While I haven’t done an exhaustive search of the most common word in our Sunday liturgy, I suspect that “thanks” and its cognate, “thanksgiving” are among them. I counted 15 potential appearances of thanks and thanksgiving in the liturgy, exclusive of the sermon and the prayers of the people (where its’s quite likely that there will be still more occurrences. We give thanks in the hymn of praise (“Glory to God in the highest”), at the conclusion of the first and second lessons, in the offertory (“What Shall I Render…”) and offertory prayer (“Merciful Father…”), in the Great Thanksgiving, as many as four times in the Eucharistic prayer, in the Post Communion Canticle and Post Communion Prayer, and in the dismissal. It’s obvious that giving thanks is a major component of our Eucharistic liturgy; indeed, the very word, “Eucharist,” a term we use to describe Holy Communion, means “thanksgiving.”

God gives us all we have: as we say in one of our offertory prayers, “ourselves, our time, and our possessions.” All we receive is freely given; we don’t earn it, nor do we deserve it. All that we can do in return is to respond in thanksgiving, and it is what faithful Christians do on a regular basis in worship.

Another word we use for worship is “liturgy,” which is literally, “the work of the people.” Our responsibility – our vocation – is to respond in love and thanksgiving to our loving God. Not only does that take the form of worship, which is central to the Christian life, but it also emerges as service to God and the neighbor – living worshipfully — “thanks-living”!

November is the month that we most often associate with thankful living because of the Thanksgiving holiday. As we gather around the table with family and friends, enjoying the bounty God has bestowed upon us, we are experiencing thankful living. In addition, we at St. Timothy have many other opportunities to live thankfully in the coming month.

As I mentioned earlier, one of the primary gifts from God is our wealth, which includes not only our monetary wealth, but all our possessions. On November 16-17, we’ll observe Consecration Sunday, when we’ll be challenged to consider what God wants us to give for the work of his church here at St. Timothy. Each of us will be given an opportunity to pledge our financial support for 2020, as well as offering our time and talents. After the combined Sunday service at 9:30, we’ll gather for a potluck brunch in the Fellowship Hall. Please sign up today!

Our Sunday School students are collecting funds for “God’s Global Barnyard,” a ministry of the ELCA World Hunger Appeal https://goodgifts.elca.org/animals. The Kids have brought coin banks home, but those of us who either have grown children or are not parents can participate too. Through our monetary gifts, we can purchase animals to raise the standard of living for people in developing countries. Envelopes can be found in the narthex under the God’s Global Barnyard display. Check it out!

Our thankful living can assist more local neighbors too. Heart ‘n’ Hands Mission, a ministry of St. Timothy, is an organization that deserves our support. H&H is always looking for volunteers to sort clothing, and they’re eager to receive your material gifts such as money and clothing too. November is also the month H&H collects, assembles, and distributes blessing bags. The organization also has a fundraiser in November, a benefit concert by the Songbird Trio, featuring Kathy Knittel, on Sunday, November 24, at 3:00 pm. Tickets are $15, and children 12 and under are free. Get your tickets from H&H board members.

Another organization that we support is the Wayne Interfaith Network. WIN will fill 60 boxes of food for needy residents of Wayne at St. Timothy on November 24. We are asked to donate 5 lb. bags of potatoes and 1 lb. bags or cans of mixed nuts for this program. Please place these items in our Donation Station on the ground floor.

Finally, please join your neighbors for the annual Interfaith Thanksgiving Service at Our Lady of Consolation Roman Catholic Church, 1799 Hamburg Turnpike, on Tuesday, November 26, at 7:00 pm, sponsored by the Wayne Clergy Fellowship. Worshippers are asked to bring a non-perishable food item for WIN.

This month and every month please remember the many gifts God so lovingly bestows upon us. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!

In Jesus’ name,

Pastor Robert M. Mountenay