or in anything you do. Stated in other
ways, your living Christ has made you into a freshly renewed pond that produces
sweet water and a healthy tree that produces good fruit fit for a king. When
God looks at you, He sees His Son Jesus. When God looks at your actions, He
sees His Son in action. Look at your offerings and sacrifices in the way that
God sees them: they are miraculously-produced; “a fragrant offering, a
sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.”
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