"We Give Thanks to Thee for Thy Great Glory!"

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
for his steadfast love endures forever. (Psalm 136:1-3)

Giving thanks is something you hear spoken of quite a bit around this time of year. Every year, people come up with new gimmicks for spending the month of November being thankful. One of the primary social skills we teach children is to say “please” and “thank you” whenever appropriate. And all of that certainly is good. But often what we hear, especially in the mainstream media, fails to answer two fundamental questions about giving thanks.

First, to what or to whom should you be giving thanks? Proper thanksgiving only occurs if and when you are thankful to some source. It is not enough simply to meditate on “Gee, it sure is nice that I have this neat thing.” That is not thanksgiving. Gratitude has an object, a reference point, a focus. The Psalmist demonstrates this in the opening verses of Psalm 136. To whom must you give thanks? To the Lord, the God of Gods, the Lord of Lords. He is the object of your gratitude, the focus of your thanksgiving. Direct your thanks to Him.

Second, for what should you be giving thanks? The second required reference point for proper gratitude is the indirect object. When you teach a child to write thank-you notes for presents, you teach him to write “Thank you for the [fill in the blank]. I will really enjoy playing with it.” David teaches you to give thanks to the Lord because He is good and His steadfast love endures forever. You give thanks to the Lord because He has provided all things whatsoever you need in body and soul.

Therefore, it is no surprise that we pray in this pattern, saying, “We give thanks to Thee for Thy great glory.” You give thanks to God for His great glory. But what is glory?

The Merriam-Webster dictionary lists the first definition of “glory” as “praise, honor, or distinction extended by common consent; renown.” So glory is an attribute ascribed to another by common consent. By this definition, God only has great glory because we, His creatures, extend it to Him by common consent.

On a different tack, the Catholic Encyclopedia, borrowing from St. Augustine, defines glory as “brilliant celebrity with praise.” What does that even mean? It sounds nice, especially when you quote Augustine in Latin, but does this mean that God is shiny and famous?

What is glory? Is the glory of God simply that He is neat? Admittedly, this seems to be the common conception of the glory of God. Glory is often spoken of in the same mouthful as honor, majesty, power, and all that nice stuff. The glory of creation is characterized as a reflection of God's glory, so God's glory must be like a beautiful sunset, only better.

The glory of God is certainly a personal attribute, like honor, majesty, and power, but if it is just a personal quality, why is it such a big deal? You do not spend time thanking God for His great majesty, or His awesome honor. Why should you thank God for His great glory? Unless it is something more than just God being neat.

Jesus said, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” Now is the time for the Son of Man to be glorified. But how is the Son of Man glorified? The glory of God is not like the glory of men. Indeed, the glory of God is radically different.

The glory of men is but a pale comparison to the glory of God. Which of you could part the waters of the Red Sea? Which of you would like to try leading an entire nation for forty years of wandering through the wilderness, while supplying their needs for food and water and making sure that their clothing and supplies did not wear out? Which of you could create anything out of nothing?

The glory of men is rather small. A man is considered to have achieved a measure of glory in this life if he is well-respected, if he is wealthy, if he has accomplished something for which he will be remembered in later years. The desire for glory is what Solomon would call vanity, what poets and historians often refer to as vainglory. Vainglory, put another way, is the sin of pride. If you desire to be glorified, then you are desiring to be thought of as particularly special. Which means that you probably are not.

Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” This is the glory of Christ. The glory of a man is in the fruit he bears. And the glory of Christ is in the fruit which He bears. The fruit He bears, He bears by dying. For unless one seed dies, no fruit can be borne.

“For this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify Your Name.” This Jesus prays on the eve of His betrayal, passion, and crucifixion. For this reason Jesus has come to this moment in time. For this reason God has come into time at all. For this reason we are preparing to celebrate the Holy Nativity of our Lord in the flesh.

The Father answers Him: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The Name of God is glorified each and every day of creation, in many and various ways. But now, in this moment of Jesus' life, the Father is about to glorify His Name again in one very specific, very unexpected but yet most necessary way. He is going to put to death His only Son.

For this reason Jesus came to that hour. For this reason Jesus came into the flesh – that He be handed over to the rulers of the people, be crucified, die, and be buried. Jesus was born to die. He came into the flesh of the Blessed Virgin not in order to overthrow the Law, but to fulfill it. He came to take into Himself all of human nature. He came to take up into the Godhead all of humanity, and thereby to sanctify all mankind.

The glory of God is made manifest in that He died for you, for your sins, and for the sins of the whole world. The glory of God is in that He did not spare His only Son, but gave Him over into death, even death upon a cross, for you and for your salvation. The Son of God, the very Name of God in the flesh, is glorified in being lifted up high upon the cross, that He might be the emblem of salvation, the sign of God's grace for all mankind. This is the great glory for which you give thanks to your God and Father in heaven. Give thanks that He has given all He has to give for you, that you might live and receive all that is His.

Jesus says, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Myself.” He has been lifted up from the earth. His cross stands as the dividing point in time and space for all mankind. That glorious, bloody tree shines throughout the darkness of this world, drawing all men from every corner of the world to come to Christ and live. And as He has been incarnate in the womb of Mary, as He has been lifted up upon the cross, a wondrous mystery has been shown forth for you. Christ's glory is now your glory. Christ is your brother. Christ is your lamb of sacrifice. Christ is your great high priest. Christ is your glory and salvation. Having been baptized into Christ, into the likeness of His death, you receive His glory and His life.

Therefore, give thanks to God for the great glory which is Christ's. Give thanks to God that you share in that glory by faith. Give thanks to God that His glory is about to be poured into your mouth, as you receive the fruits of the seed who was buried into the earth for you.

Faithful cross, true sign of triumph,

Be for all the noblest tree;

None in foliage, none in blossom,

None in fruit thine equal be;

Symbol of the world's redemption,

For the weight that hung on thee! (LSB 454.4)

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.