Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ⁴ I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. (1 Corinthians 1:3)

Romans 11:33-36 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! ³⁴ "Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?" ³⁵ "Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?" ³⁶ For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.

Parents, isn’t it sad when our children have more money than we do? I usually have very little cash in my wallet. My girls are getting to the ages where they are starting to carry a purse around with them. And they have real money in that purse. Where they get that money is kind of a mystery, but I know they have it.

Actually, they get their money primarily from their grandparents. They will bat their big blue eyes at Grandma and she’ll cave. They’ll "shake down" Grandpa and he’ll give them all his loose change. When I say "shake down," I literally mean "shake down." Two of them will get Grandpa on the ground and start tickling him while the other one digs through his pockets.

The reality is that they have money and I don’t. If I’m short on cash or change, I’ll borrow it from them. At times I may need to say, "Hey, Abbey, do you have five dollars I can borrow?" "Miriam, do you have some change to put in the parking meter?" And they say, "Sure, Dad. Here you go." And I’ll answer, "Thanks, I’ll pay you back next payday." (Actually, Abbey, here’s that five dollars I owe you. You can get it from me later.)

That is a conversation that earthly children can have with their earthly fathers.

We can be thankful that we will never have a conversation like that with our heavenly Father. Paul writes: "Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him." Why is that verse so important? There is a simple, comforting truth in that short sentence. God, our heavenly Father, will never have to borrow anything from us. God never needs anything from us. That means God will never have to say, "Thank you," to us.

What does that mean for us? It means everything for our life and salvation. It means we do not have a God who runs short on blessings. We do not have a God who lives paycheck to paycheck. It is impossible for God to run out of good things to give us.

So on this Thanksgiving we say something that sounds strange — strange but true. Be thankful that God is not thankful. Be thankful that God doesn’t have to thank anybody. Because if God had to thank someone that means God would have received something from someone. He would be in debt to them. He would owe them something. They would have some kind of power over him.

If God were in need of someone’s kindness, then that would mean that God was not almighty. If God were not almighty, we would constantly have to wonder, "Is God strong enough to feed me, clothe me, and protect me? Is he able to heal me, watch over me, and protect me? Most of all, is God powerful enough to forgive me, rescue me from Satan, and resurrect my dead body for an eternity of glory?"

Because God is supremely all-powerful, we never have to ask those questions. Paul puts it this way: "Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! ‘Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?’ ‘Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?’ For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever!"

Paul tells us that we cannot wrap our puny little minds around the immeasurable immensity of God. Paul was someone well acquainted with the mysteries of God, and yet he confesses that he is at a loss for understanding. Since he cannot find the bottom of God’s wisdom, he humbly sits at the brink and adores the depth. (Matthew Henry Commentary) God’s wisdom is too deep; we would drown in it. His judgments are plain and easy to him, but dark and mysterious to us. They are unsearchable, so it is best not to pry into them, but silently adore and acquiesce. His paths are beyond retracing. God leaves no prints or footsteps behind him. There is no way we can track what he does and why he does it. We just marvel in amazement and awe.

And that’s all good! Personally, I don’t want to worship a God I can understand. I want to offer my praise and glory to someone who is greater than myself. If we could figure out God — reduce him to a mathematical formula or statistical probability — then God would only be science. He would only be a law of nature that we could manipulate with the right methods. If God was something we could understand and operate, then we would program him to do our bidding like a computer or robot.

Unfortunately, we sometimes do think that way. We think we can serve as God’s counselor. We still think that we can give something to God so that God owes us. For example, we think, "Hey God, I’ve been slaving away at this job now for years. I’ve put up with garbage from my boss. I’ve done everyone else’s dirty work. So, God, why haven’t you given me that raise? Why didn’t I get that better job? Why didn’t you let me win the employee of the year award?"

"And God, I do so much for the family, it’s unbelievable. I really think you should convince my spouse and children to appreciate me more. And God, I really think you should use your almighty power and improve my health. I’ve been doing my part. I’ve been eating right and taking my medication. So you should do your part and remove my pains and diseases. I’ve been dieting and exercising. So you should take away this excess flab around my belly and thighs."

"And God, I really think you shouldn’t make it so difficult for me to be a Christian. I’ve been eating my vitamins and saying my prayers. I’ve been coming to church once in a while. I even read the Bible sometimes. So why aren’t you blessing my faith with overflowing joy and confidence? Why haven’t you given me the power to smash all my spiritual enemies? How come you’re not letting me live the victorious Christian life?"

Does any of that sound familiar? Isn’t it amazing that we puny mortals would have the audacity to tell God what to do? Isn’t it astounding that we pitiful sinners would have the impudence to demand that a righteous God should do our bidding? Yet, we think we are God’s counselors. We imagine that if God would just sit down and actually listen to us for once, then God would finally get it right.

If we ever think like that, then we are like the Packer fan thinking that screaming at his TV will affect the game. "Come on McCarthy, call a screen pass. Why don’t you blitz and get some pressure on that quarterback. Come on, Coach, are you stupid. Why aren’t you listening to me?" The coach isn’t listening because he’s actually on the field coaching the game. The fan is sitting on his couch screaming at a piece of electronic equipment.

When a fan does something like that it’s just plain silly. But when a Christian tries to give guidance to God, it’s sinful. When a Christian tries to coach, cajole or counsel God, that Christian is setting himself or herself above God. Then that Christian — then you and I, we need to repent. We need to hear God’s Word that says, "Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?" "Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?"

God is God. We are not. It is not our place to put God in his place. It is not our job to pull God aside and whisper in his ear. It is not our task to write a book entitled, "How to be a better God in ten easy steps."

Instead, it is our place to fall down in awe and amazement before our God. It is our duty to shake and tremble in the presence of the almighty, eternal, all-knowing Creator of all things.

It is our privilege to kneel in the presence of our holy, unfathomable God and listen to him say, "Even though these sinners are lazy and unmotivated, I will bless them with food, clothing, shelter and prosperity. Even though these sinners do not appreciate my kindness or praise me enough for my goodness, I will still give health to their bodies, love in their families and laughter in their homes."

"Even though these sinners deserve nothing but my anger and punishment, I will show them nothing but grace, mercy and love. Even though they deserve eternity in hell for their bickering and complaining, I will give them nothing but forgiveness, salvation and peace. And even though these sinners do not deserve it, I will still preserve them in the one, holy, Christian faith through my gospel in Word and sacrament. Yes, I the Lord, will bring them safely to the banquet hall of eternal salvation because I have washed away all their sins in the blood of Jesus Christ my Son."

Credit cards and car payments. Mortgages and medical bills. Leases and braces and tuition payments. All of us know about the burden of financial commitments. It's like a treadmill that we can't get off. Debt leaves us imprisoned, burdened by bills we can't keep up with.

But these debts are just a hint of an even greater debt, the debt we owe to God. And we do owe him "big-time." It is a debt we can't repay. No amount of silver or gold in the world would ever be enough. That's why God himself came up with a payment plan, a plan that included the blood of his very own Son. Jesus' precious blood shed on the cross covers our sin and cancels our debt. That is the very meaning of the word "forgiven."

God doesn't ever promise to pay off all our financial debt but the forgiveness he gives enables us to face the future with peace and hope. It also creates a new kind of indebtedness – the welcomed debt of love and thanksgiving that we can give to him and each other.

This all goes far beyond our understanding. We cannot begin to comprehend why God would create us, preserve us and then save us. No human mind could ever devise such grace. No high-priced consultant would ever counsel God to secure the salvation of sinners with the blood of his pure and holy Son.

This all means that God doesn’t owe us. We owe God. We owe God our thanks and praise, our service and obedience. So rejoice in this truth. As strange as it may sound: Be thankful that God is not thankful. Amen.