"Remembering the Wilderness in the Promised Land"

 

"When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you." – verse 10

 

            A few weeks ago our son David was talking to me about how he felt we were losing Thanksgiving Day as a nation. The encroachment of Black Friday, with stores now opening Thursday evening, and the omnipresence of football combine to squeeze the expression of thanks to God out of the day. And that is a big loss. Gratitude is a fundamental attitude for the survival of any society, whether it is a family or a church or a neighborhood or a nation.

            The scripture lesson in Deuteronomy spells out the importance of gratitude and expressing thanks to God. The key word in the passage we read is "remember." Thanksgiving grows out of remembering. When we remember what God has done and then tell our story or the story of God redeeming his people, then we are led to obedience and faith and our relationship with God is vital and close. Giving thanks to God is not like writing a thank-you note for your Christmas presents – a polite response that is always appropriate, but takes time away from what you need or want to do. Giving thanks to God is telling your story, and in your story discovering a deep sense of gratitude. When you tell your story, you can tell it with bitterness and blaming, because everyone experiences injustice and unfairness and suffering in life. But you can tell your story with gratitude and appreciation, and then you become healthy and you draw close to God. Over the years I have heard so many stories of gratitude, that are often told through tears, and they have been expressions of thanks that have blessed me and inspired me. When we tell our stories remembering the salvation of God, the faithfulness of God and the provision of God, we are blessed and we bless others.

            So Moses says to the people in chapter 8, "Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness." The commentator P.C. Craigie writes that "the act of remembering prompts obedience to the Covenant – it brings to mind the reality and faithfulness of God." For Israel, the time in the wilderness was a time of testing and discipline that revealed their hearts. We should not think of this as punishment, but rather as a discipline that leads to learning and strengthening. Learning to play the piano is a discipline that takes much time, but it is very rewarding when it is successful. Through the discipline of God in the wilderness, Israel was learning to trust God and to live for him.

            For us a wilderness experience can be any time when the things we lean on are taken away for a time and we must rely on God. Maybe that is our money that is taken away, or our health, or a steady job, or a family close by or even our mom telling us what to do each step of the way. When the supports of life are removed, we learn to rely on God. So, remember the wilderness times in your life, when you needed to rely on God, and found his provision. Then give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.

            When Israel was in the wilderness, they were not able to grow their own food, so God provided manna for them. Moses says, "He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord." When we try to live on "bread alone" we rely completely on what we can produce, control, make happen or manipulate. That is precisely what is shaking the economies of the world today. We have been living on bread alone.

            But by receiving manna each day from God, the Israelites learned that the Word of God was more basic to life than bread. If you build the foundations of your life on bread alone you reap a harvest of worry and pride. But if you build the foundations of your life on the promises of God and His faithfulness, you reap a harvest of Thanksgiving. Craigie says that "what the Israelites learned in the wilderness is that the commands of God contained within them the provision of God." When we walk in God's ways, he leads us to green pasture and quiet water. When you experience that in the wilderness, you give thanks.

            So they entered the Promised Land. There they found abundant water. It was not dry like the wilderness. There they found a land rich in crops, and bread was not scarce. They no longer lived on manna. They planted and harvested and enjoyed the fruit of the land, and gave thanks both for it and for the work they were able to do.

            This is where Moses gives a warning: Don't forget God in your prosperity. Here is the problem of forgetfulness. Craigie says that "Forgetfulness is the failure to keep God's commands when the living memory of God ceases." The secular world teaches us to be forgetful. Black Friday teaches us to forget God, and to believe that our prosperity lies entirely on our own activity. The problem with prosperity is that is can lead to pride, and that is the way to forget God. When you forget God, it is easy to follow other gods.

            So Thanksgiving is a time of remembering. We remember the faithfulness and provision of God when we were in the wilderness. We remember God in times of prosperity. We thank him for daily bread and remember that it comes from his hand. We tell our story, remembering that it is God's story. We tell the bible story, remembering what God has done and where we find salvation.

            Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, and his mercy is everlasting.

            Amen.