THANKSGIVING

May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you, O Lord, my refuge and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)

SEASON: THANKSGIVING
PROPER:
PLACE: St. John's Parish, Kingsville
DATE: November 22, 2001

TEXT: Deuteronomy 8:1-3,6-10, 17-20 – He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. . . . . Do not say to yourself, “My power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this wealth.” But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, so that he may confirm his covenant the he swore to your ancestors, as he is doing today.

ISSUE: Saying “thank you” is a basic admission and acknowledgment that we need someone else. From the Christian point of view, we acknowledge on this Thanksgiving Day our dependence upon and need for God. The Scripture reminds us that we do not live by our own power but we live by faith and trust in God. It is God who is the giver of all good things. We are the beneficiaries of God’s grace and the stewards of his gifts. To assume otherwise is to lead us into pride and human perversity.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
I heard something on the news, in passing, recently that indicated that the United States, and maybe Canada, are the only two countries in the world that set aside a national day for Thanksgiving. I may not have gotten that just quite right. I do know that we Americans are celebrating a nation day of Thanksgiving, and that Canadians do have a Thanksgiving Day in October. Whatever some nations do, I can’t be quite sure, but I do know that the concept of stopping to reflect and to give Thanks to God is routed deeply in Christianity and Judaism all over the world. Modern Americans don’t have the corner on being Thankful. The Jewish Feasts of Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles are all thanksgiving celebrations. Passover has overtones of thanksgiving for the birth of animal flocks, lambs especially. Pentecost was celebration of the harvest of grain, and Tabernacles gave thanks for the new wine. These are thankful moments express to God for material things. Throughout history of Europe and England, and in the middle ages there were various celebrations of thanksgiving to God for deliverance from plagues and war.
When the puritans came to New England, they too gave thanks in 1621 for their deliverance from famine and death. The year before, 1620, had been an extremely difficult year for the puritan pilgrims and they were taught some agricultural and survival skills by the Native American Indians. Which makes the point that we rarely save ourselves, but are in need of others, and the powerful grace of God.
The reading from Deuteronomy recalls the history of the Jews who were wandering in the wilderness for some forty years after they had fled from oppression in Egypt under the leadership of Moses. The complained at Moses that there was not enough food. They were truly humbled. But in the wilderness was provided the manna, believed to be manna or bread from heaven. Upon it they survived as they saw it as a gift from God. Indeed it was. The sweet manna is the sap from tarmarisk trees processed by insects, and left behind on the leaves of trees and bushes. It was a new and strange food, provided by God for the Israelites. They were reminded that they did not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God. God’s grace was there for them, and they are not to say that their own power and might of their own hands got them their wealth, or their salvation.
In Christian Scripture, Jesus picks up on this very theme when Jesus himself is in the wilderness for forty days Jesus too is hungry and is tempted by the devil to turn the stones into familiar loaves of bread. Jesus quotes the Deuteronomy passage, “Man cannot live by bread alone, but needs every word that God speaks.” (Matt. 4:4; Luke 4:4) Out of these traditions and scripture, both the Jewish Passover Feast, and the Christian Holy Communion, more specifically named the Holy Eucharist, which means “thanksgiving” allude to being Thanksgiving Festivals that are celebrated around the world, the Christian Eucharist daily. The Jewish community gives thanks for their deliverance by God from evil oppression. The Christian community gives thanks to God for deliverance from evil and death and for the presence of God’s word in our midst. We do not live by bread alone, but by the Word of God revealed in the ways and teachings of Jesus Christ, his life and ministry reveal God, and we give thanks for that very fact of our existence. Do we need bread and material things, of course, but they are not the be all and the end all of our lives. We do not live by bread alone, but by the Word of God, and Thanks be to God that is given to us in Jesus Christ our Lord, as our way, our truth, and our life’s meaning.
There are rich accounts in the Christian Scriptures that highlight the fact that Jesus is the word of God, and the spiritual nourishment of human lives. The great story of the out pouring of the water transformed into abundant amount of wine is profoundly symbolic of the spiritual sustenance that comes from Christ as a gift to the inadequacy of the human situation without him. Without Christ there would be humiliation and dishonor. The feeding miracle of the 5,000 and 4,000 repeated over and over again tells of the abundant spiritual life giving spiritual bread of the Word of God graciously given without having to buy or earn it! From Jesus Christ we learn the fullness of life of the meaning of life. It is not merely in the accumulation of stuff to fill our barns, basements, and attics. It is not merely honor and prestige in the community and the way we can buy whatever we want. Fullness of life is how much we can love, forgive and, yes, forget. Fullness of life is in sensitivity to human need and the willingness, ability- better still - the unconscious sharing of resources, talents, gifts, treasures that God has so abundantly given to us.
Our prayer life can be full of things that we tell God we need, but be deficient in thanking and praising God for what we have already been so abundantly given to us.
Being thankful for what God gives and how he delivers us is deeply rooted in our faith tradition. It is not something peculiar to Americans and Canadians alone. This Thanksgiving is the day of the year that after we have spent so much time moaning, groaning, complaining, about how little that we have, and how poor we are, and how so much is expected of us, and how unappreciated we are, and how awful the stock market is doing that we realize just how much it is that we do, in fact, have to give and share. Our health, wealth, giftedness, resources are all God given to us to share with others and for the benefit of others. So we stop worrying about what shall we eat or drink or wear. And we simply place ourselves in the hands of God, who is the giver of all good things and perfect gifts, and strive to be instruments, channels, conduits, of his grace that flow from the Kingdom of God.