Title Ephesians 02:1-5 True Thanksgiving
Contents
Title: Thank You
Text: Ephesians 2:1-5
Last September 11th, we witnessed the terrible event of the collapse of the twin towers of the World Trade Center, a symbol of America's progressive civilization.
In the 20th century, the clash between the high-rise and high-speed civilizations that humans are proud of took the lives of thousands of people in an instant. Now that the Cold War is over, I expected a more livable and peaceful era to come, but the era of clash of civilizations that Samuel Huntington talked about is approaching more realistically. At the same time as this devastating incident, another hijacked plane from the same suicide group was heading towards the White House. On this plane was a faithful young man named Todd Bimura and his friends.
They figured out the suicide squad's intentions and said a short goodbye to their respective families. And, starting with memorizing the Lord's Prayer, he fought the terrorists and caused the plane to crash in the middle of Washington.
The courage to risk the lives of Todd Bimu, a graduate of Wheaton University, and his friends, prevented an unimaginable global catastrophe. Todd Bimu had two children and a wife. Also, his wife is pregnant with their third child, due in January next year. However, in this amazing situation, Todd Bimu's wife said that she offered a prayer of thanks to the Lord with tears. It is said that he vowed to dedicate his three children to the Lord as a missionary, which was Todd Bimu's dream, by raising three children in faith.
Todd Bimu's wife's gratitude is different from the general gratitude we usually give.
In fact, the gratitude of our believers should be like this. You have to give thanks beyond the circumstances.
How is this possible? The British exploited India for 700 years and made a lot of money.
They often offered lavish worship in gratitude for their wealth and prosperity. Regarding this, Gandhi, a nonviolent independence activist, is said to have said: “Will God really accept that worship?”
Dear saint, what is your thanks? Aren't you giving yourself a self-centered, conditional, depraved thanks like the British? Gratitude on the side of my advantage, on my central, selfish level, is what everyone in the world does. Even though you know that the world's wealth and prosperity are not the truth, why do you want to find the title of thanks there? Our thanksgiving should focus on “who made me alive, who was dead in trespasses and sins” like the text. The nature in which we formerly lived in sin according to the lusts of the flesh
I thank you for being a child of wrath, but now under God's abundant mercy. Almighty God, what could I be more grateful for than a loving God being my father Where is the greater joy of having life in my arms, freedom in my arms, and freedom in my arms?
If the faith of Paul who confessed, “If we live, we will live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord, therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.” We must repent of our worldly eyes and restore them to spiritual eyes. Do you remember the gruesome scene before the World Trade Center collapsed, when a desperate man, unable to escape, hung from a window and waved a furoshiki for his life? Our spiritual eyes see our families and our neighbors so begging before death. I need them to meet Jesus through me. Most importantly, life is the most important thing, thanks for giving life.
The thanksgiving of the saints is not conditional or situational. Even if the world collapses, there is truth that I can hold onto, so I am thankful for that God who is the truth. It's about thanking God for holding on to me, holding our community, and holding the earth. I sincerely wish this thanks to be yours.