Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - May/70

Contributor - R. A. Hartmans

Title - Meditation

Topic - Meditation

"And when in time to come your son asks you, 'what does this mean?', you shall say to him, 'By strength of hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of bondage'." (Exodus 13 : 14)

It was August 24, 1945, and it had been raining incessantly on that day, turning the Japanese concentration camp at Siringoringo into a muddy pig sty. Even the inside of the 9 large sleeping halls which housed some 1800 Europeans was dripping wet because the rain had been whipped through the palm leaf roofs. A depressing mood of hopelessness had taken hold of the worn-out prisoners.

Suddenly, there was some commotion. A call went out to the leaders of the camp to appear before the Japanese Commandant. What had happened? Had someone been caught smuggling? Would new punitive restrictions be added to the already almost unbearable burdens of the prisoners?

Silence settled down again on the 1800 men and boys as they returned to their monotonous tasks.

Then there was shouting far away and singing. It came closer. Some of the boys curiously peered out of the cracks in the bamboo walls of the sleeping hall in the direction of the noise. A leader came running inside and ordered all men to the center of the hall. In a moved voice, he spoke to us: "Japan has capitulated. The war is over!"For a moment, the men were too stunned to react. Then we sang: "Wilhelmus van Nassauen." We embraced one another. We cried. We thanked God.

Liberation came to us in the Far East almost five months later than in Holland. But the fact of freedom remains the same. What is more important, it is an event that needs to be retold, not once, but often. Like the Jews of old who were called to remember their liberation from slavery in Egypt through the mighty hand of God, so we must witness to our children of our gratitude to God for our liberty.

Indeed, the witness of thanksgiving stands central to our Christian faith. Already in the Old Testament it was the very reason why the people of Israel were called to serve God. Later, when Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper, he did so with thanksgiving. And whenever Christians come together to celebrate the Lord's Supper they do so as an act of thanksgiving to God for his redemption in Jesus Christ.

The reason that we should celebrate with gratitude our twenty-five years of freedom, is not simply the commemoration of some great event. Nor is it only a deeply meant thank you for the great sacrifices made by the countries which liberated us, though this is well in place. No, our celebration is a recognition that every act of liberation is a visible sign of God's great care and love for his children. Whenever men and women are liberated from any form of slavery, be it enemy oppression, or poverty, or sin, it points back to the total message of salvation that God wants his children to be free.

It has been said that the witness of thanksgiving stands central to our Christian faith. This also implies that without thanksgiving, true religion is turned into a caricature or disappears entirely.

The caricature of religion is a religion of fear and superstition. It seeks to keep men into service to God through rigid laws upon every day of life. It portrays the Lord as always ready to take revenge upon the sinner. It does not know the joy of walking daily with the Lord of Love.

On the other hand religion without thanksgiving can also turn people into plain godlessness. If people intellectually recognize that there is "something up there", but do not in the least feel personally called to seek or serve Him then there is also something lacking.

Do we believers fit into any of the above two categories - a religion of fear and superstition or an impersonal religion? Even if we do recognize with thanksgiving what God has done for us in Christ, we too often fail to witness to our gratitude. We carry our thanksgiving in silence. We do not speak of it to our society.

The Early Church also knew its silent believers. In the 1st chapter of Acts we read how they came together to worship God and to comfort one another. If this group had been allowed to continue its quiet unobtrusive existence, there would have been no church today. No one would have known of our Lord's coming,, his death and his victory over the enemy of death. And, though no doubt, they were thankful for their knowledge of God's love, they would have taken their message to the grave.

But then God interfered. At Pentecost he gave them a voice to speak a message to proclaim. Suddenly the Holy Spirit made their gratitude boil over into word and actions which could never be stopped. They preached, they wrote, they gave form to the message. As the disciples witnessed in thanksgiving, their fellowship received new power.

Throughout the history of the Church it has always been the same. When believers were silent, when they forgot the call to witness of gratitude, their faith weakened, their fellowship fell apart, the Church disappeared. But whenever the Church remembered God's mighty work of salvation Jesus Christ in their lives and in the world and as she witnessed in gratitude, the Church prospered and the people knew the joy of God's presence.

We who have received so much through Him, let us give thanks unto Him through a living and enthusiastic witness of gratitude.

"O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, his steadfast love endures forever."

Please click the "Back" button of your browser to return to previous page.