Thanksgiving Eve November23,2005 “Series A”
Grace be unto you and peace, from God our Father and from our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Let us pray: Dear Heavenly Father, we come before you this night to give you thanks for your many blessings upon us – for the gift of life, for all that sustains us from day to day, and especially for your gracious gift of redemption which we receive through our baptism and faith in Christ’s death and resurrection. Through the power of your Holy Spirit, inspire us to show our thankfulness in the way that we care for those among us, especially those in need. This we ask in Christ’s holy name. Amen.
This evening, the occasion that brings us together to worship God has little to do with our Christian faith. It is not a religious holiday, in which we gather to remember and celebrate an event in the life of Christ, such as Christmas or Easter. It is not an occasion on the Church’s liturgical calendar in which we gather together to begin a spiritual journey of faith renewal, as we do on Ash Wednesday.
No, the occasion that brings us together this evening is a national holiday, which began in the colonial times of New England, as a harvest festival. In 1621, Governor William Bradford of Massachusetts first declared a day of thanksgiving and prayer to God for the harvest, which soon became a custom in the New England colonies.
However, following the revolution, an annual day of thanksgiving was then sanctioned by the federal government. Listen to the words of what George Washington used to proclaim this national holiday:
“Whereas, it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly implore his protection and favor;
Whereas, both the houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me ‘to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and single favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness!’
Now therefore, I do recommend next, to be devoted by the people of the states to the service of that great and glorious being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be, that we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks…” End quote.
Thus, this national Day of Thanksgiving began, and over the years, it was adopted and observed by each of the states as a holiday. Yet over the years, especially the last twenty-five years, about all that is left of this day, set aside to give thanks to Almighty God and his providence, is that it is a national holiday – a day off of work. We don’t even acknowledge its original purpose inherent in its name. Thanksgiving Day has been replaced with the non-offensive title “Turkey Day.” After all, in today’s culture, the ACLU would probably sue George Washington for his use of such strongly religious rhetoric in proclaiming a national holiday.
Well, if I am to be politically correct, “Turkey Day” may be the occasion that has brought us together this evening. But I doubt that this is the reason that you are here. At least I hope not! I hope that we have come into this place of worship to do just what this building has been set aside for – to worship God, and to give him thanks for his many blessings upon us. For as Christians, who have been baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection, who have experienced his redeeming grace and the forgiveness of our sins, we should not need an “occasion” to remind us to give thanks to God. It should be a natural part of our daily life!
Think about Gospel lesson for this evening. Luke tells us that as Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, he was about to enter a small village between the regions of Samaria and Galilee. There, Jesus was met by ten lepers, who stood their distance, and cried out for him to have mercy on them. We all know that leprosy is a highly contagious disease, and as a result these persons were expelled from their family and community, and required to live on the fringe of society, to keep their distance from all who might come into contact with them.
I’m sure that they led a miserable life as a result of their illness. I’m sure that they missed their family and friends and the ability to gather with them for a common meal and share in the fellowship of a holiday feast, which so many of us take for granted. They were no doubt forced to beg for morsels of food to be left at a distance, just to survive. It would not be the kind of life that any of us would like to live, although millions in this world are also forced to beg for daily sustenance.
And so, they cry out to Jesus to have mercy on them. In reality, we are not even sure if they were begging for food, or if their plea for mercy was in recognition of the hope that Jesus might be able to cure them. It really doesn’t matter, for Jesus responds to their plea by extending to them the tremendous gift of God’s grace. He simply tells them to go to the priests, who, at that time, had the authority to restore them to the community.
Luke then tells us, that as they went to do as Jesus had commanded, they were healed of that dreaded disease. Can you imagine the joy and elation that these ten persons must have felt, when they realized that they were healed? It must have been overwhelming! I can even imagine that their pace picked up to a run, in anticipation of being able to rejoin the ranks of their families and society.
But amidst their joy, amidst their desire to be reunited with their families and be able to sit at the table and share a common meal with those they love, one of the ten stopped his run to the priests, and returned to give Jesus thanks. One of the ten who were healed, just one, felt in his heart that his first priority was to humble himself before the source of his blessing, his healing, his gift of new life, and truly offer thanks to God for what he had received.
And the striking point of this story, is that Luke makes a point of telling us that this one person who returned to give thanks, was a Samaritan. He was not a person whom we might expect, because of his nationality, to be the one who would return to praise God for the blessings which he had received. This was evident in our Lord’s response, when he said to him and his disciples, “Were not ten healed? Where are the other nine? Did no one find it in their heart to return to give thanks, but this foreigner?”
This is a very appropriate story, on this eve of our national holiday of Thanksgiving. First, it tells us that the idea of giving thanks to God for his many blessings upon us is truly a matter of the heart, a thankfulness that naturally flows from our recognition of God’s blessings upon us. And I don’t think that we need to have been healed from some catastrophic illness in order to be moved to give God thanks.
The truth is, God is the source of the entire universe, of all that exists, and the author of life on this planet we call earth. It is God, who, through his power of his creation – whether we believe that this took place in seven days, or over many years – that has blessed us with the gift of life, the ability to communicate and have fellowship with one another, and continues to sustain us from day to day. And it is through God’s love for us, through the gift of his grace poured out for us in Christ’s death and resurrection, that we have been redeemed from sin and death, and have the hope of eternal life in God’s heavenly kingdom.
As such, we have gathered together this evening, on the occasion of our national holiday of Thanksgiving, to offer God the thankfulness that is in our hearts. And we do so, not because our nation has declared it to be a national holiday, but because we choose to gather together this night to celebrate, as citizens of God’s kingdom, all that our Lord has done for us.
As Christians, we might lament the fact that this Day of Thanksgiving has been stripped of its original intent. Yet the truth is, one can not legislate a thankful heart. In fact, for the Christian, every day is a day to give thanks to God, for all his blessings upon us. Today, we simply take advantage of the occasion our nation sets before us, and claim it as another opportunity to praise God for what we have received.
Amen.
