In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +
God certainly gives daily bread to everyone without our prayers, even to all evil people, but we pray in this petition that God would lead us to realize this and to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving. How will you receive the blessings that God gives you? In some ways, this is the central question of our time, of the world today – even though the world out there would never phrase the question this way. How do you receive what you have, what God has given to you? How do we handle our stuff, our things that we have in this world, even our bodies? Think for a moment on all the fights and wrangling that goes on in the world. Pretty much every political fight is a fight over “everything that has to do with the support and needs of the body.” There are economic and ideological debates about how wealth is generated or who is oppressing who and how advantage gets taken and who owes what money to this person and I have a right to free health care and a pony and it's my body, I can do what I want and on and on and on. And there's no joy, no contentment anywhere, even though we're as wealthy as any society in history and global poverty rates are dropping. Instead there's anger, fighting, blame, and aspersions, and all of it swirling around what Jesus simply sums up as daily bread.
So ponder this. Over and against all the endless blather in the world, whenever you pray the Lord's Prayer, not just this Thanksgiving Day but every day, you are reminded, you are grounded, you are centered in a most wondrous truth. God gives you daily the things you need; you receive them from God as a gift, and thus are able to receive them with thankfulness, joy, and delight. The first part of this is that God gives, that God provides. In the face of sin and wickedness, God provides. God oversees the world, oversees society so that in spite of sin and corruption and fights people are pretty well provided for. With all the complaining about injustice or what have you... people pretty well get what they need. Even with problems like Homelessness in the US – the issue seems to be more that the homeless are making cities unsafe and dirty, not that people are starving to death everywhere. God provides, even in the midst of radically destructive approaches to life, even in the midst of conflicts and war. Evil people unleash the worst sorts of evil – and yet God continues to provide daily bread, to give good things.
The Lepers are an example of this in our Gospel lesson. They are banished from society – they can't work, they can't produce, they can't even really beg because they have to be isolated and alone... yet they were provided for even before Jesus shows up to heal them. This is a wondrously gracious thing – something that folks then and even we today would simply over look. God provides – we have to work really hard at wickedness and stupidity to break apart God's providence. And we as individuals and societies will try our hardest to break down this daily bread, and sometimes for a bit it goes lacking, but God still keeps providing, keeps giving... even to all evil people.
Do you see how this is a different approach from the resentful arguments over scarcity or from the greedy arguments about possession and what's mine? Instead of seeing a lack, instead of seeing a scramble, there is simply massive, wondrous abundance, given by God in spite of our sinfulness. God is good. And God gives you good earthly blessings... even if you aren't aware of them, even if you presume upon them.
Most of the time daily bread is given is ways that we grow so accustomed to that we don't even think about the wonder of them. Think of all the work, all the coordination that had to go on for that turkey in the oven to be in your oven. The farming, the transportation of supplies to the farmer, of the bird to the plant, from the plant to the store, the store to your house – all the things required for you to have an oven and electricity or gas for that oven to work, for you to have access to resources to pay for these things. It's all an astounding symphony of care that God oversees and keeps moving along, even as sinful people mess things up. Daily bread is given wondrously indeed, even often without anyone's thanks or praise.
But as the Gospel lesson points out, even if that daily bread is given in an abnormal way, in a miraculous way – still the awareness of it, still thanks and praise is lacking. Then Jesus answered, “Were not 10 cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 10 received a miracle; only one returned to praise. And before we shake our heads at that too much – it's the same thing today. Here we have a national holiday – schools and banks are closed – go and give thanks to God! Do we think 10 percent of the US population is at church today? Is 10 percent of our congregation at church today? Or to put a finer point on it – across our land will there be more people attending a service today or people shopping tonight (not that there's anything wrong with shopping per se)? The world, and even we ourselves so often forget and overlook God's astounding generosity and care in giving us daily bread.
So, what is the point of all this? Well, remember – God certainly gives daily bread to everyone without our prayers, even to all evil people, but we pray in this petition that God would lead us to realize this and to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving. God is good, and He blesses people. He blesses you. But point of these blessings aren't the blessings themselves. Daily bread is here today and gone tomorrow to be replaced by tomorrow's daily bread, and so on and so forth. But rather this – there's something more profound going on. God provides for you so that you would see and understand what He has done for you, so that you would thank and praise, so that you would grow in faith. And [Jesus] said to the [Samaritan], “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.” Go and enjoy your blessings, but go in faith. Go as one who sees Jesus, sees His blessings not only of Body but also of soul – of the care now and the eternal care that is forgiveness and life. Because then you will be well. Whatever happens, whatever comes down the pike, whatever troubles, whatever successes, whatever the reaction and terrors of the world may be – by faith you will be well, because you will see that Jesus still cares for you and in Him it is all good. By faith, you can enjoy whatever comes. Or as Paul puts in Philippians: Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Or in other words – Paul goes along thankfully, for by faith it all is well. And that peace, that joy, that confidence – oh, the world lacks it. And the powers of sin and Satan and evil in the world, they will try to rob you of it. But look and see – your Lord provides you your daily bread. He forgives you your trespasses. He leads you away from temptation and back to His House where by His Word He delivers you from Evil and promises to do so eternally. For all this it is my duty to thank and praise, serve and obey Him. God's done it all for you, and you get to see that, to understand that, and to be confident in Him. What a fantastic gift. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +
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