November 2020 - Pastor Rich Eddy

What do you think of when I say, “Ebenezer”? No doubt, you think of the stingy miser, Ebenezer Scrooge, from Charles Dickens’ novel, A Christmas Carol. So, when I say, “Me and Ebenezer,” you may worry that I’ve become crotchety in my old age, ready to grumble, “Bah, Humbug!” at the drop of a hat. Not so, though I don’t blame you for thinking that; I would have made the same connection as you: “Ebenezer” always meant that character.

At least it did, until I actually paid attention to the lyrics of the old hymn, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing. Verse 2 begins with the words, “Here I raise my Ebenezer; Hither by Thy help I’m come;” I wondered why it mentioned Ebenezer? Was it referring to Dickens’ novel (unlikely), or to someone or something else? I figured it had to be a biblical reference, so I got out my concordance and soon solved the mystery.

Ebenezer is a Hebrew word from the Old Testament. It means literally, “stone of help” and refers to a stone which Samuel set up in remembrance of the help which God gave the Israelites to save them from an attack by their pagan enemies, the Philistines. Note carefully: the stone didn’t do the helping; Samuel wasn’t worshiping a rock. It wasn’t his good luck charm. Instead, he set up the stone to remind everyone who would pass by and see it, that God had helped his people right there in that place.

The book of 1 Samuel (7:5-13) tells what happened. Samuel, who was the last judge and leader of Israel before there were kings, had called the people of Israel together at a place called Mizpah to repent of their disobedience to God. The people fasted, prayed, destroyed their idols, and asked for God’s forgiveness. While they were in the midst of their repentance, the Philistines got wind of their activities and sent an army to destroy them. The Israelites trembled in fear as the Philistines approached and called on God for deliverance. Then, as Samuel offered a sacrifice to God, the Philistines struck. The Israelites were certain to be destroyed – until God intervened. The passage says, “But that day the LORD thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites.” The Israelites attacked the fleeing Philistines and defeated them.

To commemorate God’s saving intervention, Samuel set up a stone and named it “Ebenezer,” – stone of help – for as he put it, “Thus far has the LORD helped us” (1 Samuel 7:12). This wasn’t the only memorial stone set up by biblical heroes. Genesis 25:14 says, “Jacob set up a stone pillar at the place where God had talked with him, and he poured out a drink offering on it; he also poured oil on it.” And, in Joshua 24:26-27, when Joshua made a covenant for the people at Shechem, he took a large stone and set it up there under an oak tree as a witness and reminder of their promises to God. Therefore, when the hymn sings of raising an Ebenezer, it acknowledges our dependence on God’s help, and our gratitude to him for all he has done.

Which is an appropriate attitude for Thanksgiving.

James 1:17 says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” So no matter what we are happy to have, if it is good, God is the One who gave it to us. Martin Luther explained in his Large Catechism that to keep the First Commandment, we must recognize that every blessing we have is from God; to do otherwise is to put some other god before the true God by making any other source of goodness our god.**

We probably haven’t been delivered from the Philistines lately, but there are plenty of other blessings and deliverances we should acknowledge. Do we have food to eat, clothes to wear, a roof over our heads, families to love, and friends to enjoy? Do we have medical care, medicines, and access to fire and police protection when needed? Do we have recreation, education, and jobs (or a secure retirement)? Do we still enjoy much freedom and peace, in spite of the evil in the world? Do we have a loving church family? Are we still Covid free, with a vaccine soon to be available?

Let me suggest a way to commemorate what God has done in your life. Just as the Bible itself is a record of God’s help for the world through the promise and fulfillment of a Savior, each of us has a history of what God has done in our lives to provide for us, protect us, bless us, and bring us to saving faith in Jesus Christ. Only in most of our cases, it’s probably not yet written down. It’s in our heads, in family stories, or in objects which carry special meaning because they remind us of things God has done for us. Let me suggest that you create your own personal “Ebenezer,” in which you record the special things which God has done in your life. Begin jotting down just a few of the things you remember about how God has blessed you. As you write, more ideas will come to mind. Be specific, not general, and offer your prayers of thanksgiving to God for each one of them.

When Samuel raised the Ebenezer stone, it was to commemorate the deliverance which God gave them from certain destruction at the hands of the Philistines. God was their help because only he could have saved them; they could not have saved themselves from the doom that was descending upon them. Likewise, the greatest help which God gives us is the salvation provided through his Son, Jesus Christ, providing the deliverance from eternal destruction that none of us could have accomplished on our own. God alone is our help for salvation. Only he could save us from our sins, and that is what he has done.

Therefore, join “me and Ebenezer” in thanking God with a grateful heart for all his blessings, especially for our Savior, Jesus Christ. And as you do, have a great Thanksgiving Day!

Now may the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you ad give you peace. Amen.

Read: 1 Samuel 7, Psalm 77, Philippians 4:4-7

*by Robert Robinson, written 1758. Public domain.

**The Book of Concord, The Large Catechism, Part I, The First Commandment, by Martin Luther.

In 1980, the New Orleans Saints football team had a bad season. They lost game after game, playing horribly, until their record after 14 games was: zero wins and 14 losses. In frustration, a local sports announcer started calling them the “Aints” instead of the “Saints.” And the name stuck as the hapless team went on to finish the season with only one win.

I thought about that name during the church service on November 1st. In keeping with the long-standing tradition (since the Third Century!) we celebrated All Saints Day. On that day, the Church celebrates the lives of all believers in Jesus Christ, especially those who have died before us. My favorite hymn for the day (and one of my favorites for any day) is called, For All the Saints Who From Their Labors Rest*; its strains rise triumphantly in honor of the saints who down through the ages have endured to the end, and even suffered, for their faith, dying without having seen the fulfillment of their hope for Christ’s return. As the hymn declares, they will rise gloriously to be with their Lord in his eternal victory. The first verse proclaims,

For all the saints who from their labors rest,
who thee by faith before the world confessed,
thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

Then, after several verses extolling the faithful struggles of the saints, verse 7 rejoices:

But lo! there breaks a yet more glorious day;
the saints triumphant rise in bright array;
the King of glory passes on his way.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

With such a stirring and triumphant hymn, why would I ever think about a football team that fared so badly 40 years ago? Why? Because my warped mind started imagining, “What if there were a song called, For All the Aints?”

Now, let me be clear: by “Aints” I don’t mean those believers who “aint” with us anymore because they died. Nor do I mean those Christians who don’t live up to what I believe are biblical standards of conduct. What I mean is, those who “aint” among the saints, because they don’t, or didn’t, believe in Jesus Christ.

Saints are those who, by their faith in Christ and by his righteousness and grace, are declared to be saints. Although some special individuals are known by the title of Saint because of their special devotion and lives of service to Christ and his kingdom, every believer is also a saint, as witnessed by Saint Paul’s use of the term when addressing the believers in the various churches. For example, when writing to the believers in Corinth, Paul greets them by saying, “To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours. . . “(1 Corinthians 1:2). Likewise, he addresses the church in Ephesus with the words, “To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus . . .” (Ephesians 1:1). He repeats such greetings to the believers in Rome, Colossae, and Philippi. In other words, he calls all Christians, saints.

Aints are, by contrast, non-believers. They may be “good” and moral people. We may respect them and enjoy their company. They may make great neighbors. They may even live saintly lives. But when it comes to counting the vast multitude of the saved from every nation, tribe, and language (Revelation 7:9 and 19:1), they aint among them.

So, once again, you may wonder why I would think of a song title that extols non-believers. The answer is, I’m not extoling them; rather, I’m extoling Jesus Christ, who came to earth to save the aints, among whom every one of us was numbered. Why did Jesus die? For All the Aints.

That this was indeed Christ’s mission is clear by multiple passages of Scripture, not to mention the entire grand sweep of the entire Bible. In Luke 19:10, Jesus said, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Saint Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 1:15, “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost,” and in Romans 5:8, he wrote, “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Saint Peter affirmed God’s love for the lost, writing that God is “not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). It’s clear: Jesus came and died “for all the aints.”

Jesus’ mission, made possible and anchored in his death and resurrection, continues today, because the world is still full of aints. Jesus’ mission is now the primary work of his Church, which by the power of the Holy Spirit enables aints to become saints through God’s Word and the Sacraments. This is the Great Commandment which Jesus gave his followers after his resurrection and before ascending to heaven: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20). Likewise, in Mark 13:10, Jesus predicated his return on the Gospel first being preached throughout the world to every nation. His command to us is clear: leaving aints as aints just aint acceptable.

I could go on and on with the evidence from Scripture’s commands and the examples of saints who have gone before, but I’ll finish by focusing on what the result of proclaiming the Gospel will be, according to my new song, For All the Aints:

But lo! there breaks a yet more glorious day;
those who were aints will rise in bright array;
now they’re saints, their faith is on display.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

Now may the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.

Read: Hebrews 11, Revelation 7, Mark 13

*For All the Saints, written by William W. How, 1823-1897.