July 12, 2025 

Today's Reading: Introit for Pentecost 5 - Psalm 136:23-26; antiphon: Psalm 136:1

Daily Lectionary: Judges 7:1-23; Judges 7:24-12:15; Galatians 1:1-24

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever.” (Psalm 136:1)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. 

Thanksgiving has become “turkey day” in the United States (or tofurkey day if you are vegetarian or vegan). Thanksgiving in Canada is in October (that’s different). Some people eat cranberry “stuff” from a can, and others make fresh cranberries (you will know them because they will tell you incessantly how good their fresh cranberries are). I would say that mashed potatoes are a must, but people differ in their love or hate of lumps in their mashed potatoes (even if they have never mashed a potato in their life). I could go on, but I won't. The only thing that we all agree on is that we are thankful when it is over. Dealing with family can be exhausting. Getting ready to go shopping on Black Friday can be even more exhausting. We gather together under the guise that we are thankful but really want to control the situation to our liking. We are thankful for things being our way. But that is not what God intends.

God intends for us to be thankful all the time, not just seasonally or when it suits us. God is good all the time, not sporadically or when He feels like it. God is good when the sun shines, and the rain falls. God is good when the temperature is above 100 degrees and when it is 20 below. God’s love is ours when we are at our best and when we are at our worst. We give thanks to God because He is good, not because good things are happening to us, and certainly not because we are good, because we are not good enough. 

So we give thanks to God on the good days and the bad. We give thanks to God then we are hungry and when we are full. We give thanks to God when we have no money and when we have plenty. We give thanks to God from the time we are born to the time we die because He is good. Eat turkey and give thanks. Celebrate Thanksgiving in October and give thanks. Eat whatever kind of cranberries and give thanks. Give thanks at Christmas, Easter, Veteran’s Day, and the 4th of July. Give thanks today because God is good.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Now thank we all our God with hearts and hands and voices, Who wondrous things has done in whom His world rejoices; Who from our mothers arms has blessed us on our way With countless gifts of love and still is ours today. (LSB 895:1)

- Rev. Roger Stites, pastor of Faith Lutheran Church in Sequim, WA.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.

In Clarifying the Great Commission, Rev. Daniel Christian Voth identifies common omissions from our collective understanding of Jesus’ farewell discourse—omissions that turn Christ’s promises of forgiveness, life, and salvation into a legalistic command. Come and discover a richer understanding of The Great Commission.