Blessed Thanksgiving
November 25, 2009
by Rev. Mitch Hescox
Alleluia, Alleluia
Give thanks to the risen Lord
Alleluia, alleluia, give praise to His name
Jesus is Lord of all the earth
He is the King of creation
Spread the good news o’er all the earth
Jesus has died and has risen
We have been crucified with Christ
Now we shall live forever
Come let us praise the living God
Joyfully sing to our Savior
-Donald Fischel
Give thanks to the risen Lord … isn’t that Thanksgiving is all about. We forget so easily that yes Jesus is Lord of all the earth. He is the King of creation. The first North American Thanksgiving celebrated, at least the image, of different cultures working together and being dependent on the creation for physical life. Our corporate Thanksgiving vision links Native Americans and new immigrants together caring for creation, working together sustainably and in a fashion living as one in God’s Kingdom.
While our memory of Pilgrims and Native Americans working together may have become somewhat idealized, Thanksgiving represents a snapshot into Jesus’ proclamation, “The Kingdom of God is at hand.” Picture in your mind God’s blessings if:
- We worked for the common benefit of all;
- Respect and value given to new immigrants;
- We recognized all creatures as created by The Creator;
- The Earth was prized as a precious gift instead of a commodity;
- We truly denied ourselves, picked up our cross, and followed Jesus.
What a blessed Thanksgiving! Then all the earth – all creation would sing:
- Alleluia, Alleluia
Give thanks to the risen Lord
Alleluia, alleluia, give praise to His name!
Close to the Heart of Christ
November 3, 2009
By Rev. Mitch Hescox
20“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. John 17:20-21 (NIV)
I love to dream. My most passionate dream is the fulfillment of Jesus’ great prayer for His Church –that we might all be one. This Scripture has been at the heart of my faith for several years, because it’s profoundly relationally. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are tied together not through some doctrine, dogma, or theology but through the very essence of who God is: LOVE.
(16And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 1 John 4:16 (NIV))
Scripture tells us once a long time ago God, humanity, and all creation lived in pure and right relationship. God walked with His children. His children cared for His creation and in turn, creation provided the necessaries. Humanity and all creation were whole –spiritually, physically, and emotionally. Then we decided against relationship and wanted power, control, self-sufficiency. We believed and questioned God’s essential goodness, we questioned did God really say that and we have been living in sin ever since. Jesus came to redeem and restore wholeness, a complete total relationship with God, and each other. The prayer of Christ is a foreshadowing of that ultimate reconciliation of all things that the unity of the body would proceed the freedom that all of creation will experience, liberation from bondage and decay –that they might all be one again. Jesus is still praying.
Dream with me and believe in a creation that may be whole because of what Jesus has already completed. Dream with me that through Christ the world may be a better place. Dream with me that we may deny ourselves. Dream with me that we can let go and let God. Dream of what can be. Then allow your dreams to transform into reality by the Holy Spirit. I know that all things are possible through Jesus Christ, even dreams that we might all be one.
