Back
in the day, when I was in elementary school, the week leading up to
Thanksgiving was pretty much a throwaway as far as lessons were concerned.
Nowadays many school systems take off the entire week, but that wasn’t the case
when I was growing up. Because we students couldn’t concentrate on lessons, the
teachers thought up all kinds of projects to keep us occupied. We made pilgrim
hats out of construction paper, Native American garb out of brown paper bags,
and turkeys out of our own hand prints. And almost every year, we would be asked
to draw a picture of what we were thankful for. There were all kinds of
responses to that! The kids who wanted to please the teacher (like me) drew
pictures of people kneeling in church to signify freedom of religion, even
though we had no idea what that really meant. The ones who were honest usually
drew a picture of their families, their toys, or even the hamster.
That’s
still a good activity for us adults, even though no pictures are necessary this
morning. What are we thankful for?
Take just a moment to think about that. What is tops on your list this morning?
Is it your house? Your warm clothing? Your family? Those are the things that
many people name when that question is asked. But what would happen if all
those things were taken away? What would happen if, like Job, we suddenly lost
every single one of the things that we so often take for granted in our lives? No
roof over our heads… no soft bed with warm bedding... no refrigerator full of
turkey and cranberry sauce… no telephone… no car with a full gas tank… no warm
coat to keep out the cold. Would we still give thanks to God then?
Before
you answer that question, let’s go back in time to the year 1620, when the
Pilgrims first landed in Massachusetts. It was a very difficult time for them. Not
only had they crossed the Atlantic very late in the season, they had landed
much farther north than they had intended to land. When they finally started
building a permanent village, it was late October and winter was coming on.
Most of the Pilgrims lived on the ship during that first winter, because it was
impossible to build homes in the cold and snow. Their food supply had been
nearly exhausted during their ocean voyage, and very little fresh food was available.
Half of them died of exposure, scurvy, or disease. If it had not been for the
native Squanto who taught them to grow corn and squash, tap maple trees for
sap, and catch seafood, the rest of them might not have survived, either. But
they did survive; and the following
fall, they shared a feast of thanksgiving with the Native Americans who had,
quite literally, saved their lives.
What
were the Pilgrims thankful for? Not soft beds; they didn’t have any of those.
Not big homes; their houses were small, dark, and uncomfortable. Not a closet
full of clothes; most of the Pilgrims had only two sets of clothing: one for
every day and another for Sunday. And all of them had lost loved ones during
that first dreadful winter. What could they possibly be thankful for in
circumstances like that? The answer is that they were thankful to be alive at
all! They were thankful that, because they had been helped by Squanto and other
members of his tribe (surely a sign of God’s grace), they now had plenty of
food to eat. They were thankful that they now had shelter on the mainland. And
they were thankful that, even though some of their loved ones had died due to
cold and disease, other loved ones still surrounded them. They were thankful
for the basics: life, food, shelter, and loved ones! We who are surrounded by
unbelievable bounty every day of the week tend for forget about all those
basics, don’t we? We are so accustomed to life’s luxuries that we enjoy as
middle-class Americans that we forget the blessings that we have simply as
human beings: life, shelter, loved ones, and enough food to survive. And the
reality is that if we don’t have those things, nothing else really matters a
hill of beans!
At the
United Church of Christ regional gathering that I attended recently, the host church was a
mostly African-American congregation on the west side of Cincinnati. When they
led us in worship, it was in what I would describe as a typical
African-American style. We sang joyfully as we stood up and clapped with the
rhythm of the upbeat music. We were encouraged to sing out; and we gave thanks
to God for all God’s blessings over and over again. It made me stop and think;
and I realized that African-American churches who have the fewest material
blessings are the very ones who praise God the most enthusiastically. African-American
congregations always have praise at
the center of their worship! No matter how much injustice or inequality the
preacher may lift up – and believe me, African-American congregations know a
lot more than we do about injustice and inequality – the foundation of their
worship isn’t complaint or lament, but praise!
We can
learn a lot from our African-American sisters and brothers. They witness to us through their worship that despite all
the difficulties in our lives – and all of us do have many difficulties – we can
always thank God for the blessings that we have. We are alive. We are can get
up and move around. We can see and hear and taste. We can love; and we have
people who love us back and help us out when times are hard. Most of all, we
have God’s presence with us every single day of our lives. We have Jesus Christ
walking with us over both smooth paths and troubled waters. We have the Spirit
within us giving us comfort and peace, courage and guidance. We have so many reasons to thank God! And when
we do that, it changes our perspective. When we give God thanks, it takes our
focus off the things that are going wrong
in our lives and puts that focus squarely back on the things that are going right! Praise and thanksgiving have the
potential to change us from Grumpy Gus into Grateful Gertie. I don’t know about
you, but I’d much rather be Grateful Gertie than Grumpy Gus; and I’m pretty
sure that the people around me would agree with that.
Are we
blessed? You bet we are! God has done so much for us that we can’t begin to
keep track of it all! So… on this Sunday before our national day of
Thanksgiving, what are you thankful for? Turkey and cranberry sauce, parades
and football games – sure! But I hope that topping your list are life, love,
and the presence of God. That’s what the Pilgrims gave thanks for. That’s what
our African-American sisters and brothers give thanks for. And I certainly hope
that you’re giving thanks for those things, too!
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