Is it possible
that Thanksgiving is this week already? Every year, it creeps up behind me
while I’m looking the other way; and then, suddenly, I have to make plans to
cook all the traditional dishes that my daughter loves. She wants every
Thanksgiving to be just the same as it was when she was a child, especially
where the food is concerned! Now, Madison Avenue may tell us that Christmas is
the holiday that makes memories; but I’m pretty sure that quite a few of us
have some pretty good Thanksgiving memories, as well. I know I do. I have wonderful
memories of long-ago Thanksgivings; and every year when November rolls around,
those memories all come back to me.
When I was a
child, our family spent every Thanksgiving at the home of my aunt and uncle in
north Dayton. My Aunt Ida and my Uncle Ray had no children; and since Ida was
my grandfather’s only sister, we were their family on that day. Every
Thanksgiving, my mom and dad would insist that my sister and I get dressed at
the absurdly early hour of about 11 a.m. They would drag us away from the
Thanksgiving Day parade on TV, and we would drive our old Dodge down the
highway towards Trotwood. To this day, when I drive down I-75 under leaden
skies as snow drifts through the air, I remember those Thanksgiving mornings.
When we would
arrive at Ida and Ray’s home, we’d dash inside the house to get warm – and to
see if any last bit of the parade might still be on TV before the football
games started. And then, Thanksgiving would really begin; because
then we’d go down to the basement! That basement was enormous, with a dining room table big enough to have seated the
entire population of north Dayton! When
I would open the door to that basement on a Thanksgiving morning, I was
surrounded by what I can only describe as the feel of home! The warmth from the
oven in the basement would roll up the stairs and wrap me in comfort. The smell
of roasting turkey and baking pies would entice me down the stairs and around
the corner, where I would catch my first glimpse of that big table groaning
with food: mashed potatoes and baked yams and green bean casserole and
cranberry relish and hot rolls and always the biggest turkey I thought I had
ever seen. And there was always pumpkin pie with fresh whipped cream waiting to
be enjoyed after the meal was finished! When we all sat down in front of all
that food, Uncle Ray always fussed with the turkey; and Aunt Ida always worried
that there might not be enough! And there was always way more than just enough.
We would eat until we couldn’t hold any more, surrounded by warmth and family
and love! Now that was Thanksgiving! The memories of those days are some of
my most cherished ones.
Maybe you have
memories like that, too. Maybe you remember how all the family gathered and played
a game of touch football in the backyard while the turkey roasted. Maybe you
remember a special dish that was always on the table – chestnut stuffing,
perhaps? – and how relaxing it was to take a nap after dinner in front of the
football game. Maybe you remember how grown up you felt when you were finally
big enough to move from the kiddie table and sit with the grownups! How
precious those memories are!
But all that
has changed. Aunt Ida and Uncle Ray went to their eternal reward many years ago;
and both my parents and my sister are gone, too. Thanksgivings are a lot
smaller and a lot quieter in my family now. Relatives pass on; children grow up
and make lives of their own; friends move away. All we have of those bygone
days are the memories. Sometimes we think back to those times in our lives, and
we remember the folks who are gone. We wish that we could see them again just one more time, tell them how thankful we
were for them; and share the memories that they gave us when they didn’t even
know that they were doing it! One day, we’ll be able to do just that; and today
is a day to remind ourselves of that hope. This morning is not only Thanksgiving
Sunday; it is also the Sunday that celebrates the reign of Jesus Christ. Today
is the end of the church year; the day when we look ahead to the time when
God’s kingdom will come in fullness, and Jesus Christ will really be the ruler
of this world and the next.
On that day, God’s
going to throw the biggest dinner party that you can imagine! It will be so big
that even Thanksgiving at my Aunt Ida’s will look puny in comparison! The table
will be so full of food that when we pass the serving dishes around, our plates
won’t have room for all of it! All of our favorite foods will be there, and
plenty of it! You will be able to eat all you want, and as many servings as you
can hold! Do you remember that old
Doritos commercial that encouraged us, “Eat all you want; we’ll make more!” Yeah,
it’ll be like that! And on that day, we’ll be thankful for all of it – thankful
that we’ll never again have to worry about having enough to eat or being warm
and comfortable or having a roof over our heads. But even more important than
that: we’ll be thankful that we’ve been reunited with all those people who
helped fill our lives with memories. They’re all going to be there, all the
people that we loved – and we’re all going to feast together at God’s big table.
It’ll be like Aunt Ida’s basement on Thanksgiving morning, all over again! We’re
going to clink our wine glasses and toast one another. We’re going to tell
funny stories; and laugh until our stomachs hurt and the tears roll down our
cheeks. We’re going to hug each other, and slap each other on the back, and
give each other high-fives. And we’re going to reminisce – talk about old
times, and about how much we love one other.
We all have a
place at that table, you know. Every single one of us has a reservation for
God’s feast at the end of time; and many of those we love are already there
waiting for us. It’s not only our memories that can bring us joy on this
Thanksgiving Day. The assurance that one day, Jesus will come again and will
gather all of us together should bring us joy, too. The Thanksgiving meal that
we savor this year is just a reminder of the banquet that awaits us in glory
when this world ends and the next one begins.
So, cherish all
your memories from days gone by; and give thanks for the blessings of today.
But look forward, too, to the day when we will sit down with all our loved ones
around God’s banquet table. On that day, we will thank God face to face.
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