4th Sunday of Lent 22 March 2009 Sermon

4th Sunday of Lent 22.3.09 God’s bounty

Of Thy bounty –words found in the grace before meals. Why do we bless food and not other experiences like going for a walk, or a swim, or watching a film? Well you can offer any experience to Him asking Him to bless it.

Bounty... He gives it and we ask Him to bless it. A second step is required. It is one thing to have the desired object; another to interact with Him so that we can use it as He wants.
Many live without reference to God. They just use whatever they come across, be it food, possessions, sex, life itself.

We, as Christians, are aware of the magnitude of what He gives us, and we take the next step to give back or refer back to Him what He has given us.
Grace before meals and similar prayers give us an extra level of understanding about our use of things. We have an obligation to respect His order, and to proceed in all things in union with His will.

If we do that He will multiply His gifts to us. If we try to snatch as much as possible it does not lead to happiness. If we steal, rape, pillage it never works.

Remember the goose with the golden egg. They killed it to get at all the gold. If they had waited the gold would have kept coming.

Original sin - taking more than entitled to and quicker. I want everything and I want it now.
If Adam and Eve had paused to say grace they might have had time to rethink! (Sin makes us impatient and irritable. Grace has the opposite effect.)

If we could realign ourselves with God’s will and not be grasping and snatching, then things work a lot better and there is a balance in creation. This coincides with environmental concern. Do not rape the world.

Receive gratefully, give back to Him, and the more obedient we are the more He will bless us; and we will have an abundance left over. The troubles of the world economy bear out the effects of greed. One person snatches; another suffers.

If we have union with God we can get by on very little food and be grateful to Him. We recognize Him as the ultimate blessing beyond any individual blessing.

In a state of thanksgiving even if blessings are different than we expected we can still be confident that good will come.

God is all good, all bountiful; all good and always good. If only we stay close He will continually bless us.
We have to be careful not to complain, not to overreach.

This earth is troubled but would be a lot less so if we observed these things.

And as for the Sabbath. This is a day for rejoicing. It is not a day for shopping, for work, for professional sport. The unspiritual see Sunday as just another day to use (exploit). And they covet Good Friday for the same reason. What a waste of a perfectly good holiday to use for football or similar pursuits. Nothing, or not much, is sacred to the world these days.

We need to step back, to rest, to give thanks - like one long grace before meals. Bless us, Lord, and help us see the true perspective.

And don’t forget grace after meals and what that implies. We thank God for all His benefits, which are too many to recall or even be aware of. But if we combine thanksgiving with offering every new experience to Him - then we have harmony, thus preparing for the eternal blessing of heaven.